?Mad Men? Finally Gets Green Light; Matthew Weiner Says ?3 Seasons Left?

In what was a nail-biting ordeal, Matthew Weiner, Lionsgate, and AMC finally struck a deal regarding the hit 1960s drama, Mad Men. “I’m thrilled,” Weiner said of the three-year, $30 million deal. Writing for the new season will start in 4-5 weeks, and production on the very-delayed season 5 of the Emmy-winning show will start in July – when it was supposed to premiere.

The deal almost didn’t happen, though. “I walked away from it 4-5 times in the last few days,” Weiner says. Reports say he had been objecting to several proposals made by the series’ producer, Lionsgate TV and the network, AMC – including shortening the episodes running time from 47 minutes to 45 to allow more room for commercials, introducing more product placement, and potentially cutting characters – pushing Season 5’s premiere date to March 2012 (Ouch, is that far away or what?).

“It’s never been about money,” Weiner said. “I wanted to do the show I wanted to do and the show the audience has come to expect.”

Thankfully, with the new deal, the cast (and let’s be honest, the show’s fans) is “safe from financial concerns” for all three upcoming seasons. Weiner did say, however, that he reserves the right to cut actors “on creative basis.”

While the pickup of Mad Men is for 2 more seasons, Weiner’s three-year deal with Lionsgate basically ensures that the show will return for three seasons. But, unfortunately, Weiner says, “These will be the last three seasons” of the period drama. “I’m going to take it one year at a time without the distraction to ever have to go through this again,” he said, referring to the long, tense negotiation process that the last two years have brought for the show. “I’m incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support and overwhelmed that I get to finish telling the stories I want to tell.”

Well, I think we can all collectly let out a sigh of relief. I’m glad the show will be coming back, and it makes sense that it will end in three years, since, let’s face it – who wants to see Don Draper doing the disco? Not I, not I…

Source: http://blog.starcam.com/post/mad-men-renewed-three-seasons.aspx

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