Basket of Kisses

• I am a TV Junkie uses his knowledge of Don Draper for good.
• Denver blogger John Scherer muses on the huge technological changes in office life since Mad Men (which is, hello, two words).
• Newsday interviews Elisabeth Moss, and like a dork I comment with a correction. Dork!
• Memphis-based Commercial Appeal does a homegirl article on Janie Bryant and the remarkable Mad Men clothing. I didn’t know that Betty wore Janie’s grandmother’s wedding dress!
• The Boston Globe examines parenting on Mad Men.
• How to achieve Don Draper hair: The New York Times launches a 2 part investigation.
• Variety thinks Jon Hamm is the next George Clooney.

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Hi.

I just wanted to let you know… Deb and I have been really busy. But like, Deb’s been holding up her end, and a little of mine, and me, not so much.

The season ended, we threw this party, we’re fielding celebrity interviews (Elisabeth’s is coming, and can I just say? Rich Sommer is next) and now I’m out of town to sing in a friend’s Halloween wedding.

I’m two weeks behind on Lipp Gloss, and Deborah has been doing everything.

And she’s sick, and has, herself, a way full plate.

So, yay Deb. Go read all the last posts, the news and other stuff.

And yay all of us. The Basket is the place to be, and now everyone knows what all us Basketcases have known.

Anyway, hi. And thanks for your patience.

Minnie Mouse, btw. My costume. Pictures posting soon.

This is a shorter than usual Mad News, but there is stuff here that Basketcases have been clamoring for.

• Big juicy interview from Mo Ryan (The Watcher) with Matthew Weiner.
• The Wall Street Journal interviews Elisabeth Moss.
• John Slattery will be in an Actor’s Fund benefit reading of All About Eve. (h/t Basketcase Brenda Starlet.)
• The Simpsons!
• Black & White: Birmingham’s City Paper, has a lovely article relating Mad Men to the movies, and recommending movies of the era that you’ll connect with if you’re a Mad Men fan.
• Scott Patrick Wagner juxtaposes Mad Men with our current political and social climate in a smart essay.
• There’s a very interesting article about showrunners in The Hollywood Reporter. Matt Weiner is quoted towards the end, but the whole thing is worth reading.
• A brief profile of Christina Hendricks which mentions the weight thing and What Would Joan Do?
• This article about the contract negotiations between Matt Weiner and Lionsgate is less alarmist than most. I am not publishing the alarmist ones, guys, it’s crazy to get all worked up over rumors. It’s like Don said in the finale, we don’t know what’s really going on, you know that.

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I’m meeting with Elisabeth tomorrow.

Again, give me time before the actual post; we’re still transcribing Matt.

And when I say we’re still transcribing Matt, I mean that I’m packing for my weekend wedding in Delaware (and when I say my weekend wedding I mean my friend’s wedding that I’m singing in, not, y’know, actually my wedding, ’cause those usually come after a second date… but I digress) and Deborah is transcribing Matt.

But still.

Next week we hope to get you both interviews.

And there are more in the hopper. thing.

See our Dyna Moe links on the left sidebar for this and other Mad Men inspired artwork.

She has not changed one. bit.

Look at her nodding enthusiastically. (1:40)

Our first post-season Mad News! I anticipate a flurry of season-end reviews followed by a welcome slow-down of this feature, but we’ll still run it at least weekly.

• Basketcase jw pointed out the Vulture’s Don Draper Likability Index. Ha!
• From Basketcase Surly Temple comes the first cogent, thoughtful analysis I’ve seen of Mad Men from the point of view of a conservative. Most conservatives have seen Mad Men as a celebration of bigotry, sexism, and smoking, and I’ve sneered, but Rod Dreher offers a contemplative and careful dissection.
• Speaking of intelligence, the LA Times gives a cogent analysis of Don and Peggy’s relationship.
• This political story about Mad Men is more glib than analytical, but you may enjoy it.
• Jon Weisman went to the same high school as Matt Weiner: Where a certain Father John Gill taught.
• The Deseret News can’t figure out how to hold on until season 3.
• The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette thinks they’ve found an editing error in the finale.
• TV Guide interviews Elisabeth Moss.

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That was awesome!

Elisabeth Moss totally surprised us. She kept an absolutely straight face when she told us she’d be in the audience. Wow.

My new personal motto: “If it feels like ham, don’t wipe your ass with it.”

Discuss.

You should really come.

Still MIGHT have as of yet unannounced special guests. But not Elisabeth Moss :- (

There will be a trivia contest with prizes and shit.

Photo via Speed-the-Plow official site

So, Roberta and I saw Speed-the-Plow on Broadway, starring our very own Elisabeth Moss.

Now, I work in New Jersey, very near NYC, and I caught a bus into town scheduled to arrive at 6:50. I figured, even if I ran late, I’d still be fine for an 8pm curtain. It is to laugh!

While I was still on the bus, Roberta phoned me to tell me that she’d just met Elisabeth and yes, we were invited backstage after the show. Which made us, y’know, squeal.

Anyway, the play was fantastic. As great as Elisabeth and Jeremy Piven were, Raúl Esparza kind of stole the show. I mean, genius. (I’d seen him on Broadway before, in The Rocky Horror Show eight years ago.) The writing, the humor, the energy, just a top-notch theatrical experience.

And then…backstage.

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• Basketcase jw found this amazing article on the typography of Mad Men, finding very small errors in detail which, for an expert on fonts, must be maddening. Author Mark Simonson also addresses the age of props and some other details. Fascinating!
• Basketcase and committed Slatteryophile Shelly let us know that John Slattery is campaigning door-to-door for Barack Obama in Virginia.
• Bryan Batt had an appearance on the Martha Stewart Show October 10.
• AMC has a Q&A with prop master Gay Perello, and this prompted Basketcase Brenda Starlet to find Don’s watch (the Reverso).
• Basketcase Karl sent us the Page Six cover with Christina Hendricks (Joan)! (Okay, just a link, we’d prefer the real cover, and then we’d save it forever.) Here’s the whole article.
• MSN lists Matthew Weiner as one of 10 Guys Who Are Bringing Back Cool.

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