With the final season of Mad Men drawing ever closer, Lionsgate COO Sandra Stern has revealed to THR that AMC had been considering potential spin-offs for Peggy and Sally.



The conversation apparently took place during the break between seasons four and five, when creator Matthew Weiner was locked in negotiations with the network over the future of the show…



“When we first started negotiating with AMC, one of the things they wanted was a spin-off,” says Stern. “We talked about doing a contemporary one. Given the fact that [Mad Men] ends nearly 50 years ago, most of the characters would be dead.”



“Sally was the one character young enough that you could see her 30 or 40 years later. There was a time we wanted a Peggy spin­off, too, and, a la Better Call Saul, a minor character going off to LA. Matt wasn’t comfortable committing to a spin-off.”



Better Call Saul has shown that a spin-off can serve as a welcome companion piece to an existing series, although we’re not sure how such a period-specific show as Mad Men would benefit from a modern-day follow-up…



In any case, the final series will begin its US run on 5 April, with seven hour-long episodes set to bring the saga to a close.



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