WHAT?!! A Whole Year without Joan Holloway?!!
Posted: March 29th, 2011, 3:45 pm
'Mad Men' delayed until 2012 as negotiations drag on
March 29, 2011, 3:50 PM EST
By Tim Molloy
The fifth season of AMC's acclaimed "Mad Men" has been delayed until 2012 because of ongoing negotiations between the network, Lionsgate, and creator Matthew Weiner.
"AMC has officially authorized production of season 5 of 'Mad Men,' triggering our option with Lionsgate [the production company behind 'Mad Men']," AMC said in a statement. "While we are getting a later start than in years past due to ongoing, key non-cast negotiations, 'Mad Men' will be back for a fifth season in early 2012."
"Mad Men," which has won three consecutive Emmys for best drama, has been AMC's flagship since its debut, and was the first show in AMC's highly successful return to scripted television in 2007. It provided a model for the later success of "Breaking Bad" and "The Walking Dead," the network's highest-rated series.
Joel Stillerman, AMC's senior vice president of original programming, said in January that the show would definitely be back for a fifth season, but that he didn't know when. The push until next year means viewers will be without it for a calendar year for the first time since its debut.
The length of AMC and Lionsgate's current negotiations with Weiner -- the parties also underwent length contract talks two years ago -- has made some fans start to worry about whether the show would return at all. AMC's announcement Tuesday was designed to assuage those fears.
Weiner's two consecutive rounds of arduous contract talks reflect a downside, for AMC, of the power it allows its show runners. While the show runner-as-auteur model has led to such creative successes as "Breaking Bad," "The Walking Dead," "Mad Men" and the upcoming "The Killing" -- which debuts Sunday -- it also places Weiner in a stronger bargaining position.
As "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm said during the last round of negotiatons, "We can't do the show without Matthew. Of course, you 'can' do it, but you know you can't."
Weiner's reps declined to comment or did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The show won the best drama Emmy for each of its first three years, and is eligible to extend the streak in its fourth season. Because the eligibility period runs from June 1 to May 31, it would also be eligible for its fifth season, so long as it airs, as planned, early next year.
March 29, 2011, 3:50 PM EST
By Tim Molloy
The fifth season of AMC's acclaimed "Mad Men" has been delayed until 2012 because of ongoing negotiations between the network, Lionsgate, and creator Matthew Weiner.
"AMC has officially authorized production of season 5 of 'Mad Men,' triggering our option with Lionsgate [the production company behind 'Mad Men']," AMC said in a statement. "While we are getting a later start than in years past due to ongoing, key non-cast negotiations, 'Mad Men' will be back for a fifth season in early 2012."
"Mad Men," which has won three consecutive Emmys for best drama, has been AMC's flagship since its debut, and was the first show in AMC's highly successful return to scripted television in 2007. It provided a model for the later success of "Breaking Bad" and "The Walking Dead," the network's highest-rated series.
Joel Stillerman, AMC's senior vice president of original programming, said in January that the show would definitely be back for a fifth season, but that he didn't know when. The push until next year means viewers will be without it for a calendar year for the first time since its debut.
The length of AMC and Lionsgate's current negotiations with Weiner -- the parties also underwent length contract talks two years ago -- has made some fans start to worry about whether the show would return at all. AMC's announcement Tuesday was designed to assuage those fears.
Weiner's two consecutive rounds of arduous contract talks reflect a downside, for AMC, of the power it allows its show runners. While the show runner-as-auteur model has led to such creative successes as "Breaking Bad," "The Walking Dead," "Mad Men" and the upcoming "The Killing" -- which debuts Sunday -- it also places Weiner in a stronger bargaining position.
As "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm said during the last round of negotiatons, "We can't do the show without Matthew. Of course, you 'can' do it, but you know you can't."
Weiner's reps declined to comment or did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The show won the best drama Emmy for each of its first three years, and is eligible to extend the streak in its fourth season. Because the eligibility period runs from June 1 to May 31, it would also be eligible for its fifth season, so long as it airs, as planned, early next year.