Oddly enough, I resisted jumping into the “Mad Men” cult for years. Yet over the past several months, I’ve quickly caught up on all four seasons (thanks to the magic of Netflix Instant Watch) of the show and am pining for the next season to commence, post haste. Unfortunately, there’s still a bit of a wait left since the Season Five doesn’t begin anew until March 25. However, Jon Hamm is already on the publicity trail; as such, he has already spoken with TV Fanatic about Don Draper’s new engagement. If you’ll recall from the Season Four finale, Don became engaged to his (latest) secretary, Megan, during the season finale. Obviously, Don didn’t really mean to get engaged. He just sort of fell into it; that is, he had the ring in hand already (thanks to a convenient bequest from his confidant, Anna Draper) and thought — what the hell — this chick gets along with my kids. Let’s get engaged. And she said “yes.”

Like most “Mad Men” fans, I have issues with the hasty engagement, but I sort of want Don and Megan to get married … if only for the crazy-teeth babies that will inevitably be produced. Still, I can admit that Don’s prospective second marriage is a very bad idea becase — let’s face it — he makes for a very bad husband. Hamm seems to intuitively sense that his character is an adultering, drunken mess who has no business with marriage, yet he is at the mercy of the show’s writers. So Hamm has opined on several topics, including Elizabeth Moss’ Peggy Olsen character, who will apparently feature significantly in the Season Five premiere entitled “A Little Kiss.” If Don and Peggy kiss, I will officially lose it. She’s too good for him, right?

On Don Draper’s Vices: “I think he has a dangerous relationship with alcohol that a lot of creative people have. And fill in the blank with either alcohol or whatever. It’s a depressant, yet it uninhibits you creatively. It’s a fine line and Don has crossed it many times… [but] Don recognized that and seems to have backed away from the edge a bit.”

On Draper’s Thing With Chicks: Draper, of course, also loves women. In the season four finale, we were left with the indelible image of Don in bed with his brand new twenty-something fiancé, Megan. She’s sleeping on his chest and he turns and stares out the window thoughtfully. When prodded about just what Draper may have been pondering at that moment, Hamm slyly avoided the question. “Yes, he was in fact thinking of something,” the actor admitted.

On Why Don Succeeds At Work But Fails In His Personal Life: “Don makes his money and his livelihood on being creatively ahead of the curve, and finding out what makes people tick. And what happens when you get older? And there’s another generation of people coming up right behind you who are out-moving you and out-thinking you? What happens to a creative person? Don is getting older. It’s not The Simpsons where everyone stays the same age 20 years in. People age and we try and depict that realistically.”

On Peggy and Don: “I think in the world of the show we see the office through Peggy’s eyes. She’s the new girl and we see her from her very first day… And we’ve watched through over 50 episodes of television her grow and become more confident and we’ve watched Don alternately shout at her and correct her and not be very nice to her but also be profoundly nice to her. I think Peggy is very important to Don. And I think you saw at the end of season three, when the firm blows up and they have to start all over again, he says ‘If you leave, I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to hire you back.’ And I think that sums up the relationship that Don and Peggy have.”

On Peggy’s Opinion Affecting Don’s Nuptuals: “We’ll see. Certainly something [is] explored in season five. We don’t really know. And I’ll be as honest as I can, but Peggy and Don are very close. And Peggy has opinions and Don has opinions.”

[From TV Fanatic]

Hopefully, Don and Peggy will remain just friends as they always have been. Both of them have bailed each other out of their respective messes — Don helped Peggy through her pregnancy-related issues during Season One, and Peggy later bailed Don out of jail when he was arrested for a DUI. For the love of all that is decent, please do not let the “Mad Men” writers ever let Peggy become merely one of Don’s conquests. That would be so wrong in so many ways.

Also, wasn’t Peggy dating that counterculture filmmaker (who was ambiguously hot) at the end of Season 4?

And more importantly, Don is still engaged to Megan and should stay eternally in that state. He probably makes a great boyfriend but has no business being a husband.

Photos courtesy of AMC TV and WENN

You know that I love Christina Hendricks, right? And that I’m often blind to her style faults, of which she has many. I think Christina’s biggest problem might be that she doesn’t seem to know what to do with her (store-bought) boobs? She tries giving them boob-caplets, she tries jacking them to high heaven, she tries covering them up in boob burqas, but they’re just SO BIG. It’s like nothing can really be done with them. Anyway, last night, Christina decided to jack them to high heaven in this heavy-looking beaded gown by Johanna Johnson.

What I like: the neckline is pretty, and her boobs don’t look as jacked as they did in that rose Vivienne Westwood. I also like the beading on the top part – I actually everything from the waist up and the neck down. That part of the gown photographed beautifully. But from the waist down… well, there were issues. There was heavy beading on the hem which made the dress look too “heavy” and the extra bottom glitter was unnecessary – no one’s looking at her heels, you know? It’s Christina – we’re looking at her boobs, don’t even try to draw the eye down. Plus, the front slit was much, much too high. It felt like we were about to see whether the carpets matched the drapes.

As for her styling…I liked her hair. I liked that there were no bangs, and that her hair looked fluffy and breezy. Her makeup looked overdone when she was talking to Ryan Seacrest, but in these photos, it’s fine. The white-silver of the gown washes her out a little bit, but she’s not at Code Red: Corpsey.

I also included a photo of Elisabeth Moss in Marchesa. The dress suits her, and it’s pretty flattering for her figure. Her hair was a hot mess, though. I think Moss is just one of those girls who always has hair issues, though. There’s also a photo of the ladies of Mad Men – I liked Cara Buono’s vintage-looking gown, and of course, I loved Kiernan Shipka’s little party dress. She’s such a cutie. And there’s Mrs. Blankenship! Huzzah.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

There were a bunch of stories yesterday about the new season of Mad Men, and whether or not it was actually going to go forward, or whether AMC was going to metaphorically throw the baby out with the bath water while negotiating with series creator Matthew Weiner. Many criticized Weiner for getting a huge paycheck (reportedly $30 million for 3 years) and then getting pissy when AMC wanted to get added revenue from Mad Men by cutting characters and adding more ad time. Weiner saw that criticism, and now he’s setting the record straight. Full disclosure: I’ve read several interviews with Weiner in the past, and while he comes across as hyper-emotional and a truly OCD-level perfectionist, he also comes across as a decent guy who loves and adores his job, and puts the best interests of the show ahead of his own personal or financial interests. So, I’m just saying – I believe him:

When news hit that ‘Mad Men’ wouldn’t return until 2012, fans of AMC’s juggernaut sighed. When that news spiraled into the notion that creator Matthew Weiner may leave the series, fans wept.

Now Weiner is clearing a few things up. “There’s been a lot of speculation and misinformation in the press about what is going on,” he tells ‘Mad Men’ blog Basket of Kisses. “I want the fans to know directly from me that I had nothing to do with this delay and it is not about money. I am fighting for the cast and for the show. And I appreciate the kindness and concern of the fans.”

The AMC/Weiner negotiations have been rumored to be in progress for months. “We didn’t have an actual conversation until three weeks ago,” Weiner clarifies.

AMC’s three reported conditions for ‘Mad Men’ are trimming the show’s length to accommodate more commercials, incorporating more product placement and ditching two cast members. Weiner says that while characters have departed the series before, it’s never been about money.

“I’ve brought the show in on budget,” Weiner says. “I’ve been a good producer.”

HitFix’s Alan Sepinwall, one of the web’s foremost ‘Mad Men’ gurus, has a thought-out take on the situation. “AMC compromised on the commercial time once, and though they suggest to [The New York Times] that they won’t this time, you never know,” Sepinwall writes. “Maybe in the end AMC blinks, deciding that the prestige of the show — which is largely dependent on having Matt Weiner present and happy — and what it means to their own brand is worth more than squeezing some extra bucks out of the margins.”

Weiner clarifies that the massive salary being floated in the press — $30 million for three more seasons — is inaccurate. “I offered to have less money, to save the cast, and to leave the show in the running time that it’s supposed to be,” Weiner says. “The harder that I’ve fought for the show, the more money that they’ve offered me.”

Weiner’s final words for troubled ‘Mad Men’ fans? “Everyone can hold on, and we’ll see if it’s necessary, but of course I would want them to express their feelings. I can’t even tell you what it’s meant to me to have intelligent people who care about the show, who reflect about it, who obsess about it, it’s been a total surprise to me. It’s surpassed everything I would ever have expected.”

[From PopEater]

To read the full interview with Matthew Weiner, go here.

As I said, I believe Weiner. I think he’s honestly fighting to make the show he wants to make, and that it’s not all about getting himself a huge contract. I don’t think he’s a money-hungry son of a bitch, I just think he doesn’t feel like he should compromise, and that his vision for his show deserves to be protected and fought for.

Meanwhile, AMC announced yesterday that Mad Men is definitely coming back… in 2012. So, there are many, many months ahead for this battle royale between AMC and Weiner.

Photos courtesy of WENN, AMC.

How F&)&*$@ stupid is AMC? That’s the question. As I wrote about last week, it was looking like the new season of Mad Men was going to be delayed because of the ongoing negotiations between Matthew Weiner (the creator of Mad Men) and AMC. I assumed the negotiations were simply about how much Weiner was getting paid… and maybe that was part of it. But it seems like Weiner negotiated himself an ideal salary, but now the negotiations are stalled on other details. Like, AMC wants Weiner to start firing off some cast members. For. Real. It’s gotten to the point where negotiations are stalling and the whole series might be canceled. UGH.

The “Mad Men” madness has reached a fevered pitch, and a terrible ending may be in the script. The Emmy-winning show is the subject of a bloody battle between creator and executive producer Matthew Weiner and network honchos at AMC. The show has yet to be renewed for a fifth season, and the sides are far apart on a deal.

Money is the issue, Deadline and The Daily report, but it has nothing to do with Weiner’s contract; the two sides were close to agreeing on a two year, $30 million deal for the mind behind the acclaimed period drama. Instead, the struggle involves budgeting in other areas, namely advertising and even actors.

The two publications have sources indicating that AMC wants to cut two minutes from each episode, in favor of more commercials, as well as integrate product placement into the show. Given that it’s set in the 60′s, the kinds of brands that they could include — or at least their labeling — would prove interesting. No consumer electronics, for sure.

Additionally, the network wants to make a major change in the show’s DNA, by cutting two actors to cut costs. Neither of the actors has been revealed.

Predictably, Weiner has balked, and thus, no deal for season five has been made. The show’s actors have been busy doing other projects; star John Hamm appeared in the film “Sucker Punch,” released this weekend, while Christina Hendricks is filming a movie with Sarah Jessica Parker and January Jones will star in this summer’s “X-Men: First Class.”

They may have to find more acting jobs; The Daily says that the network could actually cancel the show. “Weiner is being completely screwed by AMC,” a source told the iPad-only paper. “No one would have heard of AMC if not for Matt Weiner and ‘Mad Men.’ But they will not renew the show unless he accedes to all their demands.”

That’s a change from January, when AMC announced that the show would be back despite the lack of contract. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly at the time, Weiner said, “It would be heartbreaking for me if they don’t work it out, horrifying really. It would be a shame for fans to never get to see what great stuff we have planned for Don and company.” Weiner produces the show with Lionsgate Television.

[From The Huffington Post]

Just give him what he wants. It really is that simple. It’s not even like Weiner wants a truck full of cocaine and hookers on staff to please him. He just wants to make the series he loves, write the characters he created, and just do his job. Let him.

Part of the problem may be that all of this is so new to AMC. Mad Men put their original programming division on the map – and AMC’s original programming would be nowhere without Weiner and Mad Men. AMC simply doesn’t have experience negotiating these contracts, and I think that may be why everything is happening so publicly. Still, my point remains: just give Weiner what he wants.

Promotional images from Mad Men.

For the past several years, my summers have been stretched out, waiting and longing for Mad Men to appear, like a glittery Hamm Dong. Generally, Mad Men begins airing in late July or early August, and there’s just something about the martini-swilling, Hamm-Dong-shining and casual hooker-slapping sex that makes me think of summer. Even when the actual Mad Men episodes are set during the winter, it still feels like summer. And after last season’s “cliffhanger” (something about Don Draper and his secretary, something about Joan and a pregnancy, something about the fate of Sterling-Cooper-Draper-Price, but I don’t want to spoil it for everyone), I’ve been counting down the days until this summer. Surely, they wouldn’t make me wait, right? Wrong.

While the good news is that there will definitely be another season of Mad Men, and that the series creator Matthew Weiner is staying on, the bad news is that we likely won’t get new episodes until either fall/winter of this year, or maybe even next year. I WANT MY HAMM DONG.

Don’t expect to see a new season of Mad Men this summer. Lionsgate and Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner may be close to a new deal, but it won’t be soon enough to get the Emmy-winning show back on the schedule for its traditional summer premiere.

Mad Men usually begins shooting in late April or early May. And although sources say Weiner is close to a lucrative new pact with the Lionsgate, they will need at least several weeks to ramp up.

Two years ago, when Wiener’s negotiations with Lionsgate dragged into January, Mad Men did not bow until August.

Not that AMC does not have options. The network will bow new series The Killing April 3. And Breaking Bad is slated to for a fourth season premiere in July. Breaking Bad has also been delayed from its traditional spring premiere, which means that by the time the Bryan Cranston starrer returns it will not have had new episodes on for more than a year.

But clearly AMC execs anticipated the Mad Men delay.

In announcing a fifth season pickup for Mad Men at last January’s Television Critics Association press tour, Joel Stillerman, AMC’s senior vice president of original programming said: “Mad Men is definitely coming back for Season 5, but don’t ask me when, because we’re not sure yet.”

The net also has the second season of The Walking Dead scheduled for fall and has ordered ten episodes of western Hell on Wheels.

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

You know what I hate? I hate that AMC and Lionsgate really went to the mats with Matthew Weiner. The man created one of the best, most original, most well-written and well-acted shows on television today, and he’s treated like a second-class citizen when it comes to contract negotiations.

Also, this lack of summer-time Hamm Dong (he lets his swing!) makes me want to cry. How will I be able to get though this summer?!?

Photos courtesy of WENN.

This story comes from The National Enquirer, and I have very mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I hate to think of my two favorite Mad Men girls fighting, and I think it’s terribly un-feminist to think that two women can’t work together without it being boiled down to “they must hate each other and they’re probably both bitches.” On the other hand, there are a few things that I’m finding totally possible/conceivable about this story of bitchiness and sniping between Elisabeth Moss (Peggy) and Christina Hendricks (Joan/Red). Here’s the story:

Elisabeth Moss – who plays copywriter Peggy Olsen – and curvy redhead Christina Hendricks (Joan Harris) are feuding over screen time and top billing on the AMC show, sources say.

Moss was hired as the female lead, but after four seasons, Christina has emerged as the sexy break-out star and Elisabeth is none too pleased about losing top billing.

“Ever since Mad Men took off, there’s never been any love lost between Elisabeth and Christina,” an insider told the Enquirer. “Now, four years into the run, they absolutely hate each other. Elisabeth never lets Christina forget that she was cast as the show’s original female lead, and she was the one nominated for an Emmy for lead actress.”

But this past year, both women were nominated in the Supporting Actress Emmy category, and they both lost. Now they compete for better story lines, and Elisabeth lords it over Christina that she has more screen time with Jon Hamm.

Despite that, Christina is the one who has captured the public’s imagination, even being declared The Best Looking Woman In America by Esquire. She’s become a paparazzi favorite, and she’s happily married to Geoffrey Arend. Meanwhile, Elisabeth just filed for divorce from Fred Armisen.

“Christina has made it known that she considers herself the lead actress on the show now,” said the source. “She told a friend, It’s Jon and me that people are talking about, not Elisabeth.”

But Elisabeth is fighting back.

“To compete with Christina, Elisabeth is demanding that her character become sexier and more stylish… now Matthew Weiner has his work cut out for him. He has to keep both women happy, and prevent the catfight from wrecking the Mad Men set next season.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition]

Reasons why I don’t believe this story: Christina really and truly does not seem like a bitch. She doesn’t seem cruel or mean or entitled or anything. She just seems like a pleasant person who is happy for the work and the attention. Also, Elisabeth seems nice too, but there’s a question mark there. She might not be as she seems – for one thing, there is the problem of her Scientology. But all in all, she seems humble and nice too.

Reasons why it could be true: because Moss is the lead, and yet Christina has gotten so much attention, and it would be normal to be slightly jealous, I think. Also, Christina’s storylines got better this past season – as did Elisabeth’s. They could potentially be in competition for screen time in the next season. We’ll see.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

**THIS ENTIRE POST IS FULL OF SPOILERS FOR THIS SEASON OF MAD MEN**

Last night was the Season Four finale of Mad Men, but it didn’t feel like it at all. It just seemed like another episode of a season that has been… less than stellar. I should say this, though: even a less than stellar episode of Mad Men is still loads better than nearly everything else on television. In previous season finales, we had the election of Kennedy reflecting the turmoil of Don Draper’s real identity being revealed to one of the partners, combined with Don’s desire to run away with his Jewish mistress, and his confession to her that he was a “whore-child”. And Peggy giving birth! Another season finale? The Cuban missile crisis combined with Betty’s pregnancy and her affair with some dude at a bar, combined with Peggy telling Pete that he got her pregnant and she gave up the baby. Another finale? Sterling-Cooper-Draper-Price is formed in the burning remains of Sterling Cooper, Betty files for divorce and runs off with Henry Francis, and Don’s confession to Peggy that he needs her desperately and professionally.

This season’s finale had some “shockers” I suppose – Don ran off to California with his secretary, Pretty Megan, a French-Canadian. Megan and Don had boned on his couch in a previous episode, and it was clear that while she wanted more, she was keeping her sh-t tight in the hopes of luring him in, which worked. Instead of going with the pretty blonde doctor, Dr. Faye, who was his equal in intelligence and ambition, Don went for the low-hanging fruit, if you will. He romanced Megan in California, then proposed to her using the engagement ring the original Don had given Anna. Anna left it to Don, and Don gives it to Pretty Megan.

Now, I don’t hate Megan. She seems like a nice girl. She’s uncomplicated. She’s young. She reminds me a lot of the young secretary that Sterling left his wife for, Jane. Right? The two women even look like – young, perky brunettes. But Dr. Faye issued the epitaph for Don’s relationship to Pretty Megan when he broke it off with Faye: “You only like the beginnings of things.” God, she really had his number, didn’t she? I’d go even further: Don only likes the fantasy of things, not the reality of them. He only adores his mistresses and girlfriends when they’re just fantasies to him – whenever they get too close and he finds out too much about them, or they actually need him emotionally, Don loses interest. Will Don be happy with Pretty Megan? Briefly. And I actually think Megan will end up a great step-mom to the kids, which should be interesting. We’ll see where it goes.

What else did we learn? Joanie didn’t get the abortion, but that’s what I suspected all along. She’s going to pass the baby off as her husband’s, not Sterling’s, although she hasn’t told anyone in the office yet. There was a wonderful, hilarious moment between Joanie and Peggy when they were gossiping in Joan’s office – I really hope the two of them become closer. Because Peggy really looks up to Joan, and the two of them should be close friends. They need to lean on each other.

Regarding Peggy – she reeled in a smaller account for pantyhose, because she’s great at her job. And ever since she and Don spent an emotional, beautiful, non-sexual night together, he’s been treating her wonderfully. When Peggy saw him kissing Megan, there was such a twinge of emotion on her face… I began to wonder if Peggy thinks she’s in love with Don. Their relationship has always been complicated – is Peggy the younger Don? Is he her father-figure? An older brother figure? Her mentor? Are they equals at this point? But Peggy looked like she was struggling with it, and then when she Don spoke one-on-one about Megan… it was sad. Like Don was seeking her approval, and that he has such high hopes that Peggy and Megan will be really close, and Peggy looked like she might cry for a moment. UGH.

All in all, a strange finale, right?

I’m not sure what’s happening in these photos. I think it might be a film festival in the Cannes? And yet, it’s not the Cannes Film Festival, it’s called MIPCOM. I just looked it up – this is where celebrities, directors and producers go to sell or promote their work to buyers. Maybe they’re trying to sell/promote Mad Men in the Europe. That’s always a strange thought to me – that other countries would love or “get” American shows like Mad Men. It constantly amuses me that the UK is having a love affair with Mad Men – so why would it be strange that Mad Men would be popular the world over? Anyway, my lover Jon Hamm looks great, as always. I’m shocked that his girlfriend Jennifer Westfeldt isn’t clinging to him in every photo – I don’t think she was even invited. Instead, we get Elizabeth Moss – she looks lovely. To irritate me, my mother always calls her “plain”. I disagree – I like that she’s pretty in a normal way. She seems like a cute friend who refuses to get a nose job because why would she want to look like everybody else? And I think that as the series goes on and on, Peggy has started looking cuter and cuter too – they’ve started styling her in such an adorable, mod way. I love it.

I won’t do any spoilers for this week’s Mad Men, I’ll only say that it was good, and that they’ve certainly got enough balls in the air to make the last two episodes of the season very, very interesting. I honestly have no idea how all of this stuff is going to pan out, and I enjoy that feeling.

By the way, guess who else was there? Luke Perry! And look what he’s wearing!

Ah, Luke. I love you. Crazy bastard.

Photos from 10/3, credit: WENN.

These photos aren’t doing Jon Hamm justice. But to be fair, a bad photo of The Hamm is still one of the most awesome things you’ll ever behold. Plus, I think The Hamm/Don Draper is supposed to look like hell in these photos – Draper is going through hell on the show, and he’s supposed to be looking his age (and beyond) because of all of the hard living, drinking and whoring. But… when The Hamm puts on that suit and slicks back his hair and especially when he leans back in a chair and puts his arm back…like the iconic image from the posters, etc – well, there’s really nothing better. Don is such an “American” character. That’s what I always think. This is such a quintessentially American show, and the Draper character is our American darkness, while still being one of the best things about America. Sorry to go off on that tangent. My bad.

My mom and I were discussing Mad Men a few days ago, and talking about The Hamm and how good he looks in a suit, and she mentioned the infamous last episodes in Season 3, where we saw Draper in casual wear and he looked like a f-cking model. He was wearing chinos and a dark brown v-neck sweater, and it was pornographic in its sexiness. My mom said, “They should find a way to bring back that brown V-neck.”

Anyway, just a few more excerpts from Mad Men’s Rolling Stone cover story… The Hamm on Draper:

“I don’t really have that much in comparison to the way Don holds himself,” Jon Hamm, 39, tells the mag. “I’m not that guy. I don’t really look like that.”

He added, “Part of it is the suit, but another part is a choice. This is a person who takes himself very seriously at work, a guy who’s going to walk in and command a room. I’m not that way in real life. I don’t grab the mic.”

Hamm said he had seven tests and zero jobs before landing the “Mad Men” part. He told Rolling Stone that finding work as an actor helps him relate to Don Draper. “My life at the time was trying to get a job. Talk about ruthless — being an actor in L.A. and not working is nothing but hustling. I just really responded to it on some visceral level, and that may have been what Matt [Weiner] picked up on. That may be why the character resonates coming from me.”

[From Wonderwall]

At times, The Hamm has said that he brings lightness to a character which, on the page, could go very, very dark. I can see that – because Draper is a son of a bitch, honestly. It’s only because The Hamm plays him so honestly, and because The Hamm is so gorgeous that we forgive Draper. Plus, we get to see every side of Don, which the other characters in the Mad Men universe don’t get to see.

The Hamm on the set of Mad Men on September 1, 2010. Credit: Bauer-Griffin.

It’s about time! Why has Mad Men never taken the cover of Rolling Stone before? Too retro? Not rock n’ roll enough? But with the new season officially entering the Swingin’ 60s (it’s now 1965 in the Mad Men universe), perhaps it’s time. But what’s with the cover? My first reaction: THE HAMM!!! My second reaction: BOOBS. Third reaction: Why does everyone look so strange? Photoshop, my loves. Final reaction: who do I have to blow to get Jon Slattery on the cover?!? Here’s a little teaser from the article:

In the opening scene of the new season of Mad Men, an interviewer asks Draper, “Who is Don Draper?” Rather than confess the truth — that he’s a flimflam man who fabricated his whole identity from a dead Korean War officer and built his entire life on a lie en route to a Madison Avenue advertising career — Draper merely takes a drag on his cigarette. “I’m from the Midwest,” he says. “We were taught it’s not polite to talk about yourself.”

In a sense, Mad Men is Weiner’s attempt to figure out this question for himself. He has created an elaborate pageant of American fantasies — guys and dolls who look like they have it all, even when their private worlds are complete frauds. The advertising wizards of Mad Men swagger through the office, knock back cocktails, knock back lovers. They live out JFK-era America’s tawdriest dreams, almost as if it’s a professional code — to sell these dreams to America, they have to experience them from the inside, with all their inherent betrayal and manipulation.

After three seasons on AMC, a basic-cable network previously known for endless reruns of second-rate movies, Mad Men established a hold on America’s fantasy life like no show since The Sopranos.

“The big question the show is trying to answer through Don has to do with identity,” Weiner says. “Who am I? — It’s only the biggest theme in all of Western literature.”

To make it happen, Weiner assembled a cast he could relate to — veteran actors who had spent their careers toiling in relative obscurity. Jon Hamm, who plays Draper, had a few scenes in We Were Soldiers. January Jones, who plays his brittle and ethereal ex-wife, Betty, showed up in the third American Pie movie as Stifler’s love interest. Christina Hendricks, who rules the offices of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce as Joan, appeared in a video for the Nineties rock band Everclear. Nobody wanted them. Today, everybody knows their names, everybody covets their careers, everybody wants to get next to them.

“If Rob Lowe had been cast in the part, it would have been different,” says Jon Hamm, on the set in L.A. “There was no backstory with me.”

There are all sorts of challenges thrown at her,” says Christina Hendricks of her character, sexy office manager Joan Holloway. “Horrific things. And she consistently pulls it together, cleans it up and moves forward. Sometimes she’s walking through mud, but she does it.”

Elisabeth Moss, who plays the ambitious career girl Peggy Olsen, has a touch of pride about the fact that Mad Men’s stars were relative unknowns before show creator Matthew Weiner put them to such brilliant use. “Matt always says that he basically hired a bunch of not-famous people, but people that had been working for a really long time.”

Weiner starts each season by having lunch with Hamm: “It’s a rare partnership. I always scribble something down that ends up in Episode 13.”

I fly very low on the radar,” says Hamm. “Mark Twain said it: ‘I’d rather say nothing and be thought an idiot than open my mouth and remove all doubt.’ Another Missouri boy, Mark Twain. The petulant, sh-tty movie-star mentality – that burns out pretty quick.”

[From Rolling Stone]

RS has a great behind-the-scenes photo shoot too – it’s here, online. I’m putting up some of my favorite photos. Sigh… I could spend all f-cking day looking at these photos and salivating over The Hamm. Too sweet. I think I want to marry this photo of My Hamm:

These are pretty sweet too – Jesus Christ, this man.

Slattery!!!

Photos courtesy of Rolling Stone’s online pictorial.