Each new morning brings fresh promise of what Mel Gibson will or won’t do to stage his alleged “comeback,” and today's dawn saw Mesozoic gossip columnist Liz Smith emerge from her rumor cave to crack her great beak and issue forth the first shrill bleats of speculation that Gibson will next seek to repair his image as a chauvinistic brute with an unhealthy attitude toward women and minorities by appearing on Mad Men, which should definitely do it. Smith reports that Gibson is “a huge fan of the series and really wants in” (you don’t say!), and says that he met with showrunner Matthew Weiner recently to discuss appearing in a story arc during next year’s fifth season.
Weiner—who, as Smith puts it, “is Jewish and can overlook Mel’s infamous drunk rant of several years ago”—is said to have “told a pal that he sees a lot of dramatic potential pitting Mel against Don Draper,” which is totally the sort of thing we can see you telling your pal if you’re Matthew Weiner. Like, you’re just kicked back with a couple of cold ones after a long day of writin’, shooting the breeze with your pal, and you say, “Pal, I know that right now the idea of casting Mel Gibson in anything exists solely as a punchline people throw out regarding any role where someone acts like a batshit, rage-filled sociopath, but—and stay with me here—I see a lot of dramatic potential in taking my critically beloved, respected-even-by-people-who’ve-never-seen-it, Emmy-winning hit show and bringing in the distracting presence of the world’s most openly despised celebrity, even though I’ve patently stayed away from any sort of stunt casting before. What do you think, about that pal o’ mine, ol’ buddy ol’ pal?” So what we’re saying is, look for Mel Gibson on season five of Mad Men.