Is "Mad Men" impresario Matthew Weiner eying Mel Gibson for a guest spot? That's what New York Post gossip columnist Liz Smith is reporting today. Smith writes that "Weiner – who is Jewish and can overlook Mel’s infamous drunk rant of several years ago – told a pal recently that he sees a lot of dramatic potential pitting Mel against Don Draper." It was a notion the show's online cultists took no small amount of pleasure in ridiculing:

• For Real? At the very least, writes Movieline's Christopher Rosen, Smith's item is proof that "you really never do know what incredible hilarity each refresh of the Google Reader can bring." (Less shocking, he concedes, is Smith's claim that Gibson is a "huge fan" of the series. "Mel Gibson likes a series that routinely features sexism, alcoholism, anti-Semitism and racism?" marvels Rosen. "You don’t say…")

• No Chance There's no way Gibson will ever join the show, opines Screened's Matt Rorie. Smith's report, he says, is nothing more than a "bombshell piece of news that will likely never come to fruition."

• Insane A sarcastic Sean O'Neal of The AV Club declared the comments to be "totally the sort of thing we can see you telling your pal if you’re Matthew Weiner." He elaborated:

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...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.

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Ray Gustini