Watch Promotional Photos Mad Men Season 3 Episode 6 “Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency”

[GUY MACKENDRICK] Early to mid 30s, a handsome, dynamic British executive with lots of personality and quite good at his job. GUEST STAR. AUTHENTIC BRITISH ACCENTS ONLY.

[MISS WAKEMANS] 50s, a career secretary who is the “gate keeper” for a very important and prominent man. She is very good at at her job. 1-DAY GUEST STAR sptv050769.

[HAROLD FORD] 40s, a posh British executive. CO-STAR. AUTHENTIC BRITISH ACCENTS ONLY

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[source: spoiler TV]

We’ll have to wait a little longer this summer for the return of “Mad Men.”

AMC has set an August start for the Emmy-winning drama’s third season. Show’s previous two seasons have bowed in mid-July. AMC has not specified the preem date.

Production on the Lionsgate TV drama, created and exec produced by Matthew Weiner, begins today in L.A. There’s no word yet on the time frame for season three of the period drama, which ended its sophomore season in the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.

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Yesterday was a sad day for many TV fans. Guiding Light was cancelled after 72 years of continuous broadcasting (radio and TV). Even people I know who don’t watch soaps, were upset by the end of this program.

That said, it’s with some real glee that I tell you that AMC has picked up Breaking Bad for a third season. It’s not just that the Vince Gilligan’s show is one of the best dramas on television – it might be the best! – it’s the fact that renewing the program for year number three restores my faith that idiosyncratic, unusual stories like Breaking Bad can find a place to thrive and survive on the tube.

Let’s hear it for AMC, home of Breaking Bad as well as Mad Men. Of course, it helps that Breaking Bad is up 21% in the ratings, and it has a slew of awards to its credit.

The show is currently four episodes into season two and the quality has been as high or higher than the first. My only concern for writer/creator Gilligan is this: how is he going to keep Walter White’s lung cancer from killing him before the end of the series? Bryan Cranston’s amazing portrayal of the character has lived up to that Emmy award, so for me, I say to Vince, get Walt into remission so he can keep on doing what he’s doing.

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There have been better years for prime-time television than 2008. In fact, this may have been the worst year for TV in a decade. NBC’s decision to hand over its 10 p.m. time slot to a five-night-a-week “Jay Leno Show” doesn’t bode well for the future either.

That said, if we look past the disastrous fall season, there are bright spots:

1. “Mad Men” (AMC): No series in 2008 created as much Monday-morning water-cooler talk as this engrossing period drama, which avoided the dreaded sophomore slump as it delved deeper into its characters’ complex, often unexpressed inner emotional lives. In many ways it was the season of Betty (January Jones), a woman scorned — or “disrespected,” as cheating husband Don (Jon Hamm) put it delicately. Beautifully shot with an eye for period detail and acted by one of the most talented ensembles on TV, “Mad Men” is likely to only enrage its fans between seasons when it’s not there to provide a weekly trip back in time.

2. “Friday Night Lights” (DIRECTV/NBC): Most viewers haven’t seen the third season yet that’s currently airing on DIRECTV, but next month these episodes will roll out on NBC (9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16) and fans will be rewarded for their patience. After some dramatic missteps in season two, “FNL” is back in top form this year, focusing less on teenage melodrama and more on small-town politics and custodial duties of all sorts.

3. “Big Bang Theory” (CBS): The funniest traditional sitcom on TV has only gotten more assured in its second season. Jim Parsons’ Sheldon occasionally threatens to steal the show — but only because his performance is grounded in such specificity that it almost never feels over-the-top.

4. “Lost” (ABC): Once producers set an end date, “Lost” began to hum with a greater sense of urgency in its storytelling and a lot less lollygagging. No wonder fans are counting the days until its Jan. 21 return.

5. “Sons of Anarchy” (FX): All hail Katey Sagal. As lioness Gemma, she ruled supreme over all the biker boys on this gritty drama about a gun-running motorcycle club. “Sons” proved itself to be a worthy successor to “The Shield,” and if Gemma ever meets up with Vic Mackey, those two connivers will be evenly matched.

6. “The Wire” (HBO): It may not have been this show’s best season — aspects of the newspaper storyline were anachronistic — but “The Wire” remains one of TV’s best series as it traced the connections among the illegal drug trade, corruption in politics and the police department and the decline of the media, all beginning with a simple wiretap.

7. “Pushing Daisies” (ABC): Oh, hell, no! Viewers ignored this visually, linguistically creative comedy-drama and now it has been canceled. It’s a shame fans of quality drama who decry the current state of TV didn’t get on board. Creator Bryan Fuller and his writing staff, including Franklin Park native Gretchen Berg, expanded the “Daisies” universe in the second season while finding new, better ways to integrate the hugely talented cast. Perhaps the most brilliant stroke was pairing itty bitty Kristin Chenoweth and large-and-in-charge Chi McBride for an episode. Of all the cancellations of recent TV seasons, “Daisies’ ” wilting is the most disappointing.

8. “30 Rock” (NBC): Sure, some of the guest star appearances have fizzled (think: Jennifer Aniston), but this zany comedy never ceases to amuse, if you can keep up with the dialogue that often zooms past. Head writer/star Tina Fey makes such a winning lead character, and she alone revitalized “Saturday Night Live” this season with her Sarah Palin impression, the only reason “SNL” even gets an honorable mention below. “30 Rock” has solidified its comedy by focusing on Liz and Jack (Alec Baldwin) and allowing the other characters to orbit around them.

9. “The Shield” (FX): Some viewers, myself included, may have felt like there wasn’t enough finality in the show’s last episode, but there was certainly enough emotional pathos. Between Shane (Walton Goggins) murdering his family and Claudette (CCH Pounder) getting in the last word with Vic (Michael Chiklis), the series ended its run on the same high dramatic plateau that it began.

10. “Boston Legal” (ABC): Sure, it could be over-the-top and ridiculous, but no other prime-time show (besides “South Park”) was as topical in 2008, from TV’s neglect of the elderly to the presidential election and other assorted hot-button issues. The bond between Denny (William Shatner) and Alan (James Spader) gave the series some emotional weight while Denny’s gun wielding ways offered light-as-a feather comedy.

Honorable mention: “Britz” (BBC America), “Brothers & Sisters” (ABC), “Chuck” (NBC), “The Colbert Report” (Comedy Central), “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” (Comedy Central), “Desperate Housewives” (ABC), “Eli Stone” (ABC), “Greek” (ABC Family), “House” (Fox), “Life on Mars” (ABC), “The Office” (NBC), “Privileged” (The CW), “Saturday Night Live” (NBC), “Somebodies” (BET), “True Blood” (HBO).