The Insider.com

The wait is almost over for Mad Men's fifth season as series star Jon Hamm broke the news that March 25, 2012 would be the big premiere!

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By the time it returns, the Emmy-winning series will have been off the air for 17 months!

The longer than usual wait was due to slightly hostile contract renegotiations with creator Matt Weiner back in March.

According to The Film Stage, Hamm revealed the premiere date on the Doug Loves Movies podcast -- a date an inside source confirms to me to be true. While little is known of the new season, it has been established that Hamm also directs the first episode of the new season.

UPDATE: AMC has confirmed that Mad Men will return on March 25, while also announcing that The Killing will premiere on April 1 and season three of The Walking Dead has been expanded to 16 episodes.