Mad Men Fodder

"Mad Men" Fires Emmy Winning Writer

File this under odd and suspicious news. This morning, Deadline Hollywood blogger Nikki Finke reported that Mad Men show runner Matthew Weiner has dismissed recent Emmy winning writer Kater Gordon.

Gordon shared the writing Emmy with Weiner just this past month for the 2nd season finale "Meditations in an Emergency" and she has had a major hand in the writing of this season including the last five episodes yet to air.

Citing the ever reliable "insider" information via email, Finke reports the following:

"We think [Kater's] done a great job, particularly for someone whose career has progressed so quickly. Now, however, Matt has reluctantly decided that their relationship has reached its full potential. She’ll be missed, but the series has consistently benefited from the influx of new writer talent, and there’s absolutely no doubt that Kater will continue to have unprecedented success in her career as she spreads her wings. She leaves Mad Men with our love and respect and a well-deserved Emmy."

Firmly established as a major Hollywood insider herself, Finke has also learned about Kater's meteoric rise to writing for the acclaimed AMC show, saying:

"Matt originally hired Kater as his personal assistant. She was soon promoted to be his writer’s assistant, and by the end of that same season, Matt offered her the opportunity to co-write the season finale -- a particularly important show for him as Weiner also directs the final episode of each season. Then, without requiring Kater to generate any other spec material on her own (usually required for a writer’s advancement), Matt promoted her to be a full-time staff writer for this past season. (Mad Men has a predominantly female writing staff...)"

During this years Emmy's I noticed that Weiner hogged the spotlight and didn't give Kater the opportunity to speak at the podium and that she looked like a Julia Stiles clone. Given the recent David Letterman scandal one can't help to think that something's definitely rotten in Denmark. Obviously there's more going on here than is being revealed. Anyone else agree?

-- Janaki Cedanna