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TV Junkie: Letting The 'Mad Men' Pot Simmer Down
"Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner (center) and cast members at the 2009 Emmys [Photo by Thomas Attila Lewis]
The return of "Mad Men": Since we're writing this at 10am Pacific, there could very well be updates to this story by the time this post goes live at 3pm. Here's how things stand for the moment: showrunner Matthew Weiner stated yesterday to "Mad Men" fansite Basket of Kisses that negotiations only began 3 weeks ago and that he has not asked for a $30 million for 3 years contract. This contradicts a lot of the bullshit that's been written from Deadline to E!-online.
We've been holding off on writing anything because there haven't been any facts to writer about. The only clear voice in all this has been Tim Goodman at the Hollywood Reporter who essentially has been saying the same thing as well as urging people not to make a judgement call on Weiner until we know what is going on. Most egregious has been E!-online, reporting yesterday that a $30 million contract has been signed as well as building a story around tweets from showrunners of other shows "reacting" to the fake-"news." A justifiably angry Kurt Sutter, the "Sons of Anarchy" showrunner, wrote a post about journalists taking tweets out of context among other things.
The only valid assumptions that can be made about "Mad Men" is that Matthew Weiner wants to present the best show he can and that AMC wants to keep the most critically acclaimed show they've ever had on their network for as long as possible. We hope successful negotiations come to a close as soon as possible with as little rancor as possible.
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If you can't get enough Matthew Weiner, go on over to KCRW and check out his Guest DJ set - he has some cool picks there.
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Highlights tonight are the season premiere of "Web Soup," another great episode of "Justified" and tons of great late night TV, we had a hard time picking out what to watch in the Must-Watch plan below.
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The TV Junkie Must-Watch Plan: "Attack of the Show," "Web Soup," "NOVA" (Japan's Killer Quake), "Justified," "Chelsea Lately" (Arden Myrin; Joe Matarese; John Caparulo; Jerry Weintraub), "Late Show With David Letterman" (Actor Norm MacDonald; professional baseball player C.C. Sabathia; Willie Nelson, Norah Jones and Wynton Marsalis perform), "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" (Actor Russell Brand; magazine editor Gayle King; The Strokes perform)
7:00pm Attack of the Show! G4 - Game break; self-hacking.
8:00pm Web Soup G4 - Season Premiere. Chris Hardwick & Co. are back to hilariously tear up the web and pop culture
9:00pm NOVA PBS - Japan's Killer Quake The March 11 earthquake, the worst to ever strike Japan, spawned a tsunami with 30-foot-high waves that destroyed entire towns
10:00pm Justified FX - Raylan must protect an out of element coal executive when negotiating with the Bennett clan.
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10:00pm Journey to Planet Earth PBS - Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization Emerging economy based on renewable sources; strategies to avoid the threat of global warming
10:00pm Top Chef Bravo - Season Finale The final two chefs battle it out to produce the best dinning experience.
11:00pm Chelsea Lately E! - Arden Myrin; Joe Matarese; John Caparulo; Jerry Weintraub.
11:00pm The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Comedy Central - Jake Gyllenhaal guests
11:00pm Conan TBS - Actor Greg Kinnear; actor Steve Schirripa; comic Mo Mandel performs.
11:35pm Late Show With David Letterman CBS - Actor Norm MacDonald; professional baseball player C.C. Sabathia; Willie Nelson, Norah Jones and Wynton Marsalis perform.
11:35pm The Tonight Show With Jay Leno NBC - Actress Helen Hunt; musician Sammy Hagar; Good Charlotte performs.
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12:00am Lopez Tonight TBS - Former talk show host Larry King; comic Brent Weinbach performs.
12:05am Jimmy Kimmel Live ABC - Actor Danny McBride; actress Sara Ramirez; Duran Duran performs.
12:35am Late Night With Jimmy Fallon NBC - Actor Russell Brand; magazine editor Gayle King; The Strokes perform.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
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