Yesterday's news that contract talks between Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner and AMC/Lionsgate were close to collapsing resulted in mass freakouts across the blogosphere.No wonder Weiner decided to give his first interview about the "revenue enhancements" standoff to fan blog Basket of Kisses. Along with offering him an opportunity to confirm and correct existing reports, the sympathetic forum made proclamations like "I am fighting for the cast and for the show" seem less dramatic and self-aggrandizing.

Weiner did confirm that AMC asked him to eliminate two characters from the show's cast. He also said that negotiations, which supposedly got under way last summer, only began in earnest three weeks ago, and that he had volunteered to take a pay cut to keep the cast in place.

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Ray Gustini