'Mad Men' Season 5: Cast Talks Return
The cast of AMC's hit drama "Mad Men" has appeared on "The Today" Monday morning to discuss the show's upcoming season.
After 17 months, the highly-anticipated fifth season of the television series will return this Sunday.
Jon Hamm who plays Don Draper on the show was the first of the cast members to speak up when "Today Show" host Matt Lauer asked the group, "Where the heck have you been?"
"We were hiding, we decided to take some time off and solve some issues, and now we're back," said Hamm.
The show's creator Matt Weiner explained that despite the show being off-air, the actors and everyone behind the scenes of "Mad Men" has been hard at work.
"I went back to work in May and they [the cast] came back in August so really it was just a three or four months longer than usual," said the writer and "Man Men" creator.
Weiner noted that the show's delay was due to AMC's decision to air the show in the Spring of 2012.
Fellow "Mad Men" stars John Slattery, January Jones, and Jared Harris also appeared on "Today" explaining the show's hiatus.
"It's an unfortunately long hiatus," said Slattery, who portrays Roger Sterling in the AMC series. "But I think now you can DVR shows, you can actually find the show in ways you couldn't before. So we're actually hoping it whetted peoples' appetites more."
Describing the show's widespread appeal and critical acclaim, Weiner said "Mad Men" is "not judgmental."
"There's something about it that embraces on some level that we are flawed people… People behave badly; it's why the 10 commandments are there," said the writer.
The two-hour premiere of "Mad Men" season five shows on AMC Sunday, March 25 at 9 p.m EST.
On April 1 this show will return to its regular time slot at 10 p.m. with an episode directed by the show's star Jon Hamm.