'Mad Men' delayed until 2012 due to ongoing contract negotiations

Due to continuing contract negotiations between "Mad Men" creator Matt Weiner and AMC, the series will not return until early 2012, the network said on Tuesday. AMC announced that it has officially authorized production of the show's fifth season, triggering its option with "Mad Men's" production company, Lionsgate, but confirmed that the show won't be back until next year. "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," the network said in a statement.

But according to The Daily and Deadline Hollywood, many issues have yet to be resolved between the parties, including  AMC's desire to integrate more product placement into the series, add more commercials and trim the running time by two minutes. Two years ago, Weiner had a similar dispute with AMC over those two minutes, and both sides eventually agreed to let the episodes run over into the 11 p.m. time slot so that extra commerical time could be added without making the scripts any shorter. AMC has been using product placement in the series since its first season.

Sources tell Deadline Hollywood that Weiner is threatening that negotiations may collapse as a result of AMC's demands. Poised to become the highest-paid showrunner on basic cable, he is also looking for a deal that would pay him $15 million a year, or more than $1 million per episode.

Someone call Don Draper in to buy everyone a dry martini and help them broker this deal!

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--Melissa Maerz

Photo: Roger Sterling (John Slattery), Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and Bertram Cooper (Robert Morse) in a scene from "Mad Men." Credit: Carin Baer / AMC.

Comments

[pete]

Last season for sure. That's a total buzz kill.

[defacebook]

Guess I'll spend my summer merely imagining Don Draper's heavy drinking, womanizing and belittling of his clients' intellect. I think they'll regret delaying this show. By the time it returns it will have lost its mojo.

[Roger S]

Don Draper doesn't drink Martinis. He drinks rye. Neat usually. And he drinks Old Fashioneds.

Get it straight.

[Beulabelle]

it's a gamble. will anybody still care by then? will a better show come in and satisfy people who adore the fantasy of a world of subservient white women, a new york city void of anyone not white and where only one gay man is open about being gay? but i guess the arrogance that believes an audience won't turn fickle is also the arrogance that draws viewers to the aforementioned world.

[Adam]

At least the Season 4 DVD came out today!

[Sheila]

AMC also delayed the new season for Breaking Bad. Similar issues? What is up at AMC and who can fix it?

[Friday's Child]

AMC also slashed the budget for 'The Walking Dead', a huge ratings hit for them, by 25%.

If AMC keeps getting cheap with the shows that win for them they're going to kill their golden geese.

When you have winners, take good care of them and continue to reap the success. Otherwise, become a cautionary tale of how to screw-up a great thing. Too many greedy business decisions that harm the creative aspect will ultimately kill the whole deal. It's happened plenty of times before.

[Michelle]

Switch networks!!! I need my Mad Men!!~

[Robert]

A show about advertising in contract negotiations about too much advertising. Makes the mind boggle. Why not go back to the advertising format which existed in 1965-66.

[Chris]

Here's how much of a Mad Men nerd I am. I got burned up by that last line. Don Draper doesn't broker deals. That's Roger Sterling's gig. When Don tried to broker a deal, he embarrassed himself this year. He's creative, everybody who watches the show knows that. That's just sloppy writing.

[Mateo Angeleno]

Both AMC and HBO are obviously run by knuckleheads.

Corporate suits always need to compensate for their own lack of creativity by crushing great stuff that they couldn't come up with in a million years.

[Ironman Carmichael]

They might as well cancel the show and get on with life. "Mad Men," as good as it is, is not the miracle of the ages. 25 years ago, when American Movie Classics was actually showing classic American movies with no commercials, it would have been just another show on network; now, because TV programming has sunk to such a low level of quality, a well-written, intelligent show like "Mad Men" seems a lot better than it really is. But both AMC and the production staff disrespect the audience, expecting it to sit and wait patiently for more than a year while both sides joust over money. Even when the new episodes finally appear in 2012, it'll be difficult if not impossible to rebuild momentum.

Too bad. It was nice while it lasted.

[Movie guy]

Let me get this straight? Matt Weiner is willing to let an entire cast and crew lose their jobs for 9 months because he wants 1mm per episode and can't get it the way he wants it? When people are hanging on by their fingernails in a tough economy? The show is not a cure for cancer. It's pretty good television, at best. "Weiner" is absolutely the right name for this guy. It will be justice if he never gets another show on the air. Enjoy it now, pal.

[Atlanta Roofing]

There is nothing wrong with advertising. But why can't AMC add a few more minutes of ads without cutting the time from the show? There is no reason why a cable show can't run over three minutes on the hour; with a little creativity both sides could be served.