Peggy, this isn't China - there's no money in virginity: A salute to the women of "Mad Men"

Before we get into any of that, and the return of "Mad Men" is clearly the biggest and best thing happening this week, there is a bit of movie news out there, starting with the great Steve Coogan.

It's always kind of mystified me why Steve Coogan isn't a bigger star in the United States. I suppose it might have something to do with the fact that he's apparently more than a bit of a royal a**hole, but as someone who can be that way at least from time to time, I've never had much of a beef with that (Mel Gibson aside - that dude's just a psychopath.) Besides, when someone's as fall-down funny as he was in "Tristram Shandy" or simply great as he was in "24-Hour Party People," stardom surely should be coming.

Well, after years of being very good in small parts in flicks like "Night at the Museum," he's now about to get his shot at headlining a hopefully wide-release flick, and one based on something he's already done for the BBC. I've never seen "Cruise of the Gods," a 90-minute movie he starred in, but the premise sounds priceless: the two stars of a 1980s sci-fi series, one now a big star, one a has-been, are reunited on a cruise for fans of the show.

I'm laughing at that already, so bringing it to the big screen with a script from "Dinner for Schmucks" scribes David Guion and Michael Handleman sounds like nothing but a good idea to me. In the original (which I'm gonna have to hunt for on DVD), Coogan played the successful actor, with his "Tristram Shandy" foil, Rob Brydon, playing the other half of the duo, but I'd have to imagine that role will be recast. Definitely stay tuned for more on this ...

And in another bit of movie news about a director I really like, it seems that Zack Snyder has finally given in and hitched onto a sequel to "300" (not the best thing he could be doing, but that flick was fun enough, so why not?)

He's apparently been waiting on Frank Miller to finish his 6-part "300 prequel comic "Xerxes," which anyone who's seen "300" knows is of course about that big gay Persian dude. Well, the work has apparently met his standard, because Snyder and writing partner Kurt Johnstad started working on the script a week ago. Whether or not he will direct this is still an open question, but I'd have to imagine the eventual answer will be yes.

OK, before I got distracted by all that, it was supposed to be all about "Mad Men," today, so here goes. Anyone who watches the sublime show, which returns for its fourth season Sunday on AMC, knows that not only do the women give as good as they get, but often get the upper hand in terms of wit and style. Just in case you need some proof, or simply something to make you smile a bit this Thursday morning, here's a clip compiled by PopSugar that features some of the best ladies' barbs, and as usual Joan gets the best of all. Enjoy, and have a perfectly pleasant Thursday. Peace out.