Can viewers suffering from "Mad Men" withdrawal seek solace in a 16th-century Chinese fable? U.S. television network AMC hopes so.

The cable network announced Friday that it plans to produce six, one-hour episodes loosely based on theJourney to the West, a famed Chinese tale in which a ragtag group of adventurers including a monkey with supernatural powers and a creature who's half human, half pig travel west to procure a set of holy scriptures. The martial arts drama will be titled "Badlands"and is slated for a late 2015 or early 2016 premiere.

The series' title may conjure up images of Martin Sheen in Terrence Malik's 1973 film of the same name, but this version of "Badlands" will tell "the story of a warrior and a young boy who travel across a dangerous land controlled by feudal barons to find enlightenment," said AMC. The cable network said the show will be created by Al Gough and Miles Millar in partnership with Stacy Sher of Pulp Fiction, Michael Shamberg of Contagion and master martial arts filmmakers Stephen Fung and Daniel Wu.

AMC, fresh off its smash hit "Mad Men," a drama chronicling the lives of employees at a 1960s ad agency, said it hopes "Badlands" can replicate that show's success. "This creative team has so much expertise in bringing a fresh take to classic genres from their film and television experience, and their take on martial arts will be no exception," said Joel Stillerman, AMC's executive vice president of original programming, production and digital content.

While executives don't say they're trying to tap into the Chinese market with the new series, there's a chance they might. The fact that Journey of the West is coming to U.S. television screens has been widely circulated on Chinese social media, where thousands of people have left comments, many lauding the news.

Some Chinese commentators on Monday were skeptical, saying that the series would surely to fail in attempting to capture the magic of Journey to the West, a tale that's standard childhood fare in China.

Chinese viewers have been burned before. The original TV series "Journey to the West" was broadcast on China's Central Television network in 1986 and has been remade countless times since. Many versions of the tale have sputtered amid poor special effects, bad costuming and cheesy dialogue. One version that aired on the Hong Kong station TVB earlier this year received a record 1,100 complaints, with viewers scoffing at the production quality and saying the choice of the show was too dated.

The "Badlands" storyline isn't expected to exactly mirror the plot of the old fable. But some Chinese viewers don't seem to mind new takes on the old story. A 3D movie version, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, pulled in $196.7 million in China last year.

Note: An earlier version of this post mistakenly identified the decade in which 'Mad Men' is set. Thanks to a reader for pointing out the error.

-- Laurie Burkitt and Te-Ping Chen