AMC has announced that Mad Men’s seventh and final season will air in two parts, similar to Breaking Bad’s final season.

In the announcement, posted over at Deadline, the network said that the first six episodes of season seven will air in Spring 2014. The last seven episodes will be saved for Spring 2015. It did not say if the season seven premiere will be two hours, as the show has done for the last two seasons.

This plan mirrors the one AMC used to drag out Breaking Bad’s fifth and final season. AMC split the season into two eight-episode parts.

“This approach has worked well for many programs across multiple networks, and, most recently for us with Breaking Bad which attracted nearly double the number of viewers to its second half premiere than had watched any previous episode,” Charlie Collier, AMC president, said in a statement. “We are determined to bring Mad Men a similar showcase. In an era where high-end content is savored and analyzed, and catch-up time is used well to drive back to live events, we believe this is the best way to release the now 14 episodes than remain of this iconic series.”

Creator Matthew Weiner praised the idea, noting, “The writers, cast and other artists welcome this unique manner of ending this unique experience.”

Mad Men>a has been one of the most widely praised shows in recent memory, earning the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series for its first four seasons. Jon Hamm also won a Golden Globe for playing ad executive Don Draper.

AMC has been very busy in recent days, greenlighting spin-offs for The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad.

image: AMC