We're going to have to wait two years for Mad Men to come to a close
Photo Credit: AMC TV
Some brief thoughts about Mad Men’s final season being split
over two years right after I make a Bob Benson spin off….
So this was a surprise that shouldn’t have been all that
surprising. After the smash success of extending Breaking Bad’s final season over
two years (the last episode, the fantastic “Ozymandias,” pulled in close to 7
million viewers) AMC announced that the upcoming final season of Mad Men will
be 14 episodes split over two seven episode runs in spring of 2014 (named “The
Beginning”) and spring of 2015 (Named “The End of an Era”). “This approach has
worked well for many programs across multiple networks, and, most recently for
us with Breaking Bad which attracted nearly
double the number of viewers to its second half premiere than had watched any
previous episode,” AMC president Charlie Collier states in the press
release, “We are determined to bring Mad Men a similar
showcase. In an era where high-end content is savored and analyzed, and
catch-up time is used well to drive back to live events, we believe this is the
best way to release the now 14 episodes that remain of this iconic series.”
My thoughts? Well as with Breaking Bad I would have been
happier had this been one extended season instead of two shorter ones but after
Breaking Bad’s success I can see why AMC is doing this. Mad Men has never been
the highest rated show on the network by any stretch of the imagination but it
is the one that pulls in both the critical acclaim and the Emmys (like its soon
ending partner Breaking Bad) something that no other show on the station (other
than Breaking Bad) does. It’s their last great show so it makes sense that they
would milk it as much as possible.
Creatively it seems like an okay move for the show as well
or at least in my opinion. Mad Men doesn’t require the meticulous pacing and
suspense element of Breaking Bad so the split probably won’t evoke any pacing
or plotting issues. It seems good for the show to have some time to breath as
well, as it allows creator Mathew Weiner and crew to make the show go out as grandly
as possible. Weiner comments on the split by saying this, “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.” It may not be overly unique as Weiner describes it
but it does provide time for the show to breath and while again I would have
liked to have seen it all in one go, the split seems to make much more sense
for this show than it ever did with Breaking Bad.
So we’ve got two more years of Mad Men coming. Sure it’s not
the way everyone envisioned it going out, but it’s going out on a bang regardless.
On the positive side we get two more essentially seasons of one of the greatest
television shows ever even if we have to wait a year extra for the proceedings to
end. I have faith in this show and if the show can match the amazing finish
that Breaking Bad is having it’s going to be well worth the two year wait.
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