March 29, 2011, 11:31 am

AMC Confirms ‘Mad Men’ Delay Over Contract Dispute

By BRIAN STELTER

 

 

AMC

1:12 p.m. | Updated
“Mad Men” will not return to television until early 2012, AMC confirmed Tuesday, because of a contract dispute with the show’s creator, Matthew Weiner.
AMC, which has showcased “Mad Men” for the last four summers, also said Tuesday that it had officially ordered a fifth season of episodes from Lionsgate, the company that produces the show. But the cable channel acknowledged in a statement that those episodes would not be ready in time for a summer premiere, disappointing many fans.
“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 channel said.
“Non-cast negotiations” was a reference to Mr. Weiner, who is universally recognized as the soul of the show. His contract expired at the end of the fourth season.
The negotiations were pushed into public view on Monday when two publications, Deadline.com and The Daily, reported that Mr. Weiner was objecting to AMC’s proposals to shave time off each episode (to add commercial time) and to eliminate two cast members (to save money).
In an interview on Tuesday, Mr. Weiner confirmed AMC had proposed cuts to the cast and a two-minute cut to the length of each episode. The cuts would, he said, fundamentally make “Mad Men” a “different show.”
“I don’t understand why, with all of the success of the show, they suddenly need to change it,” Mr. Weiner said.
He added later, “All I want to do is continue to make my show, and make it in the way I want to, with the people I want to make it with.”
Mr. Weiner would not talk about the specifics of the proposals, but another person with knowledge of the negotiations said AMC had also proposed additional product placement in the episodes.
Mr. Weiner, who is known to take his creative integrity seriously, has clashed with AMC in the past. Two years ago, during his last contract negotiation, AMC similarly tried to add two minutes of commercial time to “Mad Men;” the channel eventually decided to lengthen the show by two minutes to accommodate the added commercials.
This time, the channel has shown no such willingness to do so, according to the person with knowledge of the negotiations, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because they did not want to impede the negotiations.
The person said that, two weeks ago, AMC made a three-season contract offer to Mr. Weiner that would be worth about $30 million. That would make him an exceptionally highly paid producer.
But for now, he has not accepted the offer. He said Tuesday, “I love the show; I have every intention of it working out. This has been the most creatively satisfyingly experience of my life. I’ve come through it with the cast and with the audience, making the show that I make.”
It was reported last week that a summer return for “Mad Men” looked unlikely.