‘Mad Men’ Sets Final Premiere Date, Cast and Crew Talk Spinoffs and Spoilers

AMC’s ‘Mad Men’ has long kept its cabinet of secrets firmly locked inside the walls of Sterling-Cooper, nary a spoiler to escape in advance of network premieres. Now, we know when the final seven episodes of of AMC’s prestige drama will return, as the cast of ‘Mad Men’ assembled at TCA to discuss the long-running series’ end.

The swingin’ ‘60s will be back (and presumably come to an end) with the final seven episodes of ‘Mad Men,’ premiering on Sunday, April 5. Any later, and the series would have to compete with the April 10-12 weekend of ‘Game of Thrones’ season 5 and Marvel’s ‘Daredevil,’ which…no.

And while AMC’s decision to split the seventh season into two runs of seven episodes a year felt like a means to stretch programming (same with ‘Better Call Saul,’ ‘Hell on Wheels’ and ‘The Walking Dead’ spinoff), creator Matt Weiner admitted in today’s TCA panel that he appreciated how the separate runs prevented him from repeating himself. We certainly won’t see any sequels or spinoffs to the series either (Jon Hamm votes for ‘Better Call Pete’), as Weiner said of the final seven episodes “Each one of them feels like a finale of the show.”

Said Weiner of the final run’s April 5 premiere:

What an incredible journey this has been. I take great pride in what the entire ‘Mad Men’ team was able to create episode after episode, season after season. We sincerely thank the fans for joining us on this ride and hope it has meant as much to them as it has to us.

Adds AMC president Charlie Collier:

‘Mad Men’ is the show that put AMC on the map. Period. It is impossible to overstate the impact it has had on AMC, and I would argue, this era of television. We are honored to forever be the birthplace and home of this iconic series and we can’t wait to share its artful conclusion with the fans.

From the first shot, Matthew, his cast and crew handcrafted something truly distinctive for the screen, the very definition of premium television on basic cable. We will miss the remarkable people, the consistently exquisite program, and of course, the free scotch and cigarettes in our vending machines.

We can expect the run of nostalgic teasers to arrive any day now, but what say you? Are you ready to say goodbye to ‘Mad Men’ when the final seven episodes premiere on April 5?