'Mad Men' Season Six Premiering April 7 With Two-Hour Film

AMC will take a deep dive into deceit, frustration, generational struggle, consumerism, sex and alcoholism on April 7, with the launch of Mad Men's sixth season.

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The cable network announced early Wednesday that creator/exec producer Matthew Weiner's period drama will start its sixth chapter with a two-hour film, mimicking its long-delayed fifth-season launch. That premiere came after a protracted contract struggle between Weiner and AMC, which almost saw him leave the show.

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Weiner told The New York Times that while he had requested the season five movie premiere, it was AMC that suggested the idea for the sixth season to begin the same way.

"It has some cliffhanger elements to it, it does propel you into the rest of the season, it does foreshadow a lot what the season is about," he told the newspaper about the new season-opener. "But I was like, 'I want to write a movie here, that we can create the atmosphere and vibe of the season.' "

Season five was the series' most watched; the two-hour premiere took in 3.5 million viewers, while its finale drew in 2.7 million viewers. The show's first four seasons won the Emmy for best drama, but it lost to Showtime's Homeland last year.