Kings of Madison Avenue Launch!

First, while I'm certain Mad Men fans have seen this already, there is a great icon generator thanks to AMC and illustrator Dyna Moe. The result for me is quite accurate--but I chose the hat to hide the closest match for my hair type. I'm not quite at the horseshoe stage yet. For more, hop over to www.madmenyourself.com and get yourself a swingin' avatar.


The book is coming out September 1st but the launch is happening Wednesday, August 12th at McNally Robinson. Myself and Globe and Mail TV critic John Doyle will discuss the impact of Mad Men. I will discuss the impact of book sales on me. Details below:

http://bit.ly/kvGUi

Details of the event via Facebook right here:

http://bit.ly/2LPqF

If you're in town, please come by! I promise to be Freddy Rumsen-drunk by tee-off.

Advance Reading Copy

"Not for sale!" raves Uncorrected Galley.

Easy to see why it's currently ranked #95, 937 on Amazon.ca!

Mad Men Emmy Nominations

The Emmy nominations are in and Mad Men gets good love!

Not only did Jon Hamm receive a nomination for Best Actor in a Drama, he also scored one for Best Guest Star in a Comedy for his run on 30 Rock. Tina Fey has reason to celebrate, as her sitcom raked in an impressive 22 nominations this year.

All in all, Mad Men brought in 16 nods, which ties the number from last year.

The high yield of nominations for these quality shows (as well as nods to Damages, Dexter and, possibly best of all, Breaking Bad), goes great lengths to improve the image of the Emmys. At the very least, it goes a long way to counter nominations bestowed on sub-par shows like How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, and the douchiest of all, Entourage. Why not Gary Unmarried for Christ's sake?

Here is a full break down of the Emmy nominations.

Season 2 on DVD

A month in advance of the new chapters, season 2 of Mad Men is now available on DVD. Reasons to own the set:

• frame-by-frame analysis of Fred Rumsen peeing his pants
  
• pause on Sal's reaction when Kurt admits that he's gay
• pause on Sal's reaction when, moments earlier, he realizes there is a box of lemonaires in the break room
• review the dinner party in "A Night to Remember": did Don really make a fool out of Betty?
• apparently you get a nifty shirt and tie with the discs

Most importantly it will get you all juiced up for the new season.

In the meantime, here's a write up in the New York Times and the official entry on the Maple Pictures site.


PS -- according to IMDB, the first two episode titles for season three are "And Now With More Commercials" and "Love Among the Ruins".

Sixes & Sevens

Numbers

This just in: Kings of Madison Avenue ranked on the Amazon.ca best-sellers list! As of today, it is #18, 226! Take that Rachel Ray's Yum-O The Family Cookbook.

Also just in: ranked at a somewhat less inspiring #312, 655 on Amazon.com. But who cares about numbers, right?

End of the Line?

I hate to say it (or write it) but I think I'm done revisions on the book. As far as I know, the final mark-ups went to the printer on Friday, so I'm hoping that means it is just about signed, sealed and delivered.

Keith submitted his final final version of the cover which makes the sleek fantasticness of it all even more fantastic. See for yourself:



I will soon post an interview with Keith Berry about his inspiration and work on the cover.


Tete a tete?

Also, I may have news of a possible event for Kings of Madison Avenue that will also celebrate the debut of season three of Mad Men. I won't go into details, but it includes a book store and two guys on stage talking about the show, one an author and the other a national TV critic.

Hint: one of those guys might be me.

Crossover?

Check out Nikki Stafford's repost of musings on the mid-summer TV lull.

http://tvblog.ugo.com/tv/what-ifdon-draper-was-on-lost


Otherwise, things are quiet on the Mad Men news front. Nothing but quiet until the third season storm I suspect, but I did come across this interesting tidbit while trolling for information. Not right on target, but still somehow apropos.