'Mad Men' returns to AMC on August 16

Jon Hamm of AMC's 'Mad Men'

Credit: AMC

Confirming what had long been merely rumor, AMC has set a Sunday, August 16 premiere date for the third season of "Mad Men."

The third season premiere for the Emmy-winning drama will air at 10 p.m. with limited commercial interruptions.

"Mad Men" resumed production in May after a slightly tumultuous off-season in which series creator Matthew Weiner didn't reach a new agreement with Lionsgate Television until mid-January, as the production company reportedly briefly flirted with bringing in a new showrunner. Everybody made nice, though. Whew.

If you're figuring that it's too late to catch up on the chronicle of 1960s ad men (and women), you couldn't be any more wrong. If you have AMC On Demand, the first season is now available to watch in both standard and high-definition. You can also stream the pilot on AMC's website.

In addition, AMC has scheduled a Season Two "Mad Men" marathon of 13 episodes for Sunday, August 10 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

"Mad Men" was recently nominated for three Television Critics Association Awards including Outstanding Achievement in Drama, Outstanding Individual Achievement in Drama for star Jon Hamm and Program of the Year, an award it also won last year.

In addition to Hamm, the show's ensemble includes January Jones, Elisabeth Moss, John Slattery, Vince Kartheiser, Christina Hendricks, Michael Gladis, Aaron Staton, Rich Sommer Bryan Batt and Robert Morse.

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

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A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.