The Remote Island : AMC

Judd Apatow On AMC's "Storymakers": "There Is A Certain Amount Of Penis America Can Handle In 2009"

Jake Kalish — Fri, 15 May 2009 18:40:00 GMT

Tonight at 10, Apatow, Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, and Nick Cassavetes sit down with hosts Peter Guber and Peter Bart to discuss film. And, apparently,male genitalia.

We find Apatow's statement to be true, and profound. Of course, then the question is: what is the proper amount of penis?

We've spent our whole lives trying to figure that out. Oh, you were expecting an answer? Okay, hold on...

Seven. Seven what? Inches? Minutes? Penises?

No, just seven.

PREVIOUSLY:

CNN Loves Penis...Uh, What?

"Grey's Anatomy": Everybody Wants To Know If You Can Really Break Your Penis

Domino's Phallic Pasta Ad Is Too Hot For TV [VIDEO]

No Erectile Dysfunction Ads On TV Before 10 P.M.?

Giant Television Preys On Penis Insecurities

Former POW Risks Hanoi Hilton Flashbacks By Hosting AMC War Movie Marathon

Jake Kalish — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:11:00 GMT

Nothing but war movies all Memorial Day weekend? Each introduced by John McCain? Sounds like torture!

Oh, what? So? Shut up...

The theme of AMC's Memorial Day Weekend movie marathon is "war heroes", and some of the movies featured will be Patton, The Longest Day, and Battle Of The Bulge. A war hero movie marathon. That actually sounds kinda okay. But why is the old guy who made Caribou Barbie famous hosting? Oh.

PREVIOUSLY:

The 2008 Presidential Election Will Be An HBO Movie [VIDEO]

John McCain Needs To Stop Using "Dick Fingers"

Wake Up And SNL: Wherein We Are Reminded That We Once Liked Sen. John McCain

AMC's "B-Movie Classics" Feature Teenage Cavemen, Viking Women

Jake Kalish — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:04:00 GMT

AMC.com has just launched B-Movie Classics - full streaming versions of classic films like the amazingly titled Saga Of The Viking Women And Their Voyage To The Waters Of The Great Sea Serpent. Come on, watch this, and then tell us you haven't just found a brilliant way to waste lots of time...

PREVIOUSLY:

AMC Is Into Sci-Fi Porn?

Jim Caveziel And Ian McKellen To Star In AMC's Remake Of "The Prisoner"

This Sounds Cool: AMC To Remake "The Conversation"

Everybody Watched "Breaking Bad"

Jake Kalish — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:00:00 GMT

The second season premiere of Breaking Bad scored huge ratings (relatively speaking, of course) for AMC, with a 42% bump from last season's average, and a full 50% increase for males 18-49, the show's target demo. A few factors here: good word of mouth. good choice of interviewers, a solid promotional campaign, and the fact that Bryan Cranston won the Emmy for Best Actor In A Drama Series. Between this and the vastly improved second season ratings for Mad Men (which should continue to rise in Season 3) AMC is starting to really build something substantial here.

Previously:
Remote Island Q&A: Bryan Cranston of "Breaking Bad"
Stay Classyfied: Win A Walk-On Role To "Breaking Bad"

Stay Classyfied: Win A Walk-On Role To "Breaking Bad"

Jake Kalish — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:44:00 GMT

Wow. This one's legit, and legitimately very cool. Submit a one-minute video audition, and you could win a cool grand, a trip to New Mexico, a walk-on role, and the chance to meet our interview subject Bryan Cranston. Check it out...

Win a Walk-on Role to Breaking Bad TV Series

Reply to: job-deese-1060342783@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}
Date: 2009-03-04, 3:15PM EST

Breaking Bad and its Emmy-winning star Bryan Cranston return for a second season on Sunday, March 8 at 10PM | 9C.

Submit video audition (under one-minute) and win $1000, a trip to New Mexico, and a walk-on role in Season 3 of AMC's Breaking Bad TV Series.

View entries and enter here: http://blogs.amctv.com/breaking-bad-contest

Compensation: Walk on role, $1000, Trip to New Mexico
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

PostingID: 1060342783

Remote Island Q&A: Bryan Cranston of "Breaking Bad"

Nicole Ankowski — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMT

It's difficult to match the image above — of a grizzled, bald Bryan Cranston — to the actor's recent and well-known role as Hal, tighty-whitey fan and father of Malcolm in the Middle. But Cranston's spent thirty years proving himself a fearless chameleon, from roles in Saving Private Ryan to the dentist Tim Whatley on Seinfeld. Last year, Cranston changed his colors again, winning a best-actor Emmy for his role as Walter White, a high-school chemistry teacher-turned-meth dealer, in the critically acclaimed AMC series, Breaking Bad. Diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and desperate for fast cash to provide for his special-needs son and pregnant wife, White begins cooking crystal meth for the seedy underbelly of Albuquerque. Cranston's portrayal of a man wholly unprepared for a life of crime is heart-breaking, brutal, and at times darkly hilarious. The second-season premiere, directed by Cranston himself, airs this Sunday at 10 p.m. Our favorite exhibitionist took time out of his busy production schedule to speak with Nerve about chemistry, working both sides of the camera, and of course, public nudity. — Derrick Sanskrit

Your portrayal of a chemistry professor is stunningly convincing. Did you undergo any special training? "Proper handling of Bunsen burners" or "How not to use hydrochloric acid"?

I shadowed a chemistry professor at University of Southern California, to get reacquainted with the nomenclature, the materials and how to handle things. What chemicals you need respirators for and what don't you? What is volatile? You're tapping into a world that's fascinating, and I certainly didn't appreciate it back in high school. I love the juxtaposition on Breaking Bad, of the orderly fashion and numerical answers to questions in the chemistry lab [where] Walter White is at home — then I step out of that classroom and enter a world of crime and everything is the opposite.

Walter White has no clue what he's doing in this world of the underground. He's around nefarious characters and bad-asses and unreliable drug users. He doesn't have the skill set for this. He woefully underestimated getting involved. It was a rash, stupid decision and now he's got to pay for it. And there's no going back.

Did you ever feel the urge to go home and try some experiments with an easy-bake oven?

Well, I have no desire to do that. However, as consultants on the set, we've had DEA chemists show us how to do it; I have a thriving sideline going now. When we show the making of the product on the air, we don't show it step-by-step, we do it in a montage. We don't want it to become a how-to video. In the first episode of the second season, I directed, and you have my character making a poison out of a bean. I didn't want to show that, so we have a policy that we put it into a montage format. It's much more effective that way, and also you don't show the world.

You don't want kids actually handling ricin.

Exactly.

Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan also wrote the episode of The X-Files you were featured in over a decade ago. Did he remember you, or was getting together for Breaking Bad just a small-world coincidence?

He did remember me, which I'm so grateful for. It's like advice to actors, you know? Do your best and be on your best behavior at all times; you never know what job is going to lead to another. My character in X-Files was this guy in the backseat of a car. The title of the episode was "Drive," and David Duchovny had to drive eighty miles an hour or my head would explode. No one likes to clean that up. The interesting thing is that if [Gilligan] wrote my character to be a nice guy, everyone would say, "Yeah, try to save this guy, he's a sweet guy." That's obvious, [but] Vince made my character a miserable, bigoted son of a bitch, and so it raised a moral dilemma within the lead actor: "Is a human life still worth saving if it's this guy?" And that's the kind of sensitivity that he brings to Breaking Bad. He's able to write a character that you embrace as a human being, and yet you completely hate what he's doing and the decisions that he's made.

You had the opportunity to direct with Breaking Bad's Season 2 premiere episode. How did it feel to boss everybody around behind the camera, after spending so much time being pushed around by others on-camera?

I finally get my revenge! The first day I work I always bring a new crew member on staff for the sole reason that I could fire them and scare everyone else into doing my bidding. Of course, I'm jesting.

You first appeared on Malcolm In the Middle completely naked in the kitchen. For your first appearance on Breaking Bad you sported tighty-whities in the desert. Are you growing more modest over time?

Modest, yes, next I'll have another article of clothing on. I initially wasn't going to wear the tighty-whities as described in the pilot episode of Breaking Bad, because I wore them in Malcolm. Vince said go ahead and change that, and I intended to. I went to my wardrobe call, and they had all kinds of underwear. I chose the tighty-whities for Malcolm because he was a big boy himself, and it really said he still hasn't outgrown this, and made it funny. In Breaking Bad, I kept looking at the other underwear and then I kept looking over at the tighty-whitey. I realized I have to wear these again, [but] for different reasons: a manifestation of Walt's lack of care. His point of view gets stunted at some point, as well, and he just doesn't care what he's wearing. It was indicative of how he felt.

That shot of you in the tighty-whities is the DVD cover for Season 1, and was plastered on billboards here in New York City — billboards which used to feature images of Kate Moss. How does it feel to be such an atypical sex symbol?

You know, I don't want people to just think of me as a sex symbol. Of course, I am, but I don't want them to think I'm shallow. There's more to me than just the obvious sexiness. Beyond the gorgeous exterior is a functioning human being with thoughts and feelings.

In season two, episode three, you're going to see me in all my glory, sans clothes entirely. I don't have a stitch on me in one sequence. There were a couple scenes last year that I actually insisted on [nudity]. There was a moment in the bathroom where I was naked and I said, "You're missing a shot here" to the producers, "a shot of this man who finds himself curled up on the cold tile floor in the bathroom in the morning. He should be naked because that's the way he feels. He's naked to the world." So I curled up into a position that was similar to that of John Lennon curling up to Yoko in bed when he was naked — although he had someone warm to curl up to, I had no one. Without someone next to you, it was a very lonely feeling.

In this season, I'm in a very public place without any clothes. In Season 3, I hope I'll be completely naked, perhaps in some national park somewhere.

I just want to make sure our readers know that they have something to look forward to.

Either to look forward to, or cautionary! "At six minutes into the episode, please divert your eyes as to not burn your retinas."

Walter White has been a physically demanding role: you've grown a mustache, gained weight, shaved your head and then lost weight for the cancer treatment. How'd you do all that so quickly, during what was essentially a seven-episode run?

The easiest thing for a man is to cut things out — not to start calorie-counting, because I couldn't keep track of all that stuff. I borrowed the Atkins/South Beach philosophy of no carbs. All the simple carbs left: pasta, bread, rice, potatoes, that sort of thing, all gone. I'd reduce my portions a little bit and maintain my exercise program, along with no alcohol, no simple sugar. I'd still have, like, an apple. I'd get sugar that way — and bulk and vitamins — and I'd still have vegetables, so I'd get carbohydrates that way without the simple carbohydrates. If you starve your body of carbohydrates, and you're still asking it to function, it has to use something as fuel. Its first desire is carbohydrates. Gimme the sugar. Gimme the sugar. It burns that fast. If you deprive it of sugar, it goes to fat. It's a really simple philosophy, but it works.

Breaking Bad and beyond: what else can we expect from you in the future?

I wrote and directed Last Chance, a sweet romantic drama, that's going to premiere the night before Breaking Bad, on WE. I wrote it as a valentine for my wife, Robin Dearden, who stars in the movie with me.

How did your wife feel about you making this for her?

She was lovin' it! Of course, as a guy, I'm saying, "Look what I did here for you for Valentine's Day. I don't need to do anything romantic for the next five or six years, right?" That's not the way it works, but I was hoping I could skate for a while.

Derrick Sanskrit is a graphic artist and pop culture junkie operating out of NYC. He has produced critically acclaimed* work for Pitchfork, Nerve, Babble, ESPN, Upright Citizens Brigade, the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art and more. He pontificates about the collaboration of art and music for Nerve's video game blog, 61 Frames Per Second.

*everyone's a critic.

Advertising's CLIO Awards Honor "Mad Men"

Jake Kalish — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:22:00 GMT

Huh. This seems like a case of life not getting art, doesn't it? Yes, the show is great, the cast looks great, and that Don Draper is one smart, handsome man. But he's also a phony - and he and his fellow Mad Men are heavy drinkers, adulterers, and liars - illusionists who use ad campaigns, both literal and metaphorical, to hide the truth. Having the ad industry honor them seems kind of like the Gambino family throwing a big party for the cast of The Sopranos. But honor them they will...

The CLIO Awards will present its first honorary statues to Barry Manilow and Mad Men show creator/producer Matthew Weiner for their contributions to the advertising industry at its 50th anniversary gathering at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino May 12-14 in Las Vegas.

Weiner will accept an honorary statue during the Communications Awards on May 12, a 1960s-themed evening featuring Billboard pop hits, Rat Pack entertainment and ad imagery from the Mad Men era.

Uh, okay. Hell, maybe we're being nitpicky here - Matthew Weiner is the man, and deserves whatever accolades he gets. Ooooh, one more thing - AMC will start airing repeats of Mad Men Season 2 starting March 8th. We may have our very own 1960's-themed evening.

PREVIOUSLY:

Our Mad Men Archive

AMC Is Into Sci-Fi Porn?

Olivia Purnell — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:02:00 GMT

There are channels that we associate with Science Fiction. And, there are channels that we associate with pornography. American Movie Classics was a channel we associated with Katherine Hepburn, and, like, Spartacus.

Until today.

Today, the folks at AMC have shown us that even the classiest of channels likes it dirty from time to time. See AMC’s overview of Sci-Fi porn after the jump.

Oh, yeah, and kids, if you don’t know already, this vid is prob NSFW. Unless you work at a porn shop or AMC, then it’s cool.

Ewww, did you hear the way he said "naughty?"

Doesn’t this strike you as odd? Is this really in the AMC mission statement? Paragraph 4, Line 3: In addition to airing hour-long specials on film noir, AMC will also dedicate 7% of its programming to the exploration the mainstream film industry’s naughty influence on hardcore porn.

It’s just weird is all.

(fleshbot.com)

Previously:

The FBI Is Now Investigating The Super Bowl Porn
“Happy Days” Gets Down and Dirty . . . XXX Dirty

"Mad Men" Creator Matthew Weiner Is Signed; Everybody Can Exhale

Jake Kalish — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:10:00 GMT

Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner has signed a seven-figure deal with producer Lions Gate Entertainment to bring arguably the best show on television back to television for a third and fourth season. (We said arguably, but please don't actually argue with us; we hate conflict.)

These were tough, long negotiations, and things seemed a little touch-and go for a while; Lions Gate and AMC were at least saying they had a Plan B in place to have Mad Men come back without Weiner. Which pretty much seems like a Plan Z - they needed him, and were just trying to get back some leverage. But a deal was reached without Weiner getting the reported $10 mil a year he was asking for - a wildly exorbitant price for a show on a small network like AMC which, despite all the critical acclaim, doesn't get huge ratings. As it is, this is the largest television deal Lions Gate has ever signed, and AMC is footing part of the bill.

So why didn't Weiner play hardball even harder and, um, ball-ier? Well, this show has a lot of momentum, which shouldn't be lost. And, in the end, Mad Men is his legacy. Also, seven figures is a lot of money. Don't count on your fingers. It's over a hundred dollars.

PREVIOUSLY:

OUR MAD MEN ARCHIVE

January Jones Does Vanity Fair a Favor

The Weekly Rewind: Seriously, Is This Election Over Yet?

Ben Kallen — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:30:00 GMT

Nope, not yet! TV's still all about politics -- and, on the other hand, distracting ourselves from politics -- as we'll find out when we recall the highlights of the week.

We watched hot Sarah Palin on SNL, and she was funnier than the average guest host. Coming soon: Ellen Show dancer Barack Obama. Too bad one of these two will be elected soon -- we smell comedy team! (Don't forget to add this guy.)

Opie Cunningham came back through time from 30-plus years ago! (To, um, tell us how to vote today.)

We watched the season premiere of 30 Rock -- before it aired on TV! The Internet is cool.

We heard that someone still doesn't like the looks of Dancing With the Stars' Cheryl Burke. Someone crazy.

...Or else maybe Dancing is cursed.

We set Lance Bass against Joey Fatone, and Dwight against Gareth. Remember, no talking about Fight Club!

We heard that Lindsay Lohan's having problems -- and this time, it's personal.

We saw the new CSI tech naked, which probably means she'll be murdered off soon.

We heard that William Shatner got into a spat with George Takei. Did you know they used to work together?

Just like Desmond, we predicted what's going to happen next on Lost.

We saw a preview of 50 Cent's new show, and it was kind of like business school. Heck, the guy's name is money.

We got mad at Fringe for being too much like other shows, but then realized that without other shows, it wouldn't be about anything.

What the hell, AMC? You say you're bringing back Mad Men, but neither the creator nor the actors have contracts yet? Is that any way to treat the best show on TV?

We wondered why anyone would want to dress like this lady anyway.

More Dexter, yay! More Knight Rider -- huh?

We saw Se cond Becky give a loud kiss-off to Ted on How I Met Your Mother. We love ya, sister, but please do not get back with J.D. on Scrubs.

And we noticed that House and Gray's Anatomy have figured out what we really want in a medical series: girl-on-girl action.

But not this kind.

Previously:
The Weekly Rewind: Everyone's a Comedian

"Mad Men" Actors Don't Have Contracts, Either

Ben Kallen — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:20:00 GMT

As we reported last week, American Movie Classics made a deal to bring Mad Men back for a third season, even though they haven't managed to negotiate a new contract with writer-creator Matthew Weiner. But now it turns out that there's another little detail they sort of forgot about: the actors.

According to Fox entertainment journalist Roger Friedman, "the network has no agreements with [Emmy-nominated] stars Jon Hamm and John Slattery, or any of the other cast members."

What? Um, how the heck do they expect to make the show then?

Of course, Mad Men has one of the best ensemble casts on television, and any of the actors would be sorely missed if AMC couldn't cut a deal with them. But Friedman points out that Don Draper himself might be the most difficult to bring back. "Hamm in particular poses a problem since he's turned into a huge breakout star. If Mad Men ended right now, the 36-year-old actor could go to movies and easily become the next George Clooney. This puts AMC and [coproducer Lionsgate Pictures] in a strange position to renegotiate Hamm's contract. It's going to cost them more than they've probably ever paid for anything."

We mentioned before that doing the show without Weiner at the helm would be nearly impossible. Still, maybe the other writers could hack it -- the way Peggy managed to take over for Don on the show this week while he was off on his vision quest. But to do the show without Draper himself, the mighty -- and mighty conflicted -- lead character? What would be the point?

We're waiting to see what's going to happen with all this, but it doesn't look good. And with all the crapola on TV these days, the idea that a small cable channel couldn't be bothered to negotiate contracts for its showcase series -- one of the best dramas of the decade -- just kinda sucks.

Previously:
Oh Noes!! The Future of Mad Men May Be in Doubt
Mad Men: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

"Mad Men": The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Ben Kallen — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:20:00 GMT

This was another episode full of seemingly small events stacked on top of each other. And yet so much actually occurred: We got the answers to who the woman was who confronted Don back when he worked in the car dealership, who he sent that book of poetry to, and who he called using his own name last week -- and they were all the same person. We met the first purely nice character we've seen since the show began. But we also saw one of the worst things ever to happen on this show, and it was awful.

Betty's at home, paying bills and yelling at the kids. She catches Sally smoking in the bathroom, and is furious that her daughter would do something she herself does about 20 times a day. Sally really, really wants her daddy to come home, and senses that Betty's lying when she says Don's on a "trip," although at this point he actually is. But Don's absence doesn't keep Betty from using him to pull a guilt trip on Sally, saying how disappointed he'd be in her.

So where is Don? He's getting off a bus in San Pedro, California. He's apparently finished with the rich young hottie and her Eurotrash friends from last week, and thank goodness for that.

In a flashback, we see him meeting with the woman who accosted him at the car dealership long ago, the one who said she knew he wasn't Don Draper. And no wonder: That was the real Don Draper's wife, Anna. She's a little scared to be alone with him, but she wants to know the truth about what happened to her husband. So Don tells her: The real Don Draper died in combat, and there was a mix-up in identities that he never corrected because he wanted to escape his own life.

Apparently, she was okay with this. And now, as Don visits with her in the present, they seem awfully cozy together. It seems he gave her some money way back when, and they got to be close. And as they talk, he's more open and honest with her than he's ever been with anyone. Of course, she's the only person who knows him for who he really is. He admits that he ruined everything with his wife and kids, and that he essentially disowned his brother. He's been watching his life, he says, but he can't get into it.

Back in New York, Peggy calls a meeting in her Xerox-equipped office, which the others call a "storage closet." They're trying to get the Popsicle account, and Peggy clearly has some great ideas, despite the constant stream of secretaries flowing in and out. Then a Xerox repairman comes by and bawls her out for misusing the fine machine, thinking her proximity means she's the Secretary in Charge of Making Copies.

Trudy has made an appointment with an adoption agency, and Pete is pi-i-i-issed. "We are not adopting a child, and that is final!" he whines, before throwing his dinner out the upper-level apartment window, where it literally could have killed someone below. Later, his father-in-law calls, and suggests that he's putting the Clearasil account "up for review." Basically, he's blackmailing Pete into adopting a child, and doing whatever else it might take to make Trudy happy. Pete can see where this is headed, and tells him to go ahead and pull the account if that's what it would take to keep it.

Joan and her fiance Greg are in bed. We've already seen that he doesn't like it when she gets too assertive at work, and now we find out that he doesn't like that sort of thing when it comes to sex, either. He wants to know where she learned whatever it is she's doing -- implying, essentially, that she's a slut. Apparently he's been "tired" a lot lately too. Now he just turns away from her and sulks.

Another flashback with Don and Anna -- it's Christmas, and they're exchanging presents. He tells her he met a girl -- it's Betty -- and intends to marry her, which Anna seems genuinely happy about. Except he needs Anna to "divorce" him, since, on paper at least, he's her husband. She's nice as hell -- if he were smart, he would have stayed fake-married to her. But it's kind of telling that the only woman he's ever been completely honest with is also the only one he's apparently never slept with. He promises to keep taking care of her, and seems to mean it.

At the Popsicle meeting, Peggy's in charge, and they're telling the clients that Don's "under the weather." She goes with a sentimental campaign that's about how people feel good when they break Popsicles apart and share the two halves. It's a very Don Draperish idea -- she's really been learning. It works, and they get the account.

Later, Peggy grabs Roger in the hall and tells him that now that she's a copywriter, and is bringing in business, she needs a real office of her own. She asks for Freddy Rumson's, which has been vacant for a while. (Amazing how none of the other sharks have scooped it up yet.) He agrees, and her climb up the ladder of power and status continues.

Joan brings Greg to the office on the way to dinner, and introduces him to Roger and Peggy. Roger's familiar talk with Joan clues Greg in to the fact that the two of them have a history together. He takes her into Don's office to play "boss and secretary," but his idea of romance goes sour fast. He pushes her onto the floor and starts forcing her to submit, despite her protests. He basically rapes her, as she stares at the wall blankly. It only lasts a few seconds, but it's the most horrible of all the horrible things that've happened on this show so far.

Betty calls Sarabeth, her friend from the stable, presumably to talk about sending Sally to private school. She mentions that Arthur's getting married soon. Sarabeth knows, and is terribly upset about it. We remember a couple of weeks ago, when Betty sublimated her own crush on Arthur by setting him up with Sarabeth, even though she's married too. Sarabeth admits she made a "terrible mistake" with Arthur. And good ol' Betty gets all self-righteous and nasty about it, despite the fact that she basically pushed the two of them together. "You're an awful woman, you know that?" Sarabeth replies. At this point, it's true.

Peggy moves into her new office, and all the other writers are brimming with envy about her major leap forward. Joan, who's holding down the fort at Don's office next door, may also be jealous, but is keeping it to herself. Meanwhile, Peggy tells her what a great guy Greg seems to be, and Joan tries to sound upbeat about him. The only question now is whether this vibrant, formerly independent woman will stay with a monster because she's 31 and single, and he looks so good on the outside.

At a partners' meeting to vote on the merger, Cooper's sister wants to know where Don is. She's condescending toward Roger, who just wants the money to live with his 20-year-old fiancee. And Cooper himself, who realizes he's being put out to pasture, isn't happy about the merger at all. But with the exception of absent Don's 12.5 percent share, it goes through unanimously.

At Anna's in the present, she's dealng tarot cards. And look, there's the copy of Meditations in an Emergency Don sent her. "You are part of the world," she tells him after turning over a particularly meaningful card. "The only thing keeping you from being happy is the belief that you are alone." While he'd like things to be different, he's doubtful it can happen. "People don't change," he says.

Trying to seem like she's not an awful person after all -- and beginning to think that Don may never come home -- Betty makes nice with Sally. She gives her daughter a new pair of riding boots, and then finally tells her the truth, that they've had a fight and Don's gone away. Sally takes it surprisingly well.

Wearing pants but no shirt, Don walks into the ocean. He raises his arms to the sun, as if trying to be reborn. But he's done that before. So can people change or not? Looks like he's going to show us, either way.

Previously:
Mad Men: California Dreamin'

Oh Noes!! The Future of "Mad Men" May Be in Doubt

Ben Kallen — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:55:00 GMT

Here's some lousy news: The third season of Mad Men, which many fans consider to be the best show on television right now, is looking iffy. So what happened to creator Matthew Weiner's five-year plan to take the characters through the entire '60s?

According to the New York Post, Weiner hasn't been able to come to a deal with AMC and Lionsgate Pictures. No scripts have been written, and there's no starting production date or air date set for another season. The paper suggests that the Emmy-winning drama might jump to Showtime or HBO, where Weiner worked on The Sopranos.

Meanwhile, Variety has a whole different take on the situation: It's reporting that AMC has "formerly exercised its option for a third season," and will bring the show back whether or not Weiner is aboard. Which is great, except that Weiner writes or cowrites most of the episodes, and it's his sensibility that the show chiefly reflects. Frankly, Mad Men without him would be like Sterling Cooper without Don Draper: It might still exist, but who would care?

Let's hope this is all sorted out sooner rather than later. 1964 is approaching fast, and we darn well want to see it!

Previously:
Mad Men: California Dreamin'
The Future of Mad Men Revealed

"Mad Men": California Dreamin'

Ben Kallen — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:20:00 GMT

Okay, so remember how Roger left his wife of 30 years for Don's hot young secretary? Well, now she's lying in bed, after the two of them have apparently had sex. She's writing some half-decent poetry, which Roger can hardly believe. And we just know this is going to turn out to be the biggest mistake of Roger's life, but at the moment, he actually seems kind of lucky. "It doesn't matter how old I am -- our souls are the same age," she says to the white-haired guy who's had two cardiac events. Then he asks her to marry him, and she agrees.

At the office, the copywriters are going over a survey of Right Guard users. Salvatore is leafing through a Playboy and looking unamused (of course, Playgirl hasn't been invented yet). Between them, they decide that Right Guard needs a new product, just for women. The new young, foreign art guy, Kurt, talks about how he recently saw Bob Dylan in concert, and Peggy hints that she'd like to go with him next time. He kind of asks her out, so it looks like she has a date.

Don and Pete have made it to California. They're in uncomfortable-looking suits, standing by a hotel pool and admiring the view. But apparently flying wasn't so different back then, because TWA lost Don's luggage, and he needs to find some new clothes. Pete wants to hang out and swim, but Don tells him to start schmoozing with the conventiongoers early. Meanwhile, Don himself has nothing to do but hang out in the hotel, where he sees a woman who looks disturbingly like his wife, Betty. It's the first sign that things are going to be very strange for him on this trip. An older European man comes up to him, says that he's a viscount, and introduces a very pretty young woman, Joy, who's been dying to meet the handsome, aloof stranger. Don's intrigued, but he turns down their dinner invitation, just as Pete shows up and ruins the party anyway.

Roger has a meeting with his lawyer, who suggests that an "arrangement" with his wife would be a lot easier, and cheaper, than a divorce and new marriage. Roger says no, and insists that his wife isn't entitled to any of his family or business money anyway. He says he's been miserable with Mona for years, though we don't think he ever mentioned that to her. "She's lucky I'm giving her anything," he says. The lawyer says Mona's being "extra irrational" about the situation, and wants alimony plus a list of conditions. Roger's in for some tough times ahead, but it's not as if he doesn't deserve it.

Duck, who knows the lawyer -- his ex-wife's, maybe? -- comes in for a meeting with Roger. Now that he's been at the firm two years, he wants to know if he's up for partnership. But Roger shoots him down, saying that he hasn't delivered on his promises to improve the agency's business, and that he'd better start bringing in more money if he wants to get ahead.

In L.A., Don and Pete attend a meeting with a bunch of space nerds from a company working on a new military rocket that they claim could completely annihilate the USSR. It's pretty scary stuff, and Don seems disturbed by it. At the hotel, Don encounters Joy, and she's looking good. Hey, what's a good cure for thinking about armageddon? Joy invites him to go to Palm Springs, and he turns her down again, then changes his mind and gets in the car with her. Of course, he isn't just cheating on his wife again, but blowing off Pete and a business meeting with the guys from General Dynamics, too. Bad Don!

At Joy's friends' spectacular house in Palm Springs, the viscount and some other jaded Eurotrash types are lounging around the pool. Don has a drink, then turns white and faints. We don't know if he's really sick, or if it's just a symptom of his displacement in this hot place with these weird people. When he wakes up, a bearded doctor with an accent declares that he has heat exhaustion and tries to inject him with something, but Don says all he needs is water and aspirin. Good call, dude -- this was coming uncomfortably close to turning into a David Lynch movie.

They have Mexican food for dinner, which Don's never tried before. (For the record, Taco Bell was first franchised in 1964.) They start playing that game where you have to say a city that starts with the letter that the last one ended with, and the bored riches are surprised that Don's so good at it. But Joy shuts him up by kissing him, a lot. She takes him to bed, and Don still feels completely out of place but he goes for it.

When he wakes up the next morning, she's reading Faulkner. They're pretty much naked under the sheets, but the viscount comes in and sits down on the bed for some conversation. He calls Don "beautiful." Oh, and guess what? It turns out he's Joy's father. These Europeans may be a little creepy, but they're certainly less repressed than all the Americans on this show.

Back at the office, about a dozen boxes of donuts are delivered, courtesy of a new account. As the staff gobbles down what they won't learn for years are horribly unhealthful circles of sin, Kurt reminds Peggy, in front of all the others, of their date later on. Everyone pokes fun at the new couple -- until Kurt just comes out and declares, "I'm homosexual." See how that's done, Salvatore? Kurt's writing partner doesn't seem so happy with his forthrightness, but Kurt doesn't care. In case there's any confusion, he adds, "I make love with the men, not the women." The second he leaves the room, the other guys start making fun of the "pervert" in front of Sal, and all of a sudden the closet doesn't seem like such a bad place.

Duck meets with his old British employers in a restaurant, and suggests he'd like his job back. But they aren't hiring. Worse, they keep ordering martinis for him and insisting he drink. He tries one, and likes it. Apparently he has been abstaining up till now, but it looks as if the floodgates have finally opened. And worse still, he ups the ante by offering to help the Europeans buy Sterling Cooper and scoop up its clients. He points out that the fact that Roger has a 20-year-old fiancé and an angry wife would make the agency ripe for the picking. Of course, he'd get a finder's fee and remain in charge. As evil schemes go, it's kind of brilliant.

Kurt comes over to Peggy's apartment, and she isn't sure how to deal with his revelation. "I don't know why I pick the wrong boys," she says. (Four decades before Will and Grace, it doesn't occur to her that she could just have a gay friend.) He offers to provide her with a more professional hairstyle (which is the first stereotype we've come across -- is there any reason he should know how to cut hair?). He gives her a That Girl flip, and it really does make her look a little more mature.

Back in Palm Springs, Joy tells Don that her nomadic crew is headed to Nassau -- "something about taxes." She invites him to go, and it clearly stirs up his old hobo instincts to ditch everything and run away. She says that her father will take care of him. Sorry, chickie, but that's not the way Ayn Rand heroes behave. And then one of their group shows up with a couple of kids in tow, and Don sees the limits of this kind of no-borders lifestyle.

Pete comes back to New York, and says the business in L.A. was great, but he wouldn't want to live there. (With Don away, he had arranged to hold all his meetings by the hotel pool so he could hit on girls, but apparently they all turned him down.) An entire case of Tanqueray gin is delivered to Duck, either from his old employers or as a gift from himself. As he starts covering up his breath with mints, it looks like he's more likely to end up in the gutter than the board room. But when he meets with Roger and Cooper, he seems more like his sharklike old self. He claims that the Europeans contacted him about making Sterling Cooper their New York office, and gives them just a few days to decide about it. Roger still doesn't trust him, but Cooper is open to the idea.

In Palm Springs again, Don seems to be going native -- he's already tan and hanging out in swim trunks. But then he calls someone, identifying himself as Dick Whitman. WHAT?!? (For those just tuning in -- and this is a complicated show -- that's his real name, the one that he's spent his entire adult life escaping.) Whoever the mysterious person is, he makes plans for a meeting, writing the details down on the last page of The Sound and the Fury, which he tears out of Joy's book. (Bastard!) We have no idea when, or if, he's planning to return to New York.

And TWA finally delivers his suitcase to his home back in the suburbs, but nobody's there. In the Draper family, it seems as if nobody's anywhere.

Previously:
All about Mad Men

"Mad Men" Recap: After Hours

Ben Kallen — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:20:00 GMT

As usual with (the now Emmy-winning) Mad Men, the plot moves slowly, through small scenes rich with detail. So we're surprised when something big happens, and when it does -- blammo! And this episode is a perfect example.

Evicted from his own home, Don wakes up in a hotel room, coughing up a storm. He's shirtless, and looks awfully fit for a guy who smokes and drinks and lives in an era without health clubs. Freshly shined shoes and a newspaper are waiting for him outside the door. A banner headline announces the death of Marilyn Monroe, wondering if it was an accident or suicide.

Speaking of beautiful, sad blondes, Betty's at home, just getting out of bed as the housekeeper takes the kids off to school. She seems to be in pretty bad shape, and ends up just putting on a housecoat and defrosting the refrigerator. Bored with that, she turns on the radio, but it's more speculation about Marilyn. So she sits down with some wine to read Katherine Anne Porter's Ship of Fools -- a just-published satire of human frailty and prejudice.

She falls asleep again, and is woken up by the doorbell... it's Sarabeth, her friend from the stables. They talk about Arthur, the guy they've both been flirting with, and Betty tells Sarabeth she should stop thinking about him so much. She says of romantic feelings, "It's a switch you can flip on and off, you know." Interesting.

At work, everyone's talking about Marilyn, and comparing her life to their own. Peggy, the sensible one, mentions how lucky the agency is that Playtex turned down that "Jackie vs. Marilyn" bra campaign from earlier on, since they'd have had to cancel the whole thing at this point. Her insight impresses Don, especially since all the other women in the office are literally weeping over MM.

The agency is having a blood drive, and there's competition between departments to see who gives the most. Don decides to cheat in favor of Creative by making all the low-level employees copywriters for the day. Which is... interesting, but not very important at this point. Small moments.

Back in Don's office, the day takes a turn for the worse -- Jane, his beautiful secretary, admits that his daughter called to ask when he'd be home from his "business trip." So he's apparently been shut out of his house for a while, and, worse, now Jane knows his business. But she seems to take it all in stride -- in fact, she uses the opportunity to become ever more indispensable to him over the next few days, buying him new shirts (from Menken's department store) and bringing him breakfast in the morning. Is she making a play to become the new Mrs. Draper?

Pete, Peggy and Salvatore come into Freddie Rumsen's office to prepare for a client presentation for Samsonite Luggage. Right in the middle of the discussion, in front of everyone, Freddie pees his pants. Which is bad enough, but then he passes out at his desk. He's clearly very, very drunk. Pete says he doesn't want to tell Don, so they agree that Peggy will give the presentation. Which, Peggy being Peggy, goes quite well.

The next day, Freddie apologizes to Peggy for the incident, and she sort of assures him that she won't tell anyone what happened. But Pete, of course, goes running to Roger to tattle. Roger and Duck tell Don they want Freddie gone, but Don argues to keep him out of loyalty. Duck says, "We're not doing him any favors keeping him around," and as a fellow alcoholic, he should know. Roger decides to send him on a "six-month leave of absence," during which he'll go away to dry out, at full salary. Actually, that sounds like a pretty good deal, except it's obvious that he's never coming back.

Don, who in some ways is too upright for his own good, later castigates some of the younger guys for making jokes about Freddie at the blood drive. (Metaphor alert: Freddie's given all his blood to the agency?) Of course, they don't know he's about to be dumped.

Meanwhile, that on/off switch of Betty's may not be working so well, because the next time she's at the stable she makes sure to run into Arthur, and suggests that he, she and Sarabeth go to lunch together. We can only wonder if Sarabeth will make it, or if Betty intends to meet him on her own. But when the time comes, it's Betty who doesn't show. The whole thing was a setup for Arthur and Sarabeth -- which is a pretty good way for Betty to sublimate her own interest in him, if that's what she had in mind.

That evening, Roger and Don take Freddie out to dinner to deliver the bad news. Freddie argues for himself and makes some good points -- after all, he drinks as part of his job to keep up with his clients, and it's not as if he's the only one who knocks back the hooch at work. But he realizes he's pretty much washed up no matter what he says.

And then Roger decides that to make things better, the three of them should spend the night drinking together. Is that ironic, or just hilarious? Half in the tank already, they end up at an illegal gambling club. (History note: They see heavyweight champ Floyd Patterson there, and Roger predicts he'll only be champion for another few months. Which is exactly what happened -- Sonny Liston knocked him out in September of 1962.)

Speaking of knockouts! Don notices that someone else they know is in the club: Jimmy Barrett, whom he blames for his marital problems (probably overlooking the part where he was sleeping with Jimmy's wife). Anyhow, he walks right up to Jimmy and punches him in the face, knocking him to the ground.

The trio skedaddles out of there, fast. They put Freddie in a cab, and as he's leaving things get serious again. He seems genuinely worried about his future: "If I don't go into that office every day," he says, "who am I?" It's some great acting by Joel Murray -- kind of hard to remember at this point that he was once the comic relief on Dharma & Greg.

Now Roger and Don are at yet another bar -- would it even be possible to count the number of drinks they've had in the course of this one night? Don describes punching Jimmy as a "real Archibald Whitman maneuver," probably saying his father's name aloud for the first time in years. He finally admits that Betty kicked him out, but adds that he doesn't feel bad so much as relieved. He says he wants more out of life, but doesn't know what that would mean. Roger says he understands. The whole thing seems like little more than a couple of drunk guys blathering.

The next day, Don tells Peggy that she'll be taking over Freddie's job. She feels bad about what happened to Freddie, but Don basically tells her to Ayn Rand up about it respect her own talent. Still, the way it all happened bothers her, so she heads right over to Pete's office to tear into him for ratting on Freddie. Pete defends himself like the slimy weasel he is, although he's right that it seems to have worked out well for everyone. And at the next meeting, Duck's already treating her as the copywriter in charge.

Oh, and one more thing: Roger's wife comes storming into Don's office, furious. It seems that Roger decided to leave her for a secretary, based largely on that drunken conversation the two of them had about getting what you want out of life. And it turns out that the one Roger's been canoodling with lately isn't the now-married Joan, but Unplain Jane. Surprise! Don's only response is to ask for a new secretary.

Photo: AMC

Previously:
Mad Men Recap: Coming Unbottled

Sunday-Night TV Party!

Ben Kallen — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:08:00 GMT

Okay, so Friday night we get two guys debating over whose plan will fix the economy (answer: neither), and Saturday is mostly reruns because the networks assume you're out getting drunk. That leaves Sunday as the next big night for new shows and season premieres.

So here are your many choices for Sunday-night viewing entertainment:

ABC: Extreme Makeover, Home Edition Boo-hoo, then yay! Either you like this sort of thing or you don't.

ABC: Desperate Housewives The whole show moves five years into the future. Does this mean everyone can stop using all the Botox?

ABC: Brothers & Sisters They bicker! They make up! They sleep with each other! (Okay, just former siblings Justin and Rebecca, but still -- eww.)

CBS: 60 Minutes Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson explains why the government's giving billions of dollars to the bank that's foreclosing on your home. Plus, the scientist who's testing that new supercollider device explains why it probably won't destroy the universe, he hopes. Fun!

CBS: The Amazing Race 13 Everyone's always saying that this is the best reality-competition show out there. So how come we always watch it with our finger on the fast-forward button?

CBS: Cold Case Detectives figure out who murdered someone a long time ago, while pop music from that era plays in their heads. You were expecting something different?

CBS: The Unit The team attempts to stop the assassination of the president-elect and vice-president elect. Guess that means neither of them owns a moose gun.

NBC: Sunday Night Football If this wins in the ratings, all the networks execs will be thinking, "Now, why do we pay writers again?"

Fox: The Simpsons As the 20th season begins, Homer and Marge get unlikely new jobs. Look for a joke about how many times this has happened on the show before, then another joke about how many times they've made a joke like that before.

Fox: King of the Hill Bill's love of sweets causes him to develop diabetes, which is totally different from the time Bobby's love of fatty foods caused him to develop gout. Sorry, these shows are great, but maybe it's time for something new around here.

Fox: Family Guy Brian and Cleveland get into a love triangle, which reminds us of the time we saw Raquel Welch eat 20 pounds of raw bacon at the People's Choice Awards.

Fox: American Dad It's Roger the alien's birthday, and he continues to creep us out in ways we don't entirely understand.

HBO: Entourage Johnny Drama goes on The View -- and we can't imagine that not being funny.

HBO: Little Britain USA In its new American version, the British sketch comedy is still all about the dick jokes.

HBO: The Life and Times of Tim A young dude suffers through all kinds of hardships and humiliations. It's like Worst Week, but darker. And animated.

Showtime: Dexter Some critics have complained that the third season is too similar to the first two. To us, that's a good thing. Watch this show.

Showtime: Californication Sure, there's something weird about diagnosed sex addict David Duchovny playing an undiagnosed sex addict. But as much as we hate to like Californication, we like it anyway.

AMC: Mad Men Make that the Emmy-winning Mad Men. What else is there to say?

Photo collage: Egregiously "borrowed" from Alan Sepinwall on NJ.com

Previously:
TV Orgy Tonight!

We'd Also Like To Thank...

Ben Kallen — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:55:00 GMT

Christina Hendricks.

We're glad Mad Men won the Emmy for best drama, but we're also grateful for the chance to find out that "Joan Holloway" looks every bit as good in 2008 as she does in 1962.

Mad Men

The Emmy Awards

Photos: AP, Reuters, AMC

Previously:
Hey, There Were Actually a Few Surprises at Last Night's Emmys
Mad Men Recap: Coming Unbottled

Hey, There Were Actually A Few Surprises At Last Night's Emmys

Bryan Christian — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:28:00 GMT

Don't tell us we're the only ones completely floored by the fact that Bryan Cranston -- who we love, even if we never saw Breaking Bad -- won Best Actor in a Drama. It's flooring! Malcolm's Dad took the award away from Don Freaking Draper! And got more votes than Dexter! Do you think the vote got split? Who can say. In any event, bravo to Cranston and AMC, who managed to snag a Best Actor award even if Jon Hamm went home empty handed.

And that wasn't the only surprise last night. Can you say "Ivanek"? (No really, can you? Now try "Zeljko".) Click through for a full list of winners.

PREVIOUSLY
Our Picks for the Emmys

Outstanding Drama Series: Mad Men

Outstanding Comedy Series: 30 Rock

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin for 30 Rock

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Bryan Cranston for Breaking Bad

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie: Paul Giamatti for John Adams

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Tina Fey for 30 Rock

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Glenn Close for Damages

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie: Laura Linney for John Adams

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Jeremy Piven for Entourage

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Zeljko Ivanek for Damages

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie: Tom Wilkinson for John Adams

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Jean Smart for Samantha Who?

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Dianne Wiest for In Treatment

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie: Eileen Atkins for Cranford

Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series: The Daily Show

Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Special: Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project

Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality - Competition Program: Jeff Probst for Survivor

Outstanding Made for Television Movie: Recount

Outstanding Miniseries: John Adams

Outstanding Reality Competition Program: The Amazing Race

Outstanding Reality Program: Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List

"Mad Men" Recap: Coming Unbottled

Ben Kallen — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:25:00 GMT

We open with Betty riding her horse like she's trying to win the Kentucky Derby. We've never actually seen her breathe hard and sweat before, and it humanizes her. But she's clearly reeling from last weeks's revelation of Don's infidelity, and her attempt to sublimate her anger isn't working.

At home, Betty and Don discuss a work-related dinner party they're planning, and they're curt with each other, but don't bring up the real issues. Later, when only the future therapy patients she calls kids are at home with her, Betty sees that the legs of a chair are coming loose ("coming loose," get it?) and she smashes the whole thing to bits.

Peggy runs into Father John at her sister's house, and he asks her to put her skills to work getting publicity for a church dance. But when she makes up a few flyers, the dance committee finds them far too racy -- the headline, "A Night to Remember," sends "the wrong message" to girls. Quite reasonably, Peggy responds that the slogan is actually wholesome and romantic.

Father John asks her to pitch the idea to the church ladies herself, and you just know that won't go well. It basically turns into a parody of an ad-sales meeting gone south, with the clients nitpicking and changing every detail. Peggy tears into the priest for undercutting her, almost exactly the same way Don complained about Duck a few weeks ago.

Peggy takes the clergyman into her office to Xerox the new flyers, and he undiplomatically chooses that spot to ask her if "there's anything she wants to talk about," meaning her premarital sex and out-of-wedlock baby. Which is kind of a jerky move, no offense to Father Colin Hanks. She says he wouldn't understand, and he responds that he would, because he wasn't always a priest. He says she can have "a whole new start" -- which is pretty much what Don told her in the hospital, except without the religion part. She still shuts him out, but it looks as if he's starting to get to her.

As head and sole employee of the agency's brand-new television department, Harry is already in trouble. It seems that in the ABC Sunday Night Movie this week, a Russian spy was called an "agitator," right before the network aired an ad for a Maytag washing machine, itself dubbed the Amazing Agitator. Since Harry had no idea that dealing with those issues was even part of his job, he needs to find an underling who can examine scripts for conflicts and, if necessary, absorb some of the blame. But Roger informs him that certain people aren't happy with his work so far, and that the company won't pay to hire someone to help him.

What he does get is Joan, who agrees to read the scripts in her free time because she finds them interesting.Though when she tells her fiance about this, he doesn't much like the idea that his woman is into reading -- even if it's just episodes of As the World Turns.

Meanwhile, another client, the importer of a new beer from Holland called Heineken, thinks the agency should be doing more to get the product served in bars. Don thinks that instead of pushing into an already crowded market, they should take advantage of the romance of a faraway land, and sell the beer to housewives as a luxury item. They agree to test-market it at stores in the nearby suburbs.

This comes into play at the Drapers' party, where the guests include Roger and his wife Mona, the now-single Duck, and a PR guy and his own tipsy wife. Betty serves an "international" menu, including a fancy new beer she just found in the store that's imported from Holland. That gets a good laugh from the guys, and Betty's a little perturbed to learn that, by virtue of his sales prowess, Don has manipulated her into buying something without her even knowing it.

Afterward, she picks a fight about it with Don, saying the discussion embarrassed her. But it's obvious why she's really upset, and she finally comes out with it: "I know about you and that woman," she says. And then, hilariously: "How could you? She's so old!" Don denies and denies and denies, but we know that he knows that she knows it's true. And Betty holds her ground, and she ends up sleeping in the kids' room that night.

The next day, drunk and disheveled, Betty goes through Don's things, smelling his clothes and looking in the pockets, then rifling through his desk drawer. She doesn't find anything, but that just makes her more upset.

That night, she tries to have a real discussion with him. "You never look me in the eye," she says. "You never say 'I love you.' Do you hate me?" It's kind of heartbreaking. And Don insists he loves her, and then says, "I don't want to lose all this," which is what he really means. But Don can never admit when he's lying, even to himself.

Then life goes on, and we're back in the office. In a meeting with the Heineken folks, Duck brings up Betty's purchase of their beer as an example of why the plan of marketing to housewives will work. He goes on about Betty's party menu, and how important it is for her to be "the perfect hostess... the perfect wife," as Don gets more and more uncomfortable. But that doesn't keep Draper from arguing for the new concept himself, and the beer barons go for it. Another victory for our men at Sterling Cooper.

As the new script expert, Joan starts going to client meetings and -- after she blows them away with her looks -- she wows them with her knowledge of the intricacies of various soap operas. She sells one client on the idea of buying time on As the World Turns because it's about to have an "unmissable" storyline, which could lead to more viewers for the same money. Roger gets positive reports from the clients, and decides that the TV department can have another employee after all -- which leaves the count of women at this firm who've achieved upward mobility at two.

Except, not so fast! While Joan thinks she has the job, Harry's already hired a guy from outside. Who has no idea what he's doing, and is glad Joan will be around as office manager so she can help him with the details. Ever aware of her place in the business' hierarchy, Joan doesn't complain. (Did she hit an extremely low glass ceiling, or did Harry decide that she was too good and would make him look bad by comparison? We don't know.)

Finally, it's the end of a very long day. Betty sees Jimmy Barrett's stupid potato-chip commercial on TV, gets mad all over again, calls Don at work and tells him not to come home. Joan takes off her work clothes, and rubs the red spot where her girdle cuts into her shoulder. Betty sits in her bath, looking depressed. Father John takes off his constricting priestly vestments, takes out a guitar, and starts jamming on a Peter, Paul & Mary folk-gospel tune. And Don sits down at a table in the office kitchen, and opens up a bottle of Heineken.

(Postscript: After the episode's over, there's a public-service announcement from Heineken telling viewers to drink responsibly. Looks like someone at their ad agency remembered to read the scripts.)

Image: AMC

Previously:
Mad Men Recap: Abstract Expressionism

"Mad Men" Recap: Abstract Expressionism

Ben Kallen — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:25:00 GMT

Welcome back to '62! Don's at an auto dealership looking at a beautiful new Cadillac, and the smooth salesman could just as well be an ad guy. Don's Dodge is "wonderful if you want to get somewhere," he says. "This is for when you've already arrived." The car's so nice that we immediately go into a flashback, and we learn something new: A decade earlier, Don used to sell cars himself. That's how he got to be so good at pushing ideas.

In the flashback, a woman came into his dealership looking for the real Don Draper, who, as we know, is someone else. What happened next? Guess we'll find out in another episode.

In the present, the young creative team, Smith and Smith, is still working on getting that coffee account. The one who's a writer decides to tell Don how people his age "feel," so he reads a letter from a college student friend who's in Students for a Democratic Society. It's full of romantic commie Aquarian bravado, and it almost makes us feel bad that the Baby Boomers are about to overrun the Greatest Generation. At the same time, it also fuels our suspicion that Don's going to figure out how to use the coming revolution as a sales tool. Smith, for his part, sees no disconnect between the letter's utopian anti-capitalism and his own participation in the ad biz.

Meanwhile, Cooper has a newfangled abstract expressionist painting in his office, and he's been asking staffers for their opinions. And since Harry has a meeting with him the next day, he's worried about being able to discuss the artwork intelligently. Jane, the hot new secretary, convinces the boys to sneak a peek at it while the big boss is out. (By the way, Jane's last name is Siegel -- does this mean Sterling Cooper has finally hired a second Jewish employee?)

In a well-written sequence, we learn something about everybody from their reactions to the painting. Salvatore, the art director, immediately recognizes the minimalist piece as a Rothko, and thinks it's supposed to "mean something." Jane dismissively says, "So it's smudgy squares, huh? That's interesting." (Yet somehow, coming from her, the deliberate stupidity sounds adorable.) Harry still thinks Cooper's using the painting as a test; either it's great or it's worthless, and you'd better know which. Ken, meanwhile, describes how you're just supposed to "experience" the painting -- basically, the guy from accounts is the only one who really gets it. (Of course, he might also be describing this slow-moving, subtle show itself.)

The punch line to all this comes when Harry has his meeting with Cooper, and we find out why he really bought the Rothko: Because, he says, it "should double in value by Christmas."

Joan finds out about the unauthorized art viewing, and has it out with Jane -- who, to be frank, is a bit of a pill. She claims that the guys made her do it. Joan is unfoolable, though, and she fires Jane, damn it. Except that on her way out, the young minx stops to tell her sad tale to Roger. He takes a long look at her and promises to take care of things, and tells her she should come back on Monday. She does, only to discover Roger hasn't talked to Joan, the rat. But this puts Joan in an awkward position, so Jane gets to keep her job, for now.

At the meeting with the coffee folk, Smith delivers his philosophy of selling to the young: The days of telling them what to do, he says, are over. "We want to find things for ourselves... we want to feel." You know he's a with-it dude because he's wearing jeans under his suit jacket, but he still calls Peggy "sweetheart." And for all his generational wisdom, his fresh, new idea is a Caribbean-sounding jingle that just repeats the brand name over and over.

Still, with Don's help and Peggy's agreement that the song "sticks with you," they manage to sell the concept. Not only that, but the head of the company invites Don to join the board of a new folk-art museum. Sterling and Cooper both push him to do it -- they're basically pimping him out into high society to raise the standing of the agency. Don finally understands that it's all about power, and he goes ahead and buys the Cadillac.

Since they've bonded over their mutual understanding of art, Ken asks Salvatore to read a draft of his latest short story. Sal, who's starting to get a special look in his eye when he's around Ken, invites him to Sunday-night dinner with him and his much younger wife, Kitty, to discuss it.

Unlike in every other household we've seen on this show, at Sal and Kitty's the man does the cooking, and it's apparently wonderful. We learn that the couple lived near each other in Baltimore, and she "came along" when he moved his mother to New York. (That explains their marriage, sort of -- apparently they didn't "date" in the usual sense.)

They all have a perfectly nice time together, but we see Kitty noticing Sal paying extra close attention to Ken. It's sad, really. Afterward, though, we learn that Kitty felt left out because the men were discussing work stuff -- not for, um, other reasons. (The title of Ken's story, "The Gold Violin," could also be a description of Sal's marriage. As Ken says, "It's perfect in every way, except it couldn't make music.")

At the end of the episode, the big blowup that's been coming for weeks finally occurs. Don and Betty go to a big party to celebrate Jimmy Barrett's new show. As Don, Bobbie and the head of ABC "talk business," Jimmy finds a quiet corner to flirt with Betty... and then he tells her that he knows there's something going on between Bobbie and Don. Betty doesn't seem to believe him -- she says, "You people are ugly and crude!" and storms off in a huff. (Jimmy takes "you people" as an ethnic slur, though it's hard to tell if Betty meant it that way.) Then Jimmy tells Don off but good about the affair. Every word is true, and Don knows it.

On the way home, Betty throws up in Don's new car.

Image: AMC

Previously:
Mad Men Recap: Crash Into Me

"Mad Men" Recap: Mirrors

Ben Kallen — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:20:00 GMT

This week's episode is full of characters looking into mirrors and seeing themselves in new ways, not all of them nice. But it's also about ladies' underwear.

The two themes come together right from the start, as Betty, Joan and Peggy start their days by dressing in form-fitting support garments and stockings. (And may we say: Hubba-hubba!) This happens over an anachronistic modern-rock song by the Decemberists, which somehow works (even if the early-'60s characters themselves would have heard it as a bunch of awful noise).

Speaking of undies: According to Duck, the Playtex people -- who've been quite successful with Sterling Cooper's ads so far -- are jealous of Maidenform's more innovative campaign, and want to have something like it. Peggy finds herself once again in the uncomfortable position of being seen as a bra-wearing girl rather than just another staffer when the topic of lingerie comes up, and she quickly tries to change the subject to the market research. We can tell this is going to be a tough one for her.

Duck's wife, kids and dog show up in the office, and we finally begin to learn a little more about him. Such as, for instance, it's his ex-wife, and the kids -- who will be staying with him for Memorial Day weekend -- are somewhat estranged. She makes a reference to him being "no good in the afternoons," giving the impression that his past alcoholism is what broke them up. The only one who seems happy to see him is the dog.

Don and Betty are at a country club party, where we get to hear some of that perfect 1962 dialogue. A woman tells Betty it's so hot that it reminds her of "the summer they executed the Rosenbergs," while a man tells Don that he left his job at a public-relations firm because they were the ones trying to convince Cubans to support the counterrevolution prior to the Bay of Pigs. Then Betty gets chatted up by a very flirty Arthur, the guy from the stables -- which Don notices, much to his displeasure.

Because it's Memorial Day, all the veterans in the club are asked to stand. Don does, reluctantly, and is disconcerted by the sight of daughter Sally proudly applauding for him. Once again, the pretense on which he's based his life weighs heavily on his mind. He leaves during a bathing-suit fashion show, supposedly to go to the office -- but not without making plans to see a certain comedian's wife later on.

When he does, being with Bobbie just seems to feed into his self-loathing further. She lets him know that he's developed a reputation among the women he's had sex with, implying that she essentially just wants him for stud service. He gets pissed and ties her to the bed. She thinks it's just part of the S&M thing they have going.... But instead of touching her in this vulnerable position, he gets dressed and leaves her there.

Back to Peggy: She's come up with a pretty great Clearasil campaign, in which two happy, now blemish-free teenagers go on a date. It'll work well on TV, and even Pete seems to like it. But at a meeting later on, she learns that the other writers came up with a new idea for the Playtex account, entirely without her involvement, while out drinking one night. They think that all women are both a homebody "Jackie" and a sexy "Marilyn," and there should be lingerie for each mood. (Those moods could also be called virgin and whore, if you want to be vulgar about it.) They pitch the idea to Don, and he's all for it.

Peggy now realizes that there's an old-boys' socializing network, she's not part of it, and it's screwing with her career. This is made even clearer when, later on, she's not invited to the Playtex model auditions, even though she knows she would be useful there. The guys basically just see it as a peep show.

Don pitches the new idea to the Playtex team, who think it's great -- except that they've already decided to stick with the original campaign. Yep, all that work has been pretty much for nothing. On the bright side, the executives offer to entertain the ad staff on their dime. Of course, that means they all end up in a strip club. Which is where Peggy -- dressed quite attractively for a change -- shows up to join them. But if she was planning to become one of "the boys," it doesn't exactly work out that way. Instead, she ends up on a Playtex exec's lap, forcing a smile. Feminism: One step forward, three steps back.

Pete's ego takes yet another blow when all he can scare up for holiday entertainment is a shabby cookout with his wife, brother and sister-in-law. Later, feeling sorry for himself, he notices one of the lingerie models in the office elevator. She's been turned down for the job, and if it's one thing Pete knows how to work with, it's low self-esteem. He feeds her compliments, and she's actually impressed by his title of "account executive." They end up at her apartment, and start getting hot and heavy... until her aged mother comes out of the other room for a minute. This kills the mood, in part because Pete now has to think of the curvy blonde as a human being. But they manage to get back into things, and the next time Pete sees himself in the mirror he has a smirk on his face.

Roger tells Don to make nice with Duck, and he does, sort of -- he doesn't even blame him for the Playtex debacle. But later, Duck learns from his kids that his wife is about to be remarried. Alone with the dog in somebody's office, he reaches for a bottle -- possibly for the first time in years. But, ashamed of how even the dog must see him, he sends it out to fend for itself on the busy New York street before going back to where the booze is.

At home with Don, Betty's wearing a skin-baring yellow bikini-and-shirt set that she bought at the country-club auction. She's proud of how she looks in it, but our hero isn't -- he lectures her on how all the "15-year-old lifeguards," "tennis pros" and "loafing millionaires" down by the pool will be ogling her, and calls her "desperate." Clearly, he wants his Marilyn to stay a Jackie.

In the bathroom, he stares at himself in the mirror, thinking bad thoughts.

Image: AMC

Previously:
Mad Men Recap: Crash Into Me

"Mad Men" Recap: Crash Into Me

Ben Kallen — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:24:00 GMT

"Mr. Draper, your wife says that the whiskey was hers, but you did fail the sobriety test. You're at the legal limit: point one-five percent. The fine's $150." --Police officer to Don, after he drunkenly wrecks a car

Don's self-destructive side is revving on high this week. Thanks to his help, comedian Jimmy Barrett has gotten a pilot deal for the Candid Camera knockoff show, and wife/manager Bobbie -- who clearly brings out the worst in Don -- calls him at work for a little private celebrating. Against his better judgment, Don goes to meet her at Sardi's.

And, for all the craziness, we can see why he likes her, too -- like him, she's a self-reinventor. She explains how she came to run her husband's career by saying, "This is America -- pick a job, and then become the person that does it."

Unfortunately, at this point they run into Don's ex-lover Rachel Menken, who's now married, and her new husband. It's awkward, especially since both women know exactly what it means when the other is introduced as a client of Don's. Seeing Rachel leaves Don unsettled, and, his judgment now further impaired, he agrees to drive out to Bobbie's beach house for some sand-powered nookie.

On the way there, they take a few slugs from a whiskey bottle, and Don seems to be enjoying the moment so much that he closes his eyes -- and opens them just in time to avoid running into a truck. He takes a sharp turn off the road into some brush, and rolls the car onto its side. Though a little banged up, the two of them manage to get out, and they end up at a police station -- where Don doesn't have the cash the local officer is demanding for payment of a fine. (Despite the anything-goes period quote above, the cop actually seems kind of angry that Don was driving drunk through his town.)

So who does Don call to bail him out? Peggy, the one person he knows he can count on to keep her mouth shut. As you might expect, she grasps the entire situation instantly, but keeps any judgments to herself -- in fact, she's so damn cool throughout this entire episode that we fall ever more deeply in love with her. (Unlike the men on the show itself, who barely even notice her.) She calms everybody down, takes care of everything, and even brings Bobbie home to stay with her for a couple of days while her black eye heals. Bobbie is suitably impressed by all this, though she can't figure Peggy out -- why is she so helpful, especially if she isn't in love with Don? Before leaving, she tells Peggy that if she wants to get ahead, she needs to treat Don as an equal. But then she kind of ruins that good advice by adding that Peggy should act more like a woman -- by which, we assume, she means sleeping her way to the top.

After the crash, Don stumbles home at dawn, just like he used to, and Betty's super-pissed that he spent another night away without calling. He plays the martyr, choosing this time to let her know about his high blood pressure and blaming the accident on his medication. She's alarmed, but even angrier that he didn't tell her about all this before, and she stands her ground with him. It's about time, and good for her.

In other domestic news, we learn that Joan finally got a proposal out of her doctor friend, which leaves the other secretaries jealous and Roger kind of depressed. She finds a new secretary for Don -- a very hot "college girl" who seems out to get her M-r-s. degree a lot faster than Joan did, and who dresses in a way that could speed things along quite nicely. Joan lets the new girl know that she's on to that game, and tells her to tone down the sex appeal by wearing sweaters. (Which, considering how Joan looks in sweaters, is the most ridiculous idea ever.)

Pete and his wife are still trying to conceive, and apparently they've been at it for quite a while. Pete has his baby-making parts tested (he apparently really doesn't know about his and Peggy's child), and of course they turn out fine. Then he's completely insensitive to his wife, who immediately realizes that this means the problem is with her. The more they fight, the more we see that Pete's still an immature whiner who's not ready for kids anyway.

In a flashback, we find out some more about Peggy's missing time, and about her special relationship with Don. When she was drugged out in the mental ward, still in denial about the baby, Don figured out where she was and came to see her. He told her to get the hell out of there any way she could, and to forget the past and get on with her life (just as he did when he left home years ago). It's good advice, sort of, but it's also just nice to know he cares.

Or does he? At the office in the present, he chews her out for not keeping up with her writing while she was busy cleaning up his mess and caring for Bobbie. Maybe he's just letting her know how important she is to him as an employee.... Or maybe he's being an ass, because he forgets to pay her back the money, too.

Jimmy shows up at the office, but it's apparently just to thank Don for helping him get the pilot. He doesn't seem to know anything about Don and Bobbie, which leaves the door open for their bad-news affair to continue.

Back at home, Betty shows her concern for Don's health by taking away the salt shaker, and we can that see he's feeling ever more trapped by his life of domestic bliss. Luckily, she doesn't know that high blood pressure can also be caused by smoking, drinking, job stress and late nights -- 'cause he's never giving that stuff up.

Did we mention that this is Don's new secretary? See you next week!

Photos: AMC

Previously:
Mad Men Recap: Sunday Worst
Mad Men Recap: Taking the Reins

"Mad Men" Recap: Sunday Worst

Ben Kallen — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:45:00 GMT

There's nothing quite as dramatic as what happened last week in this episode, but Mad Men is keeping its position as the most intricately gripping drama currently on TV.

So let's get to our overriding theme: As per the episode's title, "Three Sundays," it's all about how our characters spend what's supposed to be a holy day. Fat chance! Those who aim for religion miss the point, and those who care more about work get jerked around completely.

You have to love a largely Peggy-centric hour like this one. She's still going to church regularly after being guilted into it by her mother and sister, though she ducks out after saying she's not feeling well. (That same excuse is used by just about everyone this week to get out of a variety of onerous tasks.) But before she can get away, she runs into a hip young priest, played by a fast-maturing Colin Hanks. (It's a surprise to see him here, but he apparently begged for the part.) They quickly become friends -- we'd say and maybe more, but this really isn't The Sopranos.

Father Gill, who's trying to make a personal connection with his congregation in a very conservative era, asks Peggy to use her mad copywriting skills to help him with an upcoming sermon. She gives him some advice right out of Public Speaking 101, and it seems to help. So when he drops by the Olsons' for dinner a couple of times, he seems a lot more interested in talking to Peggy than to the rest of the clan.

All of this stokes the sin of envy in Anita, who sees her sister as a licentious slut who doesn't deserve the handsome young priest's attention. (Okay, she's not entirely wrong on that first part.) So she shares these feelings in the confessional -- knowing full well it's Father Gill on the other side -- and in the process tells him all about how Peggy had an out-of-wedlock baby with a married man. In the annals of passive-aggressiveness, it's a classic.

Back with Don and Betty: Have we mentioned that they're the worst parents in the world? When they notice the kids at all, it's so they can argue about how to punish them for doing something wrong. Or in the case of Bobby, for not doing something wrong, since it's starting to appear that he's been taking the rap for Sally all this time. And what an evil genius she's turning out to be! In the course of just this episode, she gets Bobby in lots of trouble, makes her father a drink that consists of about eight ounces of liquor with a splash of tomato juice, steals sips of booze herself, and comments on Joan's "big ones."

Most of this happens in the office, because one Sunday is take-your-daughter-to-work day when Don has an emergency meeting. (Meanwhile, Betty has to take Bobby to the emergency room because, while his folks were busy neglecting him, he burned himself on a hot stove.) The secretaries all find Don with his little girl to be the hottest thing they've ever seen -- but they give a big ol' cold shoulder to Peggy, whose new writing job has sent her status soaring above theirs.

The emergency is that the American Airlines presentation has been moved up a week, and everyone needs to get ready a whole lot quicker. Don's ideas are brilliant as always (he tells the copywriters to forget the crash, and pretend it's a whole new company), and we'd love to see what they come up with. But we don't, because just before the presentation, the head of the airline gets fired. They still show their ideas to the remaining staff, but realize that these guys are now lame ducks with no power to make a deal.

So does anybody get what they want this week, despite not really deserving it? Why, yes -- Roger, who meets a cute prostitute and throws money at her until she's practically his girlfriend. Of course, he has a perfectly nice wife at home who would kill for that kind of affection, but, sadly, it's not that kind of show.

Photo: AMC

Previously:
Mad Men Recap: Taking the Reins

"Mad Men" Recap: Taking the Reins

Ben Kallen — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:55:00 GMT

Okay, wow... This show isn't as different from The Sopranos as we might have thought. Because it turns out that Don, who seems to be imploding a little, isn't above employing the threat of sexual violence to get what he wants.

But let's start from the beginning. At the expensive stable where Betty rides her horses, she's spending time with Arthur Case, a boyish young squire who's trying to learn how to ride in order to please his fiancee. (When the horse doesn't follow directions, Betty gives him some advice that perfectly encapsulates this episode's view of male-female relationships: "Just pull up on the reins, straighten her out.... She needs to be told what to do.") As expected, Arthur eventually makes a play for Betty... and Betty, who loves attention and little boys in equal measure, puts him off, but not that convincingly. And afterward, her hands start shaking again. (Their conversation includes another casually hilarious exchange. Arthur: "You're so profoundly sad." Betty, who obviously is: "No -- It's just my people are Nordic.")

Back at the office, Harry is accidentally gets Ken's paycheck, which he opens... only to discover that his slick coworker makes $300 a week, to Harry's $200. He calls his pregnant wife to ask what to do, and she essentially tells him to grow a pair. So he calls a buddy at CBS to ask about job possibilities, but the guy thinks he'll be losing his own job soon. Why? The network hasn't been able to find sponsors for an episode of a lawyer show called The Defenders, in which a woman has an illegal abortion. (This is another Mad Men slice of reality, as the controversial episode actually did air in 1962.)

Harry convinces his bosses that they should try to get their clients to buy some prime-time ad spots during the show, which are dirt cheap because nobody else wants them. The clients don't want to be associated with the show either, but boss-man Cooper is impressed with Harry's initiative. As a result, Roger offers him a couple of free wishes. For the first, he's allowed to form a new TV department, of which he'll be both the supervisor and the sole employee. He also asks for a raise, and gets one -- but only to $225, because Roger lies to his face and assures him that nobody on his level makes close to $300.

Meanwhile, there's trouble on a commercial set, and everyone's to blame. A comedian named Jimmy Barrett is drunkenly filming an ad for Utz potato chips, while his minder, the equally drunken Freddy, falls asleep on the job. Ken decides to drop by the set with Utz's owners, a Mr. and Mrs. Schilling. But when they get there, Jimmy immediately begins making vicious fun of Mrs. Schilling's weight. The couple leaves, angry and mortified.

Everyone gathers in Don's office to deal with the fallout, and he chews out Ken for taking the couple to the set without asking. Ken responds that they stopped by Don's office first, but he wasn't there. (We know that Don wasn't out banging some exotic woman for a change, but as part of his new, more passive lifestyle, was watching a dull foreign film in an art-house movie theater.) So now Don's on the hook too, for which he blames the fact that new secretary Lois didn't cover for him properly. He tells her she's not cut out for the job -- which is true -- and sends her back to the switchboard. Joan, on the other hand, knows exactly how to handle executives' special needs, and she agrees to fill in for a while. So we'll see where that goes.

Don realizes that in order to fix the crisis, he needs to make Jimmy apologize to the Schillings. But to get to the star, he has to go through attractive wife/manager Bobbie -- and we can guess what that means. He offers her a ride, and it starts to hail outside, fogging up the windows. She kisses him, and he says no, but she points out that part of his body is clearly saying "yes." And Don, who was raised in poverty, can never let anything go to waste, particularly a boner. So with that, Don the adulterer is back in business.

Now that Don apparently has the apology in hand, he decides that the perfect setting for it would be the schmancy New York restaurant Lutèce, so he arranges for all three couples -- him and Betty, the Schillings, and Jimmy and Bobbie -- to dine there together. But when they arrive, Jimmy forgets all about the apology, and instead starts hitting on poor Betty. Don confronts Bobbie in the bathroom, where she informs him that they have an airtight contract with Sterling Cooper that keeps her in control, and the apology will now cost a cool 25 grand.

This is where things get really ugly: Don holds her, and we think he's about to initiate some inappropriately timed nookie. But instead, he suddenly grabs her under her dress, and with his hand on her nether region, says menacingly, "Believe me, I will ruin him. Do what I say." (It's unclear whether or not she's supposed to be seen as partly enjoying this -- on the show's video blog, writer/creator Matthew Weiner says, "Don's force is unwelcome and welcome.") The shocking tactic works -- back at the table, she indicates to her husband that he should say he's sorry, and he does, grudgingly.

On the way home, Betty is crying over being leered at all night, though she says it's because she's happy that Don finally seems to be including her in his business. But she has no idea what's really going on. Which is that Don's back, and he's worse than ever.

Image: AMC

Previously:
Mad Men Recap: Something Special in the Air
Mad Men Recap: The Shock of the New

"Mad Men" Recap: Something Special in the Air

Ben Kallen — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:25:00 GMT

Wow. This was another genius episode, full of plot points both huge and tiny, countless character revelations, and endlessly competing views on ethics, loyalty and the right thing to do.

We start with a party at Paul's apartment in an "artsy" section of New Jersey, because apparently Greenwich Village just doesn't cut it anymore. With his beard and pipe and with-it attitude, Paul is trying so hard to be hip that he actually comes off as square. Which ex-girlfriend Joan calls him on, but not before telling his new squeeze, an African-American checkout clerk at the local supermarket, that she's just part of the hipster package. (Which may be true, but still.) Although Joan's always been a snob, we later find out that she's been extra-bitchy lately because she recently turned 31 -- which is clearly over the hill for a single career gal.

In the city the next day, everyone's commute is fouled up by the ticker-tape parade honoring John Glenn's early space flight. (Image-conscious Don, of course, immediately senses how popular Glenn will be.) But that's not what they're all talking about at the office: According to the radio, an American Airlines flight from New York has crashed into Jamaica Bay for no apparent reason. (This is based on real life -- both events actually happened on the same day in 1962.) After shocked responses quickly give way to sick jokes, news of the crash leads to the main action of the episode:

First, Pete is shocked to learn that his father was one of the passengers killed in the disaster. (The actor who played him, Christopher Allport, died earlier this year.) Considering that his dad disapproved of just about everything about him, Pete doesn't know what to do or how to feel -- so he turns to perhaps the one person more emotionally disconnected than he is, Don. Who pours him a drink and tells him to go home to his family. So he does, even though he realizes it probably isn't what Don would do in the same situation.

Meanwhile, it just so happens that Duck has an acquaintance at American Airlines, and he learns that they may be looking for a new ad agency to help them weather the crisis. Everyone at Sterling Cooper wants to start pitching for that plum of an account before the bodies are even buried -- except Don, whose sense of loyalty is offended when he realizes it means he'll have to dump the smaller airline he'd been making promises to for months. The others think he's crazy not to want a chance at the big time, and appear ready to revoke his Ayn Rand Fan Club membership card.

The whole thing puts Don in such a foul mood that he angrily blows off Pete when he comes by for more comfort -- and, worse, he pretty much blows off his own kids at home, too. (Although, in a hilarious scene later on, we see him instructing his young son on the best way to mix cocktails for the adults.) He takes the smaller airline's CEO to a Japanese restaurant to deliver the blow, where the guy chews him out for being a liar. Still feeling bad, he just sits there drinking afterward -- when, of course (it being Don and all), a gorgeous waitress notices him and none-too-subtly lets him know she'd like to be the one cheering him up. Despite the fact that she's just his type (dark-haired, "exotic," nothing like his wife), either he's too depressed or he's actually sticking to his vow to be a better husband, because he turns her down.

Meanwhile, Pete has his own dilemma: Duck wants him to take the lead in courting American, clearly because his closeness to the tragedy might somehow give them an edge. Despite his ambition, Pete balks at exploiting his own father that way. At least, until it turns out that his wealthy know-it-all of a dad had actually piddled all his money away... and until Duck is actually nice to him, at which point Pete starts seeing the new guy as a better substitute father figure than Don had ever been. So he shows up at the meeting -- though whether this bizarre strategy actually impresses the guy from American remains to be seen.

Then there's our Peggy. Brimming with confidence at work and in her personal life (we see her flirt with, then blow off, a guy at Paul's party), she's the exact opposite at a meal with her family. Which is where our questions from last season are answered: Her child is being raised by her sister, with help from her mother, and Peggy still seems to feel no bond with the boy whatsoever. And we learn that during the months in which she was missing, she had been committed to some sort of psychiatric facility. Which may or may not have been a case of the doctors overstepping their bounds -- when we see her holding her infant like a sack of potatoes, it seems possible that she could actually use one of those psych medications that hasn't been invented yet. She goes to church but, like the fallen woman she thinks she is, doesn't take communion.

So, to sum up: Most of the characters are unsettled, disappointed in themselves and others, and fully aware they've done things they shouldn't have. Which, this early in the new season, is a great place for them to be.

Photo: AMC

Previously:
Mad Men Recap: The Shock of the New

"Mad Men" Recap: The Shock of the New

Ben Kallen — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:33:00 GMT

Not much happens in the first episode of Mad Men's new season, which premiered last night and will air four more times this week. And yet, as the action jumps forward 14 months, everything seems to be changing. The music has gone from sappy crooners to "Let's Twist Again," and the whole world seems to be gradually transitioning from the conformist '50s to the groovy '60s.

At Don's insurance physical, his doctor tells him he has high blood pressure, and that his chain-smoking and hard-drinking lifestyle could eventually catch up to him. (Of course, part of the solution is a prescription for Phenobarbitol, to help him "relax.") In one of those period-setting punch lines this show does so perfectly, the doctor treats him as if he's practically senescent, saying, "You're 36 years old. . . you need to take this seriously."

Back at the agency, there's a problem with a coffee account, because everyone under 25 is apparently drinking Pepsi instead. (The soda's slogan at the time was "For those who think young," which could be Mad Men's theme for the entire season.) As a result, new head of accounts Duck thinks the agency should have more "kids" on staff to placate their now youth-obsessed clients. (Peggy is just 22, but as a woman she doesn't count.) So a few turtlenecked hipsters are trotted in, while the seriously unhip copywriters in their late 20s look on in envy. And Don, whose entire theory of advertising is based on old-fashioned sentiment, starts reading a book of poetry by Frank O'Hara.

Meanwhile, the office is getting a newfangled Xerox machine, which Joan assures the "girls" will make their lives easier. And there's plenty of gossip about whether Peggy was pregnant (maybe by Don, as her career is flourishing, and that couldn't possibly be because of her talent), since she disappeared for several weeks and came back thin. Pete, whose wife's desire for a baby is reaching a critical level, acts as if he doesn't know he already has one with Peggy. And Joan is waiting for a proposal from the eligible young doctor she's dating. . . but the heat between her and Roger is obviously still there.

Oh, and it's Valentine's Day, and there's romance in the air. . . until all the ladies (and closeted Salvatore, who surprisingly is now married) become far more interested in an interview with Jackie Kennedy on TV. (Does anyone else think her voice was oddly similar to Marilyn Monroe's?) Betty's gift is a night of passion in a hotel with Don -- except that, despite the fact that she looks incredible in period lingerie, for once he doesn't come through in the clinch. Whether it's his new medication, or the fact that he's chafing under his husbandly duties now that he's given up his exotic girlfriends and his late nights in the city, he's clearly lost some of his mojo.

Betty, sexually frustrated and still a tad unstable, is intrigued when she learns that her roommate from her modeling days has become a "party girl," i.e., a hooker. Later, when her car breaks down on a dark, empty street and she doesn't have enough cash to pay the tow-truck driver to install a new fan belt, she naively tries flirting and "bargaining" with the guy. Luckily for her, he doesn't demand more for his six dollars than a smile, and once again she gets away with her childish behavior unscathed.

All in all? This was a great catch-up episode, even if it didn't offer all that much in the plot department. (Apparently, writer-creator Matthew Weiner doesn't like frenetic postmodern storytelling any more than Don Draper does.) But we're getting to know these people and the era they live in even better than before, and that's worth plenty.

Photo: AMC

Previously:
The Future of Mad Men Revealed
Win a Role on Mad Men!

Don't Miss the "Mad Men" Marathon, Mac!

Ben Kallen — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:35:00 GMT

If you still haven't seen Mad Men and are wondering what all the Emmy fuss is about -- or if you have seen it and want to watch it again, because it's just so freakin' good -- now's your chance. AMC will be rebroadcasting the entire first season of the retro ad-agency drama this Sunday, beginning at noon Eastern Time. Watch the whole thing, and you'll be all caught up in time for the premiere of Season 2 the following week.

One warning, though: Do not play that game where you take a drink every time one of the characters does. You'd never survive the day.

Image: AMC

Previously:
The Future of Mad Men Revealed

Win a Role on Mad Men!

The Future of "Mad Men" Revealed

Ben Kallen — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:35:00 GMT

All good TV shows must come to an end -- it's the bad ones that seem to go on forever. But with Mad Men, at least, that ending won't occur for another four years.

According to TV reporter James Hibberd, Mad Men's creator-showrunner Matthew Weiner has announced that he's planning to produce the retro drama for a total of five seasons. During that time, he intends to cover 10 years of the characters' lives -- from 1960 to 1969 -- by jumping forward about a year in between each season. (Season 2, which starts on July 27, will take place 14 months after the end of season 1.)

At a Television Critics Association panel discussion yesterday, Weiner explained his reasoning behind the season-to-season time leaps: "I can start the story fresh, and at the same time there will be all these events that happened in between that will provide additional storytelling energy."

That sounds pretty good to us. Apart from the great characters, the best thing about Mad Men's first season was how perfectly it managed to capture its 1960 setting. We can't wait to see how übermensch Don Draper handles the social changes of the later '60s, when the hippies and free-love types really start to take over. Whatever happens, we're sure he'll find a way to sell the revolution right back to them.

Image: AMC

Previously:
Win a Role on Mad Men!

Sopranos Fever, Over The Wire, Hits Mad Men

"Sopranos" Fever, Over "The Wire", Hits "Mad Men"

Bryan Christian — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:32:00 GMT

We hope that Matthew Weiner, creator of AMC's New Frontier-era advertising potboiler Mad Men, has a big-ass box ready for all the superlatives that are about to be thrown at him and his show. Because now that the paper of record has given Mad Men the official "[Blank]est Show on TV" treatment, he can probably count on everyone short of Tom Shales' mother to chime in.

Everyone, that is, except us.

Don't get us wrong: we're not cynical about the show, which full disclosure, we've never seen but are expecting to like a lot. (We didn't have cable when it came out, and were planning to Netflix it before the second season started this July.) No, what we're cynical about is the whole "It Show" phenomenon -- let's call it Sopranos Fever -- that struck HBO's gangster soap first, and then moved on to The Wire, and now seems poised to fix itself on Mad Men. We're not generally cynical or suspicious about this sort of thing, and let's be clear: we love Sopranos and The Wire. But don't expect to see us participating in this sort of thing until The Powers That Be deign to bestow such lavish hosannas on a show that takes place, oh let's say, in space, or in the Old West, or on a remote island (hah!) and not within a hour's train ride from where we presume their offices to be.