At the Codfish Ball

"At the Codfish Ball"
Mad Men episode
(from left to right) Emile Calvet (Ronald Guttman), Marie Calvet (Julia Ormond), Megan (Jessica Paré), Don (Jon Hamm), and Sally Draper (Kiernan Shipka) reflect on recent events at the American Cancer Society dinner.
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 7
Directed by	Michael Uppendahl
Written by	Jonathan Igla
Original air date	April 29, 2012 (2012-04-29)
Guest appearance(s)
Ben Feldman as Michael Ginsberg Charlie Hofheimer as Abe Drexler John Sloman as Raymond Geiger Mason Vale Cotton as Bobby Draper Larisa Oleynik as Cynthia Cosgrove Ronald Guttman as Emile Calvet Julia Ormond as Marie Calvet Talia Balsam as Mona Sterling Myra Turley as Katherine Olson Ray Wise as Ed Baxter Marten Weiner as Glen Bishop Pamela Dunlap as Pauline Francis Robin Pearson Rose as Alice Geiger
Episode chronology
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Mad Men (season 5) List of Mad Men episodes

"At the Codfish Ball" is the seventh episode of the fifth season of the American television drama series Mad Men and the 59th episode of the series overall. It is named after the 1936 popular song of the same name by Lew Pollack and Sidney Mitchell. The episode was written by Jonathan Igla and directed by Michael Uppendahl. It originally aired on the AMC channel in the United States on April 29, 2012. This episode takes place from late September to early October 1966.

In the episode, Megan comes up with a last-minute pitch to save the Heinz account. Peggy thinks Abe is going to propose to her, but he instead suggests they move in together, a decision that does not go over well with her mother. The extended Draper family convenes to attend a banquet in which Don is honored by the American Cancer Society. At the banquet, Sally is exposed to the world of adults.

"At the Codfish Ball" was watched by 2.31 million viewers, a decline from the previous episode. It pulled in 700,000 viewers in the 18-49 demographic. Nevertheless, the episode was well received by television critics. The episode's title is named after a song and dance routine performed by Shirley Temple in the 1936 film Captain January. In the Mad Men episode, Roger Sterling gives Don's daughter Sally a Shirley Temple non-alcoholic cocktail at an award ceremony.

Sally Draper (Kiernan Shipka) calls Glen Bishop (Marten Weiner) to complain about Pauline Francis (Pamela Dunlap), who is babysitting her and Bobby while the rest of the family is on vacation, calling her step-grandmother "Bluto" and saying she smells like a toilet. Pauline trips on the telephone cord outside the door and falls.