Mad Men Season 5 Episode 10 recap  At our house the boy has an oft-repeated phrase employed during Mad Men.  He takes great delight at muttering “Shut Up Pete” after most bright, Peter-like declarations.  It's not like it's a revelatory statement, but it's surprising how often it comes in handy. Full Story

Mad Men Season 5 Episode 9 recapTwo households, both alike in dignity...That's what Bobby Draper was thankful for, and by the way, it's Thanksgiving, so time marches onward pretty fast, I guess.  And they're growing more and more similar - and more different. This episode had so much to do with divorce and new families, and I almost believe it felt. Full Story

Mad Men Season 5 Episode 8 recapIt is the mark of a show like Mad Men that even the episodes that aren't the strong pillars of television art, the ones that don't end with everyone together at a maudlin dinner table, has the ability to surprise.  There are things that happened this week that I didn't think could exist in the world of SDCP, but they keep expanding our world, the one we share with them, to make the impossible true. Full Story

Mad Men Season 5 Episode 7 recapThe thing about the saying “unhappy families are unhappy in their own way” is that there's no end to the permutations therein. Which, if you're into this kind of thing, and I am, means they're endlessly fascinating. This episode had so many small, perfect moments of people being good to each other that it's almost shocking to see how depressed everyone was by episode's end. Full Story

Mad Men Season 5 Episode  6 recapI don't mean to start with a rant, but I need cable companies and AMC to get it together. PVRing Mad Men is an exercise in frustration, and even when it's noted as 1 hour, 5 minutes, that doesn't help if everything starts late.  Could we fix this already?  Or do we have to go back to the antiquated practice of watching the show in real time? Heh. Full Story

Mad Men Season 5 Episode 5 recapIt’s always been a weird thing, having Lane in the office.  It never bothered me or felt like it didn’t fit – but then, it didn’t exactly “match”, either.  Lane has these antiquated ideas of professionalism and growing a business, and at times his attitude at Sterling Cooper (both before and after his name was added to the masthead) was that of a college professor who was unexpectedly given a summer camp instead. Full Story

Mad Men Season 5 Episode 4 recapNot as many beds are made with space underneath anymore.  All the platform beds and Ikea frames and whatnot mean the bed's on the floor.  Apparently, it's to keep the secrets from piling up under there. I can't breathe when this show is on. I know they specified that it was hot, just once, but every scene made me catch my breath a little more and I didn't realize until the end of the episode that I'd been holding it: a teeny, tiny incremental increase of tension in each scene that builds until you don't realize why your stomach hurts so much. Full Story

Mad Men Season 5 Episode 3 recapWasn't it?  I mean, I get it.  Depending on shooting schedules, January Jones was either about to deliver or had just done so when this episode was shot, and I understand that the alternate way of hiding her pregnancy - having her sit in and around and beside large objects - would have been cheesy and awkward. Full Story

Mad Men Season 5 Episode 1-2 recapAll over Google this morning, people are discovering that “zoobeezoobeezoo” is, in fact "Zou Bisou Bisou", a legit French pop song, and then happily humming it to themselves as they go about their Monday. I have a bit of mournfulness already.  It's a strange reaction but I wasn't completely elated that my show was back; instead I kind of felt, after watching, like the parade is over and all we have left are the memories. Full Story

The wait is finally over, and Sunday is a two-hour reintroduction to the world of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.  I am, like all of you, done with the wait, with the vague rumours, the speculation, and I'm really, completely done with features on what Kiernan Shipka is wearing.  I'm not sounding the alarm on the CHILL OUT SHE'S TWELVE but I feel like my finger's been hovering over that button for awhile. Full Story

Click here for preview #1.I just googled “Did Rare Steak Exist In The 60s?” (Answer - not really, except for “barbarians”).  This was mainly due to how much I’m enjoying my leftovers-lunch, but as I turned my thoughts to Mad Men, I started thinking about what else I enjoy that the inhabitants of that era didn’t. Full Story

With Mad Men finally, finally at a reachable distance and with such a long time since we checked in with our crew at SCDP,  I wanted to remind myself where we are with all our characters. As always, I find Peggy the most compelling. Though she’s grown up over the past few years (we have no idea where season 5 would start, but I believe that birthday dinner in “The Suitcase” made her 26) she’s still an utter babe in the woods where navigating her career is concerned. Full Story

Happy March!Why?Because Mad Men is back, finally, in March. March 25th.You ready? Please. We’ve all been ready for too long.Check out Jon Hamm at Letterman last night on promotion for Friends With Kids. Since he’s in New York, I feel like maybe, as he does often when he’s in New York, he might do an SNL cameo this weekend. Full Story

Here’s how my mother, the Chinese Squawking Chicken, says “first of all”: first ataw.So, first ataw, please enjoy Jon Hamm in London yesterday promoting Mad Men Season 5, premiering on March 25. We are ALMOST there!Yesterday Jon participated in a Q&A about his character, Don Draper, and what we can expect from new episodes. Full Story