Matthew Weiner and MAD MEN Cast Talk Final Season Release Date, Finale, and More

The final episodes of AMC's MAD MEN have finally received a release date.

The Emmy Award-winning drama will return for the second half of the final season on April 5, as writer Matthew Weiner revealed this weekend at the Television Critics Association.

"The shows became so much more concentrated on these characters," Weiner said in reference to the six original main cast members, Jon Hamm, Christina Hendricks, January Jones, John Slattery, Elisabeth Moss and Vincent Kartheiser. "There's no room for digression. We really have to, in a first-season way, focus on these people. The last seven episodes, I would say each one of them feel like the finale of the show."

He said that when writing the final season, he took the viewers' opinions into consideration, at least somewhat.

"I'm extremely interested in what the audience thinks," he said. "I don't want them to walk away angry. Every time that has happened, it's been unintentional. I don't want to pander to them. This sounds patronizing - but, as the person who is telling the story, sometimes people have to be protected from what they want to see happen. To delight them with a surprise, you can't always give them what they want."

The cast and Weiner divulged very little about the series finale itself, but the cast did discuss their own investments and frustrations in the script for the final episode.

January Jones said, "I kind of knew a little bit of what was going to happen in the last script, but the whole last few weeks I was just a mess," she said. "It's perfect in a way. By the way, the script was delivered incomplete. The last ten pages weren't there, which was really effed up." The cast all said they themselves were surprised by the ending.

"I think I'm most surprised by the fact that she hasn't changed in a lot of ways," Elizabeth Moss said of her character, Peggy Olson. "That's part of our story in this last season. People do change, but there's a lot of ways they don't... unfortunately."

When asked if he would miss this job, Jon Hamm said, "I'm so looking forward to being unemployed. I'm so happy to not see any of these people ever again. All of that is really great, hashtag sarcasm... There is no version of this ending that is not super painful for me, mostly that's because of these people. They've been the single constant in my creative life for the last decade. That's tough."

He did, however, say that he would not miss having to keep the finale a secret. "I'll be happy when the shows air and I don't have to fake that I don't know how the show ends. But I will never be able to have this again, and that's a drag."

Set in 1960s New York, the sexy, stylized and provocative AMC drama MAD MEN follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising, an ego-driven world where key players make an art of the sell.

AMC's award-winning drama MAD MEN made history as the first basic cable series ever to win the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series in four consecutive years. Created by Emmy and Golden Globe-winning executive producer Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate, MAD MEN has riveted audiences with the seductive and intriguing world of Sterling Cooper & Partners. This season, the series' breakout ensemble cast continues to captivate as they grapple with an uncertain new reality.

Created by Emmy and Golden Globe winning executive producer Matthew Weiner, MAD MEN is anchored by an award-winning ensemble cast, including Jon Hamm, January Jones, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, Christina Hendricks, John Slattery, Jessica Paré, Rich Sommer, Aaron Staton, Robert Morse, Kiernan Shipka, Jay Ferguson, and Christopher Stanley.

The series revolves around the conflicted world of Don Draper (Hamm), the biggest ad man (and ladies man) in the business, and his colleagues at the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce Advertising Agency. As Don makes the plays in the boardroom and the bedroom, he struggles to stay a step ahead of the rapidly changing times and the young executives nipping at his heels. The series also depicts authentically the roles of men and women in this era while exploring the true human nature beneath the guise of 1960s traditional family values.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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