Perhaps as penance for those many shaky months we spent fretting whether Mad Men would even get another season and digging up embarrassing backstage drama, Matthew Weiner seems to be going out of his way to set minds at ease lately. First he reassured everyone that, no, Elisabeth Moss had not suddenly abandoned her second-billed co-starring role, don't be ridiculous. And today comes the news that Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, January Jones, and Christina Hendricks are all close to deals to remain with the show, alongside the already-locked-in Jon Hamm, through its seventh and likely final season.
Deadline reports that Moss, Kartheiser, and Jones are all expected to get "salary bumps salary bumps well into six figures per episode" for continuing to provide, respectively: social commentary, animated GIFs, and Pizza House; creeping melancholy, a cathartic punching bag of a face, and the constant anticipation of a sudden murder spree; and an increasingly swollen vessel in which to pour all of your criticisms. (Hendricks, meanwhile, is said to be negotiating separately for her own "big pay hike," which is inherently funny because of what she did for that on the show.) Of course, other stars such as John Slattery, Rich Sommer, Jessica Paré et al. are not mentioned in this latest contract update, so in grand Mad Men tradition, it's probably time to begin worrying that all of their characters are going to die soon.