LITTLE ROCK — If you think it’s been awhile since you saw Mad Men, you’re right.
The last new episode of the quadruple Emmy winner for best drama was on Oct. 17, 2010. AMC plans to make up for that with a two-hour premiere of Season 5. The action starts at 8 p.m. today.
Come to the show wide awake - a lot happens in these two hours.
Viewers will be forgiven if they’ve grown a little fuzzy on what was going on almost a year and a half ago.
First of all, Season 4 was set between November 1964 and October 1965 at the shiny new (and struggling) advertising agency of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.
Our hero, Don Draper (Jon Hamm), spent the season in a funk following his divorce from Betty (January Jones). He sought unhealthy alcohol fueled carnal comfort with women of loose morals.
Then along came the lovely young French Canadian Megan Calvet (Jessica Pare) as Don’s secretary.
One thing led to another and Don ended up inviting Megan to accompany the family on a California trip where he spontaneously proposed. She accepted in the season finale.
Wait. There’s more.
Joan Harris (Christina Hendricks) went off on maternity leave and her doctor husband (off in Vietnam) does not know she’s actually carrying Roger Sterling’s (John Slattery) baby.
So, will Megan be Don’s quick fix for his looming midlife crisis? Is the supple love of a sexy twenty something just the thing to stop his tailspin? Don certainly appears to be happy.
The new season opens during a Memorial Day weekend when Megan surprises Don with a party on his 40th birthday. It is a fascinating and somewhat bizarre scene.
Warning: Keep the kiddies out of the room for what follows. Your TV will start steaming.
We also learn that Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) and his wife, Trudy (Alison Brie), have a new home and baby. He still feels ignored at the company where he manages most of the accounts.
Peggy Olsen (Elisabeth Moss) seems to be struggling with her creativity but is aggressively committed to her career. Meanwhile, British partner Lane Pryce (Jared Harris) seems resigned to his lower status in life.
Outside the office, the civil-rights movement and Vietnam are beginning to fill the headlines.
Yes, Don appears to have rebounded. He’s the man with everything. He has it all once again.
Or does he? Don still doesn’t know who he really is or what he wants from life.
As he’s shaving, Don stares at himself in the mirror. A man no longer young stares back. Is that an epiphany? We’ll see. Times are changing.
And maybe a bit too quickly.
Couric show set. Katie Couric’s new ABC talk show has been given a Sept. 10 starting date. The show is named - wait for it - Katie.
CBS renewals. CBS has announced it’s renewing 18shows from its current schedule - nine dramas, four sitcoms, three reality shows and two news magazines.
Here’s the list of CBS shows that will be back next year.
Comedies: How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, 2 Broke Girls and Mike & Molly. Still up for discussion is Two and a Half Men.
Dramas: NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, Hawaii Five-0, Criminal Minds, CSI, Person of Interest, The Mentalist, Blue Bloods and The Good Wife.
Reality: The Amazing Race, Undercover Boss and Survivor.
Newsmagazines: 60 Minutes and 48 Hours Mystery.
Weaver signed. Sigourney Weaver (Avatar) is set for her TV series debut this summer in USA Network’s Political Animals.
The six-hour “provocative” series features Weaver as Elaine Barrish, the divorced former first lady who has just been appointed secretary of state.
Carla Gugino (Watchmen) plays a journalist bent on destroying Barrish’s career.
Walking Dead news. Jeepers, that was some season finale last Sunday for The Walking Dead. The big mystery - who was that hooded figure who saved Andrea with a well-timed swing of her katana blade?
That was Michonne (me-SHOWN), a fan favorite from the comic book series. AMC has cast Danai Gurira (Treme, The Visitor) in the coveted role.
The final scene showed a walled prison over the next hill. Refuge? We’ll see.
One last thing ... we’re all infected.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail: mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style, Pages 46 on 03/25/2012