New Season of 'Mad Men' to Start April 7

"Mad Men" will return to U.S. television for a sixth season on April 7 with a special two-hour premiere written by its creator Matthew Weiner, the AMC cable channel said Wednesday.

In a statement, AMC said the multiple Emmy award-winning series centered on a New York advertising agency in the 1960s will again feature original cast members Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, John Slattery and Christina Hendricks.

"To be able to continue exploring the stories of these characters for a sixth season is an amazing opportunity," Weiner said in the statement.

"We love mining this world (of Madison Avenue advertising executives in a decade of change) and look forward to bringing the audience stories that we hope will continue to both surprise and entertain them."

Season five -- seen by 3.5 million viewers -- premiered in March 2012, several months later than expected due to a contract row between AMC and Weiner that was ultimately resolved to both sides' satisfaction.

The critically acclaimed series -- which won the best-drama Emmy in each of its first four seasons -- is scheduled to run a total of seven seasons.