I agree that the pacing has been slow, but I don't think that applies to every episode. Two of the episodes this season have been very fast-paced. I think one of the problems with Mad Men is that you can't figure out what the hell is going on unless you've seen a previous episode. The characters are not engrossing enough that five minutes with them has you hooked. John Slattery has brought a lot of depth to “Roger” but I don't think you can watch two scenes of “Don Draper” (at least this season) and really know that he is a complex character.

I also think that Matt Weiner and Co. have swerved too far away from the nostalgia of the period and the advertising campaigns that made the first season so interesting. Where is the interesting artwork and clever banter between Cosgrove/Kinsey/Grace/Campbell/Romano?

Don't even get me started on Bobbie Barrett.

Assuming it's true, give AMC credit for at least listening to their marketing consultants re: Twitter, and realizing that “free marketing= GOOD!”. From what I've heard, they've OK'd restoring the accounts, but since I don't follow the Twitter theatrics on a minute-by-minute basis, I could have that wrong. I just checked @peggyolsen and it didn't work, but I may have had the ID wrong.

I really love Mad Men, but think it's problem is NOT a marketing problem. While almost every aspect of the show is handled beautifully, I think the bigger problem is that the story unfolds more slowly than trying to watch a snail traverse 10 city blocks. Once I got through the first 5 episodes, I was “all-in”, but most people will not go to such lengths. I suspect that many tuned in for the S2 premiere, and decided the pace wasn't for them. Some turned away completely, others more likely decided they'd prefer to just wait for the DVDs/on Demand. I do not think this can be addressed via “marketing”.

The “Twitter” debacle just shows how out of touch AMC is. Unless these people were going to benefit financially from their behaviour, AMC should have been thrilled that people were even talking about the show online.

The methodolgy for building an audience has changed; having a great show doesn't matter if you can't get people to watch it.

I feel badly for Matt Weiner and Co. The quality of the writing and the effort being put into the show (although the soap opera sexcapade is getting boring) make it really worth watching. AMC looks petrified at the moment. I think they should focus less on Facebook banners and spend more time getting Jon Hamm/ John Slattery/Jan Jones/Rich Sommer on Oprah/Rachel Ray/Regis/and the View.

How can you smacktalk Wanna Bet like that when it had its highest viewership EVER!