Last week we wrote about Writing Head of Department Maria Jacquemetton‘s current gig on the new TV drama Mad Men. Maria, from L.A., kindly agreed to answer questions from you, posted in the comments section.

Here are your need-to-knows about writing for TV, and Maria’s answers.

Q: Hi Maria! When you and Andre are assigned to write an episode, how much of your time is spent on research? Since Mad Men is set in the past, do you have a backlog of interesting, historically-relevant tidbits lined up for you to use when you need them?

Good luck with Mad Men. We all want you back in Canada!

- Sean

A: Hi Sean,

When we’re writing Mad Men we are constantly thinking about the past. Since the stories often involve documented historical events, research is a big part of the writing process. The Executive Producer, Matthew Weiner, has reverence for the era in which the show is set and it’s part of our mandate as a writing staff to be attentive to the details. We use a lot of different sources ranging from written material to conversations with ad men from the period.

Our writers’ assistants and interns also help with the process of gathering information about anything that we worry about today, whether it’s sports, fashion, politics, entertainment—the cost of a hot dog from a street vendor in 1960, whether or not they had area codes back then—things you don’t even think about until you really put yourself in the past. It’s fun, and sometimes eye-opening.

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Some of you may have heard a rumour that Maria Jacquemetton, Head of the Writing Department, has been in L.A. working on a series. It’s true! Maria, along with her husband and writing partner Andre, are Writers and Producers on Mad Men – the new AMC drama created by Sopranos Exec Producer Matthew Weiner.

The show’s description from its website: “Set in 1960 New York, Mad Men pulls the viewer into an unexpected new world – the high-powered and glamorous “Golden Age” of advertising – where everyone is selling something and nothing is ever what you expect it to be.” For a better sense of the show, check out the trailer and behind-the-scenes footage (including a look at the writers at work!).

Got your own questions for Maria? See the end of this post!

In the meantime, we asked Maria to tell us a bit about the process of writing for Mad Men. She says:

“A typical day for the writers depends on where we are in the production schedule. The writing staff may gather in the writers room in the morning and spend the better part of the day as a group, breaking the story for an episode, talking about the series arc and the character arcs for the various principal cast members, and catching up on everybody’s personal lives. Ordering lunch is also important (the staff has working lunches most days!). Sometimes we will take a break to watch dailies (shot footage of the current episode in production) or walk down to the two stages where Mad Men is shot to watch filming.

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