'Mad Men' Returning For Fifth Season

"Mad Men" fans can breathe a little easier: AMC announced Friday that the show will definitely be returning for a fifth season.

The series had not yet been officially renewed. But Joel Stillerman, AMC's senior vice president of original programming, told journalists at the annual Television Critic's Association, "'Mad Men' is definitely coming back for Season 5, but don't ask me when, because we're not sure yet."

The show's renewal for a fourth season was a bit more of a nailbiter, with protracted contractual negotiations between AMC and creator Matthew Weiner.

Comments

[Therese Bohn]

07:20 PM on 01/29/2011

Please sign my petition to get Mad Men back THIS YEAR:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/mm_s5/

[whassis]

07:49 AM on 01/10/2011

Mad Men fans unite! When Season 5 begins, check out Slate's TV Club for Mad Men.

http://www.slate.com/id/2261483/

[Budokan]

04:35 PM on 01/09/2011

I have never watched it. Don't plan to.

If I want to watch drama about ad men in NYC I'll watch Man in the Gray Flannel Suit with Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones.

[NevaforLeadership]

04:39 PM on 01/09/2011

As someone who does not watch TV (no cable), I can tell you that you are missing some great programing -- far superior to that old-fashioned movie -- excellent on so many levels, most particularly managing to accurately depict the times.

You can watch the series on Netflix.

[Barbie and Ken forever]

01:22 PM on 01/11/2011

No, it's not. I've watched every episode, and it just keeps getting worse

[nellpost]

04:54 PM on 01/10/2011

I felt the same as you do, bud, until I watched once. Totally hooked!

[cydRN]

01:53 PM on 01/09/2011

Yay! One of the best shows on television ever.

[Barbie and Ken forever]

01:22 PM on 01/11/2011

Why?

[headly66]

02:09 PM on 01/11/2011

Because it's one of the best show ever on television.

[MochasMom]

01:01 PM on 01/09/2011

I cannot get enough of this show. I started watching Season One at the beginning of December and it was like a good book I just couldn't put down. By New Year's Eve I was caught up to the end of Season Four.

I can't wait for more Don Draper!

[SCboy]

03:52 PM on 01/09/2011

How have you been able to view season 4?

[MochasMom]

04:20 PM on 01/09/2011

I downloaded the entire season 4 from iTunes to my AppleTV.

[headly66]

02:18 PM on 01/11/2011

http://cool3net.com/video/BBA8M3DASRDY/Mad-Men--Season-4-Episode-1--Public-Relations

http://cool3net.com/video/A1KX7WK8SBUU/Mad-Men--Season-4-Episode-2--Christmas-Comes-But-Once-a-Year

Keep using this search in Google:
mad men season 4 episode 1 (keep changing the episode #) and it should pop up as the first video

[PresidentRobertBooth]

09:40 AM on 01/09/2011

My requests for Season 5
 
1- More screentime for Christina Hendricks
2- More screentime for Alison Brie
3- Less screentime for January Jones
4- Bring back Sal
5- Bring back Midge

[cydRN]

01:53 PM on 01/09/2011

Agreed on all points, fanned.

[chelle in stl]

02:32 PM on 01/09/2011

Agree with all but #5. I'd rather they bring back Rachel Menken. Divorced, of course.

[NevaforLeadership]

09:00 AM on 01/09/2011

Love this show.

Have only watched three seasons so far, as I have no TV.

Women were treated oh so badly in offices, but ironically the office, despite work pressures, was a fun place to be. Then politically correct feminists stepped in. Women are treated much better if not equally, but ironically, in most cases the office is no longer a fun place to be. It is too dangerous. A joke or fun evening out could now end up in costly and career-ruining law suits. So everyone is quiet, on the fence, not engaged with one another, rushing away from the office as fast as possible after work hours.

Gossiping, a huge bottom-line reducer, though, gets louder and louder.

[Lam56]

09:30 AM on 01/09/2011

Oh, those horrible feminists! I cannot imagine what they were thinking of, asking for fair pay and equal opportunity. Why did they have to go and spoil everyone's fun? Women like that Peggy and that Joan. Who do they think they are? Just because they are really smart and talented doesn't mean that they should be respected--especially if it means ruining all the fun joke-telling and nasty gossiping around the water cooler. What has the world come to?

[NevaforLeadership]

09:35 AM on 01/09/2011

Believe is said very, very clearly:

"Women are treated very much better, if not equally."

[NevaforLeadership]

09:51 AM on 01/09/2011

And I should add that I was one of the original feminists who fought for equal treatment for women at work; however, extreme feminists took over and changed the picture.

Today, there are no glass ceilings, although those feminists would have us believe the opposite. Too many women have made it to the top of their fields in all fields for that argument to be valid any longer.

Today, women often don't reach the top, because they are not prepared to do what it takes, whereas the men are prepared to do so. Women can't have it all. They have to make choices, just as the men have made choices.

It is possible to have children and be on top, but rushing home to look after the kids in the middle of a big deal, or leaving the men to work till 2:00 p.m. to finsih off an assignment doesn't cut it. It means having full time care or boarding school for the kids. Equal at work means equal, not equal with provisos and exceptions.

As a woman, I have once too often been confronted with both the difficulties and expense for large, time sensitive projects or on-going daily work, because the women in charge of one of the pieces has gone on maternity leave or has rushed home because of the kids.

There you have it: tough but true.

[kuhler]

11:48 AM on 01/09/2011

Hey Neva, I was there in those days and I second your emotions. A lot of younger people probably think that some of the comments made to the women in this show are exaggerated. But sadly, it is a very realistic depiction of business offices in that era.

[DoctorGreeves]

08:26 AM on 01/09/2011

Betty Draper has this to say about that: "Go to your room!" "Go upstairs!" and "Go Watch TV!"

[SCboy]

03:59 PM on 01/09/2011

I grew up in the 50s and my mother never said any of those things. What she did say regularly was, "Wait 'til your father gets home".

[Shain Raley]

08:24 PM on 01/09/2011

Betty Draper is a mindless child. Her character makes me want to slap someone!

[headly66]

02:19 PM on 01/11/2011

She makes me want to spank her.

[Redemption Song II]

07:29 AM on 01/09/2011

Cool. :o)

[Adrienne Williams]

04:16 AM on 01/09/2011

Darn, I missed the fourth season, is it on Netflix? wink

[srpark]

08:09 AM on 01/09/2011

Actually Adrienne, you can watch all of season 4 on amazon.com of all places. It costs $2 per episode. I was sick over the Christmas break and ordered seasons 1-3 off amazon for about $15 for each season. I had a marathon 39 episode one-man viewing party. Needless to say, I am HOOKED on this show. I personally will wait until March when season 4 comes out on DVD but if you or anyone else can't wait, here's the link to watch season for NOW! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VVSHLY/ref=atv_dp_season_select?ie=UTF8&redirect=true

[DoctorGreeves]

08:27 AM on 01/09/2011

We've ordered it from Amazon. Should be coming during the first week of April. Oh, Suzanne . . . Oh . . .

[srivers]

11:42 PM on 01/08/2011

I eagerly await the season premiere.

[polson]

11:11 PM on 01/08/2011

There was a day when a "season" on TV was actually something like 26 or 39 weeks. A "season" that has about 6 episodes is no "season."

[lelabet]

07:03 AM on 01/09/2011

More like 12 or 13 episodes, but I know what you're saying. However, I would rather have 12 episodes of great writing, acting, cinematography, editing, etc. than have 26 episodes of mediocrity!

[headly66]

02:30 PM on 01/11/2011

All the best sit-coms of all time had 26 - 35 episodes per season.

[jcwtts1]

09:16 AM on 01/09/2011

13 episodes man. Also, it is a way to get better actors doing shows that cost less. AMC couldn't afford a 22 episode run, the only show regularly more than that was 24. Drama's cost about 3.5 mil an episode. The shows with 13 episode runs are usually on basic cable more complicated, have bigger names, etc and are less likely to be canceled out of hand. It is a new paradigm. As for the 6 episode one, that is the British model, and it is making its way here. Monk used it, 6 episodes at a time 3 - 4 times a year.

J

[Contact1972]

07:23 PM on 01/08/2011

A bit of good news on this horrific day.

[DoctorGreeves]

08:28 AM on 01/09/2011

Yes. Two things to keep in mind. Fanned.

[indothinker]

06:43 PM on 01/08/2011

it's a negotiating ploy so he can more money!!!! we fans must suffer...

[marylandtravelinman]

02:35 PM on 01/11/2011

Is he worth it?

[CubanVoice]

06:35 PM on 01/08/2011

I wasnt worried but glad to hear it's a definite! Wonder why they just dont sign on for more than a year at a time? How much more proof do execs need that this show is a success?

[cynic1]

08:10 AM on 01/09/2011

They know they have a golden cow. Annual renewal means ad revenue can be regotiated yearly also.

[3fingerbrown]

02:26 PM on 01/10/2011

It's certainly an artistic success, but the ratings are consistently bad--even by cable TV standards. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67A07M20100811

Because of the low ratings, the ad revenue probably doesn't rise nearly at the same rate as the cost of running the show--the cast must cost a lot more today than when the show premiered (Hamm, Hendricks, Moss, Slattery and others have gone from unknowns to stars over the past 4 years, and they all have agents). Then add in all the folks behind the scenes who make the show so good. The longer the show stays on the air with costs rising and ad revenue remaining relatively flat, the less of a moneymaker it is for the network.

Of course, millions more people than are counted in the ratings watch the show (see all the comments here describing the various ways MM fans get their fix), but the only question that really matters to the network is how much they can charge for commercials. As long as the number of MM's weekly AMC viewers hovers at or below 2 million, the answer is "Not enough to make renewal a no-brainer."