Mad Merch

I guess it was inevitable that a certain, rabidly popular series set in the world of advertising would soon be peddling wares of its own.

As Stuart Elliott wrote in The New York Times yesterday, Mattel will release this July a series of four Mad Men Barbie dolls, in the likenesses of the show's Don and Betty Draper (Jon Hamm and January Jones), Roger Sterling (John Slattery) and Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks.) The dolls' appearance will coincide with the debut of the show's fourth season on AMC.

Available in specialty stores and on amctv.com and barbiecollector.com, each limited-edition (7,000 to 10,000 available) doll will carry a suggested retail price of $74.95 (pretty steep in 1960s dollars!), and will come with authentic period wear, down to their hats, coats and undergarments.

Me, I'm waiting for my own Salvatore Romano doll. I want to pose him in the interesting positions he dares not admit he likes.

Sam Page Goes "Mad"

If you were watching last night's Emmy Awards, you must have realized that AMC smartly held off on airing a new episode of Mad Men, pushing the show's schedule back by one week so as to avoid head-to-head competition with the awards show -- on which Mad Men ended up winning the top prize for best drama.

And if you watched Mad Men the week before, you must also have noticed the adorable actor playing Joan's fiance, Dr. Greg Harris, and wondered why he looks familiar. Back when Sam Page was a regular during the first season of the now-cancelled James Woods procedural Shark on CBS, I had the chance to interview him over lunch for CBS' Watch magazine. Click here for a link to the story, for some more info on this cute new guy to whom my fave secretary Joan is betrothed.

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