Looks like we're not the only ones watching Mad Men. 2.8 million watched the premiere, up 33% from last season's debut of 2 million viewers. Can Don Draper hold their interest?

If you still have last night's third season premiere of Mad Men sitting on your DVR, move on to something else. Or maybe you're not planning to watch. Either way, here are the plot points Matt Weiner put into play.

Well the first episode of the new season of Mad Men just ended. Let's scan the internet to get the immediate reactions of a few folks, shall we?

Jesus. Will you people please, please STFU about Mad Men, the third season of which premieres tonight? [Ed. NO!] Fine. For people who'll be opting out of watching this evening, here're your five talking points/excuses when discussing at work tomorrow.

You can't swing a hepcat (you know, from the '60s!) without hitting a feature about Mad Men, then why aren't there many details about, you know, the actual show.

If you don't have a DVR (for shame!), you're going to need to know when to sit down to catch your favorite series, like Mad Men, Project Runway, Gossip Girl, and 30 Rock. Then go buy a TiVo. Really.

There are so many great things about Don Draper, but let's just choose one: his product pitches are so evocative. His vision and lyrical description imbues every product not only with a sense of luxury but a sense of necessity.

Britney Spears spent two days in Atlanta with some mystery dude, Michael Jackson's doctor is being investigated for murder, Brad Pitt puts Ashton Kutcher in his place, Renee Zellweger prepares to get fat again, and Madonna's tour suffers a tragedy.

With the stink of celebrity deaths and recession wafting around us, we need a restorative figure of youth. A symbol of American virility. A man who, despite his antiquated views of women and Jews, can make America feel giddy again.

Kim Jong-Il basically threatened to nuke America Thursday at a massive rally in North Korea.

Young people do extraordinary things in Hollywood, and make, I'm assuming, extraordinary money. Some good news about television, plus some bad news. And a film wins a very deserving prize.

News from sparkly TV shows about music, plus sparkly movies about gays. The British really like our sad American TV shows, while Maria Bello likes to fire people. Plus, Elmore Leonard.

I mean can you believe the nerve of this fuckin' guy, coming on CNBC and saying amateurs should follow a proven successful passive investment strategy and shouldn't try to time the market according to the rantings of a man whose stock picks have a losing record? The nerve of this fuckin' guy. Shove your "index funds" up your tight ass!

Via Videogum, we bring you a sneak preview of Jon Hamm's "multi-episode arc" on 30 Rock, playing Liz Lemon's ice-cream-making, frosting-smeared pediatrician neighbor and crush object. (He debuts the episode after next.)

The drama over whether Mad Men executive creator Matthew Weiner would return to the show for a third season has come to its expected conclusion: a big fat seven-figure deal for two more seasons.

Though AMC recently set an optimistic summer return date for the next season of Mad Men, show mastermind Matthew Weiner (whose contract dispute remains unresolved) has a much gloomier forecast, he tells E!

Good news for all the chain-smoking, emotionally inaccessible men and the girls who love 'em: AMC just announced a return date for the third season of Mad Men! There's just one problem.

We're really in the holiday spirit around Defamer HQ: We're currently tanked on Jägernog, our stockings are hung like Thomas Jane, and we keep replaying this Mad Men-spoofing video Christmas card.

The Writers Guild unveiled its 2009 TV nominees this afternoon, revealing a radical shift in taste that rotated only one new drama and two new comedies into the year's Best Series nominations — all replacing old nominees that weren't on the air this year. Let's hear it for attrition!

· We think it was Sterling Cooper's resident alpha-lioness Joan Holloway who once said, "Sometimes when people get what they want they realize how limited their goals were." Good thing Christina Hendricks saw beyond Everclear videos. [Thanks, Videogum!] · You know what? We're really starting to open our minds to the many useful applications of that CNN hologram machine thingy. · Paul Rudd admits his manhood is a rhombus. So's ours! · Universal Soldier 3 is a go, and Jean-Claude Van Damme has committed. He's just not sure if its a theatrical, home video, or Straight to Flopz™ release. · Cursebird is a "realtime feed of people swearing on Twitter." So fucking check it out, fuck!