I was a little more than fed up with Mad Men last week, and as a few others have pointed out, what makes this season so difficult is not only Don’s refusal to grow (more on that later) but also the fact that the party is winding down (smoking and drinking is now bad for you!), and let’s not even get into some of those godawful fashions.  But “The Flood” was a very interesting episode, and actually a really great one, that spent another hour focusing on the reactions of the characters to a huge historical tragedy.  Though Don stays in stasis, the rest of the characters seem to have really gone somewhere, for good or ill.  Hit the jump for why “it’s a shameful, shameful day!”

As many have pointed out, a great deal of Mad Men revolves around assholes doing mean things.  That does create drama, so who can fault in that formula?  The problem is that we’re six seasons in to this series now, and there are ways in which character development has paid off tremendously, even if it’s sad (i.e. almost everything) and some extraordinarily frustrating ways it hasn’t (um, Don).  I know it’s Matthew Weiner‘s “thing” to not have people grow or change because people really don’t grow and change significantly in the real world, but what value is this to us viewers, six years into things?  Look, “To Have And To Hold” was pretty great, possibly even the best episode this season so far … save for Don.  It revolved around a pretty centrally important theme of “what’s missing?” (besides my interest any more in Don).  Love, career, peace … maybe the answer to all things is at the bottom of a ketchup bottle.  Hit the jump to find out.

With AMC’s award-winning series Mad Men airing new episodes Sunday nights, I recently had the chance to participate in a roundtable interview with Jessica Pare.  Since the cast is always guarded when talking about upcoming episodes, most of the interview covered the twists and turns of last season, how much she finds out about upcoming storylines, Megan and Don’s (Jon Hamm) relationship, going from guest star to series regular, the wardrobe, and more.  Hit the jump to either read or listen to what Pare had to say.

Despite speculation of a July return date, AMC’s spectacular Breaking Bad will not return until almost mid-August (August 11th at 9 p.m., to be exact).  The series will conclude its run with eight episodes, the back half of its fifth season, and serve as a lead-in to new drama series Low Winter Sun.  Also, AMC will be adding Talking Bad (like Talking Dead), a half-hour live after-show that will discuss and dissect the events of the Breaking Bad episode earlier that night.

AMC also announced the renewals of its unscripted programs Talking Dead, Comic Book Men and Freakshow, as well as the premiere dates for Small Town Security, Showville, The Pitch and Owner’s Manual.  Hit the jump for all of the details, plus a rundown of the cable network’s new original programming (heaps of it!) that’s currently in development, including the recently announced sci-fi series Ballistic City from director Joseph Kosinski and screenwriter Travis Beacham.

While AMC is set to lose two of its flagship series fairly soon (Breaking Bad ends its run this summer while Mad Men is poised to conclude with next year’s season seven), the network is making arrangements to ensure that it remains at the forefront of cable programming.  This summer will see the debut of the Mark Strong-fronted crime drama series Low Winter Sun, and now AMC is making moves on a sci-fi series with a pedigreed team behind the scenes: Oblivion director Joseph Kosinski and Pacific Rim screenwriter Travis Beacham.  Hit the jump for much more.

With Breaking Bad coming to a close this summer, AMC is apparently desperately looking for a way to keep cashing in on its success.  While many would say Mad Men is currently the best show on television, I’ve always given the edge to Breaking Bad, which is just as cinematic and full of visual metaphor, yet also has the fantastic ability to make viewers want to reach for anti-anxiety medication.

The considered spin off would star Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), and series creator Vince Gilligan would be on board to create this new Saul-centered world, which could be a half-hour comedy.  Hit the jump for more possibilities.

With AMC’s award-winning series Mad Men returning tonight, I recently had the chance to participate in a roundtable interview with John Slattery.  Since the cast is always guarded when talking about upcoming storylines, most of the interview covered the big storylines of last season, what surprised him, the LSD episode and how they filmed it, how he’s directing two episodes this season, did he try and work in certain camera angles or a long tracking shot, deleted scenes, Roger and Joan’s relationship, how much does Matthew Weiner tell him in advance, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to either read or listen to what Slattery had to say.

With AMC’s award-winning series Mad Men returning Sunday night, I recently had the chance to participate in a roundtable interview with Elisabeth Moss.  Since the cast is always guarded when talking about upcoming storylines, most of the interview covered the big storylines of last season, Peggy’s relationship with Don Draper (Jon Hamm), what Matthew Weiner told her about her character last season, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to either read or listen to what Moss had to say.

With AMC’s award-winning series Mad Men returning Sunday night, I recently had the chance to participate in a roundtable interview with January Jones.  Since the cast is always guarded when talking about upcoming storylines, most of the interview covered the way Betty Draper (Jones’ character) has changed over the five seasons, the big storyline of last season, how even the actors don’t know what’s coming up on future episodes until they get the script, her costumes, her thoughts on Don and Betty getting back together, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to either read or listen to what Jones had to say.

AMC has released a batch of images from the upcoming season six premiere of Mad Men, titled “The Doorway”.  As is executive producer/showrunner Matthew Weiner’s wont, the images reveal extremely little by way of plot details, but this is our first semi-look at footage from the new season.  It’s clear that Megan (Jessica Pare) is sticking around for the time-being, and sideburns appear to be all the range among the male castmembers as we move firmly into the 1970s with this new season.  The series has yet to stumble as far as I’m concerned (season five came the closest to being a misstep re: Megan), and so I’m incredibly eager to dive back into the Mad Men world this weekend.  How great is it to have new episodes of Mad Men and Game of Thrones on the same night?

Hit the jump to take a look at the new images, and check back here on Collider later this week for Steve’s interviews with Weiner and the cast regarding the upcoming season.  Mad Men season six kicks off with a two-hour premiere on Sunday, April 7th on AMC.

The premiere dates for new seasons of a couple of popular TV series have been announced.  First up, HBO’s True Blood will kick off season six on Sunday, June 16th.  The new season is the show’s first without creator/ex-showunner Alan Ball at the helm, and is also the show’s first season to have just 10 episodes.  All previous seasons of the show have been made up of 12 episodes, but the order was shortened this year.  Co-executive producer Mark Hudis took over as the new showrunner at the beginning of season six, but in the middle of production he himself was replaced by writer/producer Brian Buckner.  Hit the jump for more, including the return date of AMC’s resurrected drama series The Killing.

AMC has released the first trailer for the network’s newest drama series, Low Winter Sun.  Based on the 2006 British miniseries of the same name, the show is described as “a contemporary story of murder, deception, revenge, and corruption” and centers on the fallout from the murder of a cop by a fellow Detroit detective.  Mark Strong looks to give a solid performance in the lead, and fans of AMC’s other series will recognize a few familiar faces like Lennie James (The Walking Dead’s Morgan) and David Costabile (Breaking Bad’s Gale).  The tone feels like a cross between The Wire and Breaking Bad, and I’m looking forward to checking out the pilot.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  Low Winter Sun premieres on AMC this summer with a 10-episode first season.

Fresh off yesterday’s unveiling of a magnificent poster for the upcoming sixth season of the drama series Mad Men, AMC has now released a new featurette for the show.  Though there’s no new footage to scrutinize, we do get to see castmembers Jon Hamm, Jessica Pare, and Rich Sommer talk about what fans can expect from the new season alongside creator/showrunner/mastermind Matthew Weiner.  With season seven poised to be the show’s last, Hamm describes the upcoming season as “like getting almost to the end of a great book.”  Weiner teases a central focus on Don for season six, saying the new episodes will give viewers “a lot of insight into Don, a new dynamic, and people striving to grow up.”  Also, Sommer is rocking some serious late 60s/early 70s sideburns.  This show cannot come back fast enough.

Hit the jump to watch the new featurette.  The two-hour season six premiere of Mad Men airs on AMC on Sunday, April 7th.

AMC has unveiled the first poster for the upcoming sixth season of Mad Men, and it’s pretty stellar.  Creator/showrunner Matthew Weiner reached out to legendary advertising illustrator Brian Sanders to create the poster for the new season of the critically-hailed drama series, and Sanders has turned out a truly excellent piece of artwork that I hope AMC plans on making available as full prints.  As usual with all things Mad Men, we know absolutely nothing about the upcoming season.  Weiner has teased yet another time jump when the show returns, and describes the two-hour season premiere as a movie unto itself.  With season seven planned as the show’s last, I’m looking forward to seeing how things unfold in this penultimate set of episodes (more Peggy, less Megan please).

Hit the jump to check out the poster.  The two-hour season six premiere of Mad Men airs on AMC on Sunday, April 7th.

We’ve got a couple of interesting TV casting stories to share this evening.  First up, prolific character actor Kevin Pollak has joined the cast of CBS’ upcoming Beverly Hills Cop pilot.  Eddie Murphy is producing the hourlong series alongside Shawn Ryan (The Shield, Last Resort), and Brandon T. Jackson (Percy Jackson & the Olympians) was cast in the lead role of Axel Foley’s son last October.  Now THR reports that Pollak is set to co-star as Rodney Daloof, the in-house lawyer for the Beverly Hills Police Department.  The character is described as “incredibly risk-averse, a stickler for the rules, and a loud-mouthed bully,” so yeah, it sounds like Pollak should be able to knock this one out of the park.

The series is envisioned as a police procedural with a comedic element, and Murphy will be reprising his role as the senior Foley in the pilot with the possibility of recurring should CBS pick the pilot up to series.  Hit the jump for news concerning Peter Sarsgaard taking on a major role in the upcoming third season of AMC’s The Killing.