Mad Men's Matt Weiner/Stars Have No Contracts
(shout out to Chicago Tribune’s Maureen Ryan for her Twitter tweet heads up…)
There may not be any more "Mad Men" if deals aren’t cut soon.
The popular cult series on AMC about the world of advertising in the early 60s is at a crossroads. Producer Lionsgate and network AMC not only have no contract with series creator Matthew Weiner, they don’t have deals with the cast as well.
Whoops! There was a flurry of activity this morning as Lionsgate and AMC announced to the wire services that they wanted Weiner and the show back and were trying to make a deal.
Last summer at TCA, HBO excutives - red-faced after the network passed on Mad Men - hinted they were in discussion with Matt Weiner at the time. This is my blog post from the HBO executive session at TCA.
During the HBO executive session at TCA, a journalist asked about the widely reported "legend" that HBO turned down "Mad Men" before AMC "snatched it up."
HBO co-president Richard Plepler responded with this intriguing comment, faintly acknowledging the network’s lapse when they failed to acquire critical favorite "Mad Men," created by Matt Weiner.
"I’ve heard many versions of the ‘Mad Men’ story, and I’m sure there’s a little truth everywhere, as there always is. Look, here’s the bottom line: It’s a wonderful show. I wish it were on HBO. It’s not. Sometimes that happens. And you move forward. But Matt’s an extraordinary talent. And I hope that one day soon he’ll come do something for us, which he’s expressed interest in."