The local paper, (Virginian Pilot), ran this article.

After Emmy, ‘Mad Men’ writer with local ties is off the show

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/10/after-emmy-mad-men-writer-local-ties-show

By Will Harris

Correspondent

A month ago, former Virginia Beach resident Kater Gordon was onstage at the Emmy Awards broadcast, helping to accept an award for writing on the AMC hit “Mad Men.”

As she looked forward to the airing Sunday of another “Mad Man” episode she had written, things took a dramatic turn.

Columnist Nikki Finke reported this week on the Web site DeadlineHolly

woodDaily.com that Gordon is no longer a member of the series’ writing staff. Neither Gordon nor AMC were available for comment at press time. A Baltimore Sun TV writer reported this week that another writer, Robin Veith, had also left the show. Veith, like Gordon, had been an assistant to the show’s creator, Matthew Weiner, before being promoted.

In a phone interview with Gordon conducted before the news broke, she seemed optimistic about the program – she co-wrote Sunday night’s “The Color Blue” episode – and the future.

Gordon gave primary thanks for her “Mad Men” success to creator Weiner, with whom she shared her Emmy win, and his co-executive producer, Scott Hornbacher.

“I just appreciate that they had the faith in me and gave me the opportunity. All of the writers in the ‘Mad Men’ writers room are really, really brilliant, so I feel like I was sort of in graduate school with the best professors,

having Matt as the head of the department.”

Gordon, 27, worked in New York as a production assistant on films and TV before joining “Mad Men,” a dark drama about a Madison Avenue advertising firm set in the early 1960s. She won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, with Weiner, for the episode “Meditations in an Emergency,” in which Betty Draper has a one-night stand to punish her husband for his dalliances. In that same episode, Peggy tells co-worker Pete that she had his baby and gave it up for adoption, and business maneuverings send honcho Duck Phillips reeling – all with the Cuban missile crisis looming in the background.

Gordon, who graduated from First Colonial High School in 2000, worked for “Mad Men” executive producer Scott Hornbacher and also babysat Weiner’s four children during the show’s first season. After putting the kids to bed, she watched screenings of Emmy-nominated shows and discussed them with Weiner. She quickly moved up to writers’ assistant, then staff writer.

The infamous writers strike gave her an opportunity. “I got to know him and his family a little bit during that hiatus period, and when we came back, Matt and Scott presented me with the opportunity to see if I would want to be his writer’s assistant,” she explained. “So I moved over to do that job, and towards the end of the season, he asked if I would co-write the finale with him.”

Although Gordon hadn’t had any practical experience in writing for television when she started at “Mad Men,” she believed that her experience in theater helped her immeasurably in grasping the concept.

“I was fortunate to be a part of the theater department at First Colonial High School,” she said. “Nancy Curtis was great, so I feel like at a very early age I was sort of thrown into wonderful stories and learning how to tell those stories. And at U.Va., you get a very broad-based theater education, so I was able to take part in all aspects of theater and learn how every design element helps tell a story.”

As for actually telling a story through the written word, however, that came about more by happenstance than design. “I was an English major in college, so that was definitely a part of it, but I don’t think I ever really planned on focusing on the writing,” Gordon said.

“I sort of fell into it with ‘Mad Men.’ Sometimes it just happens that way. It was something that I was always interested in and dabbled in, but this was my first real opportunity. I’ve been very, very fortunate.”

“When you deal with

theater, no matter what you’re doing, whether you’re designing the lights or the costumes or being a performer, so much of it is script analysis that it’s kind of like taking a screenwriting class,” Gordon said.

“You’re breaking it down and seeing what the beats are and seeing what influences what. Also, if you read Shakespeare or any of the plays by the great authors, you can’t help but absorb some of that and see how they do it. And to be in a room with Matthew Weiner, taking dictation from him? It’s the opportunity of a lifetime to get to sit with his brain for a little bit.”

New York magazine asked “Mad Men” actor Vincent Kartheiser about this week’s shake-up.

“I love Kater Gordon,” said the actor, who plays Pete Campbell. “And I think Kater is going to have a really amazing career as a writer, and she’s not going to have a hard time finding work. She’s got great ideas, and we loved working with her. And we’ll miss her. But we trust Matthew, and he’s doing what he needs to do to tell the story.

“Maybe next season he’s just going to go in a different direction, and he just needs someone to fill a different void in the room.”

Will Harris, nonstoppop@cox.net

Oops! Was this it?
http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi1417216537/

I also think there's probably a little bit of truth in all that's said here — a combination of money, power, control and egomania all contributed to Ms. Gordon's leaving and the general rapid turnover.

In the end, though, WHO CARES? All they owe us, the viewer, is quality entertainment. Doesn't matter who writes it, directs it, stars in it — the only thing they owe us is their absolute best. The moment that stops, then we all leave.

Matt: Maybe you're a prick. I have no idea. But keep up the good work. You're nailing it, and this is the best season yet, so far.

*sniff* I got nowhere else to go to reveal my utter obsession with this show without facing ridicule and disdain!

"UPDATE: A prominent female writer (she asked not to be identified) knows both Kater Gordon and Matthew Weiner and sets the record straight for me: "'As a female writer who has worked with many strong showrunners, I have to say that any 'Letterman' talk on today's thread about Kater Gordon really disgusts me. The same kind of talk followed me and my success. So you see, you can't win. If you're young and female, you'll always be suspect. Success or failure, it can't be because you've actually got the goods. I feel compelled to come to both Kater and Matt's defense on this one. Kater was a fantastic writer's assistant, the best. She totally got the show and deserved the break she got. There was NOTHING illicit in her relationship with Matt. I believe Kater will go on to great success, if she so desires, and their parting of the ways was amicable.'"

The actual update is here:
http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/recent-emmy-win…