Mad about 'Mad Men'

Evocative.

That's the word I use to describe Mad Men, which returns for a second season Sunday at 10 p.m. on AMC.

No other series transports you to another time and place like this drama. You can almost smell the smoke billowing out of the offices. Long for a drink when the ice clinks in the glass. And think back to a time when cell phones and text messaging didn't exist and typewriters ruled the workplace.

But what makes the show soar is the wonderfully intricate storytelling with some career defining performances. This show oozes perfection. This is TV at its best.

When we last left the series, Don Draper (Jon Hamm) was dealing with the arrival of account executive Duck (Mark Moses). Now Duck wants younger people on the advertising team to pull in new accounts which leads to my favorite quote of the premiere.  "Young people don't know anything. Especially that they're young," Don tells Rogers Sterling (John Slattery). Hamm infuses his role with a world weariness. Draper is a man who knows the game he's in and doesn't suffer fools. He is at times infuriating, at times sympathetic, at times tragic but always fascinating to watch.

In last season's finale, Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) delivered a baby even though she herself did not acknowledge she was pregnant. When the show picks up, Peggy is back in the work place trying to establish herself in a profession that is dominated by men. I won't tell you when or how we find out what happened to Peggy's baby but she seems poised to have one of the most interesting story arcs of the season.

And I simply must talk about the amazing work Vincent Kartheiser is doing as Pete. You can almost feel Pete plotting to get ahead. As Don's wife Betty, January Jones is wonderful as the woman who wants more out of life than she has but isn't exactly sure what that is. In the second season premiere, Betty begins to play a dangerous game and I can't wait to see what happens next.

The series is a social commentary on not only that era but our era as well. Everyone has a Pete in their office. Works with someone who isn't all that he claims to be. Or can relate to wanting to get ahead despite all obstacles.

So although Mad Men breathtakingly takes you back it also is electrifyingly current and that's why I remain mad about Mad Men. Five stars

90210

As you know, since I first heard that the CW was planning a spin-off of Beverly Hills 90210, I've been filled with a mix of simultaneous excitement and dread. But after watching the CW's presentation on the new 90210 Saturday morning, excitement has won out.

Here's why I think the show could be good:

1. Executive producers Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah are the showrunners. They are the team behind Freaks & Geeks, Undeclared, and life as we know it. There's an immediate comfort in knowing that the duo that so deftly handled those teen dramas are behind the camera. The spin-off starts off ahead of the game. And they appear to have been fans, Judah even made a joke about when Color Me Bad guest stared on the original.

2. Sachs and Judah get it. They get that they must delicately balance tipping their hat to the show that started it all (and making legions of die hard fans happy) while welcoming in new viewers who may have never seen the original. The show needs to stand on its own but not forget where it came from and that seems to be happening. Shannen Doherty, who has been seen in Beverly Hills since she left the show in 1994, will reprise her role of Brenda and come in for a multi-episode arc as the director of the high school musical. Tori Spelling is back as Donna and owns a boutique where I'm assuming she is selling Donna Martin originals. And Jennie Garth's Kelly is now a guidance counselor at West Beverly (hmmm . . . I wonder whatever happened to Kelly Taylor Public Relations?). Plus Nat is running a new and trendy version of the Peach Pit. Sachs and Judah also said that the story lines will explains what happened to Donna and David as well as update viewers on other characters.

3. In the previews showed to critics, the theme music is the same (although a little updated) and the opening credits recreate the iconic opening credits of the original -- right down to a new hand exchange at the "Chhh, chhh" mark.

4. The wonderful Jessica Walter plays the grandmother. If she's involved it's gonna be good.

Of course, we still have to see the actual show but for now cautiously optimistic. How about you?

Highlights of the Week Ahead

All times listed are Eastern Standard Time for July 21- 28

I had the chance to talk to the showrunners of How I Met Your Mother while I was here in LA.  Craig Thomas told me that the fourth season premiere will get right to last season's cliffhangers addressing both Ted's proposal to Stella and Barney's longing look to Robin. And Thomas was okay with the divided fan reaction to the Robin/Barney hook up. "I think what the fans are concerned about is let's not defang Bbarney let's let Barney still be Barney. I think the premiere will make both sides of the debate happy -- all of our best episodes are a debate," Thomas told me. This week CBS repeats the first of the two part second season finale of Lily and Marshall's wedding Monday at 8:30 p.m.

Carson Kressley is back with a second season of How to Look Good Naked (Tuesday, Lifetime, 10 p.m.). The show was so popular last time around that it's expanded to be an hour long.

Per your request, I tracked down Thomas Gibson at the CBS party and asked him about Criminal Minds. And I did try tactic of "just tell me who died in the season premiere. I promise to only tell my readers." Alas as you might suspect that didn't work. The cast has already completed filming the first four episodes of next season and here is what Gibson had to say about the season premiere "It's really really good, people are going to really like it. It is stressful especially with that kind of no holds barred ending.  But everything is going to work out okay. Everything is going to be fine." This week CBS repeats an episode from April 2007 when Kate Jackson guest starred as Emily's mom (Wednesday, CBS, 9 p.m.).

That's all for today. I won't have a column on Wednesday (I'll be in the air flying back to the East Coast) but I will be back on Friday, July 25 with familiar faces, quotes of the week and thoughts on all the shows I've had a chance to catch up on. Have a question? Seen a familiar face? Want to nominate a quote of the week? Write me at amytvgal@zap2it.com

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