After a week with a lot of tension between Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner and AMC, a deal is finally done. Mad Men, AMC's 1960's drama has been renewed for two more seasons (seasons 5 and 6) with a seventh season becoming a strong possibility now that Weiner has signed on through a season 7.
On the issues: AMC reportedly withdrew its plan to cut cast members while Weiner has compromised to cut an episode's running time from 47 minutes to 45 minutes. There was great worry among the media that these would prevent the show from coming back and/or that Weiner would not come back. But that didn't happen and the show will be back for at least two more seasons.
Matthew Weiner had this to say: “I want to thank all of our wonderful fans for their support. I also want to thank AMC and Lionsgate for agreeing to support the artistic freedom of myself, the cast and the crew so that we can continue to make the show exactly as we have from the beginning. I'm excited to get started on the next chapter of our story.”
Season 5 of Mad Men will premiere in early 2012 (probably March, as some reports suggest). I hope to start watching the show soon so that I will be caught up by the time that comes around.
Update: Matthew Weiner has apparently told many reputable sources that Mad Men will end after the seventh season.
Full press release is after the jump.
MATTHEW WEINER SIGNING LONG-TERM AGREEMENT TO CONTINUE AS SHOWRUNNER
New York - March 31, 2011 - AMC and Lionsgate today announced the
return of the iconic series "Mad Men" for seasons five and six with
series creator Matthew Weiner back on board as showrunner.
Concurrently, it was announced that Weiner has signed a new long-term
deal with Lionsgate, extending into a possible seventh season. The
announcements were made by Charlie Collier, president of AMC, and Kevin
Beggs, president of Lionsgate Television Group.
When AMC debuted “Mad Men” in July 2007 it quickly became one of
the most talked about series on television. Set in 1960s New York,
“Mad Men” is a sexy and provocative original drama that follows
the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue
advertising. Produced by Lionsgate, “Mad Men” has made television
history as the only cable series to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding
Drama and the Golden Globe for Best Television Series-Drama for three
consecutive years.
“I want to thank all of our wonderful fans for their support." said
Weiner. "I also want to thank AMC and Lionsgate for agreeing to support
the artistic freedom of myself, the cast and the crew so that we can
continue to make the show exactly as we have from the beginning. I'm
excited to get started on the next chapter of our story.”
“AMC’s original programming began with a mission to create bold
storytelling of the highest quality, and ‘Mad Men’ was the perfect
expression of that commitment. We've been proud to support this show
from the day we read Matt's ground-breaking pilot script and have loved
building it with Matt and Lionsgate into the cultural phenomenon it has
become,” said Collier. “For everyone involved in the show and its
passionate fans, we are thrilled to announce that the series will
continue on AMC under the exceptional vision of Matt Weiner.”
“We are proud to continue our successful relationships with AMC and
the brilliantly talented Matt Weiner, whose vision has created one of
the most distinguished series on television,” said Beggs. “We also
appreciate the passion and patience of ‘Mad Men’ fans around the
world who have been awaiting this good news, and we believe they will be
rewarded with many more seasons of this extraordinary and groundbreaking
series.”
Mad Men’s award-winning ensemble cast includes: Golden Globe-winner
Jon Hamm, January Jones, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, Christina
Hendricks, John Slattery, Jared Harris, Rich Sommer, Aaron Staton,
Robert Morse and Kiernan Shipka.
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