'Mad Men': Matthew Weiner quit during Season 5 negotiations

We know 17 months is a long time to wait for Season 5 of "Mad Men," which premieres March 25 on AMC, but how about an even longer delay of, say, forever. That's almost what happened when, during this season's negotiations between show creator Matthew Weiner and AMC and Lionsgate, Weiner tells the New York Times he quit the series.

"Yes, I quit, at the negotiation. ... And in the end, everything worked out," Weiner says.

That sound you heard was a collective sigh of relief from fans of the show who have been holding their breath since October 2010 when Don Draper (Jon Hamm) proposed to his assistant Megan (Jessica Paré).

"I always end every season like it's the end of the show," he says. "There was a terror in me that someone else would come in and do it. And I don't know how they would do it, but I would have to live with that. In the most protective and demanding way, I did not feel that it was worth going back to work to make a show that was not the show I'd been making."