Vincent Kartheiser

AMC catches spiel

’Mad Men’ revisits ad biz of the 1960s

AMC has greenlit its first original drama in recent history, "Mad Men," from Matthew Weiner ("The Sopranos") and Lionsgate Television. Cabler has ordered 13 one-hours for a premiere next June.

Cinematic drama set in the world of 1960s Madison Avenue will follow the professional lives, social mores and sexual exploits of ad execs at a time when the industry was at its height of glamour, power and prestige. Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, January Jones and Christina Hendricks star.

AMC, which airs a mix of classic and contemporary movies, began its push into scripted skeins last year. Network came aboard to co-produce the BBC crime hour "Hustle" and ordered "Broken Trail," a 3½-hour Western exec produced by and starring Robert Duvall that went on to draw a big 10 million viewers in its premiere airing.

More recently, cabler lined up an ambitious slate of drama and comedy projects from such heavyweights as "Donnie Darko" writer-director Richard Kelley, "Monster’s Ball" scribe Will Rokos and "Boston Legal" writer Phoef Sutton (Daily Variety, Aug. 2). AMC last dabbled in scripted series programming when it acquired "Tales From the Crypt" and several years ago produced 1930s radio drama "Remember WENN."

AMC exec veep of programming, packaging and production Rob Sorcher ordered the pilot for "Mad Men" last spring (Daily Variety, March 13), at the time explaining how it fit the network’s movie brand, tying into films like "The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit" and "The Apartment."

"Mad Men" centers on thirty-something Don Draper, creative director for the Sterling Cooper ad agency, which hawks everything from cigarettes to political candidates. Pilot episode centers on Don’s fight to keep a major tobacco account from leaving the agency while juggling his increasingly complicated romantic life.

Weiner, who is in the middle of working the final episodes of HBO’s "The Sopranos," said while "Mad Men" is a period piece, "it’s not particularly nostalgic and it’s not a history lesson. It’s the story of these people’s lives and all the drama and humor attached to that."

Lionsgate TV topper Kevin Beggs said, "People are more interested in the media than ever, and advertising is a big part of that."

Production is tentatively slated for April. Weiner serves as an exec producer on "The Sopranos," for which he earned an Emmy nom for writing. TV credits include "Luxury Lounge," "Andy Richter Controls the Universe," "Becker" and "The Naked Truth."