Mad Men was renewed for a fifth season today, but instead of inciting congratulations and cheers from fans, the stipulations that went with the renewal are causing quite the drama in Hollywoodland. Or more specifically, show-runner land.
Mad Men boss Matt Weiner reportedly wants $30 million for two years, and he doesn't want to give up any castmembers or allow for any product placement. If his price is met, he would be the highest paid show runner on basic cable. And not everyone is onboard the Weiner train:
Lost creator Damon Lindelof tweeted his opinion on the matter, saying: "Not that I'm sour grapes, but TEN MILLION DOLLARS a year for 13 episodes of a single show seems pretty fair, no? #SOURGRAPES."
Josh Friedman, who was the executive producer of Fox's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, replied to Damon's tweet with: "it's the 5 million per year for a writer's assistant that I find a little strange." Our assistants get paid in Ryan Seacrest smiles, so we didn't really get this joke.
Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter, however, did not find the humor in the situation, tweeting: "You can't ask a network for 10 million, then bitch when they want to expand their ad revenue source. Whore or saint, pick one." The man behind Bones, Hart Hanson, retweeted Kurt's statement, thus stating his position on the issue.
What's your take on the matter, Mad Men fans? Is Matt Weiner being greedy, or is he just playing the cutthroat game of capitalism the way it's meant to be played?