Decker

That was my thought. It gives Hamm one more shot at the Best Actor Emmy without getting cock-blocked by Cranston's showier work (he lost to the coach on Friday Night Lights on his one previous Walter White-less bid). Maybe he'll win one of these years (it's sort of shocking he hasn't yet -- in fact nobody from the cast has - not even a Guest Actor).

DJariya

I believe AMC is actually saving money doing this. They are essentially splitting the production budget in half over 2 fiscal years.

bluetoast

Yeah but they'll probably still try to cheap out with maximum appearance numbers for everybody but Jon Hamm and all that shit.

outcastja

Wasn't it also the coach's last season? So hopefully they will also award Jon Hamm the Emmy for his body of work for the last seven seasons.

sportsfan64

NY Times is saying that all 14 episodes will be shot at once, with the final 7 eps to be stored away until 2015.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/bu...arts.html?_r=0
‘Mad Men’ to Split Final Season Into Two Parts
By BILL CARTER

AMC is having a hard time separating from its hit series. On Tuesday the network announced that instead of a final season of “Mad Men,” as was planned for next spring, the much-acclaimed series will divide in two, pushing off the finale for another year.

A day earlier, the network announced it would spin off a new series from its hit zombie show “The Walking Dead” and last week it made a deal to spin off a show from “Breaking Bad.”

In the case of “Mad Men,” AMC is following the strategy it took with “Breaking Bad” in dividing up a planned final season into two installments, and it will be waiting a full year between seven-episode arcs. That means the final season is really two entirely separate ones, at least in terms of scheduling.

The first seven shows will be shown next spring under the title “The Beginning.” The second group will be shown in 2015 and will be called “The End of an Era."’ Variety reported that the writing staff for the final season will include the Oscar-winning screenwriter Robert Towne, who will be designated a consulting producer.

The show’s creator, Matthew Weiner, will shoot all the episodes in one production cycle, so in effect, AMC will simply be storing away the last seven episodes for a year.

The decision seems to underscore AMC’s concern about losing its two original blockbuster dramas within a year of each other. The network shattered almost every television precedent by developing and showing two prominent and highly successful television dramas over the same time span. “Breaking Bad” is ending in two weeks in a flurry of rapturous praise. “Mad Men” was scheduled to conclude next spring.

That would have left AMC with only “The Walking Dead” as a breakout hit. Its other current dramas, “Hell on Wheels” and this year’s “Low Winter Sun,” have not remotely approached the level of success that “Breaking Bad” or “Mad Men” did. AMC canceled “The Killing” (for a second time) earlier this month.

So the network will now get two more chances, instead of one, to try to introduce new shows using “Mad Men” as a springboard. But in doing so, it will ask more patience from the show’s fans. The one benefit is the addition of one episode beyond what had been originally planned.

In a statement, Mr. 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.”

DRG

They should call it "Mad Gab".

To complete the pattern, they'll also need to announce a spin-off. Sterling's Gold, perhaps?

Jimmy James

In other news, the series finale of Breaking Bad will now be 75 minutes and will be released one minute a year for the next 75 years.

Tracer Bullet

Urghhhhhhhhhhhh

Tracer Bullet

Tracer Bullet

Okay, let's Kickstart a prize to whatever hacker can break into AMC's servers and steal the final 7 episodes.

Coral

AMC's just milking these fuckers all they can.

Anyone wanna bet they'll do the same with Walking Dead?

Jimmy James

You laugh but apparently the last two episodes will both be 75 minutes. Wait for next week's announcement.

bluetoast

They're already doing all this and more with Walking Dead.

DJariya

Yeah Walking Dead already has a split season (8 and 8) but luckily the break is only 2 1/2 months.

Decker

I'm sure they had to shoot it that way otherwise they'd have to pay their cast a shitload extra to keep them from taking other projects for another year. I think it's a pretty crappy thing to do to viewers of the show, but what can you do? If it nets Hamm an Emmy, it'll be worth it.

zekeburger1979

I think Cranston wins this year and next, but I see the show only winning next year. I think House of Cards wins Best Drama Series this year.

They're currently 0 for 25.

I hope so too. His Don Draper is one of the best characters in television history, right up there with Tony Soprano and Walter White.

If he doesn't win an Emmy, he'll join a distinguished list of actors who've never won an Emmy for their signature role.

Connie Britton. I think she was just as good as Kyle Chandler was and her category is supposedly easier to break into and get an award. She lost to Kyra Sedgwick and Julianna Marguiles when she was nominated for Friday Night Lights.

Steve Carell. He was nominated 6 times for The Office, but lost to Alec Baldwin and Jim Parsons twice each and to Ricky Gervais and Tony Shaloub once each.

John Goodman. He won a Guest Actor in a Drama Series Emmy for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, but he never won for Roseanne, for which he was nominated 7 times. He lost to Ted Danson and Kelsey Grammer twice each, and to Richard Mulligan, Craig T. Nelson, and Burt Reynolds once each.

Angela Lansbury. She was nominated 12 consecutive times for Murder She Wrote and lost to Kathy Baker three times, Tyne Daly, Dana Delany, Sharon Gless, and Patricia Wettig twice each and to Sela Ward once.

Hugh Laurie. He was nominated for House 6 times and lost to Bryan Cranston three times, James Spader twice, and to Kyle Chandler once.

Martin Sheen. He won Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for Murphy Brown, but never won for The West Wing, for which he was nominated 6 times. He lost to James Gandolfini three times, and to Michael Chiklis, James Spader, and Keifer Sutherland once each.

dex14

<object id="flashObj" width="456" height="388" classid="clsid27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=3298387477001&playerID=83327935001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAAuyCbQ~,-gfAmfm8njJ8S-9E4q2UfzG931rvkxuP&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=3298387477001&playerID=83327935001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAAuyCbQ~,-gfAmfm8njJ8S-9E4q2UfzG931rvkxuP&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="456" height="388" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" swLiveConnect="true" allowScriptAccess="always" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object>

madcougar

What the hell is "Mad Man"?

dex14

Amazing nobody else noticed that. I remember I copied the headline from Deadline, so they must have posted it that way.

Nausicaa

Just saw this. Spring 2015? Ugh...

dex14

7 episodes in 2014, and 7 in 2015.

Geofferson

I wonder if that's an actual scene from the new season in slo-mo or just used for this promo? Mad Men's typically doesn't show new footage.

OldBoy

holy shit! how did no one catch one to this till now???

dex14

Jimmy James

I can't wait for the announcement that they're extending one of the 2015 episodes and then splitting the final 8 hours over 2015 and 2016.