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Mad About 'Men'? Don't Miss Sunday's Finale On AMC

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Published: October 23, 2008

Updated: 10/23/2008 10:34 am

Light up an unfiltered Camel cigarette, pour a glass of Scotch and pop a Swanson's frozen Salisbury steak dinner into the oven.

How else can we set the mood for the season finale of "Mad Men," which airs at 10 p.m. Sunday on AMC?

This fascinating period piece set in the 1960s still doesn't have the audience it deserves, but those who have discovered it love it.

The season ends with the dual-identity anti-hero, Don Draper/Dick Whitman, torn between his past and his present lives.

"I have been watching my life. I keep scratching at it trying to get into it. I can't," says this central character played by rising star Jon Hamm.

Meanwhile, there is turmoil and potential turnover at the Sterling Cooper advertising agency, where Draper works. Heads may roll.

Last week's episode was a shocker. Secretary Joan (Christina Hendricks), who has used her sexuality to get ahead in the male-dominated culture, was raped by her fiance.

Will the finale wrap up everything, or raise new questions with a cliffhanger?

Hamm, who is the host of "Saturday Night Live" this week, apparently hasn't signed on for a third season of "Mad Men."

AMC is certain to renew it, if the network can afford to get the cast and creator Mark Weiner back. It's Weiner's vision and attention to detail that has made "Mad Men" such a visual and multilayered treat.

GLENN BECK BACK: Radio and television commentator Glenn Beck, who is moving from CNN to Fox News Channel, is coming to Clearwater with a Christmas show. He is set to play Ruth Eckerd Hall on Dec. 3. Tickets go on sale Monday.

Beck, who launched his national career as a conservative talk show host in Tampa, will narrate "The Christmas Sweater," based on true accounts of "tragedy, family, redemption, love and the power of faith," and set to seasonal music.

Tickets prices are $65 and $45. Call (727) 791-7400 or go to www.rutheckerdhall.com for information.

Beck, who used to work at WFLA, 970 AM, will host a talk show on Fox News from 5 to 6 p.m. weekdays beginning in the spring. His contract with CNN Headline News ends in February.

CHANNEL FLIPPING: Coming up Saturday on Lifetime is "Sex & Lies in Sin City: The Ted Binion Scandal," a TV movie based on a true story.

Mena Suvari stars as Sandy Murphy, a gambler who becomes a stripper after losing all her money in Las Vegas. A love affair with a high roller and drug addict named Ted Binion (Matthew Modine) ends badly when he turns up dead and she's the prime suspect.

On Friday night at 8, Daniel Craig, who plays James Bond in "Quantum of Solace" (due out Nov. 14), is an Oxford historian turned detective in the British thriller "Archangel," airing on the Ion network (formerly Pax TV).

Set in the frozen Northern town of Archangel, the three-hour mystery has Craig's character uncovering a dangerous secret about Joseph Stalin that could change Russia forever.

VIDBITS: Is this a sad commentary on a career gone astray? Alice Cooper is hosting WGN's Halloween marathon of 16 vintage "Munsters" episodes from 4 p.m. to midnight on Oct. 31. His new video, "Along Came a Spider," will follow in a 30-minute special.

• NBC has ordered a full season of "Knight Rider," which isn't a big ratings hit but it's about the only new thing on the network that has some interest. I was wrong. I predicted this thing would run out of gas before midseason.

• ABC has yanked off the game show "Opportunity Knocks," which, after three outings, was among the lowest-rated shows this fall. A recap of the previous night's "Dancing With the Stars" will take its place at 8 p.m. Tuesdays.

• Tonight on "Ugly Betty" (8 p.m., ABC), Lindsay Lohan is back as Betty's former high school nemesis, Kimmie Keegan, and she wants a job.

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