He annoys the crap out of me. He gives off this vibe of entitlement that just makes me want to smack him.

He's one of the characters that I'd love to know exactly what happened in the fourteen months between the seasons-- because to go from having cheated on his wife to still together and expecting a baby is probably the largest jump any character made in that time period. All of a sudden, especially with the promotion/creation of the head of television, he's moved away from the Kenny/Paul/Pete group and closer to the strata of Roger/Don/Duck. Caught between two worlds, as it were.

Huh.

I don't really see Harry that way. (eta: err, to Jessica, not Barb. I agree with Barb.) I read the work overload as him being overwhelmed by the role, but because the firm doesn't acknowledge the scope of television.

The episode where he becomes Head of Television, wasn't that pushed partially by his wife, by him trying to stand up for himself amongst the herd? Which is a sentiment that I can appreciate, and I like that he's seeing where things are going.

I definitely read his interaction with Joan as obliviousness, not as trying to run over her. And Joan never did assert her interest in the position verbally.

Which reminds me, about the secretaries...how does a secretarial pool work? I know the bigwigs each have their own, but the rest--do they belong to the departments? How does their work get managed? Does anybody who needs anything go to Joan and then Joan assigns it out? Or does a secretary just do whatever when someone grabs her by the arm and demands it of her?

I think that if you need a secretary Joan assigns one. (At least that is the way it seems to work and this firm - could work otherwise in other places.)

Does anybody who needs anything go to Joan and then Joan assigns it out?

This. That's why Joan has some power in the office.

Which reminds me, about the secretaries...how does a secretarial pool work? I know the bigwigs each have their own, but the rest--do they belong to the departments? How does their work get managed? Does anybody who needs anything go to Joan and then Joan assigns it out? Or does a secretary just do whatever when someone grabs her by the arm and demands it of her?

I think that some higher ups have a dedicated secretary (or groups of people have a particularly). Everyone else submits their work to a central "office", probably Joan, who decides who does what, and there are several secretaries who work for everyone.

That seems like it would be a frustrating way to work.

He wanted to be Head of Television so he could have lunch with his TV buddies, and when he discovered he might actually have to work in the position he created and demanded a raise for, he whined until he got Roger to hire someone to do the work for him.

Huh. My take on it was completely different -- that he definitely wanted the perks and the advancement, but that he was also dead serious about the need for a TV department; if he had any sense of entitlement, it was that he was the one who saw the agency's lack and so he deserved to run the dept.

And the sense I got from Roger and everyone else is that they're really, as Weiner has said is one of the driving points of the show, dinosaurs. Harry got his TV department not because anyone really thought it was necessary or worth investing in, but because he was insecure and jumpy and, while not terribly valuable, more or less worth keeping, and the TV department with a small raise was an easy bone to throw him. They don't really know what a TV department should do, don't see its potential, and don't have any real interest in supporting or expanding it.

Harry's made a good faith effort to get it up and running, and his good faith effort has resulted in more work than one person can reasonably do--but none of the higher-ups notice or care until he makes a stink about it. He got a shiny title and zero support for something that's about to become huge, and his bosses seem mildly irritated that he keeps interrupting them with his burblings about actually doing something with the shiny title.

I have a zillion Joan-related thoughts, too, but am deferring them until after lunch.

Nobody cares about this but me, but the first scene with Anita talking about her husband's back made me think of Big Pussy on the Sopranos."He can't work because of his back and the other fellas think he's malingering." I've so been where Peggy was here:the free client is ALWAYS a bigger pain than your day job. Also, the father may be close to God, but he's an inferior Don Draper. "You were supposed to sell them for me,"I'm with JZ. I think I like Harry...it's just that now he's got everything with "television" on it or near it and now he's fricking swamped. Which isn't the way it worked out when he was practicing his little spiel in the bathroom mirror.

I just found out recently that Matthew Weiner is my friend's cousin!

The episode where he becomes Head of Television, wasn't that pushed partially by his wife, by him trying to stand up for himself amongst the herd? Which is a sentiment that I can appreciate, and I like that he's seeing where things are going.

His wife wanted him to ask for a raise, IIRC. Instead he got himself a huge new job and hardly any more money (he did get some eventually, right?).

I wish this were the kind of show where you could assume that the new guy wouldn't do a very good job and would lean on Joan, so then her contributions would be recognized and she'd get a shiny new job herself, but it's not. And actually, I bet Joan would rather be in charge of the girls like she is, instead of a junior whatever the new guy.

All of a sudden, especially with the promotion/creation of the head of television, he's moved away from the Kenny/Paul/Pete group and closer to the strata of Roger/Don/Duck.

Although not that close -- I thought it was funny when Roger was telling Harry he could hire a new guy, he said the new guy would have to share an office. Harry still shares an office!

Somewhat relatedly, I thought it was great that Peggy is her own fake secretary. No one at her level has a secretary answering the phone, do they?