Basket of Kisses

We love you, we miss you, and we love you.

Glad to see your reunion went so well.

Tom and Lorenzo have a rundown of the red carpet at the Creative Arts Awards, including Christina Hendricks, Janie Bryant, Jon Hamm, and Rich Sommer. Lots and lots and lots of pictures.

Here’s just one:

Paula Sangeleer, who co-hosts a morning show on Eagle 97 out of Delaware, interviews Rich Sommer.  He gamely endures some questions about smoking before talking about the Basket and even dishing some non-spoilery, Basketcase-inspired dirt on Don Draper.

Download it: richsommereagle97

Bonus: Today is a special day for Rich – Happy 5th!

Kiernan Shipka is part of a new high-fashion photo spread in Interview Magazine. 

Tom and Lorenzo scan Ewan McGregor’s new spread for Vogue, which seems inspired by some show on AMC.

Sarah Drew talks to EW about her polarizing Grey’s Anatomy alter ego.  Sadly no hint of a return from Mrs. Romano.

Fast Company mentions that Season three of Mad Men was up 77% in viewership over its first season.

Lionsgate gets a temporary respite from Carl Icahn’s hostile takeover.

Alison Brie talks to PopEater about her season-ending kiss on Community, with a bit on Mad Men’s code of silence.

The NYT’s Ross Douthat considers Breaking Bad vs. Mad Men.

Indiewire’s Anne Thompson has personal reasons to look forward to Season Four.

Cnet’s Rick Broida cannot bring himself to pull the plug on his cable TV. Guess one of the top reasons.

Forbes lists “10 Things to Do When You Leave Corporate America,”  including watching Mad Men.

Alison Brie and Rich Sommer star in a Funnie or Die video about the committee that copyrights sex acts. Viewer Discretion Advised.  And “advised” means advised. Consider yourself warned.

The Vulture complains about the S4 teaser.

AMC is picking a football drama: The Wreck, by the director of The Blind Side.

Christina Hendricks models on Etsy.

Matthew DeBord, who writes about cars, thinks Jon Hamm is endorsing the wrong one.

TV columnist Drew Magary is speechless in the face of Mad Men’s brilliance.

Ausiello is rooting for Mad Men to get another Emmy nomination.

Robert Morse and Matt Weiner talk “How to Succeed…” (Not the same link as we posted last time.)

Nice video interview with Elisabeth Moss about the “wide open” field that is Season 4.

Rich Sommer, who has a guest role on Burn Notice this week, talks to TV Fanatic.

Hitfix notices that both AMC original series are working out how to keep estranged wives in the script.

The Collider likes this fan-made S4 promo.

Why showrunners rarely direct.

The gossip rags tell us that January Jones is dating Adrien Brody. My head just exploded. I adore Brody.

This is like a news category at this point: Another essay saying that cable TV, and Mad Men in particular, is now better than anything in the movies.

Bryan Batt is interviewed by USA Today about his book, She Ain’t Heavy, She’s My Mother. Season 4 is mentioned, but Bryan doesn’t know or isn’t saying. Also, keep your eye on Bryan’s book-signing schedule. Bryan also still doesn’t know has very nice things to say about Christina Hendricks.

Speaking of mothers, the Denver Post has a Mother’s Day article on the dark mothers of today’s television, mentioning Betty towards the end.

Rich Sommer attended a benefit for The Children’s Charity & The Will Rogers Institute.

Basketcases found us two good On Film interviews: Mad Men cinematographer Chris Manley, and Matt Weiner.

We’ve been writing for quite a long time about John Slattery’s involvement in protesting a sanitation facility in his NYC neighborhood. Here’s an update. Presumably the release of Iron Man 2 (he plays Tony Stark’s father) allows him to bring attention to an issue that’s important to him.

A British bidding war over Mad Men?

Mark Moses returns to Desperate Housewives, but no word yea or nay on Mad Men.

Books to read along with your favorite TV show. Cute article, but why do people think “Mad Men” is one word?

Stephanie Salter asks people to give Mad Men a chance: It’s more than cool clothes (we knew that).

Variety discusses cable channels (including AMC) finding the right mix between original series and acquisitions.

Jon Hamm is highlighted in an article about celebrity voice-overs.

Ya know…I’ve always had a soft spot for Rich Sommer. I don’t know if it’s because of his sexy eyewear…or his beautiful smile…and then he goes and does something like this and steals my cold heart!

Rich Sommer bared it all for Night of 140 Tweets: A Benefit for Haiti. Yes ladies…he got naked for charity. Yes, NAKED, for charity.

When I stumbled upon this gem I wasn’t sure whether or not it was a good idea to post it. After all, he is NAKED. But Rich was gracious enough to give us permission to see his nakedness.

You don’t have to get naked to help, but you can certainly help by purchasing the DVD, which is now available for pre-order on Amazon.

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As a sequel, John Slattery reviews the beards of Mad Men.

Aaron Staton is the lead in an upcoming, cutting-edge videogame from the makers of Grand Theft Auto. Be sure to check the screencap.

Redheads are predicted to be fashionable this year, including Christina Hendricks.  Sure enough, she turned up at Fashion Week in a new role as spectator.

The Wall Street Journal caught up with Alison Brie during Fashion Week. Film School Rejects thinks Ms. Brie ought to star in a movie adaptation of Chuck Klosterman’s Downtown Owl, and that the Coen Bros. ought to direct. Sounds like a plan.

Mad Men won the the Art Directors Guild Award for a single-camera TV series. Congrats to Dan Bishop! (That’s three, but who’s counting?) Rich Sommer was there as a presenter.

FSR also has the trailer for Get Him to the Greek, a spin-off of Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Elisabeth Moss is in the cast, but not so much in the trailer.

However, Jon Hamm is very much in the trailer for Stolen.

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Our dear, lovely Rich Sommer celebrates another year of life. We’re happy to celebrate with him (and especially glad he is part of SCDP, and also, Rich, we’re really really sorry we had to cut so much of your head off up top on our header. but your chin and bowtie are secured).

^ One of my favorite Rich moments this year

And under Related News, it is also the 40th birthday of Jennifer Westfeldt, partner/girlfriend extraordinaire to Jon Hamm, and a helluva playwright and actress. Also a bit of a red carpet darling. We, Deborah especially, are big big fans of Jennifer and of her lovely film Kissing Jessica Stein.

KJS movie poster

A note about Mad News: We are now so far behind that we are publishing an incomplete edition and starting another right away. News! Phew! As ever, Mad News is compiled by Deborah and Karl.

Janie Bryant is writing a book! I can’t stand it, it’s too wonderful!

On the Guardian’s Top TV Dramas of all time, Mad Men makes #4. Impressive!

Jim MacLeod has created an awesome Mad Men poster that is now my wallpaper.

The Times of London interviews John Slattery. He’s charming. Who knew?

The NY Times heat map of Netflix rentals has been making the rounds all over the blogosphere, for various reasons. Our reason (as Basketcase SmilerG pointed out) is that it shows Mad Men rentals.

Rich Sommer and Bryan Batt weigh in on Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno.

Rich Sommer will be guesting on Ugly Betty in March as a fireman who asks Betty out.

Bryan Batt has designed a $15,000 retro loveseat called “The Hef,” which is autographed by Hugh Hefner and debuts next month to mark this year’s 50th anniversary of the Playboy Clubs.

Psychology Today has an article on Vance Packard’s 1957 exposé, The Hidden Persuaders — and the Draper-esque James Vicary.

Christina Hendricks will auction her SAG Awards dress to benefit the ‘Clothes Off Our Back’ charity.  And we can vote for the sexy red dress Hendricks will wear; with every vote a $1 donation will be made to ‘Clothes Off Our Back.’

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