Don't let Alan Sepinwall's Blogspot account fool you -- he is anything but amateur. In fact, the New Jersey Star-Ledger's television critic started What's Alan Watching? as a personal blog to supplement his newspaper work and more closely define his website presence for the paper.

As he says, the theme is in the title, and the blog has become his space to reflect on the shows he follows. "Throughout my run as a TV critic," he explains, "I've found that the columns that generate the greatest response are the ones talking about shows that have already aired. I write about whatever moves me after I watch it." He originally approached Mad Men as a fan of The Sopranos because of the connection with Matthew Weiner. "I kept watching and writing so much because I just loved it -- in my year-in-review top 10 list for the Star-Ledger, I had it as the second-best show in all of TV, after only that final Sopranos season."

Now that Mad Men is in between seasons, Sepinwall is watching other shows -- including AMC's Breaking Bad. But that hasn't stopped him from resurfacing old posts in conjunction with AMC's re-airing of the first season. "It's something good to talk about during this dead period after the writers' strike," he explains. "I love the time machine quality: The way an episode makes me feel like I'm getting a glimpse at what it must have been like to have a life like Don's. I also love Jon Hamm's performance, and how it's both evoking and yet slyly commenting on the leading men type of that era."

But, as is the case with many who follow and offer coverage on the show, Sepinwall believes that what truly distinguishes his blog is its community of readers. "I consider myself a reasonably intelligent TV watcher," he begins. "I can point out symbolism and all that, but it helps that I have such a great group of people bringing really smart thoughts and arguments about the show -- the nature of Salvatore's life in the closet, why Peggy would be attracted to Pete, how differently Jon Hamm carried himself as Dick Whitman than when we was playing the Don Draper we knew. They're smart people, and they make me smarter in my own reading of Mad Men."