'Mad Men' revue, Rosie and Bollywood

A chance to step back into the cosmopolitan, cocktail culture of Emmy-winning drama "Mad Men?" We'll take it gladly, especially when it's set to a Sam Cooke, Johnny Mathis, Sinatra soundtrack.

We may have that chance (ahead of season 3, that is) if a gestating musical stage show comes to life. The show's production company, Lionsgate, is considering a re-do of a one-time benefit concert held last month in L.A. dubbed "A Night on the Town With 'Mad Men.'"   

The lineup included Broadway veterans Bryan Batt (closeted Sal, the impossibly handsome ad man), Tony Award winner Robert Morse (honcho Bertram Cooper), Colin Hanks (pushy pastor), Maggie Siff (retail heiress and one-time Don Draper mistress) and other actors from the AMC drama.

Somebody make it happen. Would be music to our ears.

And speaking of song and dance, can Rosie O'Donnell's live variety show tomorrow night on NBC possibly be as entertaining as the run-up has been? The promotion has included a little talk about the program itself (six-time Emmy-winner Rosie doing a duet with Liza? Do tell!) but much more swiping at Barbara Walters and the klatch from "The View."

Here's a recap of the hubbub. We think the show's TiVo-worthy, if only to see what Alec Baldwin, Ne-Yo, Kathy Griffin and Alanis Morissette will cook up. The program, intended to capture shades of "Sonny & Cher," "Flip Wilson" and that ilk, is reportedly a try out for series.

Less song and dance, but still Bollywood flavored. Paul Schrader, writer of classic American films "Taxi Driver" and "Raging Bull," is working on an action flick set in India called "Extreme City."

The movie "is a cross-cultural tale that will center on an American man who travels to India to help resolve a kidnapping case for his father-in-law, only to get caught up in a gangster plot."

We like it already.

Not everybody has the patience for traditional Bollywood -- mystery one minute, love story the next, noir, melodrama, comedy and more all simmering together in one big confusing stew. We dig it for the very reason that it's transporting, so completely out of the American element.

What Schrader seems to have in mind sounds a little more like a Hong Kong action movie, and he's always specialized in conflicted, very male stories. Look forward to seeing what he'll come up with.

Go here to see who else is plumbing India for inspiration.