Mad Men Madness

AMC's Mad Men, you may have read in several thousand articles, is now The Greatest Show on Television.

Sure, we're fans. And, yes, except for the frequent heart attack that are the Phillies, there's little to watch these days. It makes us wonder, about the same time every month when the bill arrives, why we're paying so much to not watch HBO these day. HBO famously passed on Mad Men, even though creator Matt Weiner was already in the stable working as a producer on The Sopranos, which was formerly The Greatest Show on Television.

After yesterday's almost coronary-inducing Phillies game, we tuned into last night's season two premiere of Mad Men.

It was beautiful to look at. The stars are gorgeous. The sets and props are perfect. But the acting seemed especially stilted. Much of the dialogue and story lines were head-scratching. This is what happens when there's too much hyping of a good thing.

For instance, those two guys in the sweaters, especially the one in the thick fisherman sweater, are they a gay couple? And wouldn't that be weird to be so out in 1962 unless it's Truman Capote?

Who knews Jackie Kennedy's White House tour was such a turn-on it and could interrupt so much conjugal activity?

How did Betty Draper become such a lying, scheming shrew?

What's with Paul Kinsey's beard? Is he going boho on us?

And what's the deal with Frank O'Hara's Meditations in an Emergency, which is currently #180 on Amazon's bestseller list?

We may need to consult the ever-useful website televisionwithoutpity.com for this one.