Things were looking dicey there for a few days, but AMC and Lionsgate announced yesterday that ‘Mad Men‘ creator and executive producer Matthew Weiner will return for seasons five and six of the cable drama starring Jon Hamm as a tense advertising guy in the 1960s. The deal ensures that Weiner will remain in charge of the show for at least two more seasons. If there’s a seventh, he’ll control that, too.
That’s a relief, because I can’t imagine the show without his stamp on it. It’d be like ‘Bonanza’ without Little Joe or ‘Star Trek’ without Leonard Nimoy. I guess Weiner had to make a few concessions, including dropping two minutes from each episode to make room for more ads. Well, it IS a show about ads, so it sort of fits right in. I bet any extra stuff that’s filmed will show up on the DVD and blu-ray releases.
There was also some worry that a few cast members might get the axe, but Joe Flint at the Los Angeles Times is reporting there won’t be any major changes. Apparently, everyone close to the show is locked in for the next two seasons.
However, there will be a delay in season five (No! Say it ain’t so!), which won’t air until early 2012. That’s going to put a serious damper on my ‘Mad Men’ fix this year. I’ll have to watch the series from the beginning on DVD again. Until then, I’ll just light up a Lucky Strike and order a dirty martini. Ok, not really, but that’s what I’d do if I was Don Draper.
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