The screener for tonight’s 2-hour premiere of “Mad Men” came to the Coaxial offices with a letter from series mastermind Matt Weiner. Weiner’s missive included a vexing list of things he did not want critics to speak of.
AMC apparently labors under similar restrictions. The channel is making available to the public no season-five footage. The channel’s description of the episode, “A Little Kiss,” is plenty vague:
The staff at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce continues to captivate as they grapple with an uncertain new reality.
Happily we are permitted to say it is quite an entertaining installment (the series’ first two-hour affair ever) and so packed with plot and incident it fairly flies by.
I can also say it does not feel like two episodes of “Mad Men” aired back to back. It also feels very self-contained, a good installment to jump into if you’ve not seen any earlier episodes.
* The episode’s length allows most of the major characters meaty storylines.
* The episode begins in an ad agency not called Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce and ends with Lane collecting resumes.
* The Huffington Post’s screwball theory that the fifth season may be set in 1954 is mad, man.
* Zooby Zooby Zoo.
HBO says of tonight’s “Luck” season finale:
Gus takes extraordinary precautions to protect his boss. As Jerry (Jason Gedrick) maps out a strategy for another big score, Escalante preps his race-day horses while keeping an anxious ear out for news about Jo, who’s still in the hospital. Renzo welcomes his mother to town. Mon Gateau runs his biggest race yet. Later, Ace and Gus join an expectant crowd for the epic showdown between the two stars of Santa Anita, Ace and Gus’ Pint of Plain and Walter’s Gettin’Up Morning. Written by Eric Roth; directed by Mimi Leder.
* The episode begins with Gus reading about “an unidentified man found in the ocean off Marina Del Rey.”
* The big races employ their share of slow-motion photography.
* Mercedes Ruehl, who played Vincent Chase’s mom on HBO’s “Entourage,” joins the “Luck” cast tonight as Julietta Caligari, mother of Renzo.
* Barry Shabaka Henley is back as Ace’s parole officer. Joan Allen’s back as Claire Lachey. Dennis Dun is done; Leo Chan does not return this week.
* This episode is wholly devoid of Kerry Condon nudity, but there is nudity. And Dire Straits.
* How does it end? “That goat strolled by this guy’s stall.”
* I’ve decided this is not one of HBO’s better shows.
Premiering tonight:
Loiter Squad (10:30pm Cartoon Network) is a new sketch show from "Jackass" producer Jeff Tremaine.
* “The Walking Dead” hit a new personal best with last week’s season finale. “Talking Dead,” which didn’t have “Comic Book Men” between it and “Walking Dead” for the first time this year, beat everything on broadcast at 10 p.m.
Sundays, Jan. 29-March 18, 2012
(Adults 18-49; repeats in gray; older weeks in parentheses)
4.7 (3.6) (3.5) (3.8) (3.6) (4.2) (---) (---) The Walking Dead
2.9 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) College Basketball
2.9 (2.9) (3.4) (---) (3.1) (3.0) (---) (3.5) Once Upon A Time
2.8 (2.8) (2.8) (1.6) (2.8) (2.5) (1.1) (3.1) Family Guy
2.7 (2.9) (2.8) (2.2) (2.8) (---) (---) (---) Amazing Race
2.6 (2.6) (2.5) (---) (2.2) (1.8) (---) (---) Desperate Housewives
2.4 (2.3) (2.5) (1.6) (2.6) (2.0) (0.8) (2.4) The Simpsons
2.3 (0.7) (---) (0.5) (0.6) (---) (---) (---) Talking Dead
2.2 (2.2) (2.1) (1.5) (2.2) (1.8) (1.0) (2.4) American Dad
2.2 (1.7) (1.6) (1.3) (1.8) (2.8) (0.5) (1.5) 60 Minutes
2.1 (1.9) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Bob’s Burgers
2.0 (2.3) (2.2) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) GCB
1.9 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Frozen Planet
1.9 (1.7) (1.9) (---) (2.1) (---) (---) (2.2) The Good Wife
1.8 (2.0) (2.3) (1.8) (2.6) (---) (---) (---) Celebrity Apprentice
1.8 (2.1) (2.1) (1.1) (2.2) (---) (0.6) (2.3) CSI Miami
1.5 (1.6) (1.5) (1.0) (1.2) (1.2) (0.8) (1.3) Cleveland Show
1.3 (1.4) (2.2) (---) (2.0) (2.0) (0.7) (1.9) AFH Videos
1.2 (1.2) (1.5) (0.9) (---) (1.3) (1.2) (2.1) Real Housewives Atl
1.1 (0.9) (1.0) (1.1) (---) (1.6) (---) (---) Dateline
1.0 (1.1) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Harry’s Law
1.0 (1.0) (1.1) (---) (1.4) (---) (---) (---) Khloe & Lamar
0.9 (1.0) (1.2) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Army Wives
0.9 (1.2) (1.0) (1.2) (1.0) (1.1) (---) (1.3) Ax Men
0.8 (0.9) (0.8) (0.7) (0.8) (1.0) (---) (---) Comic Book Men
0.8 (---) (0.9) (3.3) (0.7) (1.0) (---) (0.6) NBA Basketball
0.7 (0.7) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Breakout Kings
0.7 (0.7) (0.7) (1.0) (---) (---) (---) (0.8) FX Movie
0.7 (0.6) (0.7) (---) (0.8) (0.7) (---) (1.1) Mob Wives
0.7 (1.0) (0.9) (0.8) (0.9) (0.6) (---) (---) Worst Cooks
0.6 (0.8) (0.6) (0.5) (0.6) (0.9) (---) (---) Full Metal Jousting
0.6 (0.8) (0.9) (---) (1.0) (---) (---) (---) Ice Love Coco
0.6 (0.7) (0.7) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) My Strange Addiction
0.6 (0.7) (0.8) (---) (0.8) (0.8) (0.5) (0.7) Shameless
0.6 (1.0) (1.2) (---) (1.0) (1.1) (---) (0.6) TBS Movie
0.6 (0.8) (0.8) (---) (---) (0.6) (---) (---) TNT Movie
0.6 (0.6) (0.6) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) USA Movie
0.5 (0.5) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Coming Home
0.5 (0.7) (0.5) (0.4) (---) (---) (---) (0.6) Cupcake Wars
0.5 (0.3) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Holmes On Homes
0.5 (0.6) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Shahs Of Sunset
0.4 (---) (0.3) (---) (0.4) (---) (---) (---) Californication
0.4 (---) (0.9) (0.7) (0.9) (---) (---) (---) Eastbound & Down
0.4 (0.4) (0.5) (0.4) (0.5) (0.4) (---) (0.5) Holmes Inspection
0.4 (0.8) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Restaurant Stakeout
0.4 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Unchained Reaction
0.3 (---) (0.4) (---) (0.4) (0.5) (0.4) (0.6) House of Lies
0.3 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Mob Wives Sit Down
0.3 (1.2) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Oprah’s Next Chapter
0.2 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) House of Consignment
0.2 (---) (0.2) (0.3) (0.5) (---) (---) (---) Life’s Too Short
0.2 (---) (0.3) (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) (---) Luck
0.1 (---) (0.2) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Stevie TV
Tarantino’s Favorite Movie Of The Last Two Decades!! On Blu-ray Now!!
