Deal Secures Mad Men's Future

Mad Men will be back with creator Matthew Weiner at the helm for two more seasons and possibly a third. After tough negotiations, Weiner has signed a deal with AMC and Lionsgate believed to be worth around $30 million, reports the New York Times. The cable hit's fifth season will begin in early 2012. The deal ensures a sixth season and has an option for a seventh, which Weiner says he expects will be the last. "That’s how long the show is," he says. "I'm just thrilled I get to finish it."

"I'm not Don Draper, I don't have the stomach for this," Weiner—who was under pressure to cut costs—said of the negotiations. He says the new contract includes a stipulation that cast members will only be cut for creative reasons, not financial ones. "The cast will be intact and people's characters will only leave the story if it suits the story creatively," he tells the Los Angeles Times. (More Mad Men stories.)