Freudian Slip: Confronting Hard Truths on "Mad Men"

"And who are you supposed to be?"

Rarely ever has a question been asked that has carried more weight than that one. On this week's stunning episode of Mad Men ("The Gypsy and The Hobo"), written by Marti Noxon & Cathryn Humphris and Matthew Weiner and directed by Jennifer Getzinger, the truth about Don's secret past finally comes tumbling out as he was forced to confess his true identity to Betty.

It was only a matter of time before Matt Weiner decided that Betty ought to know just who she has been married to all of these years. After nearly three seasons, Don has managed to pull the wool over Betty's eyes about his affairs, his indiscretions both romantic and professional, and about his past. But Freud once said that there is no such thing as a mistake. Did Don want to be found out? Is that why, as Betty surmises, he left that key in his bathrobe pocket and kept those photographs, dog tags, and legal documents in their house? Or was it just an oversight?

The scene in which Betty confronted her husband, not about his philandering but about his marriage to Anna Draper and the family photographs hidden inside his desk drawer was one of the most powerful on the series to date as we see a flustered and broken Don Draper for the first time, unable to grasp a cigarette with a shaking hand as it flutters sadly to the floor. It's a glimpse at Don diminished, not only in Betty's eyes but our own, the polished facade of the flannel suited ad man ripped away to reveal a broken man deeply ashamed of the choices he's made in life.

For years, Don has carried the burden of guilt about a fateful choice he made amid the terrors of war. He assumed another man's identity, dressed himself up in the clothes of someone else (how fitting that the episode circled around Halloween and Sally and Bobby's request for costumes), and attempted to navigate a minefield of possible discovery, looking after the widowed Anna Draper, denying any relationship to his mentally unstable brother Adam, lying to Betty about his past and his family. But secrets, even those long buried, have a way of rising to the surface eventually.

Even Betty, instructed by her family lawyer to leave things alone and return to Don rather than divorce him, can't allow things to continue as they have. She deserves the truth, deserves to know who and what she married, though I believe that Don never thought the day would come where he would have to unburden himself to her, to tear away the plastic mask he's been wearing all these years and show his wife his true face. But it's perhaps that moment, of full-blown honesty, that saves their marriage. Betty's tenderness in the scene on their bed, when she places her hand on Don's shoulder, spoke more about love and kindness than any of their bedroom romps. Things might not be perfect between them, but a light has been shown on the truth and revealed a chink in the armor of their marriage. (America itself is about to get a rude awakening; in just a matter of weeks, John F. Kennedy will be assassinated and the nation will be dragged into the harsh light of day.)

Of course, Betty has no idea that while she's confronting her husband, Don's latest inamorata, Suzanne Farrell, is outside in his car, as the two were about to leave for a romantic trip to Mystic, Connecticut. Don is so shaken by Betty's furious confrontation that he forgets about Suzanne completely, perhaps not remembering until the following morning that she must have been outside for hours. That he would have taken to Suzanne to his house shows a complete disregard for any discretion; he's making massive mistakes in this romance. It's almost as though he wants to be caught by his wife, wants to be punished.

Suzanne, of course, wants more of Don than he's willing to give, despite her assurances early on that she knew just what she was getting into when she climbed into bed with him. I'm firmly of the mind now that it was Suzanne who called the Draper residence last week and, in spite of her teary declaration that it was over between them, I don't know that she's going to relinquish Don quite that easily.

But it's not just Don and Betty who have to deal with the harsh glare of the truth in this week's episode. Joan finally sees her husband Greg for what he is: a perennial screw-up who represents the exact opposite of what she dreamed of as a girl. Her act of defiance--smashing him over the head with a flower vase--was a breaking point for Joan, clearly still in denial over the fact that he raped her when they were engaged and that her dreams of marrying a wealthy doctor have resulted in nothing but heartbreak. Greg, as aimless as ever, blows an interview for a psychiatric residency and then, without discussing it with Joan, enlists in the army. He thinks it's the best decision he's made as it will allow him to become a surgeon and he might be sent to Germany or Vietnam, "if that's still going on." I had wondered just how Joan would manage to disentangle herself from Greg and I had an inkling when he wondered what to do next that he would end up in Vietnam eventually...

I was also pleased to see a reunion of sorts between Joan and her former lover Roger Sterling, as she called him for a favor that he was only too happy to comply with (namely to find her a job somewhere). I'm still hopeful that Joan will end up back at Sterling Cooper and I thought it a nice touch that their reconciliation came at a time where Roger himself was confronted by the ghosts of girlfriends past in the form of the woman who broke his heart, Annabelle Mathis (Mary Page Keller), and chose faithfulness to Jane over an affair with Annabelle. Still, if Annabelle wasn't "the one," as he tells her, who was? Is it the youthful Jane, Roger's child bride? Or is it Joan Harris nee Holloway, whom Roger says is "important" to him?

Just who is lying now?

Next week on Mad Men ("The Grown-Ups"), Don meets with an impressive candidate; Peggy second guesses her taste in men; Pete makes big career decisions.

The Faintest Ink: Perception and Affliction on "Mad Men"

Do we see the world as others see it? And do we see ourselves as others see us?

These two questions form the basis of this week's sensational episode of AMC's Mad Men ("The Color Blue"), which revolved around Don's ongoing affair with Sally's former teacher, Suzanne Farrell, and Betty realizing that she doesn't know her husband at all.

The question of perception first arises from a conversation between Don and Suzanne in bed as she recounts how an eight-year-old student asked if the way he sees the color blue is the same as she sees it. Don has a pat answer that speaks volumes about his leveraging of advertising to persuade people to believe one thing or another but it's a profound puzzle of a question straight out of the mouths of babes. Are we colored by our experiences? Do those perceptions, whether it be of color or character, shape our understanding of the world around us?

Better still: what happens when the scales fall from our eyes and we see things not as we once perceived them but in their true color?

Don and Betty's marriage has been built on a house of cards, a series of lies that Don constructed to hide his true identity. But with one minor slip-up--leaving the desk drawer keys in his bathrobe pocket--he allows Betty entrance to his sanctum sanctorum, the depository for his true self that contains details about his former life. Unaware just what that shoebox holds, Betty places aside puzzling family photographs ("Dick and Adam"), Dick and Don's dogtags, the deed to Anna's house, unaware of what they truly are, and is shocked to discover legal documents that point towards Don's first marriage to Anna Draper. (What she doesn't realize is that the truth is even far worse than she could imagine at this point. Don wasn't married but the man whose identity he stole was.) It's a brutal and heartbreaking moment that plays out with a suspense worthy of Hitchcock's Rebecca.

Betty knows that she's caught her husband in the biggest of all lies; a line in the sand has been crossed and what she's learned can never be unlearned. She waits up for him at home, shoebox on the table, waiting to confront him about his past and get some answers but he never comes home. Reluctantly, she attends the 40th anniversary celebration of Sterling Cooper and perhaps sees Don for the first time as he truly is: a charming liar.

Can their marriage ever be saved now? Will the knowledge of Don's past propel Betty into making a disastrous decision? That remains to be seen but things have changed, perhaps irrevocably, between them.

The notion of perception carried over into the episode's other subplots as well. Don's latest inamorata, the lovely and gold star-laden Miss Farrell, has a brother Danny (Prison Break's Marshall Allman) who suffers from seizures. Booted from a series of jobs due to his uncontrollable "fits," Danny is looked after by Miss Farrell, who finds him another position as a janitor at a VA hospital in Massachusetts.

But Danny's world is colored by perceptions as well. He states that people treat him kindly until he has a fit and comes to, having urinated on himself, and people stare at him like he's from another planet. But so too does Danny suffer from his own misguided perceptions; he sees the world not as a place of opportunity but as a series of dead ends. He convinces Don to drop him off on the side of the road but Don gives him a boon: his phone number and the instructions to call him should he truly need him. Is it the righting of the scales for Don who looked the other way when his own brother Adam needed him most?

Likewise, Paul Kinsey finally sees Peggy in a new way after she saves him in a pitch meeting with Don, inventing a beautiful and fitting spot for Western Union right on the spot. For Paul, struggling to retrieve his perfect idea after a night of masturbating, drinking, and chatting with the janitor Achilles, it's the veritable light bulb above his head. Having accused Peggy earlier of earning her role by wearing a dress and being Don's favorite, it's a true moment of clarity in which he finally sees that Peggy is a superior copywriter as she transforms his Chinese proverb, "the faintest ink is better than the best memory," into a true message.

We can transfer our own fears onto the world around us, just as Danny does. But so too do Don and Betty, each concerned that their respective dalliances are now telephoning them at home. Was it Miss Farrell who hung up after Sally Draper answered the phone? Was it Henry Francis? Or was it just a wrong number after all? Could it be that their guilty consciences are making them paranoid? Or should Don be concerned by the risks that Miss Farrell is taking, boarding his train, perhaps calling him house?

Lane's wife Rebecca (Embeth Davidtz) sees Manhattan as a filthy, noisy place that "isn't London, isn't even England," whereas her husband sees it as a land of opportunity and riches. But even he is shocked to learn that London plans to sell off Sterling Cooper to the highest bidder. It seems that even in the world of advertising, a fatted calf is too tempting not to sacrifice.

The testimonial then that Roger gives to Don at the episode's end, in which he fabricates an honest friendship between them and speaks of "the man who will stand alongside me for the next forty years," takes on a tragic mien. If things continue apace, there will be no Sterling Cooper forty years hence or, perhaps, forty days hence. But with the country about to change in unexpected and shocking ways, perhaps it's a reminder that no institution--whether it be a marriage, a corporation, or a nation--is safe from a stark reminder of the unpredictable nature of the world.

Next week on Mad Men ("The Gypsy and the Hobo"), a former client returns to Sterling Cooper; Betty takes the kids on a trip; Joan and Greg plan for their future.

Running in the Dark: Searching for the Moon on "Mad Men"

Mad Men has always succeeded at creating some indelible and powerful images but this week's episode ("Wee Small Hours"), written by Dahvi Waller and Matthew Weiner and directed by Scott Hornbacher, featured one in particular that eloquently summed up the episode as whole.

Heading into work in the wee early hours after being awakened by Connie Hilton, Don spies Sally's former teacher Suzanne Farrell (Abigail Spencer) running alone in the dark. It's a gorgeously shot sequence in which Don sees Suzanne almost glowing like a beacon in the darkness, in full sprint, tearing away from some unseen demons. If that doesn't sum up Don's state of mind right now, I don't know what does.

It seems like each of the characters on Mad Men this week seem to be running toward or away from something. Set against the distant backdrop of the civil rights movement in the South, this week's episode finds Don under attack from Hilton, Sal cornered in the editing bay, and Betty engaging in a flirtatious dance with Henry Francis (Christopher Stanley). But whether they'll keep running or reach their ultimate destination remains to be seen.

The most upsetting storyline this week had to be poor Sal's. Having finally found his niche as a commercial director, Sal is shocked when Sterling Cooper's client Lee Garner Junior (Darren Pettie), the Lucky Strike scion, makes a pass at him in the editing bay. Despite the fact that Sal declines the blatant proposition and wants to maintain his closeted status, Lee Garner quickly moves to have Sal fired from Sterling Cooper, demanding that Harry be the one to pink-slip him immediately. (Not sure why he demanded this of Harry rather than, say, Pete or Roger Sterling, but perhaps he wanted to keep things even more hush-hush.)

When Roger learns about the conflict (or just Lee Garner's distaste for Sal), he moves to have him fired. But that's not even the traumatic bit. Despite their understanding of each other, it's Don who is even more mercenary about the entire encounter, basically stating that Sal should have prostituted himself in this situation, regardless of whether he wanted to or not. It's a shockingly casual attitude on the part of Don but then again Don has shocking casual ideas of sexual propriety to begin with. That Don believes that Sal should engage in sex in order to satisfy a client and keep him happy is just mind-blowingly wrong ("Lucky Strike can shut off our lights") and speaks volumes about the difference in their belief system, particularly when it comes to making their clients happy. I felt especially gutted later on when he lied to Kitty and said he was working at the office. I don't think he can bring himself to tell her that he was fired, especially given the circumstances surrounding his departure from Sterling Cooper. Poor, poor Sal.

Don himself seems to be running towards a very dark place in recent weeks. After his cutting dismissal of Peggy a few episodes back, he shocked me again with his handling of Sal's situation. Granted, Don's under an inordinate amount of stress from demanding hotel magnate Conrad Hilton, but his attitude towards those who work for him ("Now that I can finally understand you, I'm less impressed with what you have to say") has turned from critically supportive to just plain hostile.

I was impressed in the first half of the episode by the level of trust that Conrad Hilton has in Don, saying that he is like a son to him, "more than a son" because he knows that Don came from humble roots unlike his own well-heeled children. But Hilton is more than just a perfectionist. He's an eccentric who demands the stars and the moon (quite literally) of Don, expecting him to join him for a drink in the middle of the night or create a campaign for the Hilton hotels that blows him out of the water. "When I say I want the moon, I expect the moon," Conrad tells Don. And he means it. Especially in 1963 when the literal moon is tantalizingly in reach. In disappointing Connie, Don has once again disappointed his father (or father figure, anyway). More than anything, it's what sends Don running into the arms of the pure Suzanne, a woman who is transfixed by Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and who represents a sort of Platonic ideal for Don.

Suzanne's feelings about the civil rights movement seem inimical to those of Betty. Despite the lambasting of the South during the impromptu Rockefeller fundraiser, Betty expresses her true colors to Carla later on, saying, "I hate to say this but it’s really made me wonder about Civil Rights. Maybe it's not supposed to happen right now" after hearing a radio report about the Birmingham murders of four black girls. Is it freedom in general that has Betty so doubtful? Or is it that her own feelings about equality are not as progressive as she originally thought? After all, when she corrects Bobby about his attitude toward Carla, it's not because she deserves respect but because, as Betty says, Carla works for her and not him.

But Betty has other things on her mind. Her recent trip to Rome with Don awakened all sorts of desires; her dismissal of his Colosseum-charm points to the fact that she doesn't want a souvenir but rather wants it all. But this week it seems as though Betty is more attracted to the fantasy than the reality. She begins writing Henry Francis secret letters, revealing her true feelings, engaging in a written love affair that's more chivalrous than overtly sexual. (Hell, she throws that cash box at him when he fails to turn up at her fundraiser, itself a cover story to divert Carla and Don's suspicions.) But when faced with the opportunity to consummate their affair, Betty declines, saying it's "tawdry." She wants the emotion, the romance (as glimpsed in the opening dream sequence on the fainting couch), but she doesn't want the cheap reality of motel trysts or locked offices.

There's a nice symmetry to Betty and Don's attempts at infidelity. While Betty opts to hold onto the fantasy, Don makes an effort to claim Suzanne and turn his fantasy into reality. He's aware of how things will turn out between them ("So what?" was his answer to Suzanne's admission) but he doesn't care about the consequences or the inevitable ending of their affair. Every run, after all, has to end sometime.

Next week on Mad Men ("The Color Blue"), the firm celebrates a milestone; Peggy and Paul compete on an account.

Channel Surfing: Graham Reaches "Parenthood" Deal, Cudlitz Lashes Out at NBC, Pompeo Won't Be Missing from "Grey's," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

NBC and Universal Media Studios have reached a deal with former Gilmore Girls star Lauren Graham to come aboard midseason drama series Parenthood. Graham will replace ailing actress Maura Tierney, who was forced to bow out of the project due to health issues, on the Jason Katims-created drama, based on the 1989 feature film. She'll play a harried single mom with two kids who moves her family in with her parents in order to jumpstart her life. (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello talks to Southland star Michael Cudlitz about the sudden cancellation of the NBC cop drama. "In retrospect, I saw it coming," Cudlitz told Ausiello. "We were two weeks away from airing and [the cancellation news] has created more press for the show than NBC has put into it on its own. They ran the first [Southland] ad — a 30-second spot — last Friday, and that’s the only one that they ran. That’s not a relaunch. When you have a network that nobody’s watching, it doesn’t benefit you to only advertise on your network." Cudlitz was quick to point out that he has hope the series will land on another network. "I do because we have episodes that have never aired that are pretty fantastic," he said. "And if it moves somewhere else, it could become the show that it should have been initially — which is even darker and grittier." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Call it the shortest maternity leave ever. E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos is reporting that Ellen Pompeo will return to the set of ABC's Grey's Anatomy very quickly after the birth of her baby (who was born on September 15th) and, "thanks to her early return, as well as her willingness to preshoot scenes before the birth (most of which took place in bed after Meredith's liver surgery in last night's ep)," it appears that Meredith Grey won't be missing from a single episode of Grey's this season. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

CBS has ordered pilot scripts for two multi-camera comedy projects from Chernin Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television. The first, from How I Met Your Mother's Chris Harris, is about the unlikely friendship that develops between a thirty-something executive and a 22-year-old who works in the same office. The second, from Jared Stern (Bolt), revolves around a group of workers at a Target-like superstore. Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope will executive produce both series along with the respective creators. (Variety)

Could NBC be moving up the premiere of Chuck? And is it a good thing? (Televisionary)

Chris Elliott will play the estranged father of Allyson Hannigan's Lily on CBS' How I Met Your Mother, according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. "The highly-anticipated family reunion is slated to air Nov. 23 when father and daughter come face-to-face at a Thanksgiving celebration hosted by Lily’s grandparents," writes Ausiello. "I’m told the episode will feature childhood flashbacks that will shed light on Lily’s very troubled relationship with her father." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The strangest non-story story of the day: Emmy-winning scribe Kater Gordon has left Mad Men just weeks after winning an Emmy for her work on Season Two's season finale, "Meditations in an Emergency." While some were way too quick to read into her strictly professional relationship with Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner, others jumped to both Weiner and Gordon's defense, saying that the parting was "amicable" on both sides. (Deadline Hollywood Daily)

BBC is reviving classic British drama series Upstairs Downstairs as two 90-minute episodes to run next year. Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins will reprise their roles from the original drama in the new Upstairs Downstairs, which will be set in 1936 rather than in the early 1900s. “We rejoin the world of Upstairs Downstairs in the years leading up to the Second World War," according to a BBC spokesperson. "Times are changing and servants are no longer cheap and obedient; Rose soon finds she has her work cut out. Meanwhile, in the wider world, Edward VIII has ascended the throne, fascism is on the rise, and Europe is inching towards catastrophe." (Broadcast)

Rick Springfield will play a "very twisted, warped version" of himself on Showtime's Californication, where he will appear in a four-episode story arc that began last night. (Hollywood Reporter)

Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich will reportedly make an appearance on the upcoming cycle of NBC's The Apprentice, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The network made no comment about the casting and it is "unclear if Blagojevich would compete or just make an appearance on the show." (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

The Fainting Couch: Gilded Cages on "Mad Men"

Not all prisons have bars.

This week's episode of Mad Men ("Seven Twenty Three"), written by Andre Jacquemetton & Maria Jacquemetton and Matthew Weiner and directed by Daisy Von Scherler Mayer, proved that power is an arbitrary construct and that we can fool ourselves into believing that we have control over our lives when in actuality, we're victims of causality and subject to the whims of others.

Don Draper believes himself to have power over Bertram Cooper and Roger Sterling so long as he doesn't sign a contract. Without his signature on a piece of paper, he's free to throw tantrums and retain some semblance of authority over his two partners. After all, he can walk at any time. He's not married to the company or to Cooper and Sterling. One false move and he can take his considerable talents elsewhere. Which is the very definition of power, no?

Except that Don Draper has been backed into a corner. The deal with Connie Hilton should have been cause for celebration but it's brought Don nothing but aggravation and exasperation. First from the partners and Hilton's lawyers, who want Don locked into Sterling Cooper for three years... and then from protege Peggy Olson who asks to be placed on the Hilton assignment and gets an earful from a wrathful Don.

Don's never been one to keep it in his pants, sexually or professionally speaking. Just as he's attracted to the notion of bedding Sally's latent hippie teacher Miss Farrell, so to force him to sign away his freedom is like asking the world to stop spinning. Despite his protestations, some things never change.

But while Don believes he can stonewall Cooper and Sterling and make the contract issue just magically go away, he doesn't anticipate two things. For one, I don't think Don ever expected Roger to turn to Betty for assistance in getting Don to sign the contract. I thought that this was such a breach of confidence and propriety, especially given the tenuous nature of Roger and Don's relationship at the moment and the fact that we shouldn't forget that Roger once hit on Betty in her home. It was beyond the pale, really. Is it Betty's anger towards Don that seals the deal in the end? Hardly. As Betty says, Don will do whatever Don wants to do, regardless of the consequences. (Look at the way he casually swigs from his glass while driving and picks up a couple, only to be attacked and robbed by them. Again: power is mirage.)

And that's typically the case but this time there's a sword of Damocles dangling over Don's head in the form of Bert Cooper. In a fantastic payoff to a dangling plot thread from Season One, Cooper reminds Don that he knows the truth about his identity, dropping a hint about his assumption of Don Draper's life and stating that it really wouldn't be him signing that contract anyway. Checkmate, Don.

I'm glad that Pete's reveal about Don came back into the story at such a crucial moment for Don. And it is an utterly crucial moment, with the title of the episode reflecting the date that Don signs away his freedom to Sterling Cooper.

It may also be the date of Don's undoing. In his castigation of hungry Peggy Olson, he propels her quite literally into the arms of Don's enemy, Duck. While Peggy wasn't initially open to Duck's overtures (even going so far as to attempt to return his gift of an Hermes scarf), Don's rage towards her proves that she needs to plan for her own future, for her own freedom from Sterling Cooper. The question, however, is whether Duck wants Peggy for herself--for her mind and her body--or whether she is merely an instrument to be used against Don in Duck's ongoing vendetta.

I knew that it was Duck that Peggy was in bed with in the opening minutes of the episode and wish that we hadn't gotten those non-linear glimpses of Don, Peggy, and Betty at the start of the episode. The reveal of the two of them in bed together would have been shocking enough without us waiting for it at every turn. I'm extremely concerned about Peggy's future. There's been no real sign that Duck intends to honor his offers of success (he turns down her request for a copy chief position) and their dalliance further clouds the issue. Or could it be that with that very moment, Peggy has gained the upper hand? That remains to be seen.

Likewise, Betty is drawn back into the orbit of Henry Francis, an adviser to the governor whom she turns to for... Well, the cover story is that she is speaking on behalf of the Junior League and opposing a water tank on the site of the reservoir but really she's addicted to the sense of frisson that she experiences from stepping outside of her role as wife and mother, relishing the sensation of being an attractive conquest to a powerful man.

Despite the encroaching women's movement on America, Betty is drawn backwards in time to an even more restrictive time, to the Victorian era, where women were so physically and socially strained that, feeling overwhelmed, they often had to lie down on fainting couches. It's Henry who recounts the purpose of the fainting couch but it's Betty who purchases it and puts in right in front of the hearth, which her designer described as the "soul of the home." If that's true, then what should we make of Betty's decision to include a symbol of male domination and feminine control in the very heart of her familial home? Is it a subversive gesture or an independent one, reinforcing her desire to step outside the bonds of marriage? Hmmm...

Next week on Mad Men ("Souvenir"), Don takes Betty on a business trip; Pete helps a neighbor in his building.

One if By Land, Two if By Sea: Great Expectations on "Mad Men"

"I feel like I just went to my own funeral. And I didn't like the eulogy."

Throughout its two and a half season run so far, Mad Men has been positively overflowing with shocking, memorable, and sensational moments but the scene in this week's episode of Mad Men ("A Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency") has managed to walk away with one of the most gasp-inducing scenes ever glimpsed on the period drama.

Yes, I'm talking about that foot.

This week's stunning installment, written by Robin Veith and Matthew Weiner and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter, was notable for several reasons beyond the morbidly hysterical bloodbath at Sterling Cooper. Centering as it did on the upcoming Independence Day holiday, the installment revolved around several story strands: Joan's departure from Sterling Cooper as she awaits the news about Greg's residency, Sally's inability to let go of her grandfather even as she cannot deal with the arrival of her baby brother, and Don's future at the agency. In other words, each of the three characters experienced the sensation of emotional whiplash as they attempted to look forward and backward at the same time.

In looking at this week's episode, I want to reiterate something I mentioned to Matthew Weiner on the phone the other day: while most series treat their younger characters as one-dimensional props in adults' storylines, Mad Men has excelled at developing Sally Draper (played with staggering skill by Kiernan Shipka) into a three-dimensional character, as complex and complicated as the adults on the series, especially this season where we see her attempt to process Gene's death even as the adults in her life return to life as usual. Her efforts to move past the death of her grandfather are hampered, of course, by the arrival of Baby Gene.

For Don and Betty, Gene is a symbol of hope. As Don tells Sally at the end of the episode, they don't yet know who Gene is nor what he'll become. He represents the very promise of the future, a new person who is as yet unformed by experiences or disappointment; he's also a figurative new bond to hold Don and Betty together after the fragmentation of their relationship last season. Anything is possible for Gene, who has his whole life ahead of him. The same can't still be said for Don and Betty, trapped as their are by the choices they've made in life. Betty selected Gene's name as a way of honoring her father and keeping his memory alive, but to Don it's a bitter reminder of the mutual hate experienced between him and his father-in-law.

For Sally, however, Gene is a literal reminder of the death of her grandfather. As she tearfully tells Don, he shares the same name as her grandfather, looks like him, and sleeps in his room. In other words: he's Gene's ghost come back to haunt the Draper clan. It's a more intellectual fear than that which Betty surmises is troubling Sally; she believes Sally is jealous of Gene and the affection being heaped on him and attempts to bring the two together by giving Sally a Barbie doll she says is from her little brother. For Betty, the problem is an emotional one: Sally is jealous and she has to stop the jealousy now. But Sally isn't jealous, she's filled with dread. She can't let go of the past or her grandfather. In other words, even if there is no ghost, she's still haunted.

We can be haunted too by our own anticipation. Lane Pryce, Don Draper, and Joan Holloway all pin so much on their own expectations, that they each have their hopes brutally dashed by other people's decisions. Lane, hoping for a reward for making Sterling Cooper so phenomenally lean and profitable, instead finds out that he'll be transferred to India; the accountant fools himself into thinking he's a golden boy when he's really just a snake-charmer, someone paid to do the dirty work. Bert Cooper makes Don believe that he's being groomed for a major promotion so he's crushed to learn that the new corporate restructure has him reporting to Guy Mackendrick (Jamie Thomas King). Joan quits her job before she knows whether Greg will get the chief resident position and learns from her drunken husband that he's been passed over. Told that she can't leave her job, Joan tearfully acknowledges that it's too late and is instructed to then find work elsewhere.

Yet each of them rises to the occasion, proving their worth in different ways. Their separate storylines dovetail nicely into one when a humorous incident involving a John Deere lawnmower turns the Sterling Cooper offices into a literal bloodbath. It's a joyous prank gone horribly wrong, resulting in the severing of Guy's foot and the destruction of one of the office walls by the hapless Lois. The sight of the wolfpack getting sprayed by Guy's blood (all over their pristine white shirts) was staggering. But Joan quickly steps in to save Guy's life, organizing the chaos and applying a tourniquet before accompanying him to the hospital.

Guy's foot is a goner, as is Guy's career in advertising, according to St. John. It's a shocking reminder of just how we're each hanging on by a thread. It's a painful reminder of just how much Sterling Cooper will lose with Joan's departure: a cool head who is able to keep the office humming along even as the walls come crashing down around them.

Lane, meanwhile, isn't going anywhere. Guy's life-altering injury means that he won't be sent to Bombay after all but will remain in New York at Sterling Cooper. Plus ce change...

During the madness at the office, Don was meeting with hotel magnate Conrad Hilton, who turns out to be "Connie," the mystery man Don met at Roger and Jane's party. (Nicely accomplished plant and pay-off.) Connie wants Don's opinion about an ad campaign and seems to be offering him a golden opportunity, something that Don turns down, saying "one opportunity at a time." Why does Don not want to attempt some sort of arrangement with Connie? Is he afraid of getting hurt by anticipating something that won't materialize? Or is he loyal to Roger and Bert, despite the many changes that have come about since the merger? Hmmm...

My favorite small moment from this week's episode: Pete catching a fainting Peggy after the lawnmower incident. Despite the recent coolness in their relationship this season, the look of worry on Pete's face spoke volumes about his true feelings towards Peggy. It's a tiny fragment in a larger tapestry in this week's episode but it also connects to the past and the future. Despite what's happened between them, there's still the possibility of rapprochement for these two star-crossed lovers.

In other words, it's a reminder that there's always the glittering prospect of hope.

Next week on Mad Men ("Seven Twenty Three"), Betty tries her hand at local politics; Don is forced into thinking about the future; Peggy receives a luxurious gift.

Emmys: The Morning After (The Morning After)

No, it's not quite the morning after the Emmys but I spent yesterday recovering from a bit too much overindulgence the night before and still wanted to get in my thoughts about this year's Emmy awards before the door for such discussion slams shut.

Emmy host is a rather thankless job and we've seen, thanks to last year, just how much the show can go off the rails in the hands of less-than-qualified hosts. However, I thought that Neil Patrick Harris did a legendary job and infused the proceedings with wit, sparkle, and humor and kept things running smoothly. (Did we really only run over by a few minutes? Fantastic.)

I spent the evening carousing at two post-Emmy bashes, HBO's luxe red-hewed affair at the Pacific Design Center and AMC's latenight after-after-party at Chateau Marmont. Both fetes were absolutely, ridiculously fun and the stars were out in full-force for both events, with this gleeful partier catching glimpses of Jon Hamm, Glenn Close, Ricky Gervais, Chloe Sevigny, Kristin Bauer, Anna Camp, Maria Bello, Christina Hendricks, Daniel Dae Kim, Kevin Connolly, John Slattery, Grace Zabriski, Douglas Smith, Shirley MacLaine, Jemaine Clement, Bret McKenzie, Kristen Schaal, Anne Heche, Aaron Paul, Rose Byrne... and the list goes on and on. (That's just off the top of my head.)

I had a lovely time sitting with Top Chef judge Gail Simmons and her husband at the HBO event and discussing professional chefs, sci-fi TV, and a host of other topics and I got to catch up with Inbetweeners creator Iain Morris and his girlfriend, there to support Flight of the Conchords, for which Morris had written two episodes with writing partner Damon Beesley, and co-creator James Bobin, whom I interviewed recently for The Daily Beast, and ran into at the AMC party with Jemaine Clement. I also caught up with the always delightful Anna Camp of HBO's True Blood, who introduced me to her fiancé Michael Mosley, who will be a series regular on Scrubs this season.

And, at the AMC bash, I got to congratulate Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner--who was holding his two Emmys--on his two wins and he very kindly and graciously thanked me for the piece I did on him and Mad Men for The Daily Beast recently, saying that it was a pleasure to be interviewed by someone who genuinely loves the series. (Aw!)

So what did I think of the awards themselves? Let's discuss. (The full list of award winners can be found here.)

I'll admit that I watched the awards ceremony via an East Coast feed while I was getting ready but that it seemed to be moving at a pretty even speed and Harris provided a charming host throughout the evening, looking quite dashing in a white tuxedo and managing to make me roar with laughter during his Dr. Horrible-style takeover of the airwaves, buffering and all. (The fact that I was watching the Primetime Emmys on a computer made this gag even more hysterical and meta.)

As for the awards themselves, they were more or less pretty predictable, though there were some nice surprises spread throughout the evening. I was thrilled to see Kristin Chenoweth take home an Outstanding Supporting Actress statuette for her role as Olive Snook on Pushing Daisies , a bittersweet posthumous (for the series, not Cheno) acknowledgment of the whimsical series. (By the same token, however, I'd have much rather seen Tina Fey take home the prize for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy to match Alec Baldwin's win for Jack Donaghy, rather than United States of Tara's Toni Colette.)

I was thrilled that Little Dorrit and Grey Gardens took home some prizes in the movies and mini-series categories; both were excellent examples of how classy, upscale longform can still work on television and I was extremely chuffed that BBC/PBS mini Little Dorrit took home the top mini-series prize and writing for Andrew Davies. (If you haven't seen Davies' Little Dorrit, get thee to a video store--or Netflix--straightaway.) And, despite many critics saying that the movies/mini-series section of the ceremony dragged on for far too long, I loved Jessica Lange's acceptance speech and Ken Howard's Kanye West allusion. Unexpected, that.

I love The Amazing Race but I was really hoping that the addictive and slick Top Chef would take home the gold for Bravo this year. It's such a fantastic format and, as much as I adore TAR, I am ready to see it sit out from the reality competition category for one year at least.

Michael Emerson and Cherry Jones were about as professional as can be and I loved Cherry's promise that she was going to plonk down her Emmy on the craft services table at the 24 set in Chatsworth the next day. Likewise, I kind of assumed that Glenn Close and Bryan Cranston would take home statuettes but I'll admit that I was pulling for Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss and Jon Hamm to take home those prizes respectively instead, especially for Mad Men's incredible second season. (I was thrilled for Kater Gordon and Matt Weiner to win for writing the awe-inspiring "Meditations in an Emergency" episode of Mad Men.)

But I'm extremely pleased by 30 Rock and Mad Men's continued win this year for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Drama Series respectively. If Big Love couldn't have won for the truly outstanding third season they had, then I'm exceptionally happy that Mad Men took home the prize. In an era of reality television dominating the airwaves, it's comforting to see so many fantastic drama series making their marks and I think we're truly blessed to have complex series like Mad Men, Big Love, Lost, and Damages on the air today.

What did you think of the awards? How did Neil Patrick Harris do? Were you happy with the winners? And, if not, who would you have awarded the top prizes to? Discuss.

The Daily Beast: "The Magic of Mad Men"

Another quick bit of indulgent self-promotion this morning.

Please be sure to check out my latest piece for The Daily Beast, entitled "The Magic of Mad Men," featuring a one-on-one interview with Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner.

It's the latest installment of an Emmy story package at The Daily Beast and features a Q&A with Matthew Weiner. The period drama is up for thirteen nominations this year, including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor (Jon Hamm), Outstanding Lead Actress (Elisabeth Moss), Outstanding Supporting Actor (John Slattery), and Outstanding Writing, among others.

You can read the piece in full here. Be sure to read the whole intro for Mad Men and then click on the gallery to read the Q&A.

Dead Man's Hat: Life, Death, and the Holy Father on "Mad Men"

"That's a dead man's hat, Bobby."

The specter of death hovered over this week's episode of Mad Men ("The Arrangements") in a major way, from the aforementioned Prussian helmet to Mrs. Olson's distress over the death of the holy father, Gene's discussion with Betty about his funereal arrangements, the burning monk on the evening news, the ant farm, and, well, just about everything.

This week's episode of Mad Men, written by Andrew Colville and Matthew Weiner and directed by Michael Uppendahl, dealt head on with the transience of life and just how fragile we truly are in a poignant and heartbreaking way. Just as Peggy took a firm step into independent adulthood, Betty railed against the responsibility her ailing father Gene wanted to place on her, to include her within the circle of trust and make sure she knew of his final arrangements. Betty not only found this distasteful but attempted to position herself as a child once again, telling Gene that she is his "little girl," even as Gene attempted to replace Betty with his granddaughter Sally, looking to right some of the wrongs done to her by shielding her from the world.

This situation is echoed sharply in two storylines, both involving fathers and sons. Having been to war and seen its horrors, Don wants to protect Bobby from that searing reality, bristling when Gene gives Bobby a war trophy. To Gene, war made him a man; to Don, it's a staggering reminder of unspeakable horror and atrocity. It's symbolized by the Prussian helmet, which Gene sees as a trophy and Don as a painful reminder of death (he even says so, telling Bobby it's a dead man's hat). The two couldn't be more different in their handling of war.

Likewise, Sterling Cooper's latest client Horace Cook (a.k.a. "Ho Ho"), obsessed with jai alai, is shielded from the reality of his pitch by his well-intentioned but ultimately misguided father, who wants to teach his son a lesson about the world, even if it destroys him in the process. Yes, his father's wealth protected him from any truth about the harshness of the world, but it was also his father's duty to give his charmed son some semblance of perspective. From our vantage point in the future, we know that Ho Ho's business plan is built on clouds and gossamer and won't amount to anything. But he needs to face this fact head on in the most brutal way if he intends to step out of his father's shadow.

The price? A million dollars, which Sterling Cooper is only too happy to take from him. One can only imagine that the shock of his ultimate failure will feel much like the shattering of glass of Burt Cooper's ant farm. And likewise, the trail of death that follows will have to be cleaned up by someone else, much as Joan sprays Raid on the survivors of the ant farm. Life is, after all, brutish and short.

So when Betty learns this harsh truth via Gene's death at the end of the episode, she's in total shock, unable to process her feelings in any rational way, a numb mess of cigarette smoke and alcohol. It deeply rankles little Sally, who had gotten to know her grandfather and wants the adults to react accordingly to his death. Her teary rant towards her parents and aunt and uncle in the kitchen is apropos. The others have accepted death as a part of life but for Sally it's theft of her innocence. Gene isn't coming back, he's as dead as that Prussian soldier he shot to death. And her effort to escape--via television--brings only another reminder of the impermanence of our lives, the sight of a monk setting himself aflame. With JFK's assassination just around the corner and more images of death to come, Sally is having her eyes opened about the world in a way that Don and Betty did not and could not.

And yet Don is affected by all of this as well, in his own way. He digs out an old photograph of his parents and solemnly cleans out Gene's bedroom, folding up the old cot and shifting it into the corner. In the end, we leave behind those we love and the things we touched. And it's love--such as Sally's for Gene--that keeps us alive in the minds of those around us. Given the rift between the two in last week's episode, it was touching to see the two interact in such a tender way this week, between the driving scene (um, hello!) and the ice cream scene, in which Gene tells Sally in no uncertain terms that she can accomplish anything she sets her mind to and not to let Betty stand in her way.

Hard truths were learned in other arenas as well. Peggy saw her mother refuse to let her go or make her own way in the world, even going so far as to nearly disown her daughter after she announced her intentions to move to Manhattan. "You'll get raped," said Mrs. Olson hysterically, before sending her daughter to Coventry. Peggy knows, meanwhile, that the client doesn't always know what they want and her astute belief (clearly learned from her mentor Don) proves true as the Patio execs are disappointed by the Bye Bye Birdie rip-off commercial that Sal directs.

It's this commercial which also lifts the scales from Kitty's eyes as she sees her husband so perfectly reenact the commercial he intends to shoot, right down to sultry glances, girlish poses, and coquettishness. No, something's not right here, Kitty realizes, just as the Patio execs say of Sal's commercial. The sad fear in her eyes as the truth of her situation begins to dawn on her was absolutely heartbreaking.

Peggy herself learns a valuable lesson from Joan: she too is a product that has to be sold in an appropriate way. After her notice looking for a roommate results in the wolf pack's humiliating mockery of her (that prank call was hysterical and upsetting at the same time), Joan tells her that she needs to sell herself as a fun-loving girl in the city. And so Peggy ends up with a roommate, Karen (played with perfect poise by Carla Gallo), who's vastly different than her but, we can't help but feel, will open her eyes to ways of big city living.

We all need to grow up sometime, one imagines.

Next week on Mad Men ("Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency"), Betty and Don deal with Sally's erratic behavior, Pete pursues a new angle in business, and Betty has a strange dream.

Channel Surfing: Idris Elba Tackles Brit Mystery, ABC Encodes "FlashForward," Vincent Kartheiser Dances Around "Mad Men," and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

The Wire's Idris Elba (last seen on the small screen in a multiple-episode story arc on NBC's The Office) has landed the lead in new BBC One crime thriller Luther, where he will play John Luther, a "near-genius murder detective whose brilliant mind can’t always save him from the dangerous violence of his passions." Series, which has been commissioned for six episodes, is written by Neil Cross (Spooks) and each episode will invert the familiar tropes of crime drama on its head: the murderer will be revealed at the beginning of each episode and the focus will be the dynamic between Luther and his perpetrator, who aren't quite so different from one another. "Luther is a challenging and exciting character because he’s so complex," said Elba. "While he’s capable of great kindness and loyalty, sometimes he steps over the edge of madness – simmering with anger and rage." Luther will air in autumn of 2010 on BBC One. (Broadcast)

Taking a page out of its Lost handbook, ABC is turning to some rather unique marketing opportunities for its upcoming ensemble drama series FlashForward. The network has begun including codes in its most recent print ads for the ABC Studios-produced series. According to Variety's Michael Schneider, "When users hold the black-and-white codes up to a webcam, the picture on their computer screen turns into a 3-D ad for FlashForward, featuring photos from the show. And if clicked, the pics turn into minute-plus clips from the show." Those ads will be placed in niche publications that, er, shall we say cross over with the series' intended audience, such as Wired, Popular Mechanics, and several gaming publications. And if you're not a subscriber to one of those magazines, fret not: you can download the ad here. (Variety)

Vanity Fair has a fantastic interview with Mad Men's Vincent Kartheiser, who plays the petulant Pete Campbell on the AMC period drama series. "I think one of the things Matt [Weiner, the show’s creator] really wanted with Pete was someone who didn’t villainize him from the inside out," Kartheiser tells Vanity Fair's Bruce Handy. "Take the pilot, that scene with Peggy, where Pete’s kind of dressing her down—he really thinks he’s being helpful and actually we had to do that scene quite a few times just to get that tone right for me. It was something that Matt and [director] Alan Taylor kept trying to finesse with me, to get to that point where it is rude but it’s really said from this helpful place. But I’m constantly reminding myself with Pete Campbell that the words kind of do the work for me. I don’t have to add any sort of emphasis to it—it’s there... the characters are written with such humanism. So even though, like you say, Pete comes from this place of being a villain, that’s something Matt carefully writes away from." (Vanity Fair)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan waxes enthusiastically about the fun and loopy charms of HBO's vampire drama series True Blood, which she says isn't "a carefully assembled feast," but rather an "enjoyable jambalaya packed with every thing the chef had close at hand. It's a jam-packed, all-you-can-eat buffet served with a side of crazy." You know you want to sink your teeth into this piece. (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

FOX has given a script order to multi-camera comedy Extended Family, about a blue-collar woman who raises foster children. Project, from Sony Pictures Television and Apostle, is written and executive produced by According to Jim's John Beck and Ron Hart. The duo have also sold a pilot script for multi-camera comedy Many Wives of Jon to TV Land; that project is about a young couple whose lives change when the wife's family moves in. (Hollywood Reporter)

Recasting alert! Bella Thorne (My Own Worst Enemy) will replace Jolean Wejbe on HBO's Big Love, where she will recur as Tancy (a.k.a. Teeny) Henrickson. Thorne was originally cast as Christie, the anger-prone daughter of Barb's sister Cindy (Judith Hoag). It's not immediately clear whether that part has been scrapped or will be recast as well. (Hollywood Reporter)

BBC Two has ordered two spin-off series from its culinary competition series The Restaurant, which airs Stateside under the title Last Restaurant Standing. The first, Plate Expectations, will follow Season Two contestants James Knight-Pacheco and Alasdair Hooper as they launch their own catering company. The second, Step By Step, will show Raymond Blanc demonstrating his own recipes. Both are set to launch on the UK channel in October to coincide with the launch of the third season of The Restaurant. (Broadcast)

Food Network has renewed daytime cooking series Ten Dollar Dinners, which features The Next Food Network Star's fifth season winner Melissa d'Arabian, for a second season. The series will tape thirteen additional episodes in December and the network will launch the series' second season in early 2010. (via press release)

Documentary shingle Ten Alps, owned by Bob Geldolf, has signed a three-year distribution deal with BBC Worldwide. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Memories of the Golden Smile: AMC Renews "Mad Men" for Fourth Season

Pour yourself a scotch; there's some good news for the gang at Sterling Cooper.

Cabler AMC has announced this morning that it has renewed period drama Mad Men for a fourth season. The series, created by Matthew Weiner, is currently nominated for no less than sixteen Emmy Awards.

The news doesn't come as a surprise as the third season of Mad Men, which launched three weeks ago, scored a record 4.5 million viewers overall, so a fourth season renewal was seen as pretty much a dead cert.

"We always saw the potential for Mad Men, and believed in and supported the series because of our strategy of developing cinematic television that complements our library of the most entertaining movies, from every genre, on television," said AMC president/general manager Charlie Collier in a statement. "It’s been extremely gratifying to see the show develop in to such a pop-cultural phenomenon with such a passionate fan base. With this early fourth season renewal, we’re excited to let our audience know the captivating world of Sterling Cooper will be back on AMC again next year."

The full press release from AMC, announcing the renewal, can be found below.

AMC GREENLIGHTS “MAD MEN”
FOR A FOURTH SEASON

New York, NY – September 1, 2009 – AMC announced today it has renewed “Mad Men” for a fourth season. The news comes on the heels of the premiere of the series’ third season, which debuted Sunday, August 16 to unprecedented critical acclaim and attention, and garnered a record 4.5 million viewers. The series has also recently received 16 Emmy nominations – the most for any drama series – including Outstanding Drama, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama (Jon Hamm), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama (John Slattery), and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama (Elisabeth Moss). Creator, writer and executive producer Matthew Weiner has received four out of the five nominations in the Outstanding Writing for a Drama series category. Lionsgate, the leading next generation studio, produces the series in association with AMC.

“We always saw the potential for ‘Mad Men’, and believed in and supported the series because of our strategy of developing cinematic television that complements our library of the most entertaining movies, from every genre, on television. It’s been extremely gratifying to see the show develop in to such a pop-cultural phenomenon with such a passionate fan base,” said Charlie Collier, president and general manager of AMC. “With this early fourth season renewal, we’re excited to let our audience know the captivating world of Sterling Cooper will be back on AMC again next year.”

Last season, over 30 million viewers watched ‘Mad Men’ on-air, on video-on-demand as well as on iTunes. The series continues to deliver the strongest concentration of upscale adults 25-54, more than any other original drama series on basic cable. “Mad Men” has consistently ranked at the top of the iTunes TV charts, and now in its third season it continues to hold the number one spot with its premiere episode.

“’Mad Men’ continues to surpass all expectations with each new season and the series has become a signature show for Lionsgate around the world,” said Kevin Beggs, Lionsgate’s president of television programming and production. “We’re gratified by this early fourth season pick-up and salute the brilliant work of Matt Weiner, the cast, the entire creative team and our partners at AMC, who share our commitment to bringing viewers distinctive original programming of the highest quality.”

“Mad Men” burst onto the scene when it debuted on AMC in July 2007 and quickly became one of the most talked about series on television. Set in 1960s New York, “Mad Men” is a sexy and provocative original drama that follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising. The series has made history as the first basic cable series ever to win the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series, and back-to-back Golden Globes® for Best Television Series – Drama. The award-winning ensemble includes: Golden Globe-winner Jon Hamm, January Jones, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, Christina Hendricks, and John Slattery and guest stars legendary stage and screen actor Robert Morse.

Window Dressing: Three Weekends on "Mad Men"

Just a few quick words about this week's gorgeously evocative episode of Mad Men, which I loved.

On this week's installment of Mad Men ("My Old Kentucky Home"), written by Dahvi Waller and Matthew Weiner and directed by Jennifer Getzinger, we bear witness to three very different weekends, although all of them captured a portrait of people engaged in business-driven activities, despite the social setting.

There was the opulent Kentucky Derby-themed "soiree" of newlyweds Roger and Jane, the dinner party hosted by Joan and Greg aimed at impressing the chief of surgery at Greg's hospital, and the marijuana-fueled weekend brainstorm session between Peggy, Paul, and Smitty at Sterling Cooper. Three very different gatherings, yet there was no mistaking any of these events for anything other than an outgrowth of business itself.

So what is Matthew Weiner saying then about the true nature of social gatherings? That they're all at their heart based in commerce, whether that's overtly stated or not? It might just be. Betty's stroke-afflicted father in fact best sums up the episode's underlying theme: "You people think you can solve everything with money."

Is Jane's behavior--both her catty comments at the office and drunkenly at her own party--excusable now given her new station in life? Does Roger's money excuse the offensiveness of his blackface routine? Is Joan forced to quite literally sing for her supper now that she has a doctor for a husband? Why is Peggy's new secretary so fearful for her employer's social standing?

It all comes down to money and to public perception. Roger believes that people around him are jealous of his marriage because he's happy but Don is quick to point out that people don't think he's happy, they think he's foolish. Trudy may have felt left out when Betty and Jennifer discuss their pregnancies and babies, but it's Jennifer who is shocked and jealous when Trudy and Pete light up the dance floor with their Charleston. Could it be that Trudy is happy even without the child she so desperately wanted? That she can throw her childlessness in the face of society and prove that she too can be fulfilled without society's own expectations of what's expected of her?

Peggy realizes that she's gotten to where she's at through her own pluck and merit. She doesn't need her secretary to look out for her as though she were a child. She is strong enough to make her own choices and take her own risks in life, to experiment and test her boundaries by smoking pot with the men and defying her defined role of blender-carrier. Peggy is toeing the line between the old guard and the future, between status quo and revolution. Her very presence at Sterling Cooper, the fact that she has her name on the door of her own office and a secretary is an anomaly. But she's not another girl in the secretarial pool; she's realized her status gives her a power that Olive doesn't, hasn't, and will never have in the business world. "I am going to get to do everything you want from me," Peggy tells Olive and we do believe she shall.

(Aside: I loved seeing stoned Peggy--who does seem to work better on marijuana--almost as much as I loved catching a jubilant Pete dancing the Charleston with his wife at Roger's party.)

Joan, on the other hand, discovers that her happiness and future are inexorably tied up with Greg's. In another humiliating turn, he forces her to perform for his guests when the topic of conversation turns towards a recent failure of his during a procedure. Grabbing Joan's accordion, he turns the hostess into a plaything, a bauble to entertain the guests. That she sings and plays "C'est magnifique" is both heartbreaking and ironic. Things are far from magnificent in their household, despite their outward appearances. We can pretend that the past never happened but that doesn't mean it actually didn't; Joan and Greg may never have discussed the rape in Season Two but it doesn't mean that the slate was wiped clean for either of them.

So too do Don and Betty engage in a complicated dance of deception. They've been so focused on Betty's pregnancy that they appear to have made a concerted effort not to recall the period of separation that occurred last season. But it happened. As did Don's affair with Bobbi Barrett and Betty's rendezvous with the handsome stranger. Jane's drunken remark ("I knew you two would get back together. I never had any doubt, no matter what the problem was") cuts so sharply for its truth; they were separated, their marriage on the brink of destruction. And so it still is, judging from Betty's reaction to Henry Francis touching her belly.

We can't escape the sense that there's a tenuousness to everyone's actions, a feeling that fear and worry cloud the landscape, much like how a timid Sally Draper pretends to find Gene's missing five dollars (which she stole from him earlier in the episode). I was terrified that Gene would strike Sally or react violently but despite his tantrum Gene allows things to revert back to normal after sternly reminding Sally in his own way of her wrongdoing. That Sally would be reading "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" is a telling sign: as bad as things have gotten, they are only going to get worse.

The old guard will be pulled down, the youth will rise up, Rome will burn, and "all hell's gonna break loose" as Gene succinctly puts it. Social mores are changing, judging from Don and Pete's pained reactions to Roger's outdated and offensive blackface routine and Carla irately telling Gene that black housekeepers don't all know each other. Change is in the air. Whether for good or ill--for these characters, anyway--remains to be seen.

Next week on Mad Men ("The Arrangements"), Gene and Don cross paths; Peggy searches for a roommate; a wealthy new client has very high hopes.

Everything Fades: Love Among the Ruins on "Mad Men"

Times, they are a changing.

Bob Dylan may not have wrote the lyrics to his hit song until 1964, but the words are especially apt for the goings-on at Sterling Cooper this week on Mad Men.

Just a few quick words about this week's remarkable installment of Mad Men ("Love Among the Ruins"), written by Cathryn Humphris and Matthew Weiner and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter, which I thought was absolutely beautiful in its elegance and pathos.

I knew that the matter of Betty's stroke-afflicted father Gene (Ryan Cutrona) would have to come back into play, likely this season but I never expected things to take such a dramatic turn, with Don confronting Betty's manipulative brother William (Eric Ladin) and forcing his hand: Gene would be installed into the Draper household, William would support him financially, and Gene's house would remain untouched.

That Gene would now seem to have become a permanent fixture at the Drapers', pouring out their liquor into the sink (believing it to be Prohibition) and attending Sally's maypole dance with equal relish. I'm very concerned that between Betty's father moving in with them and the imminent birth of their third child, there's going to be a hell of a lot more strain on Don and Betty's relationship. It's clear that what passed between them has been intentionally forgotten for now but secrets have a nasty way of showing up when you least expect them. They can pretend all they want that things are fine between them but the reverse is quite true. The sight of a nearly full-term Betty drinking wine and smoking in bed was startling; it's clear that despite her perfect exterior, she's still firmly gripping onto her crutches to make it through the day, pregnancy or no.

Peggy, meanwhile, attempted to get in touch with her inner flirt after seeing how the men of Sterling Cooper reacted to the scene of Ann-Margret in Bye, Bye Birdie!, which they would be reproducing for an ad for a new Diet Pepsi product called Patio. She ends up, at Don's suggestion, doing some "research" at a Brooklyn bar, where she picks up a young engineering student and fools around with him. (She wisely doesn't have sex with him as he's unable to produce a "Trojan" and we all know how Peggy got into trouble with that situation last time.) The coquettishness with which she says that they can "do other things" and then the following morning admits that it "was fun," is diametrically opposed to the prudish Peggy we've come to expect. Could it be that she's about to get swept up in the sexual revolution to come?

Peggy and Don have become more alike than I would have ever expected from their initial encounter in the Mad Men pilot episode. The forcefulness with which she speaks, the way she envisions the world, the way she offers her opinion all speak of Don's influence and the two are bound by secrets in a way that no one else on the show is. The final shot of them alone in Don's office, discussing the Pampers account, speaks of an equality and understanding between them that must be absolutely foreign to anyone on the outside looking in.

But everything changes. Life goes on, styles, morals, and principles are as fluid as the wind through the grass. Just as Peggy's attitude towards sex is undergoing a transformation, so too is Manhattan itself, as seen from the trenchant battle over the construction of Madison Square Garden, which would force the demolishing of the beautiful Beaux Arts structure of Penn Station, a position which Paul Kinsey is firmly against and makes his "radical" notions known during a client meeting with the Madison Square Garden overseers.

Don manages to charm the client over dinner with Roger (and, yes, things between the two former friends is glacially cold still) but no sooner do they iron out any kinks then Pryce informs them that the London office does not want them involved with this particular client. The encounter rattles Don who questions Pryce why his company even bought Sterling Cooper in the first place. Pryce, of course, isn't sure himself. This can only lead to more trouble down the line for Sterling Cooper and relations are going to get much more strained, I'm sure.

Roger, meanwhile, has just as many family issues to deal with as Don as he prepares for his daughter Margaret's wedding. But Margaret doesn't actually want Roger and new bride Jane attending her wedding; she's fine with him paying for everything and she attended his wedding to Jane but she doesn't see why they need to be at her wedding. It's a position that Roger ascribes to Mona's poisonous influence over his daughter and accuses her of whispering in her ear. Roger even asks Peggy later what her father could do that would force her not to want him at her wedding. (Nothing, says Peggy, he passed away.)

But something tells me that this wedding won't end up happening after all. The invitation which Roger cavalierly tosses on the table in his office clearly shows a wedding date of November 23rd, 1963... which just happens to be the day after John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Given the public's future mourning over the loss of their beloved president, I dare say that Margaret and Brooks will end up calling off their nuptials in the end. Whether that will be a plus or a minus for Roger remains to be seen.

Best line of the evening: "You're not an artist... You solve problems." - Don to Peggy

Next week on Mad Men ("My Old Kentucky Home"), the writers fend off boredom when they are forced to work after hours; Roger hosts a party while Joan and Greg host a party of their own; Jane pays a visit to Sterling Cooper; Sally has a run in with Grandpa.

Mad Men Sneak Peek: Ep 303: "My Old Kentucky Home"

Channel Surfing: David Anders Clocks in for "24," ABC Developing "Time Traveler's Wife" Series, Matt Lauria to Shine "Lights," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

David Anders (Alias, Heroes) has been cast in a recurring role on Day Eight of FOX's 24 and Zap2It's Rick Porter has managed to obtain some further information about Anders' villainous character. Anders, who is slated to appear in a handful of episodes next season, will play Josef Bazhaev, the son of an Eastern European mobster, who is described in casting breakdowns as being the "heir apparent to an Eastern Promises-style godfather. Josef is a dangerous man but is cautious and worries about things more than his father." (Zap2It)

Just a few days after the opening of feature film The Time Traveler's Wife, ABC has announced that it is teaming up with Friends creator Marta Kaufman and Warner Bros. Television to develop a drama series based around the film (itself an adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger's novel). Kaufman will write the pilot script and executive produce. "ABC executives believe the complex plot of the original novel will work well in series form," writes The Wrap's Joe Adalian, "since Kauffman will be able to explore the romantic relationship at the core of the story over the course of several seasons." However, the potential series won't strictly be serialized and will also be comprised of episodic storylines. (The Wrap)

Matt Lauria (Lipstick Jungle) has been cast as a series regular in Season Four of Friday Night Lights, where he will play Luke, described as "a charming yet cocky junior who reluctantly finds himself playing for Coach Taylor’s East Dillon squad," by Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. Season Four of Friday Night Lights kicks off on October 28th on DirecTV before airing next summer on NBC. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Canadian viewers desperate to catch Season Three of period drama Mad Men will have to turn to iTunes for their next fix. Lionsgate Television via its affiliate Maple Pictures has made a deal with iTunes Canada to carry Season Three of Mad Men for download in both standard definition and HD. (Hollywood Reporter)

E! Online's Jennifer Godwin has a fantastic interview with Nurse Jackie's Merrit Wever, who plays innocently addled nurse Zoey on the Showtime dramedy series. "I think it would be a huge deal," said Wever when asked what Zoey's reaction would be upon learning about Jackie's darker side. "I could see Zoey staging an intervention, thinking she should take it upon herself to sober Jackie up. I could see her thinking this is why she was sent to the hospital. I think she would get all of the pamphlets and literature she could possibly find on drug addiction, and Zoey would annoy Jackie sober. And I say annoy lovingly. She would care Jackie sober, because she does think she's the best thing since sliced bread. Zoey adores Jackie. She thinks she's a great lady." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Michael B. Jordan (The Wire) has been cast as a series regular in Season Four of Friday Night Lights, where he will play troublemaker Vince, who is described by Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello as "charming at times, the junior running back can be dangerous and menacing—a result of his crime-riddled upbringing. He quickly finds himself at odds with the team’s new pretty boy Luke." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

NBC has given a script order to an untitled multi-camera comedy project from writer/executive producer Gary Janetti (Will & Grace) about two men--one straight, the other gay--who are best friends. Project, from 20th Century Fox Television, "marks the first major deal between NBC and 20th TV since the network's May cancellation of the 20th TV-produced My Name Is Earl after four seasons," writes The Hollywood Reporter's Nellie Andreeva. (Hollywood Reporter)

BBC One have commissioned a 90-minute adaptation of Henry James' supernatural classic The Turn of the Screw. Adapted by Sandy Welch (Jane Eyre) and directed by Tim Fywell (The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency), the action of the spine-tingling novella is moved to post-WWI. The drama, which begins shooting later this month, will star Michelle Dockery (Cranford), Sue Johnston (Waking the Dead), and Mark Umbers (Mistresses). (BBC)

PBS will launch a new culinary-themed travel series Gourmet's Adventures with Ruth, which will follow Gourmet editor-in-chief and author Ruth Reichl as she travels the world visiting cooking schools with celebrities. The ten-episode series will debut on PBS on October 17th and will also be available via Gourmet's TiVo channel and on American Airlines flights. (Hollywood Reporter)

Cabler Style will begin airing repeats of ABC's Supernanny in September every evening at 7 pm ET/PT. (Variety)

Natasha Henstridge (Eli Stone) has been cast opposite Harry Hamlin in Hallmark Channel telepic Family Gathering, from writer Kevin Commins and director John Bradshaw. Pic is slated to air in 2010. (Hollywood Reporter)

Former CBS executive Lisa Leingang has been hired as SVP of original programming and development for Comedy Central's East Coast operations. She will report to Lauren Carrao. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Limit Your Exposure: Truth and Consequences on Season Premiere of AMC's "Mad Men"

Don Draper has been an enigmatic figure throughout the two seasons of Mad Men that have aired so far.

He's taken the approach in his life that his identity is a fluid construct that he can shift at will. Don Draper himself is a front, a mask appropriated by Dick Whitman that has become somewhat comfortable to wear. But still, there are echoes from the past, ghostly reminders of his life before his transformation into the stylish and slick ad man that he appears today.

On the third season premiere of Mad Men ("Out of Town"), written by Matthew Weiner and directed by Phil Abraham, several truths bubble up to the surface over the course of a few days in the life of Don Draper. Secrets have a way of spilling out in the most unexpected ways and Don is no exception to this rule, facing some hard truths on the occasion of his (real) birthday. But he's not the only one who's exposed in this installment of the lush period drama.

You read my advance review of the third season opener last week, but now that the episode has aired, we can get down to talking about specific plot points in the gorgeous, evocative, and gripping season premiere. So pour yourself a Manhattan, slip off your London Fog raincoat, settle down in front of the ant farm, and let's discuss "Out of Town."

I think it extremely wise of Matthew Weiner and Co. not to immediately address some of the shocking plot points glimpsed in the second season finale, most notably Betty Draper's one-off affair with a handsome stranger in the back room of a bar (after she learned she was pregnant with her third child) and Peggy's decision to tell Pete that she secretly bore his child and gave it away. Both were two of the most surprising developments in a season overflowing with them but rather than deal with these head-on, Weiner smartly pushes them into the darkness for now to let them marinate for a while.

What is immediately clear is that several months have passed since we last saw the staffers of Sterling Cooper. Joan Holloway, raped on the floor of Don's office by her golden boy doctor fiance last season, is pushing certain occurrences out of her mind. Despite the time jump of several months, nothing has outwardly changed for Joan in her engagement. She's still planning to wed her rapist, still wearing her engagement ring, and still looking forward to leaving Sterling Cooper behind in a few months' time.

Elsewhere, Betty Draper is now far along in her pregnancy, with a daughter, she believes and she and Don seem to have forged some sort of rapprochement between them. At least for now. But despite things being relatively calm on the home front, Don is tormented by some inner demons on the eve of his actual birthday (or more precisely Dick Whitman's birthday). The third season opens with a waking dream sequence in which Don, boiling a pot of milk for Betty, envisions the circumstances of his birth: the childless frustration of his father and his adoptive mother, a trip to a prostitute for his father which leads to his conception, and his actual birth, in which we learn that Dick's name is in fact not a blessing but a curse offered up by his dying mother in her final breaths, in which she promises to boil her former client's, uh, genitals in hog's fat.

It's a distressing development that's at odds with the homey environment of the Drapers' kitchen and Don standing at the hob warming some milk for Betty. But he quickly puts aside his dark thoughts with the ease with which he removes the "skin" atop the heated milk. It's nothing but detritus to be stripped away and cast off.

It's a lesson that we've previously seen Don teach to Peggy: it's so easy to forget sometimes, to put the darkness out of your head. But these things have a nasty way of coming back to bite you later on. But compartmentalization is Don's specialty; just look at the way he tells an engaged flight attendant to forget her fiance for the night. "I've been married a long time... You get plenty of chances."

It's Sal who nearly takes one of those chances. On a business trip to Baltimore with Don, Sal is tempted into acting upon his true nature and fulfilling his homosexual desire, despite his marriage to the saintly Kitty. After complaining about a broken air conditioner, Sal is wordlessly propositioned by a bellhop and the two begin a dance of desire that's cut short by a fire alarm.

This encounter would have shaken Sal enough (he's excited and nervous at the same time) but he's spied with the half-dressed bellhop by Don as he comes down the fire escape with his inamorata. The look of shock and horror on poor Sal's face as he realizes he's been brutally, unexpected exposed in front of Don is tangible. This is, after all, the 1960s and his exposure as a homosexual would have had horrific consequences on his career and his public life.

What Don witnessed through the window seems to be destined to remain a secret. Following their meeting with London Fog in Baltimore, Don and Sal jet back to New York when Don says that he has something to ask Sal. Thinking it's going to be about what he saw, Sal swallows nervously. But Don knows better than to expose another man's private life, instead pitching Sal a concept for a London fog campaign with the tagline "limit your exposure."

It's a firm reminder for them both of the secrets they keep and the need to be discrete. Is this the end of Sal's dalliances with men? Or just the beginning of a new direction for his life? Only time will tell, but the encounter seems to have--for the time being--united these two disparate men in a bond. What happens on business trips would seem to remain on business trips.

Back at Sterling Cooper, the staffers are attempting to adapt to a new way of life in a new regime, overseen by the officious British financial officer Lane Pryce (Jared Harris) and his oily right-hand man John Hooker (Ryan Cartwright), symbols of their new British overlords back in London. It's clear that Pryce has his own management style, pitting Pete Campbell and Ken Cosgrove against one another for the now-vacant head of accounts position, a rivalry that looks to only get uglier as the season progresses.

Joan has her own vendetta to contend with, one that pits her against Pryce's "personal secretary" John Hooker. It's an opportunity for her to demonstrate her power in the office (in a way she was unable to do with her attacker) and put Hooker in his place, reminding him of who is truly in charge at Sterling Cooper. The way that she positions him into place to take a beating--after offering up Burt Peterson's deserted office as a place for London superiors to use whilst they're in town--is a thing of beauty. Joan hasn't lost any of her sparkle or dangerous wit in the time since we last saw her and I can't help but feel some sexual tension brewing between her and John Hooker, despite their animosity towards one another. Hmmm...

As for Peggy, she's settling into her new role as Sterling Cooper's sole female executive. She now has her own office, her own secretary, and has kept her new hairstyle and wardrobe in place. While she doesn't share a scene with Pete, there's bound to be a major reveal of just what went down between them between Season Two and Season Three at some point. But Peggy has studied at the feet of Don Draper himself and the secrets that lurk in her past remain buried deep underground while she continues to climb upwards, remaking herself into a female version of Draper himself.

Peggy's baby daddy Pete would seem to have resolved the differences in his marriage to Trudy, given their difficulties last season. But the two seem happy... That is, until Pete realizes that he hasn't been made Head of Accounts (not quite anyway) and will have to share this position with Ken. His venom upon realizing this is a clear indication that Pete hasn't really changed. He wants what he wants when he wants it. And his serpentine nature will likely win out over Ken's easy charms. The drink he shares at the end of the episode with Roger and Cooper speaks volumes about whether or not he'll fit into the new world order at Sterling Cooper. Which leaves me very worried about poor Ken Cosgrove...

The episode itself is structured around two births: Dick Whitman's and Sally Draper's. As Don, Betty, and Sally settle into the cozy, comfortable confines of the bedroom, Don recounts the circumstances surrounding Sally's birth as he's haunted by his own. But Don is first and foremost a consummate liar and a master rationalizer: asked whether the stewardess' pin in his luggage is for her, Don tells Sally that it is and then promises her that no matter what, he will always come home.

Is it the truth that Don speaks or is it a subtle foreshadowing for a future in which Don won't actually come home to Betty and the kids? That remains to be seen but we're left with the indelible image of a man living a double life, one that can't withstand the harsh glare of exposure. And one which he'll seem to protect with all of his heart.

Best line of the evening: "She's taking to your tools like a little lesbian." - Betty re: Sally Draper.

Next week on Mad Men ("Love Among the Ruins"), Betty's father pays a visit to the Draper residence; Sterling Cooper staffers field a highly specific request from a client; Roger makes arrangements for his upcoming nuptials; Peggy is personally affected by an ad campaign.

Sneak Peek Mad Men Episode 302 "Love Among the Ruins":

Channel Surfing: Patton Oswalt Lands on "Caprica," NBC to Attend "Midnight, Mass," January Jones Talks "Mad" Betty Draper, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Patton Oswalt (United States of Tara) has been cast in a recurring role on Syfy's upcoming Battlestar Galactica prequel series Caprica, where he will play Baxter Sarno, the comedian talk show host of a Caprican-based television series on which Eric Stoltz's Daniel Greystone and Paula Malcomson's Amanda Greystone appear. Oswalt is no stranger to genre-based series; he did a memorable guest turn on FOX's Dollhouse last season in the game-changing episode "Man on the Street" (pictured here). Caprica is slated to launch in January 2010 on Syfy. (Hollywood Reporter)

NBC has ordered a pilot script for Midnight, Mass, a series adaptation of DC Comics/Vertigo title about Adam and Julia Kadmons, a married couple who travel the world solving mysteries and tackling bizarre supernatural crimes. Pilot script will be written by Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts, who will executive produce along with Pushing Daisies producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen. Project hails from Warner Bros. Television and Jinks/Cohen. Berg and Harberts, meanwhile, are showrunners on NBC's upcoming medical drama Mercy. (Hollywood Reporter)

E! Online's Watch with Kristin has a new video interview with Mad Men star January Jones, in which the actor--who plays the frustrated Betty Draper on the AMC drama series--reveals that Betty's affair at the end of Season Two has been deeply divisive among the audience, with many male viewers feeling betrayed by her one-night stand with the handsome stranger (Ryan McPartlin) while women felt that Betty was "finally getting hers." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Looks like Paula Abdul won't be turning up on Ugly Betty, after all. The Los Angeles Times' Denise Martin is reporting that talks between Abdul and the network have "fallen apart" and she "will not be guest starring on Ugly Betty." Abdul, as previously reported last week, had been in talks to guest star on Betty as a Mode magazine temp who develops a friendship with Amanda (Becki Newton). (Los Angeles Times' Show Tracker)

ABC has announced the sixteen new celebrities participating in Season Nine of Dancing with the Stars, which include: Aaron Carter, Olympian Natalie Coughlin, actor/martial artist Mark Dacascos, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Macy Gray, actor/songwriter Ashley Hamilton, Melissa Joan Hart, Kathy Ireland, former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irwin, actress Joanna Krupa, mixed martial arts icon Chuck Liddell, Debi Mazar, Mya, Kelly Osbourne, Donny Osmond, and pro snowboarder Louie Vito. (via press release)

Jay Leno has revealed that his first guest on his new 10 pm nightly talk show The Jay Leno Show will be Jerry Seinfeld, who is expected to "do standup on Leno and possibly race cars in the NBC parking lot -- a bit the show will probably go to often," writes Variety's Stuart Levine. (Variety)

Dave Franco (Superbad) has been cast in ABC's Scrubs as a series regular next season. Franco will play Cole, "a charming, conservative, confidently stupid and incredibly entitled medical student whose family donated a wing to the school. With his arrogance and erroneous medical decisions he becomes an enormous irritant to Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley)," according to the Hollywood Reporter's Nellie Andreeva. Scrubs is seeing the focus shift from Sacred Heart Hospital to a medical school next season; Franco will be among the new cast members helping to carry this new direction. (Hollywood Reporter)

HBO has optioned two volumes of Andrew Loog Oldham's biography "Stoned" and "2Stones," about his experiences as the producer and manager of the Rolling Stones. Pay cabler is developing a comedy series that will be loosely based on Oldham's life set in 1960s London. Wesley Strick will write the pilot script and will executive produce with Oldham and Lou Adler. (Variety)

UK audiences will finally get to see HBO's psychotherapy drama In Treatment: digital channel Sky Arts has acquired rights to the 43-episode series and plans to air episodes weeknights at 10 pm beginning in October. Sky Arts will also air an omnibus edition of In Treatment on Sunday evenings as well. (Broadcast)

Former NBC drama executive Lauren Stein has been hired at Peter Chernin's nascent production shingle, where she will oversee television drama development, a move that reunites her with her former boss at NBC, Katherine Pope. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

It Will Always Rain: An Advance Review of the Season Three Premiere of "Mad Men"

Throughout its two seasons so far, AMC's Mad Men has been a study in restraint, about more often than not what's unspoken rather than what's said: the delicate subtext of a crooked cigarette, a wayward glance, a spilled drink, a telling frown.

When I spoke to Mad Men's Rich Sommer last month, he promised that Season Three of Mad Men, which kicks off on Sunday evening on AMC, "pretty much kicks down the door right away."

Having watched the remarkable and heartbreaking third season premiere of Mad Men ("Out of Town"), written by Matthew Weiner and directed by Phil Abraham, for myself last week, I can say that Sommer was telling the truth. Season Three of Mad Men begins not with a wistful tune or a chance to catch your breath but rather with a swift and brutal kick to the gut.

Viewers hoping to see some resolution to the tantalizing plot points of the second season finale--such as Peggy Olsen (Elisabeth Moss) telling Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) about their child or the aftermath of Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks) getting raped by her fiance--are in for some heartbreak as the premiere episode doesn't outwardly deal with these tantalizing dangling plot threads at all. It's an ingenuous plotting strategy that has worked well for Mad Men in the past, forcing the audience into a position of delayed gratification.

Time has passed at Sterling Cooper and there are some major changes afoot that bring with them some new faces in the corridors of the venerable ad agency. Among these new faces: Jared Harris' Lane Pryce and Ryan Cartwright's John Hooker, who play an intriguing and ominous role among the shifting hierarchy at Sterling Cooper. (Look for Rich Sommer's Harry Crane to have carved out a vital role for himself.) There's also a power struggle emerging among Sterling Cooper's younger staffers but that's all I can say on that front.

Thematically, the Mad Men season opener is all about exposure and the malleable quality of truth. Several characters have to face down some hard facts about themselves in this episode with some shocking consequences, most notably for Don Draper (John Hamm) himself, who is on a business trip to Baltimore in a bit of fog on a crucial day in his life. Figuratively stripped bare, Don is forced to confront some inner demons as the audience sees a bit of Draper's mystique peeled back, revealing his true inner core, his true self.

Likewise, Betty (January Jones), Joan, and Peggy have each made some choices about their lives in the cold, hard light of day; the decisions each of them has seemingly made says quite a bit about women's lot in life during the 1960s. Status plays quite a large role here, both in and out of the office. Peggy is noticeably different from the way we found her at the start of Season One; her hair and wardrobe speak volumes about her inner and outer transformation and about the role she's created for herself among Sterling Cooper's boys' club.

I apologize if I'm being vague but I'm forbidden by AMC from revealing any crucial information about the season opener. But I will say that each of the following objects each plays a vital role in the action in this first episode: bare feet, a pot of warm milk, a broken air conditioner, a promise, a raincoat, an ant farm, a piece of erotic Japanese artwork, a Solomonic decision, a broken valise, and a hammer.

One can't help but feel, in watching Mad Men these past two seasons, that Don Draper has dug himself into a hole that's becoming increasingly untenable. What is it about his beautiful, icy wife that prevents him from telling her the truth about his past? And what does it say about us as an audience that we don't want him to cast off his false front?

Just what happens next on the stylish and seductive Mad Men remains a mystery but suffice it to say that it will be accompanied by the most gorgeous period clothes and sets, trappings of a time that's sometimes all too painfully like our own.

All in all, Mad Men's spellbinding third season opener offers up an intoxicating blend of compelling storylines, memorable new characters, and dramatic new circumstances for the extended family at Sterling Cooper. Actions once committed to, can never be undone. And things once learned, can never be forgotten. Swift change is in the air, brought on by swirling eddies of fog, and one can either bend or break in transformation.

Mad Men's third season launches Sunday evening at 10 pm ET/PT on AMC.

Channel Surfing: Syfy Soups Up for "Alphas," Chandra Wilson to Visit "Private Practice," Abdul to Leave "Idol," and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Cabler Syfy has ordered a 90-minute pilot for Zak Penn and Michael Karnow's action-adventure drama Alphas, which had been previously set up at ABC two season ago under the name Section 8. Project, from BermanBraun Television and Universal Cable Studios, follows a team of agents who "possess hyper-developed neurological abilities" (read: superpowers). "What we loved about this idea is that it played into a new way of approaching the superhero genre: the idea of ordinary people who have one slightly extraordinary feature about them and are singularly not so special but together can do extraordinary things was very attractive," said Syfy EVP of original programming Mark Stern. Section 8, which had a six-episode order from ABC, left the network post-writers' strike over creative differences before winding up at Syfy, which ordered it to pilot from the three projects in had in development. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Grey's Anatomy's Chandra Wilson will appear in spin-off series Private Practice next season. "The Grey’s Anatomy Emmy nominee will cross over to sister show Private Practice early into Season Six (Episode Three, specifically) when Bailey visits Oceanside Wellness," writes Ausiello. "I’m told the crackling chemistry between Bailey and Sam (Taye Diggs) that was on display during previous crossovers will once again get some play during this latest visit." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

FOX has confirmed that Paula Abdul will NOT be returning to music competition series American Idol next season. Abdul announced her decision via Twitter yesterday, a statement that the network later confirmed, along with FremantleMedia North America, and 19 Entertainment. "With sadness in my heart, I've decided not to return to #IDOL," wrote Abdul, who then continued by saying, "I'll miss nurturing all the new talent, but most of all ... being a part of a show that I helped from day 1 become an international phenomenon." In an official statement, FOX, Fremantle, and 19 Entertainment said: "Paula Abdul has been an important part of the 'American Idol' family over the last eight seasons and we are saddened that she has decided not to return to the show. While Paula will not be continuing with us, she's a tremendous talent and we wish her the best." (Variety)

New York Magazine's Logan Hill has a fantastic interview with Mad Men star Christina Hendricks, who clarifies our obsession with the period drama. "Drinking and smoking and having sex with other people’s wives and all those things—they are bad, bad behaviors,” said Hendricks. "But it’s all done with fabulous clothes and lighting and excellent music, and that makes for a really sexy show. Being bad is sexy." (New York Magazine)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that D.B. Sweeney (Crash) has been cast in a six-episode story arc next season on CBS' Criminal Minds. "He’s playing a U.S. Marshal who’s brought in to help with a big [case] that arcs through the first part of the season," executive producer Ed Bernero told Ausiello. "He’s a contemporary of our team and knows several members of our team really well." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The remake fever isn't abating any time soon at the CW, according to network boss Dawn Ostroff, who told reporters at yesterday's TCA session that the netlet is looking at other potential remake possibilities. "I don't know if we'd do Party of Five," said Ostroff, "but there are other shows we're looking at that we would possibly think about." Meanwhile, Gossip Girl spin-off Lily might be dead but that doesn't mean that the CW will stop trying to find a potential spin-off from Gossip Girl. "If Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage would be open to it, of course we'd be open to it," said Ostroff. "There is a spinoff actually of the book series which is called 'The It Girl,' and we've explored that with them. It's been harder to find how you make that a world that's well-rounded enough for us, because it takes place at a boarding school, and it's very insular." And, oh, Body Politic is definitely dead. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Rescue Me co-creator Peter Tolan has teamed with Michael Wimer to launch and as-yet-untitled production company that will be based at Sony Pictures Television and operate under a three-year overall deal. "It's important to establish this company right out of the gate, so that would mean tempering my cable instincts and coming up with something that would bring more people into the tent," said Tolan. "I'm never going to take that darker, cynical side out of myself, but I'm going to make the shows a little bit more welcoming." (Hollywood Reporter)

NBC will offer a primetime preview special that will highlight offerings from the Peacock this fall and will air on all of NBC Universal's portfolio of channels, including NBC, Syfy, Bravo, and USA, as well as being offered online at NBC.com. Series such as Community, The Jay Leno Show, Trauma, Mercy, The Biggest Loser, Heroes, Southland, and the channel's Thursday night comedies are among those getting the promotional treatment. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC has confirmed that production on long-running daytime soap All My Children is moving from New York to Los Angeles. The former studio that housed All My Children will not be given to One Life to Live and both series will begin broadcasting in high-definition in early 2010. (Variety)

Ann Gillespie has signed on to reprise her role as Jackie Taylor-Silver next season on 90210, where she will appear in a multiple-episode story arc that has her attempting to reconcile with daughters Kelly (Jennie Garth) and Silver (Jessica Stroup). Her first appearance is slated to air in October. (TVGuide.com)

The N--about to be rebranded as TeenNick--has optioned Deborah Gregory's novel series "Catwalk," about four friends at Manhattan's Fashion International High School. Gregory will adapt her series with Without a Trace scribe Jacob Epstein. (Hollywood Reporter)

More changes afoot for the Emmy Awards, this time affecting just who is eligible to judge this year's categories, a move that prohibits full-time employees from voting in any category for which the network they work for are nominated. It's a move that is likely to frustrate pay cabler HBO, which is nominated for 99 Emmy Awards in most of the major categories; move would then bar their employees from voting in any of those categories. (Variety's Awards Central)

Stay tuned.

Days of Wine and Roses: Televisionary Talks to Rich Sommer of AMC's "Mad Men"

There won't be any Lost-style jumping through time for the cast of AMC's Mad Men, which returns next month.

I caught up last week with Mad Men's Rich Sommer--who plays the bow-tied Harry Crane, the head of television at Sterling Cooper--the day after the Emmy nominations were announced to try and ferret out some information about Season Three of Mad Men and what circumstances we'll find Sommer's Harry Crane under when the series returns with new episodes on August 16th on AMC.

While Sommer was slyly tight-lipped about revealing any concrete information about the season (or whether it takes place before or after the JFK assassination), he did promise that the first episode of Season Three "pretty much kicks down the door right away" and assumes that viewers have been with the series since the very beginning. (In other words, make sure you refresh your Mad Men knowledge by picking up the second season on DVD straightaway!)

Televisionary: Congratulations on Mad Men snagging sixteen Emmy nominations yesterday!

Rich Sommer: Thank you. Very, very exciting day.

Televisionary: Were you surprised at all by the outpouring of Emmy love for the show?

Sommer: Well, last year we got sixteen [nominations] as well and I thought we'd get some love because I think that the people who work on the show are incredible but I did not expect to meet what we did last year. I thought that people would be kind of... I dunno, I just thought that some of the shine would have come off of it but I'm happy to know that people feel about the show the way we do.

Televisionary: What's amazing is that, over the past two seasons, Mad Men has become an absolutely important part of the TV landscape. Did you have any idea when you first joined the show that three seasons later it would be quite as iconic as it is today?

Sommer: Not in the least. I mean, people after the first season would ask me did you know it was going to be this good or this interesting or different and I always said "yes" to that. Absolutely. I knew it was something very unique from the beginning. At this point did I know that it would be as impactful as it's been or as, sort of, well-received as it's been? Absolutely not. I never anticipated the level of success we seem to have gotten.

Televisionary: So, Season Three kicks off next month and everybody's very anxiously awaiting the start of the new season. I'm wondering if you can give us any hint as to when exactly it takes place. Can you tell us if it's set before or after JFK's assassination?

Sommer: I can't tell you any of that. It is certainly in the future from where the last episode was. I can tell you that we don't go back in time. Um, but I can't really nail down any specifics.

Televisionary: I think you saw the first episode of Season Three already?

Sommer: I have. I just saw it this week.

Televisionary: Can you tell us anything about what Season Three is about thematically?

Sommer: It's my understanding the way Matt [Weiner] has put it, it's about change. It's about people changing... It's so hard. (Laughs) I feel bad because there's so little not only that I'm allowed to say but I also am always so nervous about blowing people's enjoyment of the show. As an avid TV viewer, I know how much I like to be surprised and so it's hard for me to like to give anything away at all.

I mean, thematically it's about change. And I can say too that this first episode of the third season is different from the first episode of the second season where, personally--and maybe Matt or the other writers would disagree with me--but I felt that the first episode of the second season was sort of a breath of relief that we were back because we had no idea if we'd be back at the end of that first season... I don't know if you remember how it opened but it opened with "Let's Twist Again Like We Did Last Summer" and sort of like a happy dance.

And this season does not waste any time on that. It pretty much kicks down the door right away. It assumes that you've been there for the entire story and requires that you've been there the whole time and it starts right out of the gate. It's really great.

Televisionary: Season Two saw Harry go through a lot of changes himself and had him standing up for himself and becoming the head of the TV Department at Sterling Cooper. What kind of situation do we find Harry in at the start of Season Three in terms of his emotional context?

Sommer: I think you get to see a guy who got what he asked for. I mean, he got what he wanted and kind of got what he asked for and any kind of connotation that could mean. The change that you see is big things but you just kind of see how a promotion like that, for a guy who was sort of on the same level with everyone else, can affect someone's mentality and not only that person's mentality but the mentality of the people around him in dealing with him.

Televisionary: When we last saw Harry, his wife Jennifer was going to have a baby and I'm wondering, as a father yourself, are we going to see this baby change the relationship between Harry and Jennifer? Should we be looking for any pained looks from Harry towards Hildy?

Sommer: (Laughs) I have to sort of plan my route of attack on any of these answers... Babies always impact a relationship. Certainly, I know that in my real life, it's changed ours for the better. We're kind of a team on this weird, human project which is awesome. And different people react to it in different ways. How it affects Harry and Jennifer is unique to Harry and Jennifer's situation. Sorry to be so vague! (Laughs)

Televisionary: It often seems that Don and Roger treat Harry as though he's somewhat beneath them. Do you think that Harry will ever be able to earn Don's respect?

Sommer: I hope so. I mean, I hope for Harry, speaking sort of from the point of between Seasons Two and Three, I hope he can. I mean, it only seems to make sense. He's a guy who is on the cusp of what is going to be one of the biggest media revolutions ever and somehow he got in on the ground floor and I'm positive he didn't even know he was doing it. Yeah, I think that if he doesn't completely screw it up there's got to be, at some point, some deference to that.

Televisionary: Matt Weiner is very particular about every period detail. Is it frustrating or liberating to work on a show that pays such strict attention to the small details?

Sommer: Oh, it's so liberating. It makes our jobs so much easier. Not only on the period detail, but on the detail in the writing--the way it's so carefully written--it makes our jobs so much easier. We truly have to learn the lines and say them out loud and that would be it.

Ronnie Pipes, who is one of our makeup artists, and I were talking last night--we had a little gathering to celebrate the Emmy nominations--and Ronnie was saying (this is a guy who was just nominated for another Emmy for the makeup on the show), it's not a show that's just about the look, it's not a show that's about the costumes, this is a writers' show. This is a show that's totally about the writing. And we could do this thing in black capes and sweatsuits that had no definition at all (laughs) and you would still get a story that we'd argue would be as compelling as any other on television.

You look at the Emmy nominations yesterday. Four out of the five nominations for drama series [writing] were for our show, which is ridiculous! It's crazy and it's wonderful and I think it's a testament to how well these people do their jobs.

Televisionary: Obviously you're working on a period show. Does it ever force you to step back and kind of make you see our own times in a different way?

Sommer: Sure. We used to talk about it during the first season. This show is less about how much things have changed and more about how much they haven't. It seems to me that the only real difference between how the characters behave and speak on our show and how people behave and speak now is they were slightly more brazen about how they did it, in general.

I mean, there are still people who are just as brazen but anything that these characters are saying people are still thinking now whether it has to do with gender or race or religion. Any of that stuff. I just think we've sort of put this veneer of "PC" over it but I don't actually think attitudes have changed that much. I mean that's a little bit of a dismal outlook, a little bit jaded but that's kind of what I've come to think from the show.

Televisionary: And is there any issue that stands out that you'd like to see the writers tackle?

Sommer: Oh,gosh, is there any issue that stands out? No, I feel like I don't think we're missing anything. I don't feel any stone is going unturned. And I love how--and any good television show should do this--any of these themes or issues are explored through the characters that we've already gotten to know. And, again, I know this is what TV is supposed to do but it is particularly exciting to be one of the sort of vessels through which things are explored. It's a very exciting process.

Televisionary: I've heard you're a huge fan of board games, so I'm wondering are there any new board games that you and the cast have been playing lately?

Sommer: No, actually a few of us have gotten more into video games this year. A couple of us picked up Xboxes and have been bringing them to the trailers and, whenever we have a free moment, we're kind of sitting in there playing video games. Which, in a way to me is sort of a step back. It's good and I am loving these video games, although, when I step back from what I do I kind of miss the old "Scoobyness" of a good, old-fashioned board game.

But this year, the one board game a couple of us have played that's brand new, it came out a few weeks ago, it's called Space Alert. It's a really nerdy, wonderful, stressful CD game that, as you play the game there's a a CD sort of with a robot voice telling you what to do. It sounds really, kind of like all those games that came out when we were in 5th grade but it's actually really, really intense. It's a great cooperative game.

Televisionary: Yet I love the idea of you in a bow tie playing Xbox.

Sommer: (Laughs) Someday when the show is over we will put out all the pictures we have of ourselves in costume doing very, very modern day things. Right now, obviously, we don't want to burst that bubble and it would be unfortunate to see Harry Crane with an Xbox controller in his hands, but someday it will be fun to let people in on what those trailers are like. It's a pretty fun place to work.

Televisonary: If the writers could have Harry do anything, no matter how crazy or out there, where would you like them to take the character?

Sommer: I kind of came up through comedy; that was where I started. I did a lot of improv when I was coming up through school and I've always sort of been tapped as a comedic guy. As much as I love Harry Crane and I don't wish harm on him, I am always interested to see how dark a character can get. Whatever it is, I don't know what the trigger would be, but I'd love to see Harry in the absolute depths of despair. That's something that would be interesting to get to play.

Televisionary: Well there was a rumor a few years back that he was supposed to be killed off in the first season.

Sommer: That is true. He was, as my understanding, supposed to commit suicide near the end of the first season. I am very grateful he didn't.

Televisionary: And a lot of fans are as well, I'm sure.

Sommer: (Laughs) I appreciate it!

Mad Men's third season begins Sunday, August 13th on AMC. Mad Men: Season Two is available on DVD for a suggested retail price of $49.98 but you can pick up a copy now in the Televisionary store for just $24.49.

TV Academy Shines Emmy Love on "Big Love," "30 Rock," "Mad Men," "Lost," "Damages"

I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised this early morning in Los Angeles.

The Emmy nominees were announced this morning and I have to commend them for showering such love onto diverse and unique series such as Big Love, Mad Men, 30 Rock, Breaking Bad, Little Dorrit, Flight of the Conchords, , and Damages, even though Battlestar Galactica failed to garner a single nomination in the major categories.

Hell, one of the talented troika of female leads on AMC's Mad Men--Elisabeth Moss--even landed a nomination, as did the entire main cast of 30 Rock! So, something's right in Hollywood for a change.

Meanwhile, FOX's Family Guy snagged the first outstanding comedy series nomination for an animated series... in fifty years. (Not since The Flintstones has an animated comedy scored a nomination.) Something which sadly The Simpsons was never able to achieve in its heyday.

So which series and actors landed Emmy nominations? Let's talk about the major categories. (The full list of nominations can be found here.)

Outstanding Drama Series:
Big Love (HBO)
Breaking Bad (FX)
Dexter (Showtime)
House (FOX)
Lost (ABC)
Mad Men (AMC)

I have to say that I'm actually quite pleased overall with the selection here, which shows some love for quirky cable dramas like Big Love, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and Dexter while also lauding network hits like Lost and House. I'm not surprised by the inclusion of Lost and the sensational Mad Men but if I'm being totally honest, I'd love to see Big Love, which is coming off of a mind-blowingly sensational third season, walk away with the top prize here.

Outstanding Comedy Series:
Entourage (HBO)
Family Guy (FOX)
Flight Of The Conchords (HBO)
How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
The Office (NBC)
30 Rock (NBC)
Weeds (Showtime)

Loving the inclusion of Flight of the Conchords, despite a somewhat subpar second season compared to the strength of its freshman year, but I'm glad to see that the quirky Kiwi comedy won over Emmy voters not just here but also in the lead actor in a comedy category as well. And kudos to the cast and crew of How I Met Your Mother for snagging a nom in the highly competitive category here. Ultimately, I'm hoping--and it's rather likely--that 30 Rock once again walks off with the statuette here. It really is, hands-down, the very best comedy on television today.

Outstanding Miniseries:
Generation Kill (HBO)
Little Dorrit (PBS)

Generation Kill might have the HBO imprimatur but I'm rooting for the lush and emotionally resonant Little Dorrit to win here. Would love to see a Dickens adaptation win the mini-series prize and the cast and crew of this PBS/BBC production were absolutely top-notch.

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series:
Jim Parsons - The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Jemaine Clement - Flight Of The Conchords (HBO)
Tony Shalhoub - Monk (USA)
Steve Carell - The Office (NBC)
Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock (NBC)
Charlie Sheen - Two And A Half Men (CBS)

I'm blown away by the fact that Jemaine Clement managed to get a nomination here and I almost want Clement to win, just so I can watch what would be a fairly surreal and hysterical acceptance speech. Just... wow. Never would have imagined this. Love that Jim Parsons got nominated and his reaction on the nomination telecast this morning was priceless. The rest of the category is pretty predictable (cough, Tony Shalhoub, cough) but I'm once again putting my money on 30 Rock's incomparable Alec Baldwin. It's what Jack Donaghy would do, after all.

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series:
Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad (AMC)
Michael C. Hall - Dexter (Showtime)
Hugh Laurie - House (FOX)
Gabriel Byrne - In Treatment (HBO)
Jon Hamm - Mad Men (AMC)
Simon Baker - The Mentalist (CBS)

As much as I love Bryan Cranston, I have to say that I want Jon Hamm to bring home the win with every iota of my being. His smoldering performance as Don Draper in Season Two of Mad Men was powerful, provocative, and heartbreaking and he anchored the show with a nuanced masculinity and dynamic charisma. As for the others, Laurie and Byrne were expected, but Simon Baker for The Mentalist? Really? Over Bill Paxton for Big Love? Or anyone from Battlestar Galactica? Grr.

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series:
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - The New Adventures Of Old Christine (CBS)
Christina Applegate - Samantha Who? (ABC)
Sarah Silverman - The Sarah Silverman Program (Comedy Central)
Tina Fey - 30 Rock (NBC)
Toni Collette - United States Of Tara (Showtime)
Mary-Louise Parker - Weeds (Showtime)

Two words: Tina Fey. Need I say more?

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series:
Sally Field - Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer (TNT)
Glenn Close - Damages (FX)
Mariska Hargitay - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC)
Elisabeth Moss - Mad Men (AMC)
Holly Hunter - Saving Grace (TNT)

Thank you, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, for--finally!--acknowledging the incredible performance of Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss; her turn as Peggy Olsen this past season was an understated thing of beauty, haunting for her sorrow, inspiring for her strength of character. That fellow femmes January Jones and Christina Hendricks should be overlooked once again is shameful but I do have to credit them for at least shining a much-deserved spotlight on Moss here. Personally, I'd love for her to win. Or for Glenn Close to get the prize for her fearless portrayal of Patty Hewes on FX's Damages, a character who is a seething mess of complexity and anger.

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series:
Kevin Dillon - Entourage (HBO)
Neil Patrick Harris - How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Rainn Wilson - The Office (NBC)
Tracy Morgan - 30 Rock (NBC)
Jack McBrayer - 30 Rock (NBC)
Jon Cryer - Two And A Half Men (CBS)

I'm loving the support for NBC's 30 Rock here, with Morgan and McBrayer landed nominations for their roles as Tracy and Kenneth. Wish they could both win, but thinking they'll split the vote, so I'm giving the ubiquitous Neil Patrick Harris the edge here. A very tough category this year and one I'll be watching extremely closely.

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series:
William Shatner - Boston Legal (ABC)
Christian Clemenson - Boston Legal (ABC)
Aaron Paul - Breaking Bad (AMC)
William Hurt - Damages (FX)
Michael Emerson - Lost (ABC)
Jon Slattery - Mad Men (AMC)

Tough, tough category here again. I think the Emmy voters tipped their hat a little bit with two nominations for Boston Legal here (would you *really* say that Shatner is supporting?) but I do love the inclusion of Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul (who should be nominated as well for his vastly different turn on Big Love, just for comparison's sake), Michael Emerson, and Jon Slattery, as well as William Hurt. Would love to see Ben Linus take home the win.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series:
Kristin Chenoweth - Pushing Daisies (ABC)
Amy Poehler - Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Kristin Wiig - Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Jane Krakowski - 30 Rock (NBC)
Vanessa Williams - Ugly Betty (ABC)
Elizabeth Perkins - Weeds (Showtime)

Jane Krakowski doesn't get nearly as much recognition as she should for her role as Jenna on 30 Rock, so I am thrilled to see her get the nomination as I am for someone to remember the beauty and bittersweet sparkle of Pushing Daisies and give Cheno a nod as well. As for who will win, I'm not sure at all but I'd love it to be one of these two. Or one of the SNL team.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series:
Rose Byrne - Damages (FX)
Sandra Oh - Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
Chandra Wilson - Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
Dianne Wiest - In Treatment (HBO)
Hope Davis - In Treatment (HBO)
Cherry Jones - 24 (FOX)

I'm thinking one of the Grey's Anatomy ladies will win this category (though no Katherine Heigl?) but nice to see Byrne get some Emmy love as well.

Outstanding Reality – Competition Program:
The Amazing Race (CBS)
American Idol (FOX)
Dancing With The Stars (ABC)
Project Runway (Bravo)
Top Chef (Bravo)

As much as I love The Amazing Race, I think it's about time the Academy recognized the genius of culinary competition series Top Chef.

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series:
30 Rock - "Reunion" (NBC): Matt Hubbard
30 Rock - Apollo, Apollo" (NBC): Robert Carlock
30 Rock - "Mamma Mia" (NBC): Ron Weiner
30 Rock - "Kidney Now! (NBC): Jack Burditt, Robert Carlock
Flight Of The Conchords - "Prime Minister" (HBO): James Bobin, Jemaine Clement, Bret McKenzie

30 Rock has a near monopoly on the comedy writing awards this year and I can't say that I'm surprised. Glad that Conchords got a single nomination here, maybe it will be enough to get the boys back in the writers room for a third go-around (and maybe some more strenuous work on the music this time around), but it's 30 Rock's category to lose. Of the four, I'd love to see "Apollo, Apollo" win for Robert Carlock. I loved that episode.

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series:
Lost - "The Incident" (ABC): Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof
Mad Men - "A Night To Remember" (AMC): Robin Veith, Matthew Weiner
Mad Men - "Six Month Leave" (AMC): Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Matthew Weiner
Mad Men - "The Jet Set" (AMC): Matthew Weiner
Mad Men - "Meditations In An Emergency" (AMC): Kater Gordon, Matthew Weiner

Hmm, something tells me that Mad Men is going to win this category. I thought that Cuse and Lindelof's work on Lost's "The Incident" was great but I don't think it will be enough to defeat a one-two (sorry, make that four) punch from the Mad Men writing staff. Which one, however? Not sure. They are all so profoundly beautiful, but I'll go with "Meditations in An Emergency" in a pinch.

So there you have it. Who are you rooting for to walk away with the top prize? Who got snubbed? And who do you wish the Academy would award the Emmy to? Discuss.

The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards will be telecast on September 20th on CBS.