Ah, finally a pinch of good news for The Great Depression ‘09: Mad Men is coming back! A third season (set to premiere this summer) may seem like a no-brainer to readers of Entertainment Weekly, where we’ve been gaga for the Madison Avenue smokers’ lounge since it debuted in 2007. But undying love doesn’t always keep a show on the air (Exhibit B: the just barely DirecTV-rescued Friday Night Lights), especially when there’s a contract dispute like the one between Mad Men producer Lionsgate and series creator Matthew Weiner (AMC head Charles Collier says he’s optimistic about Weiner eventually coming on board).
I have to admit, I was a little put off at the beginning of season 2. I think after the first season (which I watched one-after-the-other from my DVR) I was just so pumped for it to come back that I sort of forgot that Mad Men is about slowly seeping into every pore, not blasting you in the face with an icy splash. Episodes end with a subtlety that sometimes takes me a couple days to realize how devastating it actually was (Don sending away his admiring daughter then collapsing on the bathroom toilet, silently peering at the man he saw staring back at him from the door mirror). I think what really hooked me on season 2 was how Don finally got some comeuppance. Betty (whose cold detachment is a bit too one-dimensional, for my taste) finally booted her cheating bread-winner, ostracizing him to the solitude of a sterile hotel room. As we saw Don lying on top of a shiny bedspread, missing his home, his kids, his life, I felt like we were growing ever closer to a vulnerability that he spends every smoking/drinking/car seat-humping moment to hide. I love Don as much as any other man, woman, and child with a pulse, and I don’t enjoy it when he fails or hurts. But Mad Men is at its core about people struggling to deal with themselves and each other in a changing, unpredictable world, and it was satisfying in the second season to see some piper-paying after all the crap he’s pulled.
Plus, how about that intense scene between Peggy and Pete they left us with? And don’t even get me started on Joan — I could watch an hour of Joan walking around the office delivering mail. Let’s just hope they don’t waste any time addressing that nastiness with her fiance. I don’t like how that was left hanging. So how about it, PopWatchers? More Mad Men! YES! What did you love most about last season, and what do you want when it comes back?
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Comments (1-30) of 53 Add your comment
soooooooooooooooo excited!
I LOVE Mad Men. It’s one of the best shows on TV, but they ned to sign Matt Weiner because he is a huge part of the show. My favorite scene of last season was when Peggy woke up in the hospital and Don was sitting there. I love the Don/Peggy relationship.
This was announced back in October!
http://spoilertv.blogspot.com/2008/10/mad-men-renewed-for-3rd-season.html
What gives Ausiello?
Was this ever in doubt??? I am experiencing retrograde anxiety … I knew Matt’s contract was up, but I never knew there was doubt about whether the show would be back.
I cant imagine living in a world with no Don or Betty Draper and thankfully I wont have to. Also thanks for reminding not to delete mad men episodes of my dvr cause it feels like forever since the season finale.
Haven’t seen much of season 2 yet I’m afraid. Boo!
I can’t believe there was ever a question about the best show on TV coming back. It is beyond brilliant — writing, performances, atmosphere. I a loved season two. It wasn’t as tight as the first season, but it was very raw and emotional. I also hope they address what is going on with Joan right away because that was left so open ended, and I feel so bad for her. Also dying to know what happens with Peggy and Pete. And I can’t wait to watch Betty pregnant, I hope they don’t skip over that. Awesome show.
Hallelujah, there is a God after all! Or at least a person with a brain at AMC.
I was just thinking about this show the other day, fretting about it not returning next season, so I’m really glad its been renewed…after suffering the loss of other faves (Pushing Daisies), I am reluctant to get hooked into new shows, but I just love Mad Men…I have all the eps on disc and go back and rewatch them when i get the need to revisit…can’t wait to see where they take us this summer…!
I’ll agree with Jenn, I love Don and Peggy. It’s easy to think with all his womanizing that Don is a misogynist, but as evidenced by Peggy (and his ability to articulate the chauvanistic into the humanistic), we see him clearly recognize potential in her and work to encourage it. I love that you could see how impressed he was when she finally called him Don, or his pride at her finally getting an office.
I loved Betty’s story the most in season 2. I agree she can be a bit one-dimensional and stoic, but her performance is so subtle and brilliant, like the way she so sweetly manipulated her friend to have an affair with the man from the stables, then acted so innocent when the friend called her on it, all the while enjoying it with an almost evil relish. It was refreshing to see how she fell apart after she kicked Don out of the house. So heartbreaking and so real. Who hasn’t gone through something like that and ended up not getting dressed and drinking wine all day? And I can’t wait to see what happens between Pete and Peggy. That last scene when she told him about the baby was just mesmerizing, how she told him with an almost unfeeling sense of liberation, and how his face gradually collapsed with every word she said. Honestly, this is the best thing that’s ever been on TV.
Thanks for the picture. I won’t get anything else accomplished today…
I would watch a full season of Don Draper reading the 1962 Manhattan phone book. LOVE ME SOME BAD, BAD, MEN!
oh lord i love this show. don draper… yummy
What a great summary of the amazing strengths of this show!
“I could watch an hour of Joan walking around the office delivering mail.” Agreed – More JOAN!!!!!!!!!!
Best part of season 2 – they gay guy that cut Peggy’s hair (love the new do and the way he came out of the closet) and Pete’s whole storyline.
I’m so happy that Mad Men is coming back. I have to say that I agree with your assessment of Betty as well–I couldn’t figure out if it was the character or the way January Jones plays her, but I always considered her the weakest of the actresses on the show (until the end of Season 2). I found Season 2 to be even more compelling than Season 1 and am so happy that it will be back. In addition to Friday Night Lights, it’s the best show on TV (and yes that includes Lost, which I also love
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i love this show so much! i love peggy i must admit i found her annoying at the beggining and she grew on me. also i was sad that joan didnt get the job after helping so much with the T.V. i can go on and on … don draper yummm!
Besides LOST, this is the most well-written, exceptional acted, professionally developed show on television, today. I think the push that Peggy, Joan, and Betty are getting, truly evolved the show. Mad Men?…Mad Women is more like it. Every charcter is developed so slowly and consisley, that byt the end of Season 2, you get angry when it ends.
I cannot wait for the Pete/Peggy story to continue, can’t wait for someone to beat up Joan’s fiance, and of course, for Don Draper to slowly, slowly break out of the disguise.
This is the new Sopranos. It should be on HBO.
im so glas is coming back as well as FNL best shows on T. V too bad people dont watch good tv and think dancing with the stars is a good show
The main concern is whether the show’s quality will suffer without Matthew Weiner. If it does, it wont matter that it came back for another season.
Yay!! This is my second favorite show (next to Lost, of course). I wasn’t worried about season 3 happening though. I thought it was pretty much a done deal.
If you had come back in a time machine and told me that I would one day be singing the praises of a Vincent Kartheiser, the snot-nosed brat Connor on the amazingly popular Angel, I would have sent you on your merry way.
That last scene between Peter and Peggy, the way that Peggy is so matter-of-fact about it, and the way that Peter’s face slowly breaks over the course of the conversation, then that haunting shot of him with a shotgun…
Mad Men wins at life!
Kudos to Mike the reviewer. I’ve tried to explain this show and why I’m addicted to it. I think I’ll just hand out this article from now on.
Oh and Jon Hamm, he’s dreamy.
I’m excited “MM” is coming back, but I wanted to add that I’m always surprised when people love Don. I LOVE the show and partly because I hate Don. He’s a colossal liar and is incredibly selfish deserves all the bad that comes to him. And I love watching it happen. The scene when he collapsed in Cali. was my fave of the season! More Draper damage please!
The best thing about season two was Betty. Her whole breakdown this season was amazing to watch. If you consider subtlety one dimensional, then that’s too bad for you. In season three I hope we see her deal with having another child and discovering feminism. I also want to know whether Joan actually married that awful doctor or not!
After the late, great Deadwood, I think Mad Men is the best thing on teevee…probably better written, acted, and directed than most feature films. LOVE Don and Peggy…have always complained about Jan Jones, her perf is very one-dimensional, she’s in over her head, but is surrounded by such pro’s. LOVE Joan…PLEASE give her a better storyline in season 3. BUT may not watch if Weiner doesn’t return, as it will just be too heartbreaking!
jennab, you’re wrong about January Jones. She’s a superb actress. Couldn’t you see how her subtleties shined in season 2?
I would like Season 3 to feature Roger Sterling taking a baseball bat to that doctor who hurt Joan.
Betty’s cold detachment is not one-dimensional, it’s just that her people are Norwegian.
Oh, and Jon Hamm is dreamy.