Mad Men

If you haven't had a chance to watch Mad Men yet, you're definitely missing out. It is one of the wittiest and most interesting shows on TV for a long time. Created by The Sopranos writer Matt Weiner, Mad Men is the story of a early 1960s advertising executive Don Draper, played by Best Actor nominee Jon Hamm. Draper is a bit of a ladies-man and has a picture-perfect wife and family at home, and he works at the agency cooking up slogans for Lucky Strike and Bethlehem Steel.

When asked whom that rake Don Draper really does love (among the many women in his life), Jon Hamm says, "That's a good question, and I wish I could definitively say one thing, but I think that is kind of the journey of the show, trying to figure out a lot of things about Don. Don's journey is trying to figure out where he is in his job and in his relationships, and where he is in the the history of the U.S. I wish there was one answer, and I think we've seen with the several women in his life that he's trying to cover something different with each one. He's maybe looking for one that covers all the bases, and maybe he hasn't found it yet." He's a tramp, but we love him.

Jon Hamm plays Don Draper, a partner and the Creative Director at the Sterling Cooper advertising agency. He lives in Ossining, New York, with his wife Betty (January Jones) and their two children Sally and Bobby. He's had extramarital affairs with Midge Daniels, a freelance illustrator, and Rachel Menken, a client of Sterling Cooper.

But Don also has a secret: he was actually born Dick Whitman, the son of a prostitute who died during childbirth, and he assumed the identity of Lt. Donald Draper, an officer he served under during the Korean War.

The truth of his identity threatened to ruin his career when Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) discovered the lie and tried to blackmail him. In actuality, Pete's attack had no effect.

The lovely January Jones, plays frustrated housewife Betty "Birdie" Draper, is the wife of Don Draper (Jon Hamm). Betty and Don live is suburbia in the early 60s and have two young children, Sally and Bobby. Betty met Don while she had been working as a model following her graduation from Bryn Mawr College.

Betty Draper shares her feelings with her neighbor Francine Hanson, and Glen Bishop, the young son of divorcee Helen Bishop. After Betty's mother died, her father began dating another woman, Gloria, with whom Betty has issues.

She has been seeing a seeing a psychiatrist and told him during one visit that she suspects her husband is unfaithful. (She later found out that her therapist had been providing Don with regular reports of her sessions.) Jones says of her character's depression, "It's the struggle of being a housewife at that time-she doesn't really have a lot for herself. I think she's unhappy, and I think she's stuck. The psychiatry is something she wanted. She asked Don, but she's doing it because she wants to. But you'll find out in the later episodes that that gets a little weird." Hmmm...

Vincent Kartheiser plays Pete Campbell, an ambitious Account Executive at Sterling Cooper. A descendent of the venerable Dykeman family and a graduate of Deerfield Academy prep school, he lives with his wife Trudy (Alison Brie) in a Park Avenue apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

While pushing for a promotion to head Account Services, Pete found out that his boss, Don Draper (Jon Hamm), is living under an alias, so he tried to blackmail him. When that didn't work out as planned, Pete got back to business by landing the Clearasil account - courtesy of his father-in-law, a top salesman at Vicks Chemical.

On the personal front, Pete's pre- and post-marital affair with coworker Peggy Olson has resulted in the birth of a son - unbeknownst to Pete.

According to Vincent Kartheiser, his conniving, complicated character Pete Campbell won't get away with all of his bad deeds: "I think Pete will get what he deserves, but also I think his ambitions will come to fruition in certain ways, and I think the audience will be both pleased and saddened." Matt Weiner's take on the character is that Pete is likable and relatable in his own way. He says of Pete's troubles, "Most of the mistakes in life are made by men who think they're being charming."

Roger Sterling is a major player at Sterling Cooper, and is in partnership with Bertram Cooper, the company's founder, and Don Draper, the agency's creative director. Sterling is a World War II veteran, and has a daughter named Margaret with his (soon to be Ex?) wife Mona. He and Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks) Sterling Cooper's office manager, have carried on an affair for some time. A hard-drinker, Roger also made a pass at Don's wife Betty one evening.

While seducing a young model on another occasion, Roger suffered a heart attack. After this health scare, a temporarily reformed Roger returned to the office to attend a meeting with Lucky Strike but relapsed in the middle of it.

Despite what you may have heard on the Internet, Matt Weiner tells me there were never any plans to kill off John Slattery's character, Roger Sterling, with a massive coronary. "No, that's absolutely not true. Slattery is completely safe. He's one of the most amazing things in the world, and I will tell you, in my career, I have enjoyed few things more than writing for John Slattery."

Christina Hendricks character, Joan Holloway, is the Office Manager at Sterling Cooper. She has said that the only way to succeed in the industry is to be more than just a secretary. Joan has had an ongoing affair with Roger Sterling for some time, but she also had an intimate relationship with Paul Kinsey.

As for the Roger-Joan affair, Hendricks tells us of her character, "Joan will never allow herself to fully fall in love with Roger Sterling. She knows from the beginning what she's getting into. I think they spend significant time together and are very intimate, but she protects her heart as much as she can-she's still a woman."

Elisabeth Moss plays Peggy Olson, a Junior Copywriter at Sterling Cooper, but she began as Don Drapper's secretary. She earned her promotion by impressing Don and others with her copy for two accounts: Belle Jolie and the Rejuvenator.

Elisabeth Moss says that Peggy's ambitions are very sincere, saying, "She loves what she does, and she loves the actual world of advertising, as opposed to a lot of the other women and men in the show."

One interesting subplot, Peggy slept with Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) shortly before his wedding, and the two rekindled the affair in the office shortly after his marriage. Peggy discovered she was pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy - without telling Pete.

With their win as Best Drama at the 60th Annual Emmy Awards, the cast and crew were part of television history for being part of the first ever cable television program to have won such a prestigious award. The series, which airs sunday nights can also boast several Golden Globes from earlier this year.