Don Draper Was Recruited from a Fur Company!

Don Draper was found by Roger Sterling working in a fur company. He was going to night school. This little tidbit comes from Roger Sterling in next week’s episode of “Mad Men.” A clip from Sterling’s (John Slattery) conversation with Bert Cooper (Robert Morse) is up at the “Mad Men” website.

I’m thrilled, because Slattery hasn’t been used too much this season. A two-time Emmy nominee, he was on the back burner. But Roger (no relation to me!) is the wit of the show. He and Joan (Christina Hendricks) are vital to the whole gestalt of’ “Mad Men.” We need more, not less, of them!

Slattery will probably figure in the final one of this season, in which his onscreen daughter should marry. If you recall, the wedding is set for November 23, 1963, the day after John Kennedy is assassinated. Strangely, on AMC’s schedule, the listing for Episode 12 is missing ’11 and 13 are there, but not 12. Does it mean something or is it just a mistake?

Meanwhile, we know that last night’s episode takes place on or around September 15, 1963 because the Drapers’ maid, Carla, is listening to the funeral for the four little girls killed in the tragic Birmingham, Alabama church bombing. Betty Draper, fast becoming the most unlikeable character on television (real or fictional), just doesn’t get it. Carla does. (Actress Deborah Lacey is just great.) But let’s just hope “Mad Men,” however, doesn’t become “I’ll Fly Away.” Important as the civil rights movement is, let’s not get too far from the martinis.