toob'd | Mad Men

The third season of the television show Mad Men will begin tonight, Sunday August 16, at 10:00pm eastern, on AMC (American Movie Channel). [buzzSugar]

You can watch the first episode of the second season streaming on the web. [amc]

If you have not seen this show, we encourage you to watch it. Don't just take our word for it: You know it has to be good, because even Sesame Street will be doing a parody this year. [tvSquad] There have already been some casting suggestions made... [jezebel]

Some interesting articles... also known as "a wander through the hype-scape"... on General Topics and the Writing. [nyt] [nyt] [slate] [ffc] Costume Design. [slate] Character Study. [slate]

And Jason Kottke loves the show too... [kottke] ...he's the one that pointed us in the direction of these next two posts: And for more information check out Vanity Fair's excellent overview of the show. [vanityfair] And check out the Wall Street Journal coverage about the women writers behind the show. [wsj]

"Behind the smooth-talking, chain-smoking, misogynist advertising executives on "Mad Men" is a group of women writers, a rarity in Hollywood television. Seven of the nine members of the writing team are women. Women directed five of the 13 episodes in the third season. The writers, led by the show's creator Matthew Weiner, are drawing on their experiences and perspectives to create the show's heady mix: a world where the men are in control and the women are more complex than they seem, or than the male characters realize."

When you're ready: go Mad Men yourself! [amc]

(And you might not get this one, but: the Vancouver Sun had a report about a man that stole a dead baby's identity being at risk of losing the assets aquired under that identity through the Civil Forfeiture Act. [VanSun] )

(And from the related-but-unrelated file: here's a brief history of the bikini.)