Audiences for what was the most-watched TV show in the
United States for eight years have slumped to new lows in the
current 12th season, despite the addition of singers Mariah
Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban to the judging panel.

Veteran record producer Randy Jackson, the only member of
the panel to have been with the show since it started in 2002,
announced on Thursday that he was quitting after viewers vote
for their winner next week.

Jackson’s announcement came a day after entertainment
website TheWrap reported that Carey, Minaj and Urban would not
be asked back, along with the show’s longtime executive
producer, Nigel Lythgoe.

TheWrap.com said that Fox television was turning against
paying huge salaries for big-name judges, only to see ratings
fall.

Fox and production company FremantleMedia on Thursday
declined to comment on the overhaul reported by TheWrap that
have overshadowed the battle between singers Angie Miller,
Candice Glover and Kree Harrison to reach the two-part finale.

Carey, one of the world’s best-known recording artists, is
getting a reported $17 million salary, with rapper Minaj pulling
in about $12 million and country singer Urban around $7 million
a year for their jobs on the contest.

Audiences for “American Idol” have fallen to around 12
million viewers per episode in recent months, compared to about
30 million during the show’s heyday in 2006 and 2007.

The show is facing stiff competition from NBC rival “The
Voice.”

The report by TheWrap followed a story in The Hollywood
Reporter last month that said producers had considered a
mid-season replacement of Carey with Jennifer Lopez, who had
quit the panel in 2012.

A Fox television spokeswoman termed that report “another
ridiculous ‘Idol’ judge rumor.”

DIVAS GRAB THE SPOTLIGHT

Minaj told “Idol” host Ryan Seacrest in a Thursday interview
for his E! News show that she enjoyed being a judge. But she
dodged the issue of whether she would be back.

“I feel happy here and I have to thank them for giving me
this chance. They could have picked anyone in the world. And
they picked me. So that’s all I’ll say about that,” Minaj said.

Lyndsey Parker, managing editor of Yahoo! Music, said that
Minaj had been met with a backlash from the core, middle-aged
and family “Idol” audience, especially after reports last year
of a feud between her and Carey.

“I think they were hoping she would bring in some kind of
youthful audience but that doesn’t appear to have happened,”
Parker told Reuters.

As for Carey, “she came to the panel with a lot more
credibility than many others, but I don’t think she is very good
TV – a little bit low energy – and she rambles,” Parker said.

The backstage drama comes in a strong season for women, with
female singers dominating the final rounds for the first time in
years.

On Thursday night, Seacrest will announce which contestants
viewers have chosen to be in the finale in Los Angeles next
Wednesday and Thursday.

Battling for the two spots are piano-playing pop singer
Miller, 18, from Massachusetts; former travel agent turned
powerhouse soul singer Glover, 23, from South Carolina; and
22-year-old country singer Harrison, from Texas, whose personal
story and the loss of both her parents has won as many hearts as
her voice.

Whoever is crowned the new “American Idol” will be the first
female winner since Jordin Sparks in 2007.

Fox is a unit of NewsCorp.

Opening statements are set for Monday in what is expected to be an emotional, three-month long jury trial that seeks to hold AEG Live, the promoters of the never-realized series of 2009 London concerts, liable for the wrongful death of the “Thriller” singer.

The lawsuit, brought by Jackson’s elderly mother Katherine on behalf of the singer’s three children, alleges that privately-held AEG Live was negligent in hiring the physician convicted in 2011 of his involuntary manslaughter to care for the singer while he rehearsed for the series of 50 shows.

Jackson, 50, drowning in debt and seeking to rebuild a reputation damaged by his 2005 trial and acquittal on child molestation charges, died in Los Angeles of an overdose of the powerful surgical anesthetic propofol and a cocktail of other sedatives in June 2009.

His personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, is serving a four-year prison sentence after being found criminally negligent by administering propofol to Jackson as a sleep aid.

Murray’s six-week trial in 2011 portrayed the former child star known for his stunning dance moves and spectacular public performances as a slurring, drugged-up man off-stage who slept with a toy doll on his bed and whose planned comeback tour was plagued with problems.

The civil trial in Los Angeles is expected to be just as sensational, although a request by TV networks for live coverage was turned down.

AEG Live contends that it did not hire or supervise Murray and claims that Jackson had prescription drug problems for years before entering into any agreement for the “This is It” London concerts.

The concert promoters also argue that they could not have foreseen that Murray posed a danger to Jackson.

SEX ABUSE TRIAL MAY BE REVISITED

Los Angeles Superior Court judge Yvette Palazuelos ruled last month that AEG Live can raise Jackson’s 2005 child abuse case as it may be relevant to the singer’s history of prescription drug abuse and despondency.

Jackson’s two oldest children, Prince, 16 and Paris, 15, are on the witness list this time, although neither testified in Murray’s trial. Singers Prince and Diana Ross are also potential witnesses along with the singer’s ex-wives, Lisa-Marie Presley and Debbie Rowe.

“Any time you start injecting family members and rather sensitive issues (into the mix), there are going to be strong feelings,” former federal prosecutor Marcellus McRae told Reuters.

Murray is not being sued but is also on the witness list, although he has made clear from jail that he will refuse to answer questions for fear of jeopardizing his appeal process.

McRae, now a trial lawyer with Los Angeles firm Gibson Dunn, said that while the criminal trial focused heavily on medical and scientific evidence – including a defense theory that Jackson gave himself the fatal dose of propofol – the jury in the civil case has a very different task.

“The jurors are going to be asked to decide to what extent a third party can be held liable for the actions of someone else.

“To what extent did they (AEG Live) have visibility into what Dr. Murray was doing, did they encourage what he was doing? To what extent was whatever Dr. Murray did a reasonable and foreseeable consequence,” McRae said.

Katherine Jackson, 82, and her son’s three children are seeking some $40 billion in damages from AEG Live for loss of the singer’s earnings and other damages.

AEG Live has argued in court papers that the figure is absurd because Jackson’s career was in a downward spiral at the time of his death.

The final amount will be determined by the jury should it hold AEG Live liable for negligence.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Paul Simao)

“The Avengers” picked up three awards, including the top
prize, movie of the year, along with best villain for Tom
Hiddleston’s turn as the evil Loki, and best fight.

“This is the award that means the most to me. I am so
grateful and very excited for 2015 – we’re going to bring you
‘Avengers 2,’” director Joss Wheedon said, accepting the movie
of the year award and confirming that a sequel was in the works.

Jennifer Lawrence added two popcorn-shaped trophies to her
Oscar for her turn as an outspoken young widow in “Silver
Linings Playbook.”

She won for best female performance and shared the best kiss
award with co-star Bradley Cooper, who was voted best male
performance for his role as a bipolar man in the comedy romance.

Hosted by “Pitch Perfect” comedy star Rebel Wilson, the
annual youth-oriented show brought out some of the most popular
stars on television, movies and music.

The MTV Movie Awards, one of Hollywood’s biggest
youth-friendly ceremonies, rewards movie performances from the
past year as well as promoting upcoming blockbusters and new
music.

A heavily pregnant Kim Kardashian, dressed in a modest,
long-sleeved black dress, and Brad Pitt whose new movie “World
War Z” opens in June, were among the presenters while teen
singer Selena Gomez debuted her new single “Come & Get It.”

KEEPING IT EDGY

Wilson, who took home the breakthrough performance award for
her role as Fat Amy in musical comedy “Pitch Perfect,” kept up a
stream of edgy jokes about male and female sexuality, appearing
at one point with a fake extra nipple.

Seth Rogen and Danny McBride dropped their pants in a skit
on male physiques and “Twilight” heartthrob Taylor Lautner
turned up sporting a false beer gut to collect his trophy for
best shirtless performance.

Fans, who vote online for the awards, chose “Django
Unchained” actors Jamie Foxx and Samuel L. Jackson for best “WTF
moment” for the scene in which Foxx’s vengeful slave berates and
unleashes a volley of gunshots at Jackson’s servile black
manservant.

Foxx was also honored with the MTV Generation Award.

Viewers for the more than two hour-show broadcast around the
world live from Los Angeles were treated to sneak peeks of “Iron
Man 3,” and “Star Trek Into Darkness” ahead of their openings
around in late April and May.

They also got a first exclusive look at “The Hunger Games:
Catching Fire” ahead of the release in November of the sequel to
the young adult hit movie.

Emma Watson, 22, who found fame as brainy schoolgirl
Hermione Granger in the first “Harry Potter” movie in 2001, was
presented with the Trailblazer Award. She has gone on to make
some 15 movies, including lead roles in all eight Potter films.

“I look back at all of the work I have done over the past 14
years and many things come to mind, notably how bad my hair was
in the first Harry Potter film!” the British actress joked,
accepting her award. “Becoming yourself is really hard and
confusing,” she added.

Will Ferrell won the Comedic Genius Award for his long
career on film and television including “Elf,” “Saturday Night
Live” and “Anchorman.”

Raunchy comedy “Ted,” which went into Sunday’s award show
with seven nominations, ended the evening with just one win -
best on-screen duo for Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane’s
crude, inappropriate talking teddy bear.

(Editing by Eric Walsh)

Hosted by “Pitch Perfect” comedy star Rebel Wilson, the
annual youth-oriented show also handed out early prizes to
Cooper and his co-star Jennifer Lawrence for best kiss for their
clinch at the end of the comedy romance.

“Django Unchained” actors Jamie Foxx and Samuel L. Jackson
took home popcorn-shaped trophies for best “WTF moment” for the
scene in which Foxx’s vengeful slave berates and unleashes a
volley of gunshots at Jackson’s servile black manservant.

The MTV Movie Awards, one of Hollywood’s biggest
youth-friendly ceremonies, rewards movie performances from the
past year as well as promoting upcoming blockbusters and new
music.

Fans will be treated later to the first sneak peek of “The
Hunger Games: Catching Fire” ahead of the release in November of
the sequel to the young adult hit movie.

Watson, 22, found fame as brainy schoolgirl Hermione
Granger in the first “Harry Potter” movie in 2001. She has gone
on to make some 15 movies, including lead roles in all eight
Potter films.

“I look back at all of the work I have done over the past 14
years and many things come to mind, notably how bad my hair was
in the first Harry Potter film!” the British actress joked,
accepting her award.

“Becoming yourself is really hard and confusing,” she added.

“Django Unchained” and raunchy comedy “Ted” went into
Sunday’s ceremony with a leading seven nominations apiece,
including the top prize, movie of the year.

Winners are chosen by fans and voting for the movie of the
year continues throughout the two-hour ceremony broadcast live
on MTV around the world from Los Angeles.

The comic book superheroes of “The Avengers” won the best
fight category, with popular, tongue-in-cheek awards like best
shirtless performance and best villain to be presented later.

Foxx is also being honored on Sunday with the MTV Generation
Award, while Will Ferrell won the Comedic Genius Award for his
long career on film and television including “Elf,” “Saturday
Night Live” and “Anchorman.”

(Editing by Eric Walsh)

Forget the artist seen in his own self-portrait as a wizened, bearded old man.

The Leonardo of “Da Vinci’s Demons” is a fearless, reckless, swashbuckling 25-year-old, who sports 21st century hair gel and an impressive six-pack.

The eight-episode drama, premiering on U.S. cable channel Starz on Friday and around the world later this month, follows the “untold story” of the original Renaissance Man through the eyes of David Goyer, one of the developers of the “Call of Duty” hit videogame franchise.

“I had always had a fascination with da Vinci and I was amazed there had never been a movie specifically about him or a TV show, which strikes me as kind of crazy,” Goyer told Reuters.

“I don’t know anyone who has ever achieved or mastered all the things that he did. And he was a colorful character. His life was filled with a lot of controversy, which is always good,” Goyer said.

And, in a gift for any creative mind, there are few records of what da Vinci was doing, or where he was, between the ages of 28 and 32.

“Those gaps give a creator more permission to invent things. It’s a historical fantasy that has a certain element of magical realism to it.

“I also wanted a very modern graphic novel approach, and that extends into costumes, music, visual effects and the way we photographed it,” added Goyer, who also co-wrote the stories for Batman movies “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises.”

British actor Tom Riley plays da Vinci as a rising artist in 15th century Florence, already designing flying machines, military equipment, flirting with his models, bedding a mistress of the powerful Medici family and embarking on a quest for the mythical “Book of Leaves.”

His adventures are played out against intrigue and tension between the ruling Medicis in Florence and Pope Sixtus IV in Rome, with plenty of male and female nudity, sex, murder, plotting and sword-fighting.

The TV series, co-produced with a unit of BBC Worldwide Productions and filmed mostly among the ancient castles of Wales, will be shown on pay channels in 120 nations in April.

It is also expected to become one of the most successful ventures by Starz into original programming after the channel’s historical gladiator action franchise, “Spartacus,” that began in 2011.

Despite the creative license, Goyer said that many of the events in “Da Vinci’s Demons” are based on historical records and that most of the characters really existed.

But he also wanted to inject enjoyment into the story of the sculptor, architect, inventor and anatomist who gave the world iconic masterpieces like “The Last Supper,” “Vitruvian Man” and the “Virgin of the Rocks.”

“I wanted to make sure it is fun. I hope audiences have a good time. If they decide to learn more about history because of it, that is great as well. I just want TV to be challenging and fun and different,” he said.

Starz is a unit of Starz Entertainment.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Sandra Maler)

“It is with a heavy heart we report that legendary film critic Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago) has passed away,” the Chicago Sun-Times, the newspaper where Ebert, 70, worked for decades, said on Twitter.

“There is a hole that can’t be filled. One of the greats has left us,” the newspaper added.

Ebert, who was dubbed by Forbes magazine in 2007 as the most powerful pundit in America, was one of the mostly widely read U.S. movie critics, known for more than 40 years of insightful, sometimes sarcastic and often humorous reviews.

“For a generation of Americans – and especially Chicagoans – Roger was the movies,” President Barack Obama said in a statement. “When he didn’t like a film, he was honest; when he did, he was effusive – capturing the unique power of the movies to take us somewhere magical.”

Ebert’s reviews appeared in more than 200 newspapers and in 1975 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, the first film critic to do so. But his most visible role was as one of the hosts of a popular television movie review show with Gene Siskel, a reviewer from the rival Chicago Tribune.

The program began airing in the 1970s on a Chicago public television station and eventually ran nationally under various names, including “Siskel & Ebert.” The sometimes sparring pair later trademarked their “Two thumbs up!” seal of approval for movies.

After Siskel died in 1999 at age 53 due to complications from surgery for a brain tumor, Ebert teamed with critic Richard Roeper on another movie review show. He later left the program for health reasons.

Ebert lost his ability to speak and eat after surgeries for thyroid and salivary gland cancer in 2002 and 2003 and again in 2006.

But it did not stop him from working.

On Tuesday, Ebert had posted a blog entry saying he was taking a “leave of presence” and scaling back his work after doctors diagnosed his cancer had returned. He said it was discovered by doctors after he fractured his hip in December.

“The ‘painful fracture’ that made it difficult for me to walk has recently been revealed to be a cancer,” Ebert said in the blog posting, giving no further details about the type of cancer or diagnosis.

“I am not going away,” he added. “My intent is to continue to write selected reviews … What’s more, I’ll be able at last to do what I’ve always fantasized about doing: reviewing only the movies I want to review.”

News of Ebert’s death provoked an outpouring of tributes on Twitter.

“A great man. I miss him already,” tweeted Roeper, his fellow Sun-Times film critic and TV co-host.

Millions of thumbs up for you,” wrote documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, referring to his catchphrase. Comedian Steve Martin tweeted: “Goodbye Roger Ebert, we had fun. The balcony is closed.”

“Rest in Peace, Roger. You were simply the best,” wrote “Jaws” actor Richard Dreyfuss on Twitter.

MOVIE BOOKS, SCREENPLAY, COOKBOOK

Born on June 18, 1942, in Urbana, Illinois, south of Chicago, Ebert attended the University of Illinois and was editor of the school newspaper, the Daily Illini. From 1958 until 1966, he worked at the News Gazette in Champaign-Urbana, where he had snagged a job as a sportswriter at the age of 15, then moved to the Chicago Sun-Times in 1967.

Along with film criticism, Ebert authored several books on movies and filmmakers, including 1980′s “Werner Herzog: Images at the Horizon,” about the famed director, as well as titles like “I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie,” in 2000.

He even co-wrote the screenplay for the 1970 film “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

But it was reviewing movies that Ebert loved most and he was prolific at cranking out criticism. In print, his reviews were voluminous and omnivorous, reflecting an encyclopedic knowledge about and appetite for the genre.

He liked to say he would go out of his way to review foreign films, documentaries and little-known independent movies that other critics passed on, and he cranked out hundreds of reviews and essays annually.

Ebert’s earlier bouts of cancer cost him his lower jaw. He communicated through notes and a mechanized voice as well as on the Internet, but he could not eat normally and received nutrition through a tube.

“I can remember the taste and smell of everything, even though I can no longer taste or smell,” he told a New York Times interviewer in 2010, when Ebert published a cookbook, “The Pot and How to Use It.”

“The jokes, gossip, laughs, arguments and shared memories I miss,” he wrote of missing out on the talk at table.

(Additional reporting by Eric Kelsey, Bob Tourtellotte, Mike Conlon and Andrew Stern; Editing by Peter Cooney)

“It is with a heavy heart we report that legendary film critic Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago) has passed away,” the newspaper where Ebert worked for decades said on Twitter.

“There is a hole that can’t be filled. One of the greats has left us. Roger Ebert has passed away at the age of 70,” the Chicago Sun-Times added.

Ebert gained national prominence with fellow Chicago film critic Gene Siskel on the television show “At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert,” coining the phrase “Two Thumbs Up.” After Siskel’s death in 1999, Ebert teamed with critic Richard Roeper, but later quit for health reasons.

Ebert, one of the most widely read movie critics in the United States, lost his ability to speak and eat after surgeries for thyroid and salivary gland cancer in 2002 and 2003.

On Tuesday, he posted a blog entry saying he was taking a “leave of presence” from his more than 40-year career and scaling back his work after doctors diagnosed his cancer had returned.

It was discovered by doctors after he fractured his hip in December.

The ‘painful fracture’ that made it difficult for me to walk has recently been revealed to be a cancer,” Ebert said in the blog posting, giving no further details about the type of cancer or diagnosis.

“I am not going away,” he added. “My intent is to continue to write selected reviews … What’s more, I’ll be able at last to do what I’ve always fantasized about doing: reviewing only the movies I want to review.”

Ebert’s reviews were syndicated to more than 200 newspapers and he had been reviewing films for the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967. He won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1975.

Forbes magazine dubbed Ebert the most powerful pundit in America in 2007.

(Additional reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Pare, 30, returns on Sunday as Megan Draper, the most vibrant of Don Draper’s mysterious assets, while her character forges ahead with her new career as an actress in late 1960s New York.

Reuters spoke with Pare about playing Megan, how she deals with her new found fame, and the hardest thing about being part of “Mad Men.”

Q: You were the delightful surprise of last season and your character is now becoming a star in her own right. What’s it like being back again?

A: Last season was nerve wracking for me because I felt like the stakes were a lot higher, whereas before I had nothing to lose … I was nervous to do really well and that people would like me. (After a while) because I was on set almost every day of the week I was too busy to be thinking about those things and what the audience might think. That’s not my job. I am there to tell Megan’s story.

Q: How would you describe Megan as a person?

A: She is very optimistic. She is very joyful, vibrant and passionate about life. I think that last season we saw her make a really interesting choice to pursue her passion for performing, despite the fact that she had a very comfortable, very interesting job and she was good at it.

(In the new season) she has the acting job, she is finally working. She has the career of her dreams and the man of her dreams. She sees a Don that nobody else sees. She sees this amazing, romantic, handsome, dynamic, fun, interesting person and somebody warm and loving, and nobody else sees him that way. But then she is not able to see that other side of him that everybody else sees.

Q: How much is Megan like you?

A: A lot (laughs) … She is from Montreal and her brother is a professor and she is an actor! Aside from those things, I think I share her optimism and her joie de vivre.

Q: Last season you had a lot of racy scenes, often in your underwear. How hard are those to do, or is it fun pretending to make love to Jon Hamm?

A: It’s part of the performance. I never had hang-ups about that kind of thing. I think sex is an important part of our relationships.

Q: Are we going to see any more of your singing?

A: I don’t know …(giggles)

Q: How much advance notice do you get of the script or plots or character development from creator Matt Weiner?

A: I think he would give a performer a heads-up if there was something we needed to work on. But normally we wouldn’t find out until the script comes out a few days before the cast table reading.

Q: That must be nerve-wracking.

A: I like it. It was something I had to learn how to contend with. Before, I had worked more in film where you are handed your character arc before you even set foot on the set. The special challenge is to not anticipate anything in your performance.

Q: What’s the hardest thing about doing “Mad Men” for you?

A: That it doesn’t last all year?! (laughs) I love this job, the writing is so incredible and the stories we get to tell … It’s really important to all of us and we all believe in what we are doing. The hardest thing? Sometimes it’s really hard not to eat the chocolate!

Q: I was thinking of all the herbal cigarettes and the iced tea or whatever it is they use for all the whiskey.

A: I now love the taste of the non-alcoholic wine, the herbal cigarettes smell like heaven to me. The smell of hairspray always makes me feel good, because it makes me feel like I am working.

Q: Do you get recognized in the street now? How are you dealing with fame?

A: It’s good, it’s fun. I do (get recognized). No one is more excited than I am. I get into elevators sometimes and people just stop talking, and I am fighting so hard … Part of me is like ‘Do it! You’ll make their day.’ And the other half of me is like ‘Stop it! Don’t be stupid, they don’t know who you are. They just shut up because you have a giant piece of kale on your teeth.’

Q: I know you can’t give away the plot but I do hope we are going to see Megan throughout this new season?

A: Ooooh. I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you.

(Editing by Patricia Reaney; and Jackie Frank)

That is about all the detail that Matthew Weiner, creator of the Emmy-winning 1960s-era drama, wants viewers to know ahead of the two-hour premiere of the sixth, penultimate season that he says is packed with more than its usual share of action.

Weiner, who is known for eschewing the plot leaks, trailers and teasers that promote most other TV shows, says the opening scenes capture the overall theme of the new season.

“This season is really an answer to the question (posed to Draper) at the end of last season – ‘Are you alone?’,” Weiner told Reuters.

“This season is about Don Draper’s identity crisis and that of all the show’s characters. … It’s not being caused because he is out of touch with society, or because he is old. This is his problem and society has caught up with him. The whole world is in the same state as Don Draper.”

The last season of “Mad Men” ended in the spring of 1967 with enigmatic advertising genius Draper (Jon Hamm) newly married to his vivacious aspiring actress wife Megan (played by Jessica Pare), his protégé Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss) departed for a rival outfit, and his New York firm on the brink of expanding after a tough financial year.

Just as the United States and much of the Western world was on the brink of big social and political upheaval in the late 1960s, so too are the characters of “Mad Men.”

“Mad Men,” broadcast in the United States on cable channel AMC, is credited with driving a new era of smart, complex drama on both cable and network television since it first appeared in 2007 and went on to win four Emmy awards for best drama series.

Yet for all its influence in reviving interest in 1960s fashion and design, Weiner says “Mad Men” has never been just a history lesson or even merely a character study but rather a way of using the past to illustrate the present.

LOTS OF PLOT

“I always use the historical events to illuminate the issues of the characters,” said Weiner, who was a philosophy and history major in college. “Don comes first, and Don comes from me and where I am in my life and what I think is going on in the world.”

“What I am feeling right now is that the economic and political situation in the year the show is set and right now are very different from each other. But there is a similar sense of identity being adrift,” he added, noting current anxiety over job security and advances in technology that sometimes appear to separate rather than unite people.

If that sounds a lot to digest in a TV show, Weiner says he hopes viewers will allow each episode to “marinate” in their minds, rather than watching several episodes in “binge-viewing” sessions.

And for those who thrive on the slow-burning drama that has characterized past “Mad Men” seasons, Weiner promises plenty of action this year as the series begins to draw to a close.

“There are a lot of events and plot and a lot of exciting things that happen based on Don’s personality, his impulsiveness. Some of it comes from goodness some of it comes from childishness.

“Some people say it’s a soap opera – I don’t consider it an insult. If that’s the genre, they are really going to enjoy this year. If I was in the audience I would be happy the way the show turns out,” he said.

Weiner has long said that he plans to end the story with Season 7, due to be broadcast in 2014.

“I don’t know if it’s enough (time) for me to finish telling the story but I do not want to overstay my welcome. The longer you do a show the harder it gets … and I don’t want to repeat myself,” he said.

The series’ unbroken run of Emmy wins was halted in September 2012 when psychological thriller “Homeland” swept the TV industry’s most coveted award as best drama series and drama actor and actress.

Weiner said the goal of “Mad Men” had never been to win trophies, but the loss was disappointing for the entire cast and crew just as filming for Season 6 was beginning.

“An award is literally a gift that comes from outside … But I am a human being and I am always, always sure we are not going to win, and I did not know it would feel that bad (to lose). The fact that we won ever is a shock to me.”

(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Jackson’s elderly mother Katherine is suing AEG Live, the
promoters of a never-realized series of 2009 London concerts,
for the wrongful death of her son, alleging they were negligent
in hiring Dr Conrad Murray to care for the singer while he
rehearsed for a planned series of 50 shows.

AEG Live contends that it did not hire or supervise Murray
and claims that Jackson had prescription drug and addiction
problems for years before entering into any agreement with it
for the “This is it” London concerts.

The concert promoters also argue that they could not have
foreseen that Murray posed a danger to Jackson.

Jackson’s mother, his two oldest children Prince, 16, and
Paris, who turns 15 on Wednesday, as well as Murray, are all on
the witness list in what promises to be days of emotional
testimony about the death of the “Thriller” singer.

Murray, who is not being sued, was convicted in 2011 for the
involuntary manslaughter of Jackson after a long trial that
depicted the singer known for his spectacular public shows as an
odd, sometimes slurring, drug-dependent person when off-stage.

Jury selection could take several days as potential members
are asked about their ability to serve in a long trial. In the
search for an impartial panel, they will also be quizzed about
their knowledge of Jackson’s death in June 2009 and Murray’s
subsequent trial.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos on
Tuesday agreed to consider again requests from TV broadcasters
CNN and NBC for live coverage of the wrongful death trial that
is expected to last two to three months.

Attorneys for Katherine Jackson support the idea of live
coverage but AEG opposes the notion. The concert promoters have
also asked the judge to issue gag orders that would prevent both
legal teams from talking to the media during the trial.

According to celebrity website TMZ.com, Katherine Jackson
and Michael Jackson’s children are seeking more than $40 billion
in damages from privately held AEG Live for loss of the singer’s
earnings and other damages.

Attorneys for AEG Live have argued that the figure is absurd
because Jackson’s career was in a downward spiral, according to
TMZ.com.

Jackson, 50, died in Los Angeles on June 25, 2009 from a
lethal dose of the surgical anesthetic propofol that Murray was
administering for sleep problems. The day before he had been in
final rehearsals for the concerts due to start on July 13.

Judge Palazuelos ruled last month that AEG Live could raise
Jackson’s 2005 trial and acquittal on child molestation charges
as part of their defense as it may be relevant to the singer’s
history of drug abuse and despondency.

Although the pop star was cleared on all charges of
molesting a 13-year-old boy he had befriended at his Neverland
Ranch in central California, his reputation was badly tarnished,
his music career slumped and he ran up huge debts.

(Editing by Eric Walsh)