No Mad Men Season 5 until 2012?

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As if waiting for the return of The Walking Dead wasn’t bad enough, TVLine reports that fans of AMC’s Mad Men will also have to wait a while to get their fix.

Problems with negotiations between AMC, Lionsgate, and Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner have stalled the 5th season of the period drama and it currently looks like we’ll be waiting until 2012 to travel back to the 60’s. AMC recently released a statement on the matter:

“AMC has officially authorized production of Season 5 of Mad Men, triggering our option with Lionsgate. While we are getting a later start than in years past due to ongoing, key non-cast negotiations, Mad Men will be back for a fifth season in early 2012.”

We previously mentioned that dollars were the problem, but that wrinkle was ironed away, only to be replaced by new disagreements. Considering that Mad Men revolves around the people at an ad agency, it’s sort of ironic that advertising plays a part in the current contract drama. Weiner is close to signing on a two-year deal that will bring in close to $30 million but he’s holding back because of three requests (demands?) being made by AMC. The cable network wants integrated product placement in the show, reduce episode time by two minutes per episode, and either reduce or eliminate two regular cast members.

Personally, I think Weiner needs to deflate his over-inflated ego. Of course, the network wants to have an additional two minutes for commercials because that increases revenue for them, and integrated product placement is done by numerous shows, although they’ll have to handle that with a certain degree of style and common sense due to the time period of the show. However, I do think it’s a bit much for AMC to start calling creative shots. Shouldn’t the writer be the one to decide if characters get reduced or removed?

What’s your take on it? Is AMC acting too high and mighty or is Wiener acting like a wiener?