Recently, some key players for both Mad Men and True Blood, both highly rated and critically acclaimed shows, have been in talks for extending the future of each show. AMC and Lionsgate TV, after a long delay in negotiations between creator/executive producer Matthew Weiner for a two-year contract, secured their star Jon Hamm for another three years as Don Draper on Mad Men. Mathew Weiner is a brilliant writer and producer, but everyone who watches Mad Men knows that the show would be nowhere without the talents of Jon Hamm.
So now we know that even if Mathew Weiner leaves, we still have the possibility of seeing Mad Men on for another season. Since the negotiations for Mathew Weiner pushed back the start time for Season 5, we won’t be seeing new episodes of the stylish show until March 2012. Another bonus for Mad Men fans is that Mathew Weiner has an option in his contract for a seventh season, which many believe will now be a guarantee now that Hamm signed his new three-year contract. So not only do we have a good chance of seeing Mad Men on for three more seasons, but we can expect it to be at its top potential all three seasons.
As for True Blood, the show’s creator and showrunner Alan Ball is in talks for coming back for a fifth season. There was some speculation on whether True Blood had the legs to make it past the upcoming fourth season. Some believe the downfall of the vampire fad might cause a significant rating drop, but Alan Ball believes that many people are hesitant about guaranteeing the show for a long run for a much simpler reason. Ball said, “I think if we did 13 seasons we’d have to address why vampires are aging. Maybe there would be a bad batch of True Blood.” Justifications or not, True Blood will most likely be returning for at least a fifth season. Ball also noted that with a supernatural storyline, you can go places that other shows can’t.
This to me sounded like a positive statement in regards to being able to continue the shows run from the story’s perspective.
All together these shows came up at about the same time and really set an example for how new shows can be different, highly rated, and critically acclaimed all at the same time. For a while there it seemed like this was an impossible feat for highly original dramas. It’s nice to see their success, and it will be nice to continue to witness their success.