Sorry for the mis-spelling of Matthew WeiNer's last name....

That's another reason I bought the Season 1 DVD's (besides the obvious reasons of loving the show!!) - I generally don't buy DVD's but I'm hoping AMC see's how much money can be made - not just from commercials but from DVD sales - to encourage them to continue.

WHAT IS WITH THE LONG WAIT? 13 is not enough episodes - and now we have to wait until JULY??? I'll never make it...

Why can't they be filming now? Showing them in the spring? I don't understand such long delays...

@3onamatch...(love that screen name)...

That's a good idea you had of buying the Season 1 DVD as (collaterally) it's a way we can "put our money were our mouths are" in supporting MM.

(For after all, nothing talks like money, ha!)

Speaking of which....am I the only "Maddict" who sees irony in Matthew Weiner's (evidently) holding the show hostage in order to get money demands met...when some of his hero/anti-hero's (DD's) noblest moments on the show have been when DD put "principle" ahead of self/money/advancement, etc.? To name a few instances:

1. His loyalty to the smaller airlines account
instead of just seeing $ signs from AA --like
Duck, Roger, Pete, et. al.;

2. His decision to stay with S/C when a
much larger, more prestigious firm was trying
to lure him away with promises of more
money, etc. (And I know the "Betty Modeling
Photo" incident was the dealbreaker there, but
Don was really looking for a way to say "no"
to that offer from the first). I thought that
showed character, and that Don was
interested in more than just moving ahead
in a material world.

3. His loyalty to Freddy, when he knew as well
as the ones kicking Freddy to the curb, that
Freddy needed SC more than SC needed
Freddy. ( Not a stance a pure "money-hungry"
Mad Man would take....)

There are probably other instances, too, that others might think of. But the question is: Is Don Draper less concerned about money than his creator, Matthew Weiner? Am I missing something here?

Is MW a "Hamlet" in an existential crisis? This is what we should be blogging about, talking about, finding out about.... Just how much money can AMC afford to pay? Does Mr. Weiner feel he owes any loyalty to AMC, or will he go to the highest bidder? What kind of money do other writers/creators make...eg, a David Kelley, for instance? (And I'm not putting them in the same league artistically, for as most of us agree, nobody's created anything for TV that compares with MM). But some comparison, or reference point is needed to know what's reasonable and what isn't.

I am concerned about the philosophical/idealistic aspects of this delimma. If MM is today's Shakespeare, where is the "Globe Theatre" and the cheap, "penny" seats that allowed even paupers to experience (from the last row of the balcony) those wonderful plays? I'm sure Shakespeare wasn't opposed to money, but I think it was less important to him than that his plays were performed and seen. If I am right about that (and maybe I'm not)....where did that attitude go...did it vanish with the 17th century? I say this appropos of: where is Mr. Weiner's loyalty to his viewers (even if he feels no loyalty to AMC)?

If people feel as passionate about MM as these months of blogs suggest, maybe we ought to educate ourselves (as much as we can) about what's really going on.

Here are a few facts I've discovered:

AMC carries among the fewest commercials per hour of any basic cable channel (that fact comes from FAQ on this very site).

AMC is under an entity called "Rainbow Media Holdings, LLC," which is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.

Beyond that, I know nothing. With all the bright people commenting here, and the various interests/specialties, maybe we could piece together information which would give credence to whatever "advice" to the powers that be.

We all know (from MM) that words -- written and spoken--can be very effective. I think we need more influential writers to start writing about the issue that "Money is King" in Hollywood -- well, we all knew that....but what some of us maybe forgot, while we were getting "hooked" on MM...was that even our "sublime, superior, artistic, ground-breaking," and critic-lauded master-piece, was still, in the end, about "show me the money."

I'm not saying I blame MW -- he's "paid his dues," and I doubt very seriously that he's been paid "what he's worth" in terms of talent, brilliance, and mind-numbing time and dedication.

But I do blame the "system..." (e.g. how we now have to pay a monthly fee for what used to be free TV -- and we still have commericals--even more than we used to have. (I remember when that was a "selling point" for Cable TV "back in the day": They told us there would be NO commercials on cable TV! Well, that seemed to last about a year-and-a-half. Been gone so long most people don't even remember that "come-on," with it's very brief "honeymoom period" of no commercials.

"The System" makes watching popular "network" shows--(and there are a few mildly entertaining ones)---a brain-excising activity because of the constant commercial interruptions, literally every 5-6 minutes in some cases. (Not to mention the fact that "sponsors" can "excise" a whole show if they don't like it).

And, from what I hear, the "premium channels" (quite some time ago) began cutting down on the new offerings per month, in favor or "re-cycling" shows more often. Just another example of how "they" make more money by giving us less.

Lastly, I allude to 3onamatch's comment about having to wait so long for Season 3, (as well as for the DVD for Season 2). About that I say this:

I remember when "THE SOPRANOS" was all the water-cooler talk...the rage of the day, and at times I felt like I wasn't "keeping up with the culture." When it finally did become available to me (through re-runs on non-premium channels, and on DVD), I was not at all interested in watching it --even to see what I had missed.

I wasn't interested because it seemed "passe," like warmed-over left-overs, like yesterday's news. The fact that I had not been in on it from the first couple of seasons made me feel "too far behind," and since I'd come late to the party, I didn't want to take the time to catch up on so many seasons.

That is what I fear will happen with MM unless, as some have already suggested, a "blitz-like" campaign of running seasons 1 and 2 begins in the near future...(but then, of course, they wouldn't make money off of the DVD's)....Oh dear, is this a problem without a good solution?

And with that, I'll stumble off my soap-box, while I try to summon up a "cheers..."

This whole Matthew Weiner vs. AMC is saber- noise!

He (Weiner) refuses to come aboard unless he gets an exorbitant amount of money, which AMC probably doesn't have to give. And AMC threatens to get a new showrunner for MM. I look at it like this: AMC wouldn't be on anyone's radar if not for Mad Men. But, MM would never have come to fruition if the network didn't throw money behind the project, a pet project that was previously widely rejected! Like I said, saber-noise and haggling! They'll meet somewhere in the middle!

Just throwing out something that's totally random....There must be some concern from all parties involved when a show like Bravo's 'Real Housewives" is a bigger audience draw, in raw numbers and coveted 18-49 "demographics," than MM. The show might have the "hardware" but it hasn't the "eyeballs!"

@Visan...nice to see you again.

Yeah, saber-noise sounds about right. I'd love to be a fly on the wall in some of those haggling sessions...probably as entertaining as the show.

Hmm..."Real Housewives." If I can tolerate the probable bordom of it for a few minutes, I'll check it out...you have me curious now.

I would have to be hog tied and sedated to watch "Real Housewives" and the other dreck currently polluting the air waves. That's why I love Mad Men - it was created by people with a lot of talent and some very high standards, and it shows.

@Jackie_Monroe: Thanks!
*************************************
I make no secret of my adoration for certain reality shows like "Survivor," "Dancing With the Stars" and, yes, "The Real Housewives of Atlanta!" For me, there comes a time when all I want to watch is some washed up linebacker do the Hustle! LOL! To each their own....