'Mad Men' Season 7 To Air In Two Parts Across 2014 And 2015

“Mad Men” will be taking a little longer to reach its conclusion than originally planned. As with AMC’s other critically acclaimed drama “Breaking Bad,” the seventh and final season of “Mad Men” will be split into two halves, the LA Times reports.

Each half of the seventh and final season of “Mad Men” will contain seven episodes. The first half, entitled “The Beginning,” will air in spring 2014, while the second half, “The End of an Era,” will air one year later in the spring.

"This approach has worked well for many programs across multiple networks, and, most recently for us with 'Breaking Bad,' which attracted nearly double the number of viewers to its second-half premiere than had watched any previous episode,” said AMC president Charlie Collier. “We are determined to bring 'Mad Men' a similar showcase."

“Mad Men” creator and executive producer Matthew Wiener thinks that the split season will be an excellent opportunity to develop the series’ final season.

"We plan to take advantage of this chance to have a more elaborate story told in two parts, which can resonate a little bit longer in the minds of our audience,” Weiner told the Los Angeles Times. “The writers, cast and other artists welcome this unique manner of ending this unique experience.”

In other “Mad Men” news, Variety reports that Oscar-winning screenwriter Robert Towne has joined the show’s writing staff for its seventh season. Towne, who will serve as a consulting producer for “Mad Men,” is best known for writing 1974’s neo-noir classic “Chinatown,” which won an Oscar for best original screenplay.

Towne has also picked up three other Oscar nominations for 1973’s “The Last Detail,” 1975’s “Shampoo” and 1984’s “Greystoke: the Legend of Tarzan.” In more recent years, Towne has written “Mission Impossible” and its first sequel, “Days of Thunder” and “Ask the Dust.”