The good news for fans of the American television drama Mad Men is that the show will continue for at least two more seasons. The bad news is that they will have to wait till next March for the fifth series.
An agreement was finally reached at the end of last week after talks had stalled between the series creator Mathew Weiner and the production company Lionsgate.
The deal, estimated to earn Weiner $30 million (Dh110m), includes an option for a third season, which could take The Emmy Award-winning drama up to seven seasons.
The breakthrough comes after the television cable network AMC announced the fifth season would be delayed because of ongoing negotiations between Weiner and Lionsgate. The deadlock was over Weiner's refusal to budge on the producers' financial demands. Lionsgate wanted him to cut costs by weaving more product placement into the show, shaving two minutes off each episode to allow more advertising and axing two cast members.
Under the new deal, forthcoming episodes will run for 45 minutes with the exception of the first and last episode of each season, which will get 47 minutes, the running time for episodes in previous seasons. The deal also stipulates that cast members can be cut only for creative reasons.
Doubts about the show's future surfaced when negotiations began last October at the end of the fourth season.
Mad Men, which is set in 1960s New York and is about hard-living Madison Avenue advertising executives, has won the Emmy Award for best television drama for three consecutive years.