Mad Men

Mad Men

The good news for Mad Men fans is that US broadcaster AMC on Tuesday confirmed after weeks of speculation that the show will be returning for a fifth series. The bad news is that it won't be on air until 2012.
AMC was responding to US media reports that negotiations with Mad Men creator Matt Weiner about renewing his deal were in trouble.
"AMC has officially authorised production of season five of Mad Men, triggering our option with [producer] Lionsgate," the US cable channel 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."
New series of Mad Men usually premiere on AMC in July and earlier this year BSkyB, which snatched the UK rights from the BBC last year, had the fifth series pencilled in to run on Sky Atlantic in August.
However, earlier this month the New York Times reported that negotiations between AMC, Weiner and Lionsgate were dragging on and that first transmission of the next series could slip back into 2012.
On Monday the entertainment industry news website Deadline Hollywood reported that talks over a two-year, $30m deal with Weiner were in danger of collapsing because AMC and Lionsgate wanted to integrate product placement into the series, cut each episode by two minutes to run more ads, and axe two regular cast members to save money.
Sources: http://www.guardian.co.uk

Mad Men