One More Sleep!

It is difficult at this critical stage to avoid information about the upcoming season--I mean, this isn't opera, we don't have to know the whole story before diving in. But even more trying is resisting the urge to wonder what the next season holds:

• How will the new Sterling-Cooper-Draper-British Guy firm hold together? I'm sure the scrappy nature of their endeavour will be enough glue to keep the team working as one, but for how long? With any luck, not very long at all.
• We did see a brief flash of Pete Campbell's wife Trudy, but how far will she intrude on the inner-workings of the new upstart ad agency, to say nothing of the Pete & Peggy show, a dance that I think isn't close to over. More prosaic is the concern that actress Allison Brie will have little time to spare her 60's husband as she is currently a featured player on NBC's comedy Community.
  
• Will Sal have some kind of Hitchcock-like walk-on at some point? Even just looking into a restaurant through a frosted window. Goddamn I'm going to miss him.
• What role will jock/literary figure Ken Cosgrove play in the new firm? Recent cast photos have featured him but did not fit Paul Kinsey into the frame. Will the painful-sounding "Tapping Maple on a Cold Vermont Morning" short story still have some cache in '64?
• And when the words "Mad Men cast member poses for Playboy" are put together, I'm sure this is not the hoped for model--but have no doubt, she's quite lovely
• Who's going to have a medical emergency this season? Don is always cruising for one, but I have a sense that throwing in with a bunch of hungry upstarts might cause more damage to old Bertram Cooper than any one else, including Roger

Out of all this, I have but one iron-clad prediction to make, one I'm willing to stake my reputation upon: by the end of season 4, Don will leave the new agency and head off on an even more uncertain road.

Also, a sung-through musical episode. Holding my breath for that one.

I am also holding my breath for purchases of Kings of Madison Avenue right here!

Top Five Reasons I Can't Wait for Season 4 To Start

1. It's not even the end of July and it's been so hot that I'm making my own ass-crack gravy--watching the Mad Men & Women will surely ease my pain.
2. Seeing Jon Hamm in the trailer for The Town only whets my appetite...and the movie looks all kind of Heat-inspired good.
3. News that Kiernan Shipka (aka Sally Draper) is getting her name in the opening credits. She really came into her own in Season 3 and this can only bode well for her character's involvement in the show.
4. Waiting to see which characters made the cut and which didn't (a moment in silence for Sal).
5. And, possibly finding out how this happened. Although I'm not sure anyone could answer that.

More to come in the days leading up to the big premiere, including a reason as to my long absence (because I know you've been wondering) and further musings. Get your Brylcreem ready...

Get Kings of Madison Avenue right here!

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.

"Mad Men" Season Three Set Pic - Spoilers?

I don't think this shot will spoil the upcoming season too much, although it does give us a good sense of when the series picks up. Outside of any dream sequence/flashback excuse, I would guess we're looking at the middle of 1963. This leads me to believe that we'll see the JFK assassination well-covered this year. Some might think this a natural backdrop, but much of the history covered in the show so far is subtler (the Jamaica Bay plane crash) and less era-defining (the Cuban Missile Crisis notwithstanding).

Jon Hamm looks good 'n dapper (although with the JFK context in mind, there's a menace to his hat that reminds me of Jack Ruby), and January Jones looks like a dollop of pink meringue (if such a thing exists).

I don't know who the guy with the shades and Sharpie necklace is -- the Drapers new au pair boy?

Picture courtesy of community.livejournal.com by way of Buzzfeed where you can find more. Well, one more.