Mad Men Spinoff Not Happening, According To Creator

Even though Mad Men seems to be taking cues from Breaking Bad these days, that doesn’t mean that the popular and stylish ad agency drama is also going to greenlight a spinoff for one of its characters.

“There’s no chance,” series creator Matthew Weiner told The Hollywood Reporter. “No judgment against anybody else — but this is it. This is the story. When it’s done, it’s done.”

The “anybody else” in that quote is probably Breaking Bad, AMC’s other platinum show which for years trailed Mad Men in popularity.

Even though Breaking Bad is coming to an end, AMC and Sony confirmed that there will be a spinoff/prequel series which follows Walter White’s slimy and highly-quotable lawyer Saul Goodman, played by Bob Odenkirk.

So, no spinoff, but Mad Men is following Breaking Bad in at least one aspect. The Vince Gilligan-led drama split its fifth and final season into two parts, a decision recently co-opted for Mad Men’s seventh and final season.

Still, it seems that the split was more of a network decision and not Weiner’s choice. He seemed a bit ambivalent about it the interview.

“It’s a strategy from the network and I was told about it,” he said. “I found a way to work with it. That’s all I can say. I think it’s an opportunity.”

Doesn’t sound too enthusiastic.

I’m not even entirely sure who Mad Men could follow for a spinoff. I know Peggy is the obvious answer, but I’ve long held that Mad Men is Peggy’s story just as much as it is Don’s, even though it doesn’t always seem that way. Both characters are usually the first we check in on each season, and their individual arcs usually meet in some way in the finale. It’s kind of a closed loop.

I suppose I’d watch a show piloted by Joan (Christina Hendricks).

Yes, absolutely, I would.

I know it’s not going to happen, but who do you think could handle a hypothetical Mad Men spinoff?