OK… I am new at this, but definitely a confirmed madaddict! I had some questions, concerns and suggestions – some general, some specific. Here goes…

Sterling Cooper – the firm – OK.. the Brits fixed it up, got its books together and now are going to sell it to the highest bidder? PULEESE! What stops Roger from growing a pair and trying to buy it back? Or maybe Don gets to redeem himself as a major player in such a purchase? (remember the first meeting with the “new owners”?) and um I thought Price was being transferred to India?

Betty Draper – Why does this character get a “free pass” by the writers? Not to condone what “Dapper” Don has done/is doing but really – her one night stand in the city during their separation – (it took gall to drop the kids with Don and then get busy with a total stranger!) Her strange desire/infatuation/love(?) for Henry (yeah a political operative that’s been around the block more than once is JUST the ticket!). It seems that she doesn’t have any girlfriend confidants – strange – especially for a housewife in the early 1960’s. It bothers me that the writers have missed an opportunity to develop some depth in her character. After all, she is educated, upper middle class and obviously an intellectual at some point.

Joan Harris – Do you really think her marriage is going to survive her husband’s military service? Especially since Roger still obviously has the hots for her (and who wouldn’t?) She’s smart, savvy and obviously street wise in that 1960’s smoldering sex kitten way. It will be great for the writers to bring her out of limbo – c’mon, stop teasing us!

Peggy Olson – Ummm to the writers – I am confused on just what motivates this girl. I understand and get her work situation, but she is all over the place with her love life. Is she trying to be a female version of her boss? Is she just responding to that lure of the “big city”? Truly, I think Duck enjoys the “fresh meat” aspect of Peggy’s persona… Despite her misadventures sexually, I can’t imagine her to be that ummm “compelling” in bed. It would be wonderful for the writers to work out a direction for her.. either evolve into a tigress undercover or get a grip!

Pete Cambell – Are the writers setting us up for a defection to Duck’s camp for next season with Pete? Heck, for all his “touchy-feely” client stuff, he’s not all that..

@Racy - Quit saying that "the Open Thread Maddicts" want to give Matt our suggestions. Really, we dont. Only you do. It's embarrassing...

If he took all our suggestions and wrote them all into the show, what fun would watching it be then?

Laurie B: I agree. I certainly am no Hollywood screenwriter and would not presume to think that Mr. Wiener wanted to hear from me or a bunch of others who post on a message board. I think Wiener has stated the writing of the series is very difficult (I can believe that!). He has highly paid people working with him and thus far they seem to have been doing a very good job of entertaining us.

LOL.. ladies... good point. Its also why I will never leave my day job to write a screenplay... but it IS fun to comment..

Maddict: don't give up your day job. I think they know what they are doing, and they are doing an exceptional job at that.

Razy, it is presumptuous and cheeky of you to claim "we posters" wish to impose our views on the creative content of this show. As Laurie B. notes, you should just be honest and admit you're speaking for yourself alone. Are you trying to sling dozens of your trite and hackneyed "ideas" at our producers, hoping one will accidentally coincide with something that airs? Then you'd try to shake amc down to score some money -- right? That's an old game, but the fact that you'd try it is telling, and very disappointing. Boo.

Why is everyone coming down so hard on Racy? Ever since this show started, the posters on this forum have been stating in no uncertain terms what they want and don't want to happen to the various characters. Racy is just calling Mr. Weiner's attention to that fact, in case he has not noticed.

I doubt, personally, that it will make any difference. I believe when a writer creates characters they take on a life of their own and respond only to their author's voice. They won't ring true otherwise.

Laurie B. I agree with you. I would say that with all the awards Matt Weiner has recieved for the show including best writing it is not very cool for us to give him our suggestions. He is doing an absolute superb job with this show. I think this thread is insulting. Thank you for posting your comment.

Zerelda: Probably because like you, we are all entitled to voice our opinions. That's what makes this board interesting. If everyone had the same stance, it would be quite dull. I don't think anyone "came down" on her. Like you we are stating what we feel, that's all. Besides, I doubt Mr. Wiener actually sits and reads this board. I am sure he is too busy doing what he does.

@LaurieB.: I am in agreement with fivemilestpmidnight. OBVIOUSLY, I don't believe Matt is reading this thread. I meant it as "a joke", & figured most posters know me well enuf to take it this way, as in "Gee Whiz! Posters on the Open Thread HAVE SUGGGESTIONS?" Of course we do! I thought this separate thread would be a fun way for everyone to express their thoughts on "We wish Joan would replace Harry" to "How can we get rid of Duck & bring Chauncey back?" , and we could all laugh on what crazy stuff would happen if we all got the chance to write MM. I'm sorry if I misled anyone. Of course I would NEVER speak for an entire group of people! That's why I said it that way; that the whole "Open Thread" wanted to send Matt a memo. If I was serious, I wouldn't have to post the separate thread. Matt could just read the Open Thread. I was certain everyone would recognize this as a silly attempt to be funny at the end of a great MM season. If the thread's title were brought to Matt's attention, I was sure he would laugh & say, "Yes, that's just what I need. Suggestions from 6 million viewers!" I apologize to you, Laurie B., as you know how much I respect you, and I apologize to anyone else who misunderstood that I was joking, and who mistakenly thought that I was being serious. I apologize.

Racy,stop apologizing this is America. Speak your peace Racy.If people here need apologies every time we say something they don't like , well they could go to the "other side"

I'd like to apologize for apologizing.

@racy: Well, no need to apologize. I too did not know you meant it in jest. It's often difficult to tell on this board what is in jest and what is serious.

@christopher: I agree with you, but at least Racy apologized whether or not it was warranted. It wasn't but she did so anyway. That is sure a heck of a lot more than many here do. So, kudos to Racy for her sincere apology.

And hey, now that I know this thread is supposed to be a joke (about ideas for Weiner) how about these whoppers, all in good fun of course!

Peggy brings a German Shepherd with her the next time she goes to meet Duck for an afternoon delight, and insists the dog be allowed to watch. Though uncomfortable, Duck relents and finally finds the dog more appealing than Peggy! He ends up leaving the ad business to run a shelter for homeless animals called "Chauncy's Retreat." Who'd have thunk it?! Meanwhile, Peggy decides to have a fling with her new roommate just to mix things up a little bit. Oh, if Father Gil could only see me now, she wickedly thinks to herself.

Roger, feeling frustrated and bored, calls up Joan and they go out on the town, finally ending up in drunken revelry at the hospital where Joan's husband Greg works. Greg (who has always been on edge and more than a bit confused about things in general) suddenly decides to run down to the gift shop and buy a vase of flowers with which he promptly whacks Roger over the head, telling Joan "Now you know how it feels!" Meanwhile, Roger's wife Jane falls into the East River while wearing her best pearls and is never heard from again.

Ken Cosgrove experiences guilt about the fact that he was made head of accounts - and not Pete - and he goes to visit Pete and Trudy at their apartment to try and smooth things over. Watching for Ken's arrival from the balcony of the his and Trudy's apartment, Pete takes a chicken Trudy is baking for dinner - and in a scene reminiscent of an episode from season one - violently flings it (and some potato salad and rolls) from the balcony onto Ken's head as he enters the building. He then does a naked version of the Chicken Dance replete until someone in the building calls the police and they arrest him for disturbing the peace. Subsequently, he is examined by a battery of psychiatrists and declared mentally unbalanced. Meanwhile, Ken takes a shower back at his place and spends the remainder of the evening contemplating the meaning of life. He eventually develops an allergy to chicken feathers.

Paul finally admits he has always had a thing for Bert Cooper and the two commence having an affair. One of them longingly mutters "Oh, if only Sal was still here!" Unbeknownst to anyone at Sterling Cooper, however, Sal and his wife Kitty are about to open a glitzy new restaurant called "Chez Sal's" on the upper east side, featuring cute young waiters in tight pants that Kitty has lovingly sewed. The place is a huge success!

Meanwhile, Betty finally reaches the end of her rope with Don and decides to come clean about HER true identity! She confesses to him that she is really a disciple of Satan, sent by him to produce the next anti-christ. Her modeling career was all a ruse to lure Don into marrying her. She also tells Don their children are not really his but instead, Satan's spawn! In a scene out of Rosemary's Baby, Betty recounts to Don that she drugged him on the nights he thought they were having sex. She then admits that Sally and Bobby (and yes, even poor little baby Gene) are really the devil's children! Don tells Betty that he always suspected something like this might be going on but that he was so busy having affairs, hiding money, and concealing his own identity, he didn't have the time or energy to contemplate it further. Betty tells Don to shape up or else the coven will make sure his manhood is rendered useless.

Adam Whitman returns from the dead and opens up a hardware store. Soon, he owns a chain of them and becomes the Hardware King of the Eastern Atlantic seaboard.

Having annoyed everyone for years with his constant whining, Betty's brother Bill finally begins to annoy even himself and decides to set out on his own as a born-again Christian, and part-time folk singer. He succeeds at neither and takes up whining again on a full-time basis. He has not lost his touch and finally drives to distraction everyone wth whom he comes in contact.

Suzanne Farrell and Henry Francis meet by chance one day while both are out jogging, fall in love and marry, and open a private investigation agency called: "Who Do You Really Trust, Inc." They specialize in investigating dishonest politicians, cheating spouses and phone call hang-ups.

The secretary who took the wild ride on the tractor and ended up amputating the British guy's foot, quits Sterling Cooper and goes to work for another ad agency. She finally marries one of their ad executives and they subsequently have five children. Unfortunately, one of them is born with a club foot.

And finally, Peggy's baby - now in college - somehow tracks down Peggy and goes to see her. He tells her he aims to become a Hollywood screen writer after he graduates, and write a series about advertising executives on Madison Avenue in NYC.

@Racy - We took it that way (seriously) because you are "calling out" MW by saying we have complaints. WE do not. If you wanted it to be a fun, tongue-in-cheek thing, you could have titled the thread "If I were Writing MadMen" and invited us to post our ideas for storylines and events, as ludicrous as they may be. THEN, we would have understood it was just for fun. Also you have made this a topic on several threads, so that's why I took it to be a serious attempt to influence Weiner & Team.

Now that I understand it to be fun, let me think up something.

@5Miles - Those are pretty good!

I like the idea of Sal opening a restaurant. I thought you were goihng to go and call it "Papa Romano's" though. Haaa! (... for those of you who don't know, we have a chain of Italian in the midwest called Papa Romano's.)

@Laurie B: Thanks, I gave it my best shot. Also, Papa Romano's might have been the ticket, but since there already is a chain, I figured Sal might want something a bit different.

As one of the posters to this board that has been complained about and described by a moderator as an exemplary poster, I welcome anyone that wishes to leave, to leave. As a child the person for whom I had the most dislike for was the child that was always going to tell the teacher, secondly the child that got upset during an athletic contest, and said, im taking my ball and going home. Our lives were always better when they did leave. Good luck with the menus, the constant comments about what is going on on this board and of course the overflowing of estrogen. But most of all, make sure your opinions are the same as the "leaders" or get ready to be tossed. Im not always right, but Im always me!