‘Mad Men’ drives us mad, will air season 7 in two blocks a la ‘Breaking Bad’
We don’t know what exactly is going on right now in the offices of AMC, but the network is doing a great job right now of driving us positively batty. First, they cancel a strong series in “The Killing” that actually improved its year-to-year ratings slightly for the season 3 finale. Then, they also decided for whatever reason that it would be a fun idea for them to give “The Walking Dead” a companion show, potentially devaluing their original franchise a little bit.
So what’s the latest strike against the resume? The decision to air the final season of “Mad Men” in two, seven-episode bunches rather than give us a final season all at once. While we suppose that there is a benefit that comes via getting an extra episode out of this, we’re still not exactly fans of waiting for that long just to see another extremely short episode order of a show that is slipping.
Before share our ultimate opinion here, let’s get to a pair of guys who are more involved in this than anyone else.
Executive producer Matthew Weiner – “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.”
AMC head Charlie Collier – “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. 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.”
Now, the reason that we personally loathe this move is pretty simple. When “Brekaing Bad” got its final 16 episodes divided up, it was still on the rise and could benefit from giving viewers more time to find the show. “Mad Men,” both in terms of ratings and quality, is on the decline. Rather than build excitement, we fear that this is going to make the show feel like it is past its time, and go out with a whimper. For one of the finest shows in TV history to go out that way is rather sad.
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Photo: AMC