The best show you haven't watched

For my money, the best show you're not watching is "Mad Men" on AMC.

Oh, don't feel bad. I didn't catch it during its first season -- in fact had never heard of it until the reruns aired earlier this year. But, I bought the Season 1 DVDs a month ago, caught caught up and have become hooked.

Season 2 has been a mixed bag. My friend John Hitt says he's not been able to get into the show this year. I haven't had that problem. Last night's episode, in fact, was the best one to date aired during the show's sophomore year.

In case you're in the dark, "Mad Men" follows the adventures of a Madison Avenue advertising firm during the early 1960s. It's a time of change. Some characters are still very much stuck in the 50s; others have whiffed the smell of transition.

The show airs Sunday nights at 10 p.m. on AMC. I usually TiVo it and watch when I get home from Barley's. Don't think you'll be disappointed.

The producers must have actually paid the writers. It actually has a plot -- and character development!

An afterthought:

Went out to the high school football stadium tonight. Caught the last couple of quarters of the JV game. (Halls lost to Maryville 14-0.)

Don't try to go home again, folks. Turns out Thomas Wolfe was right after all.

'Mad Men' saves the day

Update: "Mad Men" has been nominated for several Emmy Awards, including Best Drama Series, a first for a basic cable TV series.

So, I don't have much to say tonight. Been sick the last couple of days. Somebody shoot me. This sucks.

But, I needed to duck in here for a few minutes. I miss writing. It's like breathing, or eating, something you do to survive. Such is my life.

The best part of the last two days -- other than spending an hour with the gentle soul that is Roy Mullins for an interview -- has been getting to watch an episode or two of the finest program currently on television, Matthew Weiner's "Mad Men." If you haven't seen this A-No.1 piece of entertainment yet, put it at the top of your Netflix queue, run don't walk to your local DVD retailer or be in front of a TV when the show rolls out its second season later this month on AMC. This is good stuff -- no really.

I feel too poorly to look up the show's details, but "Mad Men" focuses on a group of hot-shot advertising executives at a Madison Avenue firm (hence "Mad Men") in the early 1960s. In many ways the show is a male fantasy. It's set in the politically incorrect, sexist Manhattan of 1960 -- pre-women's lib -- when secretaries were objects of lust, philandering was almost required, and everybody drank like fishes and smoked like a sieve.

But, it's more than that. At its best, "Mad Men" shows the stifling frustration of such a life for its female characters. It shows the duplicity, and unhappiness, of many of its leads. And, frankly, it's just a well-acted, well-written show, a novel trait itself in this vast wasteland of reality series and game shows.

OK, that's enough for now. I think I'm going to turn in early. Thanks for listening. I've missed talking to you.

God, I need something for this headache. Oh, well. Goodnight.

Season 2 of "Mad Men" begins Sunday, July 27, on AMC.