betty draper

(S03E08) "You don't kiss boys, boys kiss you." - Betty, to Sally

I think my favorite episodes of Mad Men are the ones that have a nice balance of Draper household drama and Sterling Cooper advertising drama. It seemed that this episode was going to tilt a lot - too much - towards the former, but about 20 minutes in, both worlds came together in unexpected ways -- Betty going on the business trip to Rome with Don and Pete running into ... well, someone at the department store. We'll talk about that more after the jump.

In last Sunday's episode of Mad Men, Betty Draper tried to use the knowledge that someone in the Governor's office liked her to save a neighborhood park. I'm sure he wanted more than just that, but it hasn't gone any further (yet). The other day, January Jones (who plays Betty) went to Capitol Hill to get involved in politics for real, advocating for sharks.

In this picture, Jones meets with Senator John McCain. In the caption to the pic, McCain says that he's a huge fan of Mad Men. I think that's one thing Democrats and Republicans can agree on. Someone in the comments says it's Grandpa Gene's ghost. Ha!

(S03E07) "Maybe I was late because I was with my family reading the Bible." - Don, to Conrad Hilton

I've never understood why some people say they can't get into Mad Men (or they watch the show and think the same thing) because "nothing ever happens." I think a lot of stuff happens in every episode, but a lot of it is done with silences and not something more intense. But even the people who think that the show is too "slow" will have to admit that like last week's episode, this episode had a ton of character development, mystery, and plot twists.

Halloween's almost here, so we're giving tips on how to dress like your favorite TV characters.

The Costume: Don and Betty Draper, 'Mad Men'

What You'll Need: For Don you'll need some hair gel and a comb, a gray suit, a pack (or five) of cigarettes and an arsenal of cutdowns and witty retorts in your back pocket; for Betty, a perfect blonde 'do, a foam baby belly (here's a how-to ... bonus if you happen to be rocking the real thing) and the other half of Don's carton of smokes (fakes if you're in that "bonus" category, please).

(S03E06) What do disappointment, opportunities and snakes have in common? They're all themes in this episode of Mad Men. The British, in the form of Powell, Ford and Mackendrick came to Sterling Cooper for a visit, but what that visit meant was anybody's guess. The visit wrecking holiday plans for the staff -- no Independence Day for you, colonists -- was obvious irony and true nonetheless. And the Guy walking into the ad agency, well, it would be a hollow joke after this tragedy. More after the jump.

Does it seem like somebody lit a fire under Oprah Winfrey? It seems like it to me. Her new season commenced this week with the Whitney Houston two-parter, she's off to Central Park for tomorrow show which will relaunch Oprah's Book Club, and on Monday Oprah's doing a flashback to the 1960's with Mad Men's Jon Hamm and January Jones as guests.

(S01E04) "He has no idea how confused America is going to be about that J. - Don, about jai alai

In the late 80s, when I was doing sales and marketing for a national music magazine, the staff played a joke on one of the new salespeople. We had to get a certain number of sales per day and she wasn't having any luck, so I called her phone and pretended to be a customer. I think I told her I was going to buy thousands of dollars worth of magazines. Looking back now it was an immature, cruel thing to do, but I thought of that during tonight's scene with the Sterling Cooper gang calling "Margaret" and pretending to be a potential roommate. People are such jerks.

But this episode was mostly about what happened to Gene...

(S03E02) "If you don't like what's being said, change the conversation." - Don

What love isn't in ruins on Mad Men? We have Betty knowing all about Don's affairs, Betty's dad dealing with his girlfriend leaving him (and more), Joan with someone who raped her, Roger with new young love Jane but still dealing with his ex-wife and perhaps longing for Joan, and Peggy looking for love at a bar (with a guy who looks like Pete!). Even the Don/Roger bromance seems to be on shaky ground.

The only people who seem to be at the start of love are Roger's daughter and her fiancee' Brooks. But their wedding is scheduled for November 23, 1963. Something tells me that's going to be a problem, too.

Earlier today, Joel gave you an early look at season three of Mad Men. We're not sure what exactly to expect from the new season, but we know what happened in season two. If you haven't seen season two for some reason, or just need a quick refresher before Sunday's season premiere, here's a recap of the entire season in four minutes.

First of all, I have to say that I'm terribly distracted at the moment, because my daughter is watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Even though I just watched it a few months ago, I wouldn't mind watching the entire series again from start to finish. But, alas, there are other things in my stack o' DVDs, so I'll have to be content with hearing it in the background while I work. She just watched the first two eps, and I had totally forgotten that Darla showed up in the very first episode. Interesting. Anyways...

I'll get back to The Wire -- I still have season five to watch -- but this week's Jane After Dark is all about Mad Men. Sometimes I fall deeply and madly in love with a TV show, and that's how it is with AMC's love letter to the 1960s. I raced through season one right after it was released on DVD, but stupidly waited for season two on DVD. I bought it last week and watched the entire season, devouring it like a hearty tenderloin that's perfectly cooked, so I'd be caught up for the season three premiere on August 16. If you haven't watched season two yet, spoilers follow after the jump...

In case you can't tell this by the title of this post, let me just say what follows are MAJOR SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS.

AMC has picked the 10 most shocking moments on Mad Men. This includes both seasons of the show, and it's a nice recap of some great scenes. I don't know about you, but I think that number three should definitely be in the top slot. It's one of the most hilariously gross things I've ever seen on television.

Season 3 of Mad Men is set to premiere August 16th, so of course the cast and crew are busy shooting it right now. While we don't have any new footage yet, AMC has released a series of new promos for the upcoming season.The ads focus on the different aspects of the series: Drama, Romance, Comedy and Action.

The idea behind them is that there's a little something for everyone, and let me tell you: they're right. Don't believe me? Not only do you have the requisite Mad Men drinking, smoking and sleeping with inappropriate people, but you have Don Draper making a googly face and saying "Pat M'Groin." How can that be beat? IT CAN'T.

OK, I'll just link to this picture from the set of Mad Men, since it's kinda (though not really) spoilery. It gives a clue as to what year the show is going to be set in and what happens to two of the major characters. Probably not a huge surprise considering how season two ended, but it's interesting to have a confirmation when it comes to what year the show will be set in.

AMC.com has been holding a contest for the past few months where they asked fans of Mad Men to send in video tapes where they re-enact a scene from the show. The network supplied the specific scene and script and you had to film your version of it. They got tons of entries. Here are the 18 finalists.

Almost all of them are quite good, and you can see that many of these people could be actors (not that a few of them aren't already). My favorites are actually the ones where a male will take a scene featuring a female like Betty, Joan, or Peggy and really recreate the scene. Jacob Crumbine's video is in the lead right now, and it's great. Even if Mad Men didn't exist, I'd watch whatever show this was. Rebecca De Ornelas recreates one of Betty's psychiatrist office scenes and does it very well. Mike Kimmel does the same scene and he's a natural. Valerie Long's drunken chat with a lamp works too. Sabina Maschi's entry is very, very clever.

Since today marks the release of the first season DVD set for Mad Men, I thought I'd pass this little bit of news on to fans of the show: they're holding a contest and the winner gets a walk-on role on the show!

Now, this isn't one of those easy "send an e-mail" or "mail in a coupon" type of contest. You're gonna have to work a little bit for this one. You have to go to the link above and print out a monologue from the show and film yourself doing it. Then you upload the video to AMC's web site. The winner gets a walk-on in a future episode and a free trip to Los Angeles.