I'm counting the days also, There have only been a few other shows that had me this excited for the new season, all are now off the air (The Shield, The Soprano's, NYPD Blue).
I don't watch "reality" shows because they are too stupid for words, so to be able to find quality shows like Mad Men, is truly a find. I will be a loyal fan until the end, which hopefully will not be anytime soon.
Has anyone watched The Cleaner yet (on A&E)? If not, watch tonight @ 10:00. This is another great show.

Chatty

I forgot to mention this is 10:00 EST.

Not only 40 days to season 3, I have been counting down to the release of season 2 on dvd! I can't wait to watch it all again and pick up stuff I missed before. I am totally excited and CANNOT wait for season 3!!!!

Hallelujah!

Can't we at least have marathon or something, for the love of Pete?

Marathon!.....Marathon!......Marathon!......Marathon!....We want a Marathon!.....We want a Marathon!.......We want a Marathon.....We want a Marathon!!!

please?

Pretty please???.....With Chocolate Fudge on it?????

Didn't I read somewhere that there will be a marathon of S2 on the Sunday before the premiere of S3? I guess that would be August 9.

Thanks, Mambo!

and........ Yay!

.....Calling all amnesiacs!!

The marathon is on Monday, August 10, commencing when most people are getting to work.

REMEMBER???

Yes, now I remember - it's gonna come on just about the time I start chasing a 2 year old around the back yard. Her TV viewing preferences are Dora the Explorer, Barney, and more Dora....guess I could tune into Mad Men while she naps, but that is usually about the time I need a nap myself. Once she goes home, I will be fixing dinner, eating dinner and cleaning up after dinner. I am thinking I will probably get to see maybe 2 episodes of Mad Men before I fall asleep.

I am not bitter, though, 'cause AMC is running Ghostbusters, and Joe Kidd, and Blazing Saddles, and Ferris Buehler's Day Off. These are all good movies - I know 'cause I have seen them, oh, I don't know, may 50 kazillion times already. It is really nice of AMC to run them again just in case I missed something.

Is there no one who can explain to AMC how to go about building viewership for an award winning TV drama? Like maybe you don't hide it away in the back of a closet liked it was a dress you were wearing one night when your world collapsed around you. Or lock it up in a desk drawer like it is a dirty little secret about your past.

Oh, what's the use? I have been whining for re-runs since January, and now I am even boring myself.

.....You're not boring me.

You've been griping about it, so I thought it was your pet cause.

I'm not happy about this marathon scheduling at all, but I'm tired, and busy, and tired of being the bad guy. Plus I never got that check from Matt.

Personally, I think we've milked all the good will we're going to be able to coerce here at this point and, with people mostly doing their proper jobs, even I know when to quit with the bitter patter.

I think we are trying to attract, rather than scare people way, mostly, and look forward to Season 3.

With that being said, anyone with any objections should definitely post about it.

I object!

Well, I guess I will quit complaining and start looking forward. As you say, Season 3 is on the horizon, so close now we can almost smell those herbal cigarettes and taste the booze ourselves.

I wonder how many episodes in we will be before Don is involved with another woman? Before Roger ditches Jane for another years younger dolly? Before Sally snitches a cigarette or finishes off somebody's drink? Before Pete pitches a hissy fit or Freddie serenades us with his zipper. Please, oh, please, let Freddie be back for Season 3.

.....No, by all means, complain. It's part of being a fan, and speaking your mind on a public forum.

That's the other part of being here.....I've said it before - we are NOT professionals, we're not getting paid, we're not earning Google adsense, and

As to all the latter you mentioned, I'm guessing it won't be but the first episode!

Okay, a little change of track, here.....

This might be controversial, but before we hit S3, I'm very curious about the Maddicts' LEAST favorite scenes or points, up to now, and why.

It could be the writing, a wardrobe or design choice, music, acting, whatever.

Just very curious.

Anyone?

.....Sorry - I spaced and didn't finish a sentence.

Oh well!

.....Feel free to substitute "Blah blah blahtie blah" in place of any of my posts.

Joan's rat doctor is my #1 hate. I know Mad Men is no CSI, but I sincerely hope he comes to a bad end.

Mona's doily dress was a wardrobe malfunction, in my opinion. The Jane character I find merely annoying - Joan and/or Mona should have sent her packing long ago. Joan not getting that promotion to work with Harry on TV advertising was almost as disappointing to me as it was to her.

Initially I hated the whole California thing with Don meeting up with the Euro-trash. After thinking about the various scenes and reading other Maddicts insights into that whole scenario, however, I have changed my mind. I would like to watch that whole episode again just to see how it strikes me.

Betty has me in a quandary. I have not been much of a fan of hers in the past. I believe her to be a terrible mother. Scenes between her and Sally and Bobby are painful to watch. I keep thinking I should be more sympathetic towards her because of Don's treatment of her, but somehow I can't bring myself to feel much sympathy at all. She never did get that desk drawer open - I might have more respect for her if she had. Plus, I hated the way she set up her friend and Arthur.

"This might be controversial, but before we hit S3, I'm very curious about the Maddicts' LEAST favorite scenes or points, up to now, and why."

Good question! I wasn't a big fan of Don's Californian jaunt. I thought the "Don hangs out with the jetsetters" storyline was ridiculous. I understood why it was important for Don to go see Anna so he could find himself again, but I found her character almost too good to be true. This guy stole her husband's identity but she ends up being his confidant?

.....Don't blame California. People do that. It was the Creepy-Sleeparounds that were the turn-off there.

That desk drawer made me crazy and you are so funny for pointing that out - again. We were all incensed about that one! Maybe Betty's numb fingers couldn't manage it. (Whatever happened with THAT red herring??)

I gotta confess, I didn't love the final Pete/Peggy scene in Meditations in an Emergency, the way so many raved on about it.

The choice of words and structure seemed very overly-ethereal, indirect, a little disingenuous, NOT like Peggy at all, and I've always felt that Peggy was much more articulate than that.

The chemistry that is normally there between Pete and Peggy didn't seem to be there in that one scene (at least for me), and it felt a little forced in the expectation department.

I don't agree that Peggy could could have "had" Pete....that she could have trapped him. He was already married for months when she "discovered" her pregnancy.

What I did appreciate in that scene was Peggy acknowledging the inexorable and permanent loss of all kinds of innocence.

(Hope I don't get flamed!)

Now, if I can just get my hands on that kitchen wallpaper, and those bedroom curtains!!

I have to say my least fave was the rape scene...hated it...I wanted Joan to do a quick knee-jab where it counts...or a spike heel in the back of Dr. A-Hole's calf!...I don't understand why she didn't try one or the other, or both...and then acted so resigned afterward...just going on out to dinner (or !) like all was fine....WTF???

And that desk drawer....maddening is right! All she would have had to do was get a crowbar...or just call a damn locksmith!

I also hated the "love scene" between Betty and Glenn...so stupid...in the parking lot while he waited for his mom all bundled up in the car...although I did love that gorgeous coat Betty had on....

One of the funnier scenes (and fantastic example of MM's writers' soft touch...let the viewer "get it" on their own) was when Pete went to the Dr. to get tested to see if his "swimmers" were healthy or not...and as he picked up the girly mag -- sudden cut to Roger and the paddle ball....hilarious!

God, Dry...just too many to choose from...but the ones above both good and bad, stand out to me.

Good question...

I agree with you about Peggy saying that she could have had Pete. I don't get why she thought that would have happened.

It felt like what Peggy was talking about - the loss of innocence - could have been said by many characters on the show, which gave the scene a kind of impersonal feel, since she wasn't specifically referring to herself or the baby. But what she was talking about was really powerful and I guess that was the point, that it could be applied to the rest of the show as well.

.....Honestly, I just think Joan could not process what was happening to her. One assault does not instantly light that bright bulb or wake-up call, as they say. Some women endure it for a lifetime through low self-esteem, for money, for the kids.

Joan's life's dream of marrying a well-off, handsome doctor was being brutally shattered into a million jagged pieces, but she lay there, quietly concealing, because letting go of that fantasy wasn't an option in her mind.

Yet.

Kind of like Peggy and Pete and their rifle and meat fantasy.

I don't have cable, and up until now I've used iTunes for my belated Mad Men fix but season three has me seriously considering getting cable....This wouldn't be the first time my Maddiction is costing me money. Matt Weiner, you owe me.

I didn't like any of the scenes with Betty and Glenn. That whole thing was just creepy. It didn't tell me anything about Betty that I didn't already know, and I just don't care about Glenn.

Ooh, I love love love this topic!

I agree, the Pete/Peggy thing leaves me confused. I mean, I think it's really interesting, but I don't quite get it, and there was something not quite realistic about the "I could've had you" scene. The balance of power and attraction between the two of them seems to flip a lot, and I don't quite get it.

I agree that the rape scene was very hard to watch, and I'm curious whether people didn't like it because it was hard to watch or because it didn't fit or make sense? I think it's probably good that it was shown, to make people aware that date rape was considered more acceptable then than it is now (I think).

I always liked Roger, and thought that underneath all the cheating he was a decent guy who loved the fantastic Mona. I'm disappointed in him!

I might be the only one to think this, but I think the Dick Whitman thing is a little overdone. MM is so good with understatement - big things happen (pregnancy, affairs, domestic abuse, etc.) with little fanfare, and then we're on to the next scene. There's not as much hype around dramatic events as in some shows and movies. So I don't get why the Dick Whitman thing is surrounded by mystery and fear and dread. Compared with a lot of the other things going on in people's lives just beneath the surface, the fact that Don changed his identity just doesn't seem worthy of so much attention. I know it shows how Don is so distant and removed from his life and had this very traumatic childhood, but....I don't know, it seems a little too forced and comes up a little too often. Please challenge me on this!

I think it just comes down to the fact that people love a mystery; really, would the character of Don be as intriguing if he didn't have that mysterious past? We hang onto every word and little crumb of information, trying to figure it out. Try to imagine MM without the mysterious Dick Whitman back story. . . It's just not the same!

.....I suspect that Betty will be the biggest problem should the secret ever surface, which I'm assuming at some point it will.

What exactly are the legal consequences of assuming a dead man's identity in 1963?

What are the professional and social consequences?

Not everyone is going to be as forgiving on the subject as Bert Cooper.

To reiterate an old conversation, it will be interesting to see what happens when Don Draper is finally pulled into the world of high society charity functions.

It's been posed that he could run into someone who knows him as Dick Whitman.

Yes, Mambo...and always wondering who is going to (try to) trip him up (besides Pete!) was there ever a better scene than Don and Pete hot-footing it on over to Bert's office (well, Don, anyway...with Pete trailing along all a'stumble!) throwing off their shoes outside his door...and watching all those incredibly expressive faces as Pete tries to throw Don/Dick under the bus...all to no avail...loved how Bert shot him down!

Wonder if anything will ever come of that guy who recognized him (from "Ft.Sill", OK /army training) on the commuter train?

I guess that's true - it's definitely a big part of Don's character. Maybe I'm just tired of waiting in suspense to see how it will affect the people in his life, when and if they find out. That's true, Cooper was surprisingly forgiving about it. Hey maybe I missed something, but did we ever find out exactly why Don/Dick's brother killed himself?

I assume he was distraught over Don/Dick's rejection.

.....I don't know about you, but that would be a lifetime of traumatic guilt, and other than Don's horrified look at hearing the news, we've seen no other remorse from him on this.

He didn't mention anything about it to Anna, just whined about ruining his marriage.

Maybe he's repressing it.

Remorse is not in Don's vocabulary, I'm afraid. He's too busy moving forward.

He has to have stuffed that whole little brother episode way down deep, otherwise he would be blotto by noon everyday. He is probably praying that it will be as he told Peggy..."it never happened".

Poor Don, we know so much about him, and he is still a conundrum. I don't know whether to slap him upside the head or hug him - imagine how the women in his life must feel.

My least favorite scenes. I am so going to get flogged for this but, ok, I don´t thing there are any "bad" scenes in this show (really) But the least interesting scenes for me are with Betty Draper. Everyone is just raving over them but I am just "Ok, let´s get back to the office now"
However, I find Betty intruiging when she is with Don and January are not a bad actress. I just wouldn´t mind less Betty than there was in season 2.
For example, she is so selfcontrolled. When she finally spaced out for real and beat the broken chair to the ground I would have imagined it to be a little more passionate. It looks like she is trying to break it apart to see what is wrong with it (I´m not very handy. Ahem) That scene just didn´t tell me anything. So for me it was a scene I´m not agreeing with the raving.

.....Flogging?

Never!!

Betty is a Stepford wife, they never lose control, even when they're angry.

I think that Peggy's comment, "I could have had you" was a stretch, too.

Maybe we wll know of Don's internalization of his brother's death only if Betty has a boy and he calls him Adam.

So glad we have come at least within count-down range for the new season! I'm very grateful to all the faithful fans who have made the interminable lapse not only bearable, but fun.

Now.......at the conclusion of the first episode of S3, who will be the first poster????? Maybe we should have a "pool"!

Sounds good! What would the first episode of Season3 poster prize be? Some old chocolates from Trudy's valentines candy that Pete picked over or would we be so lucky to get a MM hoody, fall is coming and it would be good on those early morning runs. It's a great idea Sandy, if the Maddicts all go for it. Maybe AMC could have a contest, that would be great. I bet the top three would nail it. Z, Dry , or SC they are on top of their game.

.....Well, first of all, people start posting before the episode even begins - some people even count down the hours and minutes!

Second of all, thank you very much for the compliment, pink, but I'm pretty sure I suck at all those quizzes and contests thingies.....

Not exactly the brightest crayon in the box!

(.....But she means well.....)

I wish they would have a promotional contest for the S1 and/or S2 DVDs.....I'd definitely jump in for that one!

Thanks, pink....but, I'm not at the top of my game at all...just draggin' along til S3 starts....thanks for the vote, though! ha

Dry...not only are you among the brightest crayons in the box....you're Glow-in-the-Dark Orange!

I'd enter a promo contest for the S1 & S2 DVD's right fast also...AMC?

Sandy! Ya mean ya been readin' all our nonsense(s) all these months? I don't know whether to be grateful or ashamed! heeeee (?!)

Well, I will say that the wild party we had back there was fun...that thread started out so innocently with everyone posting the unanswered MM questions they'd been wondering about...then the trays of drinks started (Don and Roger started it all (technically!) since they sent over a tray of all assorted refreshments to us....and the floodgates opened (in more ways than one!)...so we'll blame them...or give them the credit....whatever....

; - D

.....Was that the one where Drink got the mani/pedi? I think I missed that party somehow.....

SCfan, wow - you are very kind, but stop - it's not true. I have an active and curious mind, but am definitely not among the smartest, most worldly or most educated to hang out here.

Not speaking for anyone beside myself, but I think we all have our strengths and weaknesses, and get big Maddict props for tenacity, longevity, dukin' out the issues and keeping the place fun and populated.

However, pretty sure when the throngs get here, it will be "dust city" for me!

And that's okay.

It takes a wide variety of contributory moving parts to create a well-rounded community.

Well, I won't be among the first posters, as I will be glued to the TV, wondering if I am dreaming or if that is actually Season 3 of Mad Men I am watching. It will take me awhile to read through all the posts once the show is over, and then I might have a comment or two. I just know it is going to be great to have the Forum thronged with happy Maddicts once again.

.....There is that three-hour time difference, where I'm sitting reading other people's reactions, but not having seen it yet.

Something's wrong with that picture.

Z, you are on Central Time like me, right?

We will both definitely be reading a lot before we post...I hope, anyway....

Dry, I think you are on Pacific, right? And, what do you mean by it will be "dust city" for you?

Don't say things like that!