(Tip of the hat for ProgGrrl, who saw it first.) EW.com has a full five pages of Mad Men coverage, including five hot pictures (the cover, a posed backyard shot that I find kind of annoying because it’s so posey, 2 of the ones that we were all scoopy with, and one from the same series, with Betty in that plaid dress, that I hadn’t seen before).

There’s juicy stuff here. Sterling Cooper is working on an airline campaign when a deadly plane crash out of Idlewild (the original name of Kennedy Airport), throws them into a panic. Based on the description, the date appears to be March 1, 1962.

Apparently, we’re not done with the secret identity storyline:

”Here’s the issue: Don Draper’s doing great. Dick Whitman, not so,” Weiner explains. ”And we shouldn’t stop worrying about Don being discovered. His wife doesn’t know. Will she find out? Does it matter? There’s also this whole chunk of his life that we don’t know about.”

And honestly, they’re only hinting, but I really think I’m right about Betty. I mean, they’re saying ‘redirected energy’ and they’re saying she redecorated, but honestly? Affair.

Yes, Peggy is back on the job and succeeding. And yes, Roger Sterling is back working full-time. Duck Philips is in the first episode.

They address the ratings, and AMC’s marketing:

Despite the accolades, ratings hovered only around a modest 900,000 viewers. (To compare, The Sopranos averaged 3.5 million during its freshman season.) Now, with season 2 scheduled to debut July 27, the question is: Can Mad Men build on those first-year numbers and transition from critical darling to mainstream hit? ”It was nice to fly under the radar [in the beginning], but I want to reach a huge audience,” says Weiner. ”It’s AMC’s job to find those people. And they’re finding them.” Indeed, for season 2 the cable network is preparing its biggest marketing campaign ever, budgeted at $25 million.

If we stop posting mean things about AMC, we’ll be happy. No more stinking paws!