Mad Men

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Tuesday. Report: "Mad Men" is in danger of being canceled!?! What the what? ( Los Angeles Times ) One of Hitchcock's favorite killers, Farley Granger, has died. ( Los Angeles Times ) Roger Ebert seems to have predicted our current film industry as far back as 1987. ( Los Angeles Times ) Beyonce has had enough of her dad managing her career, severs professional ties. ( Los Angeles Times ) Chris Brown is coming to "Dancing With the Stars.

BOSTON -- The ratings gains that AMC's drama "Mad Men" is enjoying in its fifth season are directly tied to the popularity of the show on Netflix, a top executive at that company said. "We brought maybe a million viewers to AMC," Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos told attendees of the annual National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. convention here. The season premiere of "Mad Men" drew 3.5 million viewers, which was a new record for the show. Last season, "Mad Men" averaged 2.3 million viewers.

Who the heck would want to be like Betty or her ad man ex, Don? That's what I asked myself recently when I passed a Banana Republic window display featuring the retailer's new "Mad Men"-inspired clothing collection. "Are you a Betty?" read a poster with a lustrous photograph of a thin, blond model looking almost as uptight and miserable as the former Mrs. Draper in the Emmy-winning AMC television series. There's little doubt that "Mad Men's" sleek style and handsome characters play a part in the program's appeal.

NEW YORK - On a recent morning, Joel Stillerman, an executive with the cable network AMC, was sitting in his 15th-floor office opposite Madison Square Garden and getting excited. He wasn't enthused about the usual matters, like the restored popularity of the network's signature series, "Mad Men," or the shiny ratings for the recently concluded season of the zombie hit"The Walking Dead. " "You've never seen 'Ace in the Hole?'" Stillerman said to a reporter, referring to the 1951 Billy Wilder film about a cynical newsman.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Wednesday. Jon Hamm will have three more years of "Mad Men" in his future. ( Huffington Post ) Hey, kids. Here's the trailer for "Footloose. " ( Deadline ) Yahoo is interested in owning Hulu. ( Los Angeles Times ) Another day, another dead superhero. This week's edition: Spider-Man. What, oh what, will Marvel do now? ( Los Angeles Times ) Breasts and dragons are a winning combo: The "Game of Thrones" finale delivered a series ratings high.

Hollywood is wondering if Don Draper and the rest of the "Mad Men" gang have drunk and smoked their way through cable channel AMC's programming budget. Over the last two weeks, AMC has pushed to make cuts on two of its other big shows — "The Walking Dead" and "Breaking Bad" — moves that came as a surprise to the creative forces behind those popular series. The push to rein in costs comes only months after "Mad Men" creator and executive producer Matt Weiner received a huge new contract to continue the show about swinging 1960s ad men for at least two more seasons.

Far too often, the Emmy nominations for any given year look alarmingly familiar, as if the voters simply copied and pasted previous years' lists, made a few minor tweaks ("Oh, heck, that 'Big Bang Theory' really is pretty good") and hit send. Which is not only boring, it's also more than a bit unfair. While there is no denying that such usual suspects as "Mad Men," "Breaking Bad" and "30 Rock" are exemplary, there are a lot of terrific shows and performances out there, some of which appear to have little signs taped to their backs that read, "Please don't nominate me for an Emmy, and if you do, don't let me win. " Indeed, in all the hoopla surrounding "Glee," the television academy seems to have missed its major message: It isn't just the cheerleaders and football stars who deserve to win stuff.

UNDERRATED Vincent Kartheiser from 'Mad Men': The third season of "Mad Men" is right around the corner, and as we've been frantically trying to catch up with Season 2, we're still struck by Kartheiser's quietly desperate exec Pete Campbell, whose worminess always walks a thin but magnetic line between tragedy and comedy. Maybe it's because he looks like a lost sketch creation by "The Kids in the Hall's" Dave Foley.

After 17 months, "Mad Men" returns to AMC, television and the universe Sunday night. I have seen the fifth season's two-hour opening episode. There is a party in it. I can say no more. Well, I could say more. But you may have read of a memo that "Mad Men" creator and caretaker Matthew Weiner sent out to critics everywhere asking that, in order not to spoil any viewer's fun, we keep secret "key storylines" as developed in the season premiere. Specifically, he would prefer we not mention: the year it takes place; Don Draper's relationship status; whether Joan had her baby (I'd forgotten that she was pregnant, it's been so long)

"Mad Men" Where: AMC When: 10 p.m. Sunday Rating: TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14)

The week-after-week format of television admittedly builds a depth of character study richer and deeper than most movies are capable of. But would you watch a 13- or 22-hour movie? Huge swathes of recent episodes of "Mad Men" would hit the cutting-room floor in even the most luxuriously paced movie, as the amount of wheel-spinning and narrative churning that can go into a television show would never pass with cinemagoers. Face it, the recent "Fat Betty" story line would definitely be trimmed from "Mad Men: The Movie.

UNDERRATED Junip's 'Fields' : Like a futuristic European version of Crosby, Stills and Nash, this Swedish band's 2010 album is one of the addictive indie-rock pleasures of the decade. Led by the crushed velvet vocals of singer-songwriter Jose Gonzalez and a spacey mix of churning guitars, burbling keyboards and driving African percussion, "Fields" grows more enchanting with every listen. Spring gets only sunnier with the one-two punch of "Always" and "Rope & Summit. " AMC's 'The Killing' : Fans of this remake of the Danish series "Forbrydelsen": It's time to come off the ledge after this show supposedly reneged on its promise by not solving its mystery last season.

Many worlds collided Sunday night on the second episode of this season's long-anticipated “Mad Men”: Don Draper and the Rolling Stones. Fat, depressed Betty and Don's mod new wife, Megan. And a sideways swipe at George Romney, a onetime presidential candidate, that had many wondering if series creator Matthew Weiner was implying something about his son, Mitt, front-runner in the current Republican presidential campaign. In the episode, Betty's new husband, Henry Francis, a Republican political operative working for New York City Mayor John Lindsay, tells someone on the phone, “Well, tell Jim his honor's not going to Michigan.

"Does she or doesn't she?" - the innuendo-filled catchphrase for Clairol from 1956 easily could have been conceived by "Mad Men's" Don Draper. It was not, of course, but rather was penned by one of the few female copywriters of her day. Jane Maas, also a pioneer in the nearly all-male world of advertising decades ago, pays homage to the hair color campaign by Shirley Polykoff in her new book, "Mad Women: The Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the '60s and Beyond. " A witty, personal account of the "real life Peggy Olson," Maas details her climb from copywriter to creative director at Ogilvy & Mather to "Advertising Woman of the Year" for her work on the famous "I Love New York" campaign.

After 17 months, "Mad Men" returns to AMC, television and the universe Sunday night. I have seen the fifth season's two-hour opening episode. There is a party in it. I can say no more. Well, I could say more. But you may have read of a memo that "Mad Men" creator and caretaker Matthew Weiner sent out to critics everywhere asking that, in order not to spoil any viewer's fun, we keep secret "key storylines" as developed in the season premiere. Specifically, he would prefer we not mention: the year it takes place; Don Draper's relationship status; whether Joan had her baby (I'd forgotten that she was pregnant, it's been so long)

Way back when the world was young and romantic comedies opened at theaters every weekend, "When Harry Met Sally" had everyone talking, and not just because of that famous deli scene. Within minutes of meeting Sally (Meg Ryan), Harry (Billy Crystal) flatly states that women and men cannot be friends, because no matter what sort of relationship is occurring on the surface, deep down all the men are interested in is having sex. Even with the women they don't find attractive. Inevitably, he is proven wrong and right — he and Sally become friends before succumbing to their obvious deep and true love for each other — but for months it was a major topic of conversation.

Of course, we should talk about: "Mad Men" Wait, it's coming to an end already? Curse cable and its short 13-episode seasons. Don's big secret is out, Hilton's demands are getting steeper while the Brits might be cutting Sterling Cooper loose, Peggy and Duck have issues to sort out and Joan's hubby looks to be shipping off to Vietnam. My bet is the third-season finale resolves only some of these things -- which is exactly how we all like it. (Today) Resume talking about: "Up" Only Pixar could make an animated movie, out on DVD this week, about a geriatric widower and his quest to move the house he shared with his late wife across the world both heartbreaking and hilarious.

When you think about it, the fashion revolution of the late '60s has had amazing staying power. Take the miniskirt. Though we're seeing longer hemlines for spring, the mini also held its own when designers as varied as Calvin Klein, Chanel and Dolce & Gabbana presented their spring 2011 collections on runways last fall. Ditto that office staple, the women's pantsuit. Front and center for this spring season, it was Stella McCartney's first look out on the catwalk and the second at Thakoon.

On the court, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul remain mad men. They talk trash. Their competitive motors run. Their chippiness persists. Now the two have become masked men. Bryant has worn a plastic mask for the last seven games, including the Lakers' 97-94 win Sunday over the Boston Celtics, after Miami guard Dwyane Wade delivered a hard foul that broke Bryant's nose, giving him a concussion and causing neck pain. Paul wore a plastic mask for the first time in the Clippers' 97-93 loss to the Golden State Warriors two days after suffering a nasal fracture against San Antonio.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Tuesday. Jon Hamm says "Mad Men" is back on March 25. ( Los Angeles Times ) Lindsay Lohan is reportedly in talks to play Elizabeth Taylor in a Lifetime movie. ( Deadline ) Coachella expands to two weekends this year and features Dr. Dre, Radiohead, Black Keys, the Shins and a huge list of other acts. ( Los Angeles Times ) News Corp. is bringing its programming to Xbox. That includes Homer Simpson and Bill O'Reilly.