Don't you just love it when life sort of imitates art?

Jon Hamm, who plays the chain smoking Don Draper on TV's 'Mad Men,' has been hired by Mercedes Benz as a pitchman for their car commercials, which will premiere during the Academy Awards.

This means, of course, that Mr. Hamm will replace actor Richard Thomas who has done the voiceover for Mercedes' car commercials for the last four years. Good night Jon-Boy.

The company's marketing VP Stephen Cannon called Hamm "a hot actor." That must have been one awkward audition.

When shows go off the air in between seasons, the actors use this long break to do some profound beard growing. The actresses might do the same thing, but I've never seen a picture of them in the papers to prove it.

The entire male cast of 'Mad Men' did the same thing and cast member MIchael Gladis gave his review of all of his co-workers' "break beards".

[via Pop Candy]

Despite the mainstream audience acceptance of such openly gay performers as Neil Patrick Harris, Ian McKellen, and Ellen DeGeneres, some Hollywood power brokers still feel that TV and movie audiences won't accept gay performers in straight roles.

That was made clear on Wednesday when 'Mad Men' creator Matthew Weiner, speaking on a Hollywood panel, said, "Let's not pretend" that gay actors who come out of the closet aren't risking a future of gay typecasting, according to Greg in Hollywood blogger Greg Hernandez.

Usually, the Golden Globes are a little more cutting-edge than the Emmys, a little quicker to recognize new talent on TV. When this year's nominations are announced on Dec. 15, however, you can expect a battle of Globe warhorses, as veterans will largely elbow newcomers out of the way in the struggle for each of the five slots in the Best Actor categories, drama and comedy.

BEST DRAMA ACTORS
Front Runners: 'Mad Men''s Jon Hamm (pictured, above right) and 'House''s Hugh Laurie have to be considered locks.

As Barbara Walters prepares to show viewers her annual list of the 10 Most Fascinating People of the Year (pictured, featuring Lady Gaga and Walters) in a special airing tonight, we realized that TV gives far too much airtime to people at the other end of the spectrum. With that thought, here are the year's 10 least fascinating people on TV. Let's all try to make it a New Year's resolution that we won't be talking about these people's overexposure again a year from now.

Hey, did you hear Mad Men's third season debuts tonight at 10 on AMC? Actually, when the show is this good, I don't mind the hype.

To prepare for the third season, here are some more web goodies for you (in addition to avatars, sneak peeks and recaps). The New York Times has an article on the cocktails of the Mad Men era, and if you want to make some of your own AMC has the drink recipes. AMC also has a Which Mad Man Are You? quiz. Or how about buying some of the era's items for your house?

There are also several interviews to read before the premiere, including Jon Hamm (here too), Christina Hendricks, Elisabeth Moss, and Vincent Kartheiser.

Oh, something from the other night, after the jump...

If you're a Mad Men fan and you've been wondering when the third season was going to premiere (especially since creator/producer Matthew Weiner hasn't been re-signed yet), there's good news coming out of the Television Critics Association panel: the third season will debut this summer.

This has always been the plan, of course, but there was a bit of confusion and worry over whether or not Weiner would return to the show, and if he didn't, who would be put in his place and how would this affect the start of the third season. But AMC's Charlie Collier says that he's sure they'll make a deal with Weiner soon, and that the writing of the third season should be getting under way in the next couple of months.

This isn't going to be the most earth-shattering news of the day, considering it's the most buzzed about show on television and just won Emmys for Best Writing and Best Drama. But it's good news for Mad Men fans: the series is THIS close to being picked up for a third season.

The Hollywood Reporter says that AMC has told Lionsgate that they want to renew the show for a third season, though the terms of the renewal depend on what deal they make with creator/producer/writer Matthew Weiner.