Jane vs. Joan
The new Mrs. Sterling (as referred to by the ladies) and his former flame have a very delicious exchange at the Sterling Cooper office. The confrontation is nothing short of genius. Of course the heavy blows are thrown in couched and controlled dialogue, but their disdain for each other is more than palpable.

Pot in the Office
Despite the fact that most of Sterling Cooper is attending the garden party, Smitty, Paul Kinsey, and Peggy Olson find themselves working the weekend away on a Bacardi campaign, but with a little inspiration and assistance from an enlightening substance.

Jane and Roger’s Garden Party
The couple celebrate Derby Day in style, with recognizable guests including Mr. Cooper, Don and Betty Draper, and Harry and Jennifer Crane. The real belles of the ball, however, are the Campbells, with Pete and Trudy performing a show-stopping number on the dance floor.

Download “My Old Kentucky Home” Episode

The British aren’t just coming to season three of Mad Men - they’ve already arrived! While those behind this hit AMC drama are often mum about spoilers, we can reveal that the August 16 season premiere will focus on the British takeover of Sterling-Cooper.

As a result of this development, expect major restructuring to take place, as two fan favorites will be in contention for the same job. Who will they be?

For our best guess, check out the picture below:

Meanwhile, sources at E! News have a warning for Salvatore Romano: your marriage isn’t fooling Don Draper. He knows everyone’s secrets.

AMC is attempting to show viewers that “Mad Men” has every element a show can possibly have. TV spots, averaging 30 seconds each, are released to give a sneak peek on what is to come on the third season which premiere is scheduled for August 10.

The new season will pick up where season 2 left off with Betty being pregnant with Don’s baby despite her one-night affair with a random gentleman. In the “Drama” clip, the couple is struggling with being faithful and truthful to each other while in “Action”, Don catches her in the act with Roger.

“Romance” displays the complicated relationship between characters as well as the hidden desires for somebody else. “Comedy”, meanwhile, pulls down the notch with eccentricities of each character.

To be expected in the third season is a guest performance from British actor Jared Harris who will play a CFO to Sterling Cooper in at least 10 episodes.

ACTION

COMEDY

DRAMA

ROMANCE

[GUY MACKENDRICK] Early to mid 30s, a handsome, dynamic British executive with lots of personality and quite good at his job. GUEST STAR. AUTHENTIC BRITISH ACCENTS ONLY.

[MISS WAKEMANS] 50s, a career secretary who is the “gate keeper” for a very important and prominent man. She is very good at at her job. 1-DAY GUEST STAR sptv050769.

[HAROLD FORD] 40s, a posh British executive. CO-STAR. AUTHENTIC BRITISH ACCENTS ONLY

Download “Mad Men” DVD Free

Aimed for an early Fall shot, “Mad Men” season 3 has finally got a fixed premiere date, August 16. Airing at 10/9c, the premiere episode will be presented with limited commercial interruptions and preceded by season 2 marathon on August 10 which starts at 7 A.M. and ends at 8 P.M. EST.

It is not the only good news coming from the critically-acclaimed series because a deal has been reached between AMC and creator Matthew Weiner regarding the running time. Instead of cutting short each episode for commercial breaks as has been suggested previously, they have anticipated it by adding extra minutes in each episode which will make the show running a little over an hour. “It’s wonderful to have partners who can respond to both a business and creative challenge in such a satisfying way,” Weiner told Daily Variety.

AMC wanted 2 minutes dedicated to ads but Weiner was bothered by the request. “The two minutes is troubling and I’m fighting it,” Weiner wrote in online chat hosted by the L.A. Times last week. “I am obviously a huge advocate of advertising and I love the ‘madvertising,’ but I am fighting the urge to change the show at this time, especially when the financials are meager and the urge to TiVo will just be further encouraged.”

The episodes will now run a few minutes into the 11 P.M. hour although it already had generous running time of around 47 - 48 minutes which is around 5 minutes longer than many basic cable hours. AMC has also worked it out with its cable operator affiliates to make sure DVRs set to record the series would recognize the unusually long running time and not cut off at 11 P.M. sharp.

(S02E02) “Supermarket checkout girl? The conversation must be stimulating.” - Joan, to Paul, about his new girlfriend

It must be hard to deal with the death of an actor on a current show. Not just the death itself, of course, but how to deal with the fact that the actor won’t be playing the character anymore. On some shows, one of the leads dies, and you’re left with either replacing the character with another actor, ending the show completely, or having the character die on the show too. I didn’t think Mad Men would even deal with the character of Pete’s dad (played by Christopher Allport, who died in January), since he was only in one episode of the first season. They could have easily referred to him, sight unseen. But they’ve chosen to have him die in the American Airlines plane crash in Jamaica Bay, and this could actually prove to be an interesting catalyst for future Pete stories.

As for the rest of the episode, I’m rather astonished. I would have bet money that we would have to wait weeks to see what happened to Peggy’s baby, but we see in this episode that she’s being raised by her religious mom? That’s actually a surprise. A rather welcome one. (Also: superb acting by the kid, crying when he is handed to Peggy.)

I also like the dynamic between Don and Pete in this episode. It’s played perfectly, Don’s mixture of “I hate this guy” and “I honestly feel sorry for what happened” and Pete’s looking for advice from Don in a big brother sort of way and utter confusion as to what to do and if he should even grieve for a guy he thought was a jerk. Well done. But then when Pete wants to talk to Don again, thinking they shared something special and Don rejects him - again - you can practically see Pete’s heart crumbling like a dried cookie. But it’s interesting how Duck has confidence in Pete. He thinks Pete has some progressive ideas (and let’s face it, he seems to be the only one besides Duck to see the world is changing).

I also like seeing “non-work Paul,” with the casual clothes and partying and the Charles Nelson Reilly scarf around his neck. OK, so I’m not wild about that last thing, but besides that scene in the beatnik coffee house in season one, this is the only time we’ve seen the alternative side of the 60s, the marijuana smoking, the rock music, the partying. And a black girlfriend (not too thrilled with Joan’s reaction, though I think it’s more jealousy than anything). I like how Peggy blew off the guy after making out with him a bit. It’s such a great contrast, 1960 Peggy and 1962 Peggy. And Elisabeth Moss is playing her with a real special kind of confidence.

I know I keep on going on and on each week about how great this show is and how each episode just works so well. But honestly, I’m having a really hard time trying to find fault with this show. With most shows you can spot a bad episode pretty quickly. A plot doesn’t make sense, the writing is bad, it has a conclusion that is predictable, etc. But Mad Men hits everything just so so right that it’s impossible to see what they could have done differently. I’m really digging Matt Weiner’s vision for this show. I trust him and the writers and the actors completely. He’s like a novelist that you just trust with the story, and you read the entire novel as a whole. I can’t wait to see where the stories of these characters are going.

Episode Number: 13    Season Num: 1    First Aired: Thursday October 18, 2007    Prod Code: 113

Peggy’s co-workers are bothered when she’s given a new job opportunity. Don’s work gets in the way of his home life. Betty uncovers a shocking secret.