Mad Men’s Jon Hamm gets eight-figures to stay

Mad Men is among the most popular shows currently on air and one of its stars, Jon Hamm just signed a new contract to stay for three years – and his paycheck is well into eight figures.

The new deal with AMC and the show’s production firm, Lionsgate makes the 40-year old Missouri-born actor [seen here with long-time girlfriend Jennifer Westfeldt] one of the highest paid performers now on TV, with expected earnings of at least $250,000 a show.

Jon’s deal follows a similar pact signed by Mad Men’s creator, Matt Weiner which ties him to AMC until 2014 and keeps the show in production for two more seasons at least – at which point AMC can reap the rewards of that highly popular cash-cow called syndication.

Contract talks with the two key players were so  involved they stalled work on the new season of ‘Men’ until March 2012 – nearly 18-months after season four closed. But production on season five has now started, we’re told.

You can see AMC’s motivation – ‘Mad Men’ is the first basic-cable series to ever win the ‘Best Drama’ Emmy. And it won it not once but three times – 2008, ‘09 and ‘10.

But Lionsgate are not in the clear yet – The rest of the cast are expected to ask for [and get] significant raises in exchange for longer contracts. And while they might not get the same numbers as Jon it’s a safe bet Mad Men will be gracing your screen for a long while yet…

Source: THR