Mad Men Season 3: The Pauses That Refresh

Before the drama Mad Men could return for its third season, AMC and creator Matthew Weiner had to resolve a conflict over — fittingly for a series set on Madison Avenue — advertising. The network wanted to add two minutes of ads; Weiner didn't want to cut the show. The eventual compromise — each episode will run an hour and two minutes — preserves the show's generous run time, 48 minutes or so sans commercials, compared with 42-ish for ...