Hollywood Beltway

“Mad Men” — episode titled “The Suitcase” and written just by Matt Weiner was a winner and a return to form. A nearly all Don and Peggy episode, “The Suitcase”–Samsonite, for which the gang is trying to come up with an ad–is full of secrets (product placement?–urggggh). Don and Peggy shared secrets from the beginning, principally the one about her pregnancy. And tonight, Weiner decided to reconnect these two characters. Nicely done.

Mentions of New York places: The Palm (now a chain, and please don’t tell me that was product placement, too), The Forum of the Twelve Caesars, and Keane’s.…

You may wonder whatever happened to “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”?

It was this column that reported the scandal when stars Vincent D’Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, and Eric Bogosian were all fired. Producer Dick Wolf was all set to make Jeff Goldblum the permanent star. He filmed one season with Goldblum and Saffron Burrows.

But then Jeff Goldblum quit. Surprise! He went back to movies and to theater. He’s currently appearing in London’s hit West End production of “The Prisoner of Second Avenue.” He has a small role in the current Jennifer Aniston movie, “The Switch.”

Meanwhile, the original “Law &…

Say goodbye to Kara DioGuardi. Fox has sent out a press release saying she’s “stepping down” from her judgeship. We know she was fired, but heck, whatever.

DioGuardi will continue to have a great career as songwriter-producer.

Meanwhile, even though press reports keep insisting on Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler as the new judges to sit around Randy Jackson, I wouldn’t bet the farm on it. Sources tell me nothing has been decided, and that no one has told Jackson anything. “He was never even told about Kara,” says a source. Calls to Jackson were not were not returned. But…

George Clooney’s “The American” looks like it’s in good shape to take the weekend box office.

“The American” opened Wednesday and already has $3.1 million in the till. It could come out of the holiday weekend with $20 million or more.

As I wrote a couple of days ago, “The American” has been a strange deal. No publicity and little marketing. Just ads. And hope. Clooney got a big boost at the Emmy Awards on Sunday night when he received a humanitarian award. His speech was superb, and if he wasn’t running for office, then it was for box office…

Tyler Perry is making an Oscar run on November 5th with his much anticipated “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf.”

Lions Gate just announced they’ve moved up their release from a planned January 14th.

The film has a bevy of possible Best Supporting Actresses including Thandie Newton, Kerry Washington, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, and Janet Jackson.

There are plenty of other big names, like Whoopi Goldberg, in what could be the “Precious” of 2010.

This was the film Mariah Carey had to drop out of last spring. You can see why now.

Nevertheless, this…

Yes, there’s a whole new line of IPods announced yesterday. They have phones, cameras, and frappe blenders attached to them.

What they don’t have is...music.

Whether you listen to digital music on an IPod or — my personal favorite–a Creative Zen XFi2-- it doesn’t matter. You simply aren’t hearing what was recorded. This is especially true for classical, jazz, and classic rock records. No matter how good the earbuds– from the Klipsches we heard last week in L.A. to my preferred Ultimate Ears— 50% of the music is lost.

Some digital music is called “lossless” but that’s not true. In…

My dear Hanson fans:

You are a devoted group but you’re not buying CDs.

According to Nielsen Soundscan, the new Hanson album, “Shout it Out,” has sold a paltry 31,000 copies.

The most recent one before that was called “Walk.” Total sales to date from 2007: 54,000 copies.

The days of “MMMBop” are long since passed. This doesn’t mean Hanson are not talented musicians. It’s just that their day in the sun has come and gone. This can be said for plenty of acts. I wish them well in all their endeavors.

Oscar Isaac, the hot star of Madonna’s highly anticipated “W.E.,” is joining the cast of “Drive.”

“Drive” stars Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, and Albert Brooks. The action thriller is based on James Sallis‘s novel.

Isaac is hot as a pistol. He’s in Zack Snyder‘s upcoming “Sucker Punch.” In the last two years he’s starred in “Agora” with Rachel Weisz, and the cult film, “Balibo.” He was Prince John to Russell Crowe‘s “Robin Hood’ earlier this year, pretty much stealing the show.

In Madonna’s movie, Isaac is one half of a modern day couple who are juxtaposed with the…

What has happened to Rob Reiner?

His latest film, called “Flipped,” has made just around $690,000 since its release on August 6th. It’s dead, it’s over, it’s gone. A total write off of last $25 million.

“Flipped” got mixed reviews when it debuted. The trade papers didn’t like it. Some bloggers and a few newspaper reviewers were okay with it. It registered a high 68% on Rottentomatoes.com, with a cadre of little known bloggers pulling it up.

But “Flipped” is a Warner Bros. It’s not some little indie. And it has names, albeit not box office magicians: Rebecca deMornay, Anthony…

Seal– such a good singer songwriter, has a new album coming out on September 28th. It’s called “Commitment.”

Did you know about it? Of course not. It’s from Warner Music Group.

The first single is called “Secret.” It was released to YouTube and other outlets three days ago. Surprise!

I ran into Seal at the Governor’s Ball for the Emmy Awards with his delicious wife, Heidi Klum. They were celebrating losing the Emmy for “Project Runway” to “Top Chef.” Oh well. It’s better to look good than to feel good.

Seal told me he decided to stick with WMG for…