Mad About 'Mad Men'

Welcome to Post No. 500!

It's kind of appropriate that we celebrate this milestone with a milestone of television — the debut of Season 2 of "Mad Men" (AMC, Sun., 10 p.m.) this weekend.

"Mad Men" took the TV world by storm last year as AMC's first original drama series. Created by former "Sopranos" writer Matt Weiner, it was a stylish look at the early 1960s, where sexism, prejudice and other vices reigned supreme. It provided star-making turns for most of its cast, including the likes of Jon Hamm (an Emmy nominee), January Jones, Christina Hendricks, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser and others.

The series follows the exploits of Don Draper (Hamm), a star in the world of advertising with the seemingly perfect home life. But underneath it all, Don's got a lot of problems. For one thing, he isn't really Don Draper; he took the real Draper's dog tags after getting wounded in Korea in order to get away from his miserable family. He also has a series of mistresses, a pig of a boss (Emmy nominee John Slattery, in the performance of his career) and a young rival desperately trying to steal his job (Kartheiser).

But "Mad Men" is more than Don's story. Each character, from the eager young secretary looking to further her career (Moss) to the quietly frustrated, loyal wife (Jones), it's a richly textured group of characters and subplots. "Mad Men" deftly mixes pathos and humor, and hopefully you caught up on Season 1 during AMC's marathon run last Sunday.

If you didn't, you won't be completely lost. Season 2 begins over a year after Season 1 ended, with the action moving up to 1962 and the height of Camelot in America. Considering Don's firm, Sterling Cooper, ran the Nixon campaign in 1960, that may not be a good thing.

"Mad Men" is likely the leading contender in the Emmys for Best Drama, and after its terrifically executed first season, it's easy to see why. Here's looking forward to more of the same in Season 2.

AROUND THE DIAL: Former Oscar nominee Harvey Keitel has been named the replacement for Colm Meaney on the US version of "Life on Mars." I had low expectations for this version of one of my favorite UK series, but Meaney was the one bright light for me. ... Erika Tamura (the princess on "Heroes") and Sean Patrick Thomas ("Save The Last Dance") are joining the cast of "Reaper" this season. ... "Smallville's" producers told TVGuide.com that, in addition to the appearances of Green Arrow, Black Canary and Aquaman this season, familiar DC characters such as Plastique and Maxima will also meet the future Man of Steel.

WEEKEND'S BEST BETS: One of the best-done cliffhangers I've ever seen takes place tonight on "Doctor Who" (Sci Fi, 9 p.m.), the first of the two-part season finale in which Earth disappears and it's up to the Doctor (David Tennant) and pretty much every other guest star the series has ever had to make sure it gets back. After you see the end of the episode, my advice is to avoid the internet for the next week. It's followed by a new "Stargate: Atlantis" at 10 p.m.

"Monk" (USA, 9 p.m.) has guest star David Strathairn as a chessmaster, followed by a new "Psych" at 10 p.m.

Worried that you missed "Swingtown" last night? Don't be - it's been moved to Fridays at 10 p.m.

Gone into "Lost" withdrawal? (Yeah, me too.) Anyway, a behind-the-scenes special about the series is airing tonight at 10 p.m. on G4.

On Saturday, "Robin Hood" (BBC America, 9 p.m.) begins part one of the two-part second season finale as Robin and the gang set off to the Holy Land in search of King Richard.

On Sunday, "Masterpiece: Mystery" (PBS, 9 p.m.) wraps things up with the series finale of "Foyle's War."

Mary (Mary McCormick) has a fling with a protectee on "In Plain Sight" (USA, 10 p.m.)

Finally, a new episode of the HBO miniseries "Generation Kill" (HBO, 9 p.m.) airs.

Network Report Card '08, V: ABC

Oh, ABC, ABC, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

--The most imaginative slate of new shows from any network this year, including "Eli Stone," "Dirty, Sexy Money," and "Pushing Daisies."
--A schedule that satisfied people both critically and in the ratings, such as "Lost," "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy."
--Looking to poach the best of other networks, by grabbing "Scrubs" after NBC discarded it and nearly grabbing CBS' "Old Christine."

WHAT WAS GOOD: Just about everything. There wasn't a network that came up with more innovative stuff than ABC, ranging from the wonderful comedy/drama mix of "Eli Stone" to the perfection that was "Pushing Daisies." "Samantha Who?" was the network's most successful sitcom, both creatively and numbers-wise, in ages.

"Desperate Housewives" had a big rebound year thanks to the addition of Dana Delaney, and "Lost" hit on all cylinders, owning the public eye while everyone else was on strike. "Grey's" just finished out of the Top 10 at No. 11, and "Ugly Betty" turned in a very solid sophomore campaign.

On the reality front, ABC owned the No. 2 reality series with "Dancing With the Stars" and also got strong ratings contributions from "Extreme Makeover," "Oprah's Big Give" and "The Bachelor."

WHAT WAS BAD: ABC didn't hit on every cylinder. It also gave us the worst show of the year by far in "Big Shots." "Carpoolers" and "Cavemen" were duds that were more consistent with ABC's sitcom failures of the past. "Private Practice" failed to live up to the show it was spun off from, "Grey's Anatomy."

"Miss/Guided" had a lot of potential, but ABC buried it on the schedule and won't bring it back.

ABC also announced it has renewed the likes of "Boston Legal" and "According to Jim" for another season.

OVERALL: ABC's hits far exceeded its misses. While it didn't have a break-out-of-the-pack commercial success like it did when "Grey's," "DH" and "Lost" all came out, the best of the new shows used a combination of critical praise and timing from the strike to earn renewals. ABC may be making a mistake by not re-airing some of those series to give new viewers a chance to catch them before the new fall season begins.

GRADE: A-. Had ABC spared us "Big Shots" and "Cavemen," they might have earned an A.

COMING NEXT: Mini-report cards for cable.

WEEKEND'S BEST BETS: Tonight's new "Doctor Who" (Sci Fi, 9 p.m.) is called "The Doctor's Daugter." Yes, we do meet the Doctor's daughter Jenny (Georgia Moffett), and her existence is explained in the first minute as the Doctor, Martha and Donna land in the midst of a massive war. Fun fact No. 1: Moffett is genuinely the Doctor's daughter - her dad is Peter Davison, the Fifth Doctor (and her mother is Sandra Dickinson, Trillian from the BBC's "Hitchhiker's Guide" miniseries from the 1980s.) Fun fact No. 2: Moffett originally auditioned for the role of Rose Tyler, which of course went to Billie Piper. Fun fact No. 3: Moffett is apparently dating series star David Tennant in real life, according to the UK press.

Also new is "Battlestar Galactica" (Sci Fi, 10 p.m.), which finds Vipers flying with Cylons, not against them.

The extremely popular "Meerkat Manor" (Animal Planet, 9 p.m.) kicks off a new season as well.

On Saturday, "Robin Hood" (BBC America, 9 p.m.) finds himself fighting the Black Knights. (Hopefully, they won't try biting his kneecaps off).

CBS presents a remake of "Sybil" (CBS, 8 p.m.), with Jessica Lange playing the shrink who has a patient with multiple personality disorder.

On Sunday, Spike airs the "Deliverance"-style movie, "Backwoods" (Spike, 9 p.m.) "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (USA, 9 p.m.) kicks off its new season, followed by a new episode of "In Plain Sight" at 10 p.m.

Also kicking off its season is the popular drama "Army Wives" (Lifetime, 10 p.m.)

A Wee Bit Of Heartbreak For Me

It was kind of a good news/bad news day for me yesterday, courtesy of the WWW.

As you loyal dozens know, I (try to) knock out screenplays and teleplays in my spare time. Not full-time, mind you, because that would require me selling something and making some money, and I'm not in danger of that any time soon.

Anyway, in this golden age of Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV with the revival of the "Doctor Who" (Sci Fi, 9 p.m.) and "Battlestar Galactica" (Sci Fi, 10 p.m.) franchises, my ultimate dream was to lead the revival of "Blake's 7" back to TV.

Since I'm sure most of you have never heard of it, let alone seen it, "B7" was a BBC sci-fi series that ran four seasons from 1977-81. Created by Terry Nation (also the creator of the Daleks, BTW) and brilliantly written (albeit with cheesy, 1970s BBC special effects), the series told the tale of Blake, a freedom fighter who battles against the totalitarian Earth empire in a dystopian future.

What I loved about the old series was that Blake and his crew weren't really the good guys, more like anti-heroes. And the bad guys weren't all that evil, just very bureaucratic. The end of the series was one of the most memorable ever. (Let's just say the good guys don't win).

In this post-9/11 world, where shows like "BSG" achieve the pinnacle of good science fiction by providing an allegory to our own world and values, I always thought "B7" would be a perfect candidate. After all, from different perspectives, Blake is either a freedom fighter or a terrorist. In our world where terrorism remains such a prominent problem, what better thing than to look at the issue in a futuristic way?

Well, apparently I'm not the only one to think this way. Sky TV announced yesterday that "B7" would be revived as a TV series. The Hollywood Reporter article can be found here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/international/news/e3if57cb0c541e56ebf5d7d34e9c0e33ed9

The guys shepherding the project do have experience in the "B7" universe - they produced a radio series last year.

It's not that I resent them, but this was always my screenwriting fantasy. I mapped the whole thing out in my head, how it would pay tribute to the original series but be updated with a post-9/11 spin. I even came up with my own killer ending and a dream cast. Of course, one of the first things would-be screenwriters learn is not to write about copyrighted properties they don't own, which is why you will never see my killer "Batman" movie idea, by the way.

Sadly, unless I win the lottery tomorrow and buy out the "B7" rights, all of this will remain in my noggin, another dream to be unfulfilled.

On the bright side, I'm hoping these guys capture some of that "BSG" magic and do justice with the new "Blake's 7" so that it becomes the pop culture phenomenon that Galactica has become.

WEEKEND'S BEST BETS: As noted above, Sci-Fi is all-new tonight, including the "Sarah Jane Adventures" at 8 p.m.

Speaking of fantasy shows, "Moonlight" (CBS, 9 p.m.) returns after a long, strike-induced layoff with a new episode. Though on the bubble, this show has a loyal core of fans, particularly of the female persuasion over star Alex O'Loughlin. It anchors new episodes of "Ghost Whisperer" at 8 p.m. and "Numb3rs" at 10 p.m.

On Saturday, BBC America will have a mini-marathon of "Robin Hood" before airing the brand-new (on this side of the pond) second season at 9 p.m.

On Sunday, PBS takes a break from "Masterpiece" with the docu-drama "Carrier" at 9 p.m. about life aboard a US Navy carrier.

Fox's animation lineup, led by "The Simpsons," is all-new.

A new "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers & Sisters" on ABC take on a new "Cold Case" and "Dexter" on CBS, beginning at 9 p.m.

"Wire In The Blood" (BBC America, 8 p.m.) airs a new installment.

Finally, "The Tudors" (Showtime, 9 p.m.), which was just renewed for a third season, continues with a new episode from Season 2.