I've really enjoyed the past couplea episodes….and wonder about the "Sugar Plum Fairy" muzak running throughout "The Grown Ups". It added a surreal (childlike?) touch. I was touched that Sally comforted her mom more than once. Grown ups, indeed!

I can relate to Pete, feeling petulant about work/co-workers. Who hasn't personalized stuff that happens at work, or been disgruntled or just pissed off?

I completely comprehend Betty's detachment from Don and their marriage. She's reached her limit. It seems all the chaos going on has somehow allowed Betty to give herself permission to finally just say, "Screw it! I'm gonna make myself happy and do what I need to do…" The guv has given her some options she'd never entertained. It will be interesting to see what she finally chooses, for herself and her family.

Edward Boyd, who headed the Black Pepsi sales team, had a sister, Helen Boyd Howard.

She was married to Dr. T.R.M. Howard, a surgeon, entepreneur, and civil rights leader in Mississippi who was a mentor to Medgar Evers, who figured in the Season Three Mad Men episode, "The Arrangements".

It chronicles the pioneering efforts of Pepsi to market the beverage to Black consumers and retail outlets. Keep in mind, this was in seven years before Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier in 1947.

The book tells the story of a group of African-American businessmen was hired by Pepsi-Cola Co. in Queens, New York becoming among the first African-Americans to work in professional jobs in corporate America. As I posted before, Harvey C. Russell was one of those salesmen, who later became a Pepsi executive, in 1962.

C-Span's Book TV, ran a segment about the book that features the author of the book and one of these pioneering salesmen.

This segment will be particularly interesting to Basketcases. Part of the discussion is about the print advertisements for Pepsi, in the late 40s/early 50s, that featured prominent Black figures and that showed Blacks in middle-class settings.

This was in an era when, if you saw Black faces at all in ads, they were stereotypical images. (think: Uncle Ben, Aunt Jemima, and Rastus on the Cream of Wheat box).

One of the "models" in a store display ad, was a youngster named Ron Brown, who went on to be President Clinton's Commerce Secretary. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pepsi_targeted_…

The folks at Admiral TV, could've learned a lot from Pepsi!

Here's the link to watch this fascinating Book TV segment … http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/197656-1

What I was thinking about is that Season Four would pick up in '65 or '66. The Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act were enacted in in '64 and '65, so I figured by '65 or '66, Sterling Cooper would have jumped on the bandwagon.

While formal Affirmative action programs did come a little later, a few big companies were at the forefront of that trend. I remember reading about was Harvey C. Russell, a Black salesman for Pepsi Cola, who was named a vice-president of the company in 1962.

For I think Juliet was channelling the eternal Mona when she said,
"O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a sweetbread
By any other name would smell as sweet,"

(Or sumpin' like that.)

Oh, goody, goody Clarice. You fell into a little literal trap I set. Homonym Ha-ha's. You know, the filet of sole was on the wedding menu.
I wanted the sweetbreads with fava beans and nice chianti personally but . . .

Thanks for laughing. I keep 45 chimps with Notebooks locked in a warehouse. They tap away the whole day and occasionally earn their bananas. Turned the double play, those cheeky monkeys did.

I'm getting all misty; this is all coming to an end. The days will be emptier. (sniff, sniffle.)

In Season Four, I think it would be great if the show focused on that some more, what with the show probably jumping to '65 or '66 next, which is when some efforts along those lines were beginning to happen.

I'd also like to see a plot line that has the elevator operator, Hollis, going to night school or college, to learn about the ad biz. The mid-60s were also a period when some companies were introducing "affirmative action" programs in hiring and I think Hollis would make a good candidate for that kind of entry level "Ad Man Trainee" slot.

And while they're at it, let's get Paul Kinsey and Sheila back together!

@19 Aran — thanks for your thoughts about choosing to be a home-mom for now, and how those who choose otherwise have their second thoughts as well. So well said.

I was on both sides of that fence through the seventies and eighties, and it's interesting (and not surprising) to see that the struggle continues. This is one reason I'm fascinated with the Don/Betty storyline, and don't mind spending time here, at the expense of the office storylines, although I do love them as well.

@34 and @51 not_Bridget — hahaha! So succinct, and spot-on. And also very poignant. Thanks.

@36 falafel: So well said! —
"I think you are reading the story backwards. Pete’s despicable actions were a story device to bring Pete and Trudy closer together. Firstly to give Pete a moment of shame and confession, then for Pete to ask Trudy to be closer to him, to be his moral compass. Pete’s bad behaviour resulted in Pete wanting Trudy to make him good."

And #70 CPT_Doom — I'd agree. Betty is likely suffering from some pretty hefty depression.

whew.