‘Mad Men’ season 6 to premiere April 7

While Matthew Weiner may once again be keeping his tradition of shrouding the upcoming season of “Mad Men” in mystery, there is at least one valuable piece of information that we know now: when the AMC series is going to be coming back for its sixth and likely second-to-last season.

The premiere date is going to be slightly later than last year in Sunday, April 7 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time, with one of the primary reasons for this simply being that  the network has little interest in running this show and “The Walking Dead” concurrently. In addition to that, “Mad Men” will be taking a page from last season and also be airing airing a two-hour premiere. (As for whether or not there is a moment as iconic as “Zou Bisou Bisou,” that remains to be seen.) Following this episode, the show will settle in to airing at 10:00 p.m. the following week.

For those desperate for any sort of scoop about the season, here’s what we know for sure: both Elisabeth Moss and January Jones will be back with some sort of role, and Don and Megan Draper are going to be visiting Hawaii at some point, presumably very early on in the season. While the writers and producers have been very careful to keep most of the scenes’ content under wraps, it’is hard to be coy when you’re filming a show on the beach.

We’ll say this in that we hate that AMC is making us choose between watching the premiere of this show or the second episode of “Game of Thrones” season 3, but that is what DVRs are for! There’s really no better time on TV for good programming than Sundays at 9-11, especially when you look at the astounding statistic that every single show nominated for Outstanding Drama Series at the Emmys this past year aired between these two hours.

What do you think about the “Mad Men” premiere date? If you want to hear what John Slattery has to say about returning to the show’s set, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: AMC