In our latest TV Squad Podcast, guest Rich Sommer (Mad Men) told us about a commercial he did several years back, and you might remember it too. It's one of those famous ads that, when you watch it again you'll say, "oh, that was him?!" It was a commercial for Cingular phones.

As a holiday bonus, we have a super-sized podcast this week. The reason? Rich Sommer of Mad Men called in and gave us a solid half-hour of talk about the season just past, what he thinks is in store for his character of Harry Crane, how people used to yell at him for almost breaking up Pam and Jim on The Office, and how he loves doing commercials.

Rich's interview starts around the 37-minute mark. Besides the interview, Jason Hughes, Bob Sassone and I talk about the following:

• The insane TV coverage of the Tiger Woods story,
• A discussion of shows that are returning in January (24, Idol, Lost) as well as those that are taking a break until spring (Glee, V, FlashForward),
• Our Comment of the Week! This is where listeners find out that we do not represent everyone in the TV industry,
• Our picks for the week, and much more.

Run time is 1:31:26.

You can listen to the podcast below, or download from here or by subscribing to our RSS podcast feed. It is also available via iTunes. Feel free to leave us feedback in the comments or drop us a line at tvsquadpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com.

As usual, the music at the beginning and end of the podcast is "Life" by Justin Trawick.

As an early Christmas present to loyal TV Squad Podcast listeners, we will be having Rich Sommer on to talk about the fantastic third season of Mad Men. Sommer plays media analyst Harry Crane, and at the end of season three, he somehow managed to get his character in a very good place.

But you never know what's in Matthew Weiner's head for season four: Will we advance in time? Will everyone be working where they did at the end of season three? Who's coming back? Who isn't?

We'll have some fun with Rich as we make our guesses about it (he likely doesn't know any more than we do), and we'll talk to him about some of his other roles (like when he almost broke up Pam and Jim on The Office a couple of years ago).

Have questions for Rich, about Mad Men or anything else? Leave them in the comments and we'll relay them to Sommer during the podcast. We'll even give you credit for any question we use. So, ask away below. Any question we get in before we record the podcast on Tuesday at around 2 PM ET will be eligible.

I like the plot description for this new episode of Mad Men, "Souvenir." It says "Don takes Betty on a business trip and Pete helps a neighbor in his building." I like that summary because 1) it doesn't really tell you anything but you're intrigued, and 2) it describes two things that have never happened before. Don taking Betty on a business trip with him??

Vincent Kartheiser is so good in this scene below, and the writing is just so smart.

(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...

(S02E03) "Some glib ad man, in that suit, cigarette perfectly in hand, not a hair out of place...here to tell him he's a bad boy?" - Jimmy's wife Bobbie, explaining to Don while Jimmy hates him

I was eating a sandwich (late dinner) while watching this episode of Mad Men, and you know what I was eating with it? Utz potato chips! I actually bought them specifically for the episode today because I knew that one of the plots had to do with an Utz account that Sterling Cooper was handling. This could be a trend, eating/drinking/using a product that a Mad Men plot revolves around. I'm not saying I'm going to be wearing Belle Jolie while watching an episode, but if there's one show that could make me do it it's this one.

Now, who does everyone think Jimmy was modeled after?

Mad Men is that rare show that is damn near perfect. Of course, I say "near" perfect though I can't figure out what fault the show has. Everything, from the acting to the writing to the direction to the set design to the music to the costumes - is so well done. Heck, even the secondary characters are drawn in a way you hardly ever see on a television drama.

OK, it is perfect.

Rich Sommer plays Harry Crane, the Sterling Cooper ad exec with the glasses and bow tie. The character is so well written and Sommer plays him so well. You know guys like Harry, whether it's 1960 or 2008. He's the nice, married guy with glasses, but he's not so nice that he isn't above joining in on the sexist talk with his buddies and drinking too much.

Rich was nice enough to talk to me via e-mail while he was filming the second season of the show, which debuts this Sunday (new day) at 10pm on AMC.