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By Tim Molloy
TheWrap

"Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner has been asked to cut six cast members from the AMC drama over the next three years -- not just two actors, as has been previously reported, a person familiar with the negotiations tells TheWrap.

The person also said Weiner was eager to get the show back on the air this year, and could do it if an agreement with AMC and production company Lionsgate comes soon.

Bing: Watch 'Mad Men' videos

AMC announced Tuesday that the show will be delayed until early 2012 because of ongoing negotiations between the network, Lionsgate, and Weiner. Weiner has refused AMC's demands that he trim each show by two minutes to make room for more ads, include more product placements, and eliminate six cast members -- two per season -- over its next three seasons, the person said.

(Deadline and The Daily, which first broke details of the negotiations, both said Weiner was asked to cut two actors from the cast.)

Under the network and Lionsgate's proposals, Weiner would receive $30 million over the next three years, making him the highest-paid show runner in basic cable. But Weiner isn't amenable to the other proposals.

"His artistic silence isn't for sale," the person told TheWrap.

AMC did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the number of cast members Weiner has been asked to cut.

The network said in a statement Tuesday that the show would return for its fifth season next year. "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," AMC said.

Also from TheWrap: AMC and the Triumph of the TV Auteur

The "non-cast" refers to Weiner.

"Mad Men," which has won three consecutive Emmys for best drama, has been AMC's flagship since its debut, and was the first show in AMC's highly successful return to scripted television in 2007. It provided a model for the later success of "Breaking Bad" and "The Walking Dead," the network's highest-rated series.

One reason "Mad Men" may not be able to return this year is that AMC may not have an open time slot: The network runs all of its shows on Sundays at 10 p.m., and already has "The Killing" (which debuts Sunday), "Breaking Bad," and "The Walking Dead" set to air this year.

In an interview with The New York Times on Tuesday, Weiner confirmed that AMC has asked him to cut his cast and slightly cut the length of each episode. Weiner told The Times that the cuts would make "Mad Men" a "different show."

"I don't understand why, with all of the success of the show, they suddenly need to change it," Mr. Weiner said.

Joel Stillerman, AMC's senior vice president of original programming, said in January that the show would definitely be back for a fifth season, but that he didn't know when.

The push until next year means viewers will be without it for a calendar year for the first time since its debut.

The length of AMC and Lionsgate's current negotiations with Weiner -- the parties also underwent length contract talks two years ago -- has made some fans start to worry about whether the show would return at all. AMC's announcement Tuesday was designed to assuage those fears.

More: January Jones predicts plot of 'Mad Men' Season 5

Weiner's two consecutive rounds of arduous contract talks reflect a downside, for AMC, of the power it allows its show runners. While the show runner-as-auteur model has led to such creative successes as "Breaking Bad," "The Walking Dead," "Mad Men" and the upcoming "The Killing" -- which debuts Sunday -- it also places Weiner in a stronger bargaining position.

As "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm said during the last round of negotiatons, "We can't do the show without Matthew. Of course, you 'can' do it, but you know you can't."

The show won the best drama Emmy for each of its first three years, and is eligible to extend the streak in its fourth season. Because the eligibility period runs from June 1 to May 31, it would also be eligible for its fifth season, so long as it airs, as planned, early next year.

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