One of the very best shows on television for the past few years: a gorgeously-shot drama about advertising executives and the women who love them. Its depiction of early-60s life is startling…sexism, racism, hardcore smoking everywhere from the bedroom to the office to the plane, daytime drinking and infidelity. Its flawless art direction, terrific ensemble cast, and engaging scripts have made it a pleasure to watch through three superb seasons.

Although this show definitely seems to be trending upward, based on its body of work so far we dub “Mad Men” the 6th best show of the aughts.

Creator Matthew Weiner was slaving away for the Ted Danson sitcom “Becker” back in 2000. In his spare time, he crafted a spec script for a show called “Mad Men.” Although David Chase read the script and loved it, and brought Weiner aboard to write and produce for “The Sopranos,” most networks deemed the script unfilmable because of the amount of pure vice onscreen. That’s when the glorious spirit of the aughts kicked in. At a time when every basic cable channel started developing its own original shows for prestige and profit, AMC decided to get on board. With so many good shows cluttering the channel guide, they needed a series that would be distinctive, and they found that quality in “Mad Men.”

The series stars the magnetic Jon Hamm as Don Draper, dreamboat creative director for Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency with a dark secret (he’s an identity thief). His colleagues include John Slattery as the womanizing scoundrel Roger Sterling Jr., a man who was born into the advertising business, but maybe not born to do it. Vincent Kartheiser is an ideal annoyance as Pete Campbell, Don’s underling and sometime nemesis. Elisabeth Moss has delivered a breakout performance as Peggy Olson, the secretary-turned-ace copywriter. Most of the office characters (Bert Cooper, Lane Pryce, Sal, Kinsey) are engaging, and provide a great sounding board for the major players to bounce off of. Last but definitely not least, Christina Hendricks may have changed the world with her performance as Joan, the greatest office manager of all time.

Outside the office, “Mad Men” stars January Jones as Don’s wife Peggy Draper, who is a prototypical subject of the Feminine Mystique, and who begins to suspect that her husband is not what he seems. (Not coincidentally, Betty Friedan blamed advertising.) Alison Brie is fantastic as Pete’s wife Trudy…she guides him well on the path of life and rocks tremendous hats. Peyton List turns heads as Jane Siegel, Don’s secretary and then as Jane Sterling, Roger’s wife.

The best thing about this show is the way it looks: the actors are magnificently cast to type and the costumes, sets, props – everything is basically perfect. If you’re the kind of person who goes nuts over set design, you need to check out Natasha Vargas-Cooper’s “The Footnotes of Mad Men” blog.

“Mad Men” features studly dudes…well, one studly dude at least, but he’s studly enough to carry the show…and many intelligent and curvaceous ladies. Add in the fact that they’re ripping through Lucky Strikes like there’s no tomorrow while swigging a drink at 2 PM in an office meeting and it’s both astounding and gorgeous.

Sadly, we can’t embed the following video to strengthen our case for why Mad Men rules because AMC irrationally thinks this will hurt their business, so you’ll have to click through to see it. Don Draper’s pitches are a true highlight of this show, and this Kodak Carousel pitch is a gem.

Even the opening credits of this show are awesome, set to the sweet track “A Beautiful Mine” by RJD2. (Again, you have to click through.)

The show takes us back to the 1960s before “The Sixties” of baby boomer legend, a time when the vestiges of old society still clung on, but with fingernails that were beginning to slip from the windowsill. We see all kinds of foolishness go down — a client flips out because Peter Campbell suggests they sell TVs to black people, the Sterling Cooper crew mocks the soon-to-be iconic Volkswagen Beetle campaign, Sal Romano lives a secret, closeted life out of fear that to do otherwise would cost him his job.  Apparently, this is some kind of ingenious commentary on modern society. According to Weiner’s mentor David Chase, “It was lively and it had something new to say. Here was someone who had written a story about advertising in the 1960s, and was looking at recent American history through that prism.”

Others feel differently, though, and ROTI is somewhat inclined to agree. What does “Mad Men” really tell us about society in 2010, except that “thank god we’re not all racist sexist homophobe smokers anymore!” Especially since we still sort of are, and if THAT is supposed to be the point, that’s weak. Here’s Mark Greif in the London Review of Books:

We watch and know better about male chauvinism, homophobia, anti-semitism, workplace harassment, housewives’ depression, nutrition and smoking. We wait for the show’s advertising men or their secretaries and wives to make another gaffe for us to snigger over. ‘Have we ever hired any Jews?’ – ‘Not on my watch.’ ‘Try not to be overwhelmed by all this technology; it looks complicated, but the men who designed it made it simple enough for a woman to use.’ It’s only a short further wait until a pregnant mother inhales a tumbler of whisky and lights up a Chesterfield; or a heart attack victim complains that he can’t understand what happened: ‘All these years I thought it would be the ulcer. Did everything they told me. Drank the cream, ate the butter. And I get hit by a coronary.’ We’re meant to save a little snort, too, for the ad agency’s closeted gay art director as he dismisses psychological research: ‘We’re supposed to believe that people are living one way, and secretly thinking the exact opposite? . . . Ridiculous!’ – a line delivered with a limp-wristed wave. Mad Men is currently said to be the best and ‘smartest’ show on American TV. We’re doomed.

Although we enjoy Greif’s well-crafted smackdown, Mad Men is definitely one of the best shows going on television right now, and if being doomed means watching sweet TV, then doom our asses.

The elements that Grief identifies are there, of course, and it’s doubtful that they do little more than titillate. Yet his criticism does nothing to dismiss the many great qualities about Mad Men: the actors, the situations, the costumes, the sets, the minute details that they always get right.

AND! The plot twists! (Be warned, this is not for the squeamish when it comes to blood or mild spoilers.)

We’ll give the last word to the excellent TV critic Tim Goodman of the SF Chronicle, who named “Mad Men” the third best show of the 2000s:

The best series still in production (followed closely by AMC stablemate “Breaking Bad”), this drama about the existential angst of an early 1960s ad man, Don Draper, has exemplary writing and acting that is intimate, reflective, funny and shaded, and it boasts the most memorable premise and look in ages.

It carries the torch of greatness into the next decade.

“Mad Men” does not seem to be slowing down as it heads for a fourth season on AMC. The conclusion to the third season was daring, thrilling, and game-changing. “Mad Men” could be setting itself up for an epic run of good television. Stay tuned.

TV Aughtrospective:
Introduction and Runners-Up
#10: “Six Feet Under.”
#9: “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.”
#8: “The Daily Show.”
#7: “South Park.”
#6: “Mad Men.”
#5: “Arrested Development.”
#4: “American Idol.”
#3: “Lost.”
#2: “The Sopranos.”
#1: “The Wire.”

The above image is a screengrab from a music video so stunning, it took us hours to fully process its awesomeness.

The video is for Jamie Foxx’ new single, “Blame It.” It was directed by Hype Williams, auteur of many classic hip hop clips.

Oddly enough for a video directed by the inventive Williams, the staging, plot, and ambience of this video are wholly banal; Foxx and his posse roll up to a party in a sweet ride, have some drinks with some ladies, a couple of girls kiss each other, T-Pain sings an awesome bridge, all the homies toast each other, the end.

That said, this video features Ron Howard as a key member of Jamie Foxx’ posse.

Playing himself. And every appearance he makes induces blurted laughter.

Here are some choice screengrabs of Opie rolling in the whip with Foxx, Forest Whitaker and Jake Gyllenhaal, then kicking it in the club with Sam Jackson and a bunch of video vixens.

This video would be instantly forgettable without him, but with the addition of Ron Howard, it becomes an instant classic.

Enjoy this piece of postmodern art as soon as you can.

When we first caught this video via Gawker, we were hugely amused and utterly astonished.

At first it seemed that the only rational explanation was as a brilliant piece of comedic irony. And yet that sort of move is pretty much antithetical to a hip hop video such as this one. And it’s evidenced nowhere else in the video’s approach. No, the video is completely consistent in its trite cliche of hiphopdom, with the single exception of the presence of Ron Howard.

After some research we found out the explanation:

Via Ace Showbiz:

The star-studded music video from Jamie Foxx has been released via BET on Wednesday, February 25. This would be the video of “Blame It” that features T-Pain and is lifted from his third studio album “Intuition” (2008)…

Foxx mainly lined up awards winners from his movie realm, such as Ron Howard, Samuel L. Jackson, Forest Whitaker and Jake Gyllenhaal. Not stopping there, cameos are also made by Quincy Jones, Cedric the Entertainer, Morris Chesnut, Clifton Powell, Alex Thomas, Tatyana Ali, Bill Bellamy, Clarence Avant, Tommy Davidson and more.

The idea of having so many stars in one music video roots from his inspiration of Notorious B.I.G. “We wanted to sort of relive the Biggie (experience),” Foxx said to MTV. “Remember when Biggie did the ‘One More Chance’ remix video? So, we relived that. But (we have) the most Oscar-nominated and Oscar winners in one video that you ever seen.”

The explanation is revealed. Ron Howard’s entree into the Jamie Foxx posse was his Oscar-winning prowess.

Ostensibly the next Jamie Foxx video will feature kids wearing airbrushed t-shirts with Heath Ledger’s face on them and someone spraypainting on a wall, “Mourn Ya Till I Join Ya.”

Meanwhile, the rumored Arrested Development movie is a lot like the proposed Cape Wind Project off the coast of Cape Cod; just about everyone agrees that it’s a good idea, but progress is imperceptibly slow…

However, one of Hollywood’s most legendary gingers is coming out with a movie next month that might just salvage his reputation in the ROTI offices: an adaptation of the Peter Morgan play Frost/Nixon.

The movie tells the tale of a series of momentous interviews with a post-resignation Richard Nixon conducted on a wing and prayer by British TV host David Frost, in which Nixon eventually came to accept (some) responsibility for Watergate and the coverup that followed. Stage veterans Frank Langella and Michael Sheen, a particular ROTI favorite, portray the principals.

The play (and ostensibly the movie) is a fascinating portrayal of the logistical end of the news business, but more than that, it’s a compelling take on the epic Greek tragedy that was Richard Nixon.

Variety quotes Brokaw at the premiere:

“I saw the play twice, and now the movie, and I will never figure Nixon out,” said Tom Brokaw, who covered the Watergate scandal as an NBC reporter. “He had demons that no one could plumb.”

(It’s pretty funny imagining Brokaw intoning “No one could plumb” in his drowsy baritone…)

The movie has actually been out in limited London runs for a while now, and a detailed plot summary is available on Wikipedia. This sounds like the best part by far:

Over the first four recording sessions (each at two hours in length covering Nixon’s Foreign Policy, Domestic Policy, a Biographical piece and Watergate), Frost is shown struggling to ask the planned “on the spot” questions to Nixon, with Nixon being able to take up much of the time for the sessions by making long speeches without enabling Frost to challenge him.

Frost’s editorial team appears to be breaking apart as the two American members (Zelnik and Reston) express anger that Nixon appears to be exonerating himself. Frost suggests that the four of them separate over a small break for Easter, after having been together almost daily for a month.

Four days before the final session on Watergate, Frost receives a phone call in his hotel room from a drunk Richard Nixon. Frost answers with “Cheeseburgers?” expecting a call asking about dinner arrangements. Nixon proceeds to bemoan his lot and suggests that, like Frost, people of a higher social class brought him down as they refused to accept him in a high position. Nixon tells Frost that they both know the final interview will make or break the other’s career. If Frost fails to implicate Nixon definitively in the Watergate scandal, then Frost will have allowed Nixon to revive his political career at the expense of Frost, who will have an unsellable series of interviews and be bankrupt.

And of course, Clint Howard is in it.

Past winners of the award include LeBron James, Kevin Love and Greg Oden…so yeah, this guy can ball.

As the WAPO reports, the Hoyas definitively move on this season from the roster that took them to the Final Four two years ago:

The beauty of college basketball, Georgetown Coach John Thompson III likes to say, is that it constantly evolves.

There is no such thing as a finished product to sit back and admire, but instead a revolving cast of players, perpetually defining and redefining itself.

Thompson’s fondness for that flux — and the notion that his work, as a result, can never be finished — will be tested this season.

That test gets under way tonight at Verizon Center, where Georgetown opens its first season in four years without Roy Hibbert, Jonathan Wallace and Patrick Ewing Jr., who led the Hoyas to consecutive Big East regular season titles and three NCAA tournament appearances.

The opponent is Jacksonville (0-1), a team Georgetown beat by 32 points last season but one Thompson isn’t taking lightly. The Dolphins have all five starters returning and scored 40 second-half points against Florida State in both teams’ opener Saturday before falling, 59-57.

“They’re a significantly different team than when we played them last year,” Thompson said of Jacksonville, picked to finish second in the Atlantic Sun Conference. “With their whole group back, they’re going to be confident, and we’re finding ourselves.”

For the faithful at Verizon Center, where Georgetown was unbeaten last season, the focus will be entirely on the new-look Hoyas.

Will 6-foot-11 freshman Greg Monroe, a McDonald’s all-American, show promise of becoming the Hoyas’ anchor inside?

Thompson cautions against assuming that Monroe will simply step into Hibbert’s role, characterizing him instead as “a facilitator.”

“He’s someone who’ll make his teammates a lot better,” Thompson said of the sought-after recruit. “He has an affinity and a gift for being able to pass the ball.”

Teammates rave about Monroe’s work ethic in practice.

“I love the kid!” gushed junior forward DaJuan Summers, who returns for his third season as a starter. “He works tremendously hard. His skill set is very good. And he’s very aware of what’s going on the game.”

Here’s a YouTube highlight reel of Monroe in action at some major national/international camps. We can’t vouch for the audio on this, but the visuals are banging. Update: Got your voucher right here…Gang Starr – “Full Clip.” Certified awesome.

Circle January 17th on your calendar now: that’s the day when Monroe takes his A-game to Duke and shows them what they lost out on by falling short in the recruiting wars.

Monroe canceled his scheduled visit to Durham and signed on with the Hoyas after witnessing Gtown’s March Madness rally featuring Patrick Ewing Jr. teaching Jerry Rice how to dance like Soulja Boy. (Duke promised to counter with Coach K teaching Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty to do the Electric Slide, but apparently that wasn’t enough.)

A few comings and goings for the Hoyas this season: Vernon Macklin, who was never really able to assert himself in the post for Gtown, transferred to Florida to join the Billy Donovan Brigade.

More surprisingly, Jeremiah “Son of Doc” Rivers transferred to Indiana. Maybe he got tired of hearing the sarcastic applause following his infrequent field goals…

Nate Lubick (right): Gtown’s first Ginger Great?

On the recruiting front, the Hoyas are heavily recruiting in Boston-area prep schools: an arid landscape to be sure, but also the same terrain that yielded Patrick Ewing.

GU has already signed up one top player from the tiny Independent School League’s Class of 2010 all-stars – skilled, carrot-topped big man Nate Lubick from St. Mark’s School. His ginger aura will bring a new dimension to the GU team, and his all-around skills aren’t bad either…

Our sources tell us that Coach Thompson has ALSO been spotted at the Middlesex School gym checking out potential role-player Rod Odom. Although he’s a big man in a little man’s league right now, Odom ultimately projects to be a perimeter player with a solid 3-point stroke and excellent defensive skills. Seton Hall is in hot pursuit of Odom, but JTIII wants to see more before he extends an offer. Here’s hoping Odom accompanies his growth spurt with a killer junior season, so the official high school basketball team of ROTI can send a representative to the official college basketball team of ROTI.

You’d think Gtown would be harvesting most of their players from the DC/Baldimore area, instead of tiny New England prep schools.

However, we suppose that on some level this makes a lot of sense: if you like to run the Princeton offense, you probably need players capable of making the grade at Princeton…

UPDATE: Monroe kicked ass against Jacksonville. The AP report drooled, “The arena lights dimmed…and Greg Monroe was the first Georgetown player introduced to the crowd. Then the game against Jacksonville began, and the 6-foot-11 freshman was the first Georgetown player to shoot the ball this season. And the first to score. And the first to grab a rebound. And the first to block a shot.” Final line: 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks…

November 2008 has been the cruelest month for California’s gay people.

The demographic tidal wave that brought Obama into the White House also voted Proposition 8 into law, wiping out all Left Coast gay marriages.

But for Samantha Ronson, Lindsey Lohan’s girlfriend (and sister of ridiculously awesome producer Mark), things are just getting worse. No longer is marriage to the ginger-haired beauty an option, and now Lohan’s vacation from dudes is starting to bore her.

As the NY POST noted earlier this week, she’s not even a self-identified lesbian at this point:

A coy Lindsay Lohan insists that she isn’t a lesbian and barely cops to being bisexual – but admits that she’s dating a “wonderful” woman with whom she’s madly in love, according to a new interview with the starlet. “I think it’s pretty obvious who I’m seeing,” Lohan told Harper’s Bazaar magazine. Nonetheless, she pointedly refused to name her lady love, LA DJ Samantha Ronson.

When asked if she considered herself a bisexual, Lohan answered, “Maybe. Yeah.”

But she was adamant that she wasn’t a lesbian, giving an emphatic, “No,” when asked.

“We’re two proud lesbians!” “Speak for yourself.”

Now the UK’s SUN tabloid is reporting that LiLo wants to bring penis back into her life.

THE LINDSAY LOHAN and SAMANTHA RONSON lesbian love-in looks like it’s heading for choppy waters.

At spinner Ronson’s DJ appearance in London’s Chinawhite on Wednesday night Herbie star Lohan refused to budge from her seat to offer her partner any support while she was manning the ones and twos.

Grumpy Lohan remained in the VIP room chugging back vodka Red Bulls, surrounded by burly security while Sam performed her set in the club’s main room.

A far cry from the very public canoodling in DJ booths that the pair have often engaged in the past.

And although they were back to normal the next night – as they partied with LILY ALLEN until the early hours – I’m told the frostiness in the relationship is down to Lindsay’s desire to indulge her heterosexual tendencies.

A pal said: “Lindsay and Sam had a huge bust up last week at Pure night club in Las Vegas.

“Lindsay was flirting with a guy and Sam was ballistic.

“Lindsay says she loves Sam more than anything but she just can’t help that she is attracted to the opposite sex.

“She thinks that they should come to some sort of understanding.

“Lindsay wants an open relationship where she can explore her heterosexuality without feeling guilty or sneaking around.”

Memo to Ms. Lohan: how about exploring hitting the reset button on your entire career. The world should be buzzing about your new film, but since there’s no film to buzz about, all anyone cares about is are you a lesbo or aren’t you. Our guess is, in the long run probably not, but that’s irrelevant.

Your REAL lifestyle issues are that you need to stop doing drugs and smoking, you look like a used up porn star. This is a truly sad fate for one of the finest gingers of the last 10 years.

It’s probably not too late to halt the decline (for reference, consult the picture at the top of this post). But honestly, Lindsay, poor Samantha Ronson just wants to do two things: love you and drop it like it’s hot.

Don’t screw this up like you screwed up your career.

We are, of course, already registered…at as many polling places as possible. But if we were not registered, this video would make us NOT want to. The fact is, most of these people didn’t go to college and pretend for a living. We don’t recommend letting dullards like these influence your political positions. The video is pretty lame, so once you get the gist of it skip to the very end: the last 20 seconds are worth catching.

Why don’t they just put on their Obama t-shirts. This is a Democratic ad masquerading as a nonpartisan effort. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; it’s pretty clever actually.

Only six of these celebrities remain dear to us and emerge from this lameness intact.

PEOPLE WHOSE VOTE I WANT TO CANCEL OUT
Tobey Maguire – His manner is so irritating.
Demi Moore – Clearly ridiculous.
Eva Longoria – the biggest whore for publicity on the planet. Insufferable.
Usher – Ever since this guy pretentiously wore Clockwork Orange makeup in a video…just no.
Ashton Kutcher – Should be turned over to al-Qaeda
Courteney Cox – Go away.
Ethan Suplee – (a) What are you doing here? (b) Scientologist. They should be disenfranchised
Halle Berry – So annoying
That idiot from “Entourage” – That show is played out!!!
will-i-am – Although he has produced some good stuff – “Hip Hop is Dead” comes to mind….ahhh, we don’t know. We still hate him.
Kiedis – Even in his best years he teetered on the edge of lame. Those years are gone.
Adam Levine – Die…
Giovanni Ribisi – Scientologist. See “Ethan Suplee”

PERHAPS NOT TOTALLY CONDEMNABLE
Leo – the pointman; he’s definitely annoying but he has had his moments in some good movies.
D. Hoffman – Pretty lame these days, but he is a legend and saves the video at the end.
Forest Whittaker – Street Kings was so bad.
Laura Linney – Kind of annoys us now.
Kate Bosworth – Please don’t flail your skeleton arms at us again.
Kyra Sedgwick & Kevin Bacon – Meh.
Jamie Foxx – We’re not into his musical career, but he was badass in Miami Vice.
Djimon Hounsou – Whatever
Michelle Trachtenberg – You’re very attractive, but please stop talking.

LET’S FORGET THIS EVER HAPPENED
Benicio – He mostly mutters darkly, anyway, and maintains his cred.
Ellen – She’s cool
Sarah Silverman – doing her usual shtick. The Great Schlep still the best 2008-election-related Silverman clip
Jonah Hill – Not nearly as big a star as most of these other people, unless I missed something. But he’s funny in this.
Natalie Portman – You found our soft spot
Amy Adams – Hot and talented ginger…

The cure for this lame video is more Amy Adams!!

ROTI is forced to make this flawless scheme public for the first time because we have learned the Australians are developing the same superchild capability and are in fact one step ahead! What the hell??

As best we can figure, Michael Phelps may prove to be the Sputnik in the superhuman sweepstakes with our adversaries in the Southern hemisphere. Previous Australian ubermensch Ian “Thorpedo” Thorpe was totally humiliated by Phelps’ recordbreaking performance in Beijing. We believe that this awakened the Aussies to American genetic superiority. People magazine reports that the Australians have already planned their next move!!

Russell Crowe jokes that a bride has already been picked out for his 2-year-old son Tennyson – 2 1/2-month-old Sunday Rose Urban.

Sunday not only has the same birthday as Tennyson, she just happens to be the daughter of Crowe’s close pals Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman.

Three of the four grandparents of Australian future super child.
Non famous grandparent not pictured for obvious reasons.

“Nicole had one look at my younger son Tennyson, and looked up at me and said, ‘I’m a great believer in arranged marriages,’” the actor said Friday in Beverly Hills while promoting his film Body of Lies. “I believe she made the connection between Sunday and Tennyson now – so Tennyson is already engaged!”

It was all worked out at Crowe’s home in Australia recently, he says.

What makes this most startling is that not only are the Aussies one step ahead of the USA, but in addition, the Australian superchild will have the extremely valuable ginger genes from Ms. Kidman…

GINGERS IN SPACE!!! It’s enough to make us consider changing our citizenship.