Recently in Mad Men Category

Try this one on for size. Sesame Street did a parody of Mad Men recently, and the results were... intriguing. I'll be honest — without the smoking and boozing, it just ain't the same. And whither the puppet JOAN? She's really getting the shaft in every possible way these days, huh? Nevertheless, enjoy the clip above.

What if the workers at Sterling Cooper were a bunch of Massholes? Well, that's what this brilliant Mad Men parody envisions. Fans of the show and Boston jerks (ahem, IndianJones) should certainly give it a watch. Language NSFW.

Thanks to Plethlaura for the link.

2008 was a curious year for television, what with the writers strike and all. Seasons got messed up, late night shows went without comedy, and CBS aired a bonus edition of Big Brother â€" which sadly was universally loathed by pretty much everyone but me. That's okay though. I don't mind being a maverick when it comes to reality TV (hence my devotion to Greatest American Dog â€" one of the most underrated gems of the year).

Strike be damned, there was still plenty of great stuff to watch. My list of the best shows after the jump...

Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope you all enjoy the above video which re-imagines Frosty The Snowman as Don Draper.

I won't say that I'm off until after New Years, but I may not be posting regularly. Still feel free to check back though because I most certainly will be posting things here and there, if I'm moved by anything in particular.

Also, today is the one year anniversary of B-Side Blog! Technically, the posts started on December 7th, 2007, but that was the "soft opening" when the site was known as "This Blog Is Mine." Today marks 365 days (er, 366 — leap year) since the blog became officially known as B-Side Blog. Thanks to everyone who's been reading and supporting it. The site's growth has been great, and I only hope to improve it in the year to come. (And while we're talking about the site, if anyone knows anyone who wants to buy a blogad, feel free to send them my way. kthnxbye.)

Be safe and have fun out there!

Mad Men wrapped up its second season Sunday night, and what a finale it was. Set against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the entire episode was beautifully tense. Everything about the show — from the acting to the cinematography — was wrought with fierce emotion, particularly the devastating scene late in the hour when Peggs confessed to Pete that she'd given birth to (and subsequently given up) his love child. I just wanted to shake the TV and yell "IT'S SO GOOOOD."

Now comes the hard part: waiting for season three. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with myself. If you haven't jumped on the bandwagon, it's not too late. Rent the DVDs of season one. Believe me, it's well worth it. For those of you who are Mad Men devotees, check out the clip above for an interesting take on the finale by the show's creator, Matthew Weiner, and several members of the cast.

And as a bonus after the jump, check out two Mad Men clips from the most recent Saturday Night Live.

Earlier this morning, the AP reported that The Simpsons would be parodying the opening credits of Mad Men in its nineteenth annual "Treehouse of Terror" episode (airing November 2nd). That alone was enough to excite me, but now Michelle Collins as Best Week Ever has exclusive screens from the episode, and needless to say, I'm beyond excited. Definitely check it out.

• EXCLUSIVE: The Simpsons Do Mad Men! [Best Week Ever]
• `Mad Men' makes a splash bigger than its ratings [Yahoo! News]

I may not have been writing about it as intensively as before, but Mad Men still rocks my world. Last night's episode was no exception, even if Joan was once again kept on the sidelines. That's okay though. She doesn't have much to do most episodes, but her handful of lines and furtive glares usually steal every single scene she's in. She's the queen of passive-aggression, which is saying a lot on a show that thrives on passive-aggression. In fact, I realized last night that one of the reasons why I absolutely love Mad Men is that for one hour each week, we get to hear some of the most crackling and withering passive-aggressive dialogue on TV. Between Betty's silent war with Gloria and Pete's clashes with his family (not to mention pretty much everything that comes out of PEGS' mouth), the show is bubbling with tense, unspoken viciousness. AND I LOVE THAT.

Of course, Mad Men is also bursting at the seams with fascinating ideas about a whole slew of subjects, which is why after each episode, I like to go onto the show's official site and watch "Inside Mad Men," a woefully short two to three minute video in which creator Matt Weiner's talks about the various themes and creative choices in each episode. I figured I'd save you the heavy lifting and embed the video here. Hope you enjoy.

Did you see last night's episode? What did you think?

There's been so much good TV in the past few days — I just haven't had time to write about it all. So while I tend to the Hills recap, I open the floor to you all: Has Charlie found a true friend in Marcus on Survivor? Or, more specifically, how long until Marcus shatters Charlie's world? And how hard is it to find a crater in the middle of a field?

On The Amazing Race, who do we love, who do we hate? Actually, no need for that last question — Terrence is obviously this season's villain. And I love the previews for next week when his girlfriend complains that "they didn't even say HI to us!"

And let's not overlook a brilliant episode of Mad Men, the deserving winner of Outstanding Drama at this year's Emmy Awards. One word: JANE.

And lastly, Gossip Girl. This week's fashion episode (featuring Vitamin Water) seemed rather silly, but despite a general unevenness, it proved to be just as fun as always (the brooding Chuck Bass subplot was worth the price of admission alone). Was this the first semi-tolerable Dan Humphrey storyline since the pilot? And wasn't it refreshing to not have Vanessa around? Plus, how many naive adolescents are going to get in trouble at school when they do a Google image search for Mapplethorpe? (High-five, Gossip Girl).

Okay, I've started the discussion. The rest of you talk while I get back to work...

Sunday's episode of Mad Men was the strongest of the season so far (in my humble opinion, as they say), and it was all thanks to a restoration of a proper Peggs-Bets ratio. Specifically, when there is more Peggy and less Betsy, the show excels, and since Sunday's episode focused rather intensively on Peggs — culminating in that brilliant, wonderful utterance of the word "DON" — I can't help but to heap praises on the show. But it wasn't just Peggy that made the episode. A certain fan-favorite Jewess made a cameo, and that alone was cause for celebration. Also, Ken Cosgrove's stock went up when Don's new secretary/vamp asked him for his title and all he could muster out was a shocked but pathetic, "I'm... Ken!" Good times indeed.

And now, a brief ten word recap that I think cuts to the core of the episode:

Because Mad Men is such a wonderful, all-encompassing experience, I'm never one to pass up an article about any of its cast members, even if one of those cast members plays a loathsome snake in the Sterling Cooper agency. And so it is on that note that I bring you this Associated Press interview with Elisabeth Moss and Vincent Kartheiser, who play Peggy Olson and Pete Campbell on the acclaimed AMC drama. Turns out Peggs and Pete (or rather, the actors playing them) knew each other in real life, but alas, life does not follow art and no secret babies emerged from the original Moss-Kartheiser union.

To read more about these two, click here.

How convenient that AMC provides these neat little videos about the creative thoughts behind each Mad Men episode. Here's a three minute exploration of last night's episode, and as a bonus, the video replays Joan's withering comment to Paul's new girlfriend. OUCH.

Peggs.

Before everyone goes off for a weekend of unbridled hedonism, remember that on Sunday, we have a new episode of Mad Men. To whet your appetite, here's a sampling of what to expect, according to a press release:

"Paul hosts a party at his apartment and introduces someone special to his Sterling Cooper colleagues. Peggy visits her family for dinner. Despite a conflict of interest, the Sterling Cooper agency aggressively pursues an airline account and Duck attempts to appeal to the client using an unorthodox approach."

Peggs has a family?? Surely this meal will certainly go better than her last social dining experience — unless, of course, one of her family members reveals that he's a truck driver. Then it's AWN!

Tune in to AMC this Sunday at 10 PM EST.

From left to right: Don Draper, offended woman, SCOTT, jerk with hat.

In case you've been living under a rock, the Mad Men season two premiere was last night, and I personally enjoyed it quite a bit. However, I've heard from two separate people that they felt it was a little slow. Maybe I'm in the minority? Who knows.

Nevertheless, there were many reasons to love last night's premiere, not the least of which was Peggy (or Peggs, as my friend Jash and I call her) going off on Don Draper's new secretary Lois, formerly a stalker-ish operator with a crush on the office's resident gay guy (Oops). Actually, as much as I loved that (gotta love Peggs), I enjoyed Joan's ensuing dressing down of Lois even more. It ain't easy in the steno pool.

Anyway, I have to give props to my buddy Scott MacArthur, who played one of the jerks in the elevator late in the episode. I like to brag about my friends, and as such, I've posted two images of him: one with him laughing at his chum's ribald story, and after the jump, a second image with him scowling at Don Draper. Look, I like Scott, but anyone who sasses Mr. Draper falls on my shit list. This could be a problem.

What did you think about the premiere?

A few weeks ago, just after I jumped vigorously onto the Mad Men bandwagon, I emailed the press contact for the show at AMC. I told her that I loved Mad Men, that I ran a blog that reached a few thousand people a day, and that I'd love to help promote the show. I was hoping that at best she'd send a t-shirt or some DVDs that I could give away on the site and at worst that I'd be included on some sort of media distribution list. Well, I got neither. The woman never emailed me back. Boo.

But just because AMC gave me the cold shoulder doesn't mean I'm not gonna stop my mission to convert as many people as possible to Mad Men. And furthermore, they can't keep me away from the free stuff. Case in point, check out this sweet Mad Men USB flash drive. Apparently, AMC was giving them away like candy at the recent Television Critics Association tour here in Los Angeles. My friend snagged one for me, which was awesome because I actually really needed a flash drive — and the fact that it was Mad Men-branded made it all the better. So I guess all's well that ends well.

Nevertheless, the new season starts Sunday at 10 PM EST on AMC.

The hype for Mad Men has been out of control, and it's only been augmented by its recent Emmy nomination haul (not to mention my own gushy praise). Still, amidst all the buzz (which kicked up a notch a few months ago with cover stories on Entertainment Weekly and The New York Times Magazine), the show hasn't been terribly easy to find. Sure, it's been released on DVD, and people with On Demand can download episodes, but you'd think with the season two premiere approaching on July 27th, AMC would have been running the season nonstop for the past three weeks to get as many people hooked as possible. But they haven't, which is sort of their loss (I guess they're looking to drive DVD sales).

The good news, however, is that tomorrow (Sunday, July 20th), AMC will be airing the entire season in marathon form, starting at 12 PM EST. It's worth checking out — or at least Tivoing. Thirteen hours will never go by so quickly.

For the full schedule, check out AMC's website here.

The 60th Emmy Award nominations were revealed this morning, and I have to admit that I'm pretty much fine with them. Sure, there were several snubs, but overall, I felt the noms hit the mark more or less. Readers of this blog will know that after my recent conversion to all things Mad Men, I was more than delighted to see the show rack up a huge number of nominations — sixteen in all — which placed it second only to my other favorite, 30 Rock (seventeen nominations). The latter series garnered several nods for its cast as Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, and a host of guest stars (including the deserving Will Arnett) all earned nominations for their work. Clearly this is Alec Baldwin's year to win (must I remind you of his triumphant bit channeling Tracy Morgan's family in therapy), but I have a nagging feeling that Tony Shaloub will steal the trophy. Why? Because that's what he seems to do every year. In fact, if any of my favorites lose to Monk and Boston Legal (again), I might throw something at my TV screen.

Click above to watch part 1 of the pilot. Click here to see the rest.

I like to talk as if I live a very lavish, party-filled lifestyle, but the truth is that on July 4th, I found myself at home by 9:30 with nothing to do. Televised options were limited, and I was completely caught up with my backlog of programs on the Tivo. Sure, I could have done something productive like reading or even writing, but c'mon, let's not talk crazy. Truth was that I'd been hankering to watch Mad Men, the critically acclaimed AMC series whose hype has been inescapable of late: cover stories in The New York Times Magazine section, newly released DVD box sets, rumors of Emmy glory — it's all been practically suffocating.

Well, with nothing better to do, I decided to dip my pen into the On Demand well and download the first episode. And so the adventure began.