“Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner has often said that his signature series will wrap up after its seventh season. It just won’t be happening as soon as everyone expected.
AMC has announced that it will split the final season of “Mad Men” into two runs of seven episodes each, with the first part of the seventh season set to premiere in Spring 2014 and the second part of the seventh season held back for Spring 2015.
As soon as “Breaking Bad” Season 5 Part 2 shattered viewing records for that series, it became inevitable that AMC would extend “Mad Men” as well. Their split season strategy has also worked well for “The Walking Dead.” Keeping “Mad Men” around for an extra year will also give AMC another chance to boost its ratings, as well as adding another year of TV awards eligibility for “Mad Men” while using the final episodes to lead into a new AMC drama series.
In a brief statement, Weiner said “We plan to take advantage of this chance to have a more elaborate story told in two parts, which can resonate a little bit longer in the minds of our audience. The writers, cast and other artists welcome this unique manner of ending this unique experience.”
Given that AMC already has plans to spinoff or “companion” shows from “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead,” don’t be too surprised if “Mad Men” follows that trend as well. And how long will it be before Chris Hardwick hosts a post-show called “Talking Mad?”
