After a turbulent week, looks like ‘Mad Men‘ creator Matthew Weiner and AMC have finally come to an agreement that would keep him with the show for three more years, thank God! Can you imagine ‘Mad Men’ without it’s creator!?

According to The Huffington Post, the deal is worth a reported $25-$30 million.

“I want to thank all of our wonderful fans for their support,” Weiner said in a statement. “I also want to thank AMC and Lionsgate for agreeing to support the artistic freedom of myself, the cast and the crew, so that we can continue to make the show exactly as we have from the beginning. I’m excited to get started on the next chapter of our story.”

A source close to the show outlined to The Huffington Post the outcome of the negotiation’s areas of dispute:

AMC dropped its demand for a $1.5 million per season budget cut; the preserved money means in part that Weiner will no longer be required to cut two significant actors per season. Instead, characters will be cut if it suits the show creatively.

The network insisted that the show cut two minutes per episode for more advertising time; the contract calls for the first and last episode of the show to be the normal 47 minutes. For episodes 2-11, they will initially air as 45 minute episodes, and Weiner’s “Final Cut” will be available digitally 8 days later.

Additionally, product integration policy will remain the same; AMC had wanted more transparency in placements, requesting the ability for companies to publicize that their products appeared on the show.

The source emphasized that Weiner has full creative control of the show. It will begin again in March, 2012; AMC has a full slate of summer and fall shows and had always intended to start “Mad Men” later than it had hit airwaves in seasons past.

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So basically Matthew got everything he was asking for! Good job! Only thing that seems weird to me is the “Final Cut” episode that will air digitally 8 days later. So that means that if we wait 8 days we’ll get to see 2 more minutes of Mad Men? Sucks they can’t just air it all at once. I know I’m not going to want to watch it again 8 days later for just 2 more minutes. Strange. Other than that – I’m just glad everyone is getting along again!

Yesterday there were a bunch of rumors that either ‘Mad Men’ was going to be canceled – or that it was going to come back (much later), but possibly without creator Matthew Weiner. According to several sources, Matthew was getting a huge pay raise ($30 million for 3 years) but didn’t want AMC messing with his show. The network had asked to cut 2 minutes per episode to make more room for commercials, cutting a few characters and more product placement.

Today, creator Matthew Weiner is getting his side of the story out, claiming he’s thinking of the cast, not just himself. Here’s more from Pop Eater

When news hit that ‘Mad Men’ wouldn’t return until 2012, fans of AMC’s juggernaut sighed. When that news spiraled into the notion that creator Matthew Weiner may leave the series, fans wept.

Now Weiner is clearing a few things up. “There’s been a lot of speculation and misinformation in the press about what is going on,” he tells ‘Mad Men’ blog Basket of Kisses. “I want the fans to know directly from me that I had nothing to do with this delay and it is not about money. I am fighting for the cast and for the show. And I appreciate the kindness and concern of the fans.”

The AMC/Weiner negotiations have been rumored to be in progress for months. “We didn’t have an actual conversation until three weeks ago,” Weiner clarifies.

AMC’s three reported conditions for ‘Mad Men’ are trimming the show’s length to accommodate more commercials, incorporating more product placement and ditching two cast members. Weiner says that while characters have departed the series before, it’s never been about money.

“I’ve brought the show in on budget,” Weiner says. “I’ve been a good producer.”

HitFix’s Alan Sepinwall, one of the web’s foremost ‘Mad Men’ gurus, has a thought-out take on the situation. “AMC compromised on the commercial time once, and though they suggest to [The New York Times] that they won’t this time, you never know,” Sepinwall writes. “Maybe in the end AMC blinks, deciding that the prestige of the show — which is largely dependent on having Matt Weiner present and happy — and what it means to their own brand is worth more than squeezing some extra bucks out of the margins.”

Weiner clarifies that the massive salary being floated in the press — $30 million for three more seasons — is inaccurate. “I offered to have less money, to save the cast, and to leave the show in the running time that it’s supposed to be,” Weiner says. “The harder that I’ve fought for the show, the more money that they’ve offered me.”

Weiner’s final words for troubled ‘Mad Men’ fans? “Everyone can hold on, and we’ll see if it’s necessary, but of course I would want them to express their feelings. I can’t even tell you what it’s meant to me to have intelligent people who care about the show, who reflect about it, who obsess about it, it’s been a total surprise to me. It’s surpassed everything I would ever have expected.”

Read the rest at Pop Eater

It looks to me like AMC realizes they’re sitting on a cash-cow, and they’re trying to make the absolute most money they can. I think Matthew is just trying to keep making the show he wants to – without being fussed with. I’m on Team Matthew!

I’m happy the show isn’t canceling, but 2012!? Really?

“We are getting a later start than in years past due to ongoing, key non-cast negotiations,” says AMC of the fifth season in a statement.

The fifth season of Mad Men won’t premiere until 2012, AMC announced Tuesday.

“AMC has officially authorized production of season 5 of Mad Men, triggering our option with Lionsgate (Mad Men’s production company),” reads the 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 usually begins shooting in late April or early May. And although sources told THR earlier that Emmy-winning creator Matthew Weiner was close to a lucrative new pact with the Lionsgate, they will need at least several weeks to ramp up.

Two years ago, when Wiener’s negotiations with Lionsgate dragged into January, Mad Men did not bow until August.

AMC has other options. The network will bow new series The Killing April 3. And Breaking Bad is slated to for a fourth season premiere in July.

Net execs anticipated the Mad Men delay.

In announcing a fifth season pickup for Mad Men at last January’s Television Critics Association press tour, Joel Stillerman, AMC’s senior vice president of original programming said: “Mad Men is definitely coming back for Season 5, but don’t ask me when, because we’re not sure yet.”

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NOOOOOOOOOOOO!  Well this is a crummy way to start my day! First story I read this morning is the worst news possible! ‘Mad Men’ might be CANCELED!?

The “Mad Men” madness has reached a fevered pitch, and a terrible ending may be in the script.

The Emmy-winning show is the subject of a bloody battle between creator and executive producer Matthew Weiner and network honchos at AMC. The show has yet to be renewed for a fifth season, and the sides are far apart on a deal.

Money is the issue, Deadline and The Daily report, but it has nothing to do with Weiner’s contract; the two sides were close to agreeing on a two year, $30 million deal for the mind behind the acclaimed period drama. Instead, the struggle involves budgeting in other areas, namely advertising and even actors.

The two publications have sources indicating that AMC wants to cut two minutes from each episode, in favor of more commercials, as well as integrate product placement into the show. Given that it’s set in the 60′s, the kinds of brands that they could include — or at least their labeling — would prove interesting. No consumer electronics, for sure.

Additionally, the network wants to make a major change in the show’s DNA, by cutting two actors to cut costs. Neither of the actors has been revealed.

Predictably, Weiner has balked, and thus, no deal for season five has been made. The show’s actors have been busy doing other projects; star Jon Hamm appeared in the film “Sucker Punch,” released this weekend, while Christina Hendricks is filming a movie with Sarah Jessica Parker and January Jones will star in this summer’s “X-Men: First Class.”

They may have to find more acting jobs; The Daily says that the network could actually cancel the show. “Weiner is being completely screwed by AMC,” a source told the iPad-only paper. “No one would have heard of AMC if not for Matt Weiner and ‘Mad Men.’ But they will not renew the show unless he accedes to all their demands.”

That’s a change from January, when AMC announced that the show would be back despite the lack of contract. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly at the time, Weiner said, “It would be heartbreaking for me if they don’t work it out, horrifying really. It would be a shame for fans to never get to see what great stuff we have planned for Don and company.”

I would seriously be so sad if this show didn’t come back. They need to figure this out! I can’t imagine them just leaving it as it was!!!

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Speaking exclusively to EW while attending the Unknown premiere in Los Angeles Wednesday, the Mad Men star said “people should relax” about the ongoing negotiations between Lionsgate and AMC over the future of the drama. “I don’t have any updates as of now. I still have not heard a date we need to be back to the set. But it will come back,” said the actress, who’s co-starring in the actioner opposite Liam Neeson that opens tomorrow. “We just don’t know when. But we usually shoot in spring and summer and it is only February so people should relax. I think it will all get worked out because no one wants to see the show end yet, not the studios or the network or the creator or the actors. I think they just like the drama. They like the build up. It’s like Brett Favre. It was always will he or won’t he retire or play again, and that’s how all this Mad Men talk is starting to feel.”

Photos: January walks her dog in her Los Feliz neighborhood.

Just last year ‘Mad Men’ was the critics favorite. This year, that hasn’t been the case, and ‘Boardwalk Empire’ is walking away with all the awards! Just like the Golden Globes, the ‘Mad Men’ ensemble left the SAG Awards empty handed – being overshadowed by ‘Boardwalk Empire’ and ‘The Good Wife’.

The AMC series was up for three drama awards — best series ensemble, best actor for Jon Hamm, and best actress for Elisabeth Moss. SAG voters followed the Golden Globes lead and opted for “Boardwalk Empire,” that show’s star Steve Buscemi, and “Good Wife” star Julianna Margulies, respectively.

“Mad Men” won SAG’s ensemble award the previous two years, but series creator Matthew Weiner was taking it all in stride after the ceremony.

“If you don’t like being at something like this (and not winning), you shouldn’t be in the business,” Weiner told The Hollywood Reporter. “We’re out of work right now, and I get to hang out with my family,” he added, referring to the cast. “This is my family.”

While the show has been renewed for a fifth season, Weiner recently said he doesn’t yet have a contract (AMC is still negotiating with Lionsgate, which produces the drama) — but he’s “not looking for a new job.”

“Mad Men” has failed to win any individual acting awards at either the SAG Awards or the Emmys, although Hamm did receive a Golden Globes statuette in 2008.

I have to agree, ‘Boardwalk’ was the better show last year. I’m not sure what was up with ‘Mad Men’ – but it was definitely off. I had a hard time with Don and Betty being divorced. I felt disconnected from the show (even though I LOVE it). I definitely think ‘Boardwalk’ was just plain better. What do you think? Agree with me?

What is Christina Hendricks wearing (below)? Pictured: Paz de La Huerta, Kelly Macdonald, January Jones, Christina Hendricks, Jon Hamm and Julianna Margulies.

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Photos: Fame

We know that a new season of ‘Mad Men’ is coming – but what we don’t know is how long it’s going to be until we see it! According to NY Mag, creater Matthew Weiner hasn’t even begun writing season 5!

AMC has promised the world a fifth season of Mad Men, but the network is still negotiating with Lionsgate, which produces the drama. And with Matthew Weiner, whose contract expired. “I have every intention of making the show when they decide to work out their business with Lionsgate,” Weiner said yesterday. “I have said over and over that I want the show to go on and on until it has worn out its welcome and we can’t think of anything more for the characters to do. I’m not looking for a new job. I’m dying to go back to work, but the truth is I don’t know what their plans are. We have not started writing. I am not back at work. They are fighting over a very lucrative property, and who is going to pay for it to get made; it’s one of the biggest perils of success — everyone wants a piece of it now and they are fighting over who is gonna get the biggest chunk. Then they will come to me because talent is last. It would be heartbreaking for me if they don’t work it out. Horrifying, really.”

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