"Mad Men" won't return until 2012

Updated at 2:20 p.m. ET

(CBS) At 11:10 a.m., the New York Times' Brian Stelter tweeted, "Confirmed: AMC says 'Mad Men' won't be back on television until early 2012. More soon."

First: WHAT?

Second: Here's the "More soon."

Pictures: "Mad Men" season 4 premiere
Pictures: "Mad Men" finale

AMC confirmed that "Mad Men" will not return to TV until early 2012 because of a contract dispute with Matthew Weiner, the show's creator, writes Stelter in a NYTimes Arts Beat post.

AMC said it's ordered a fifth season of the show, but released a statement that episodes would not be ready for a summer premiere. "While we are getting a later start than in years past due to ongoing, key non-cast negotiations, 'Mad Men' will be back for a fifth season in early 2012," the channel said, according to the Times.

"Non-cast negotiations," the report notes, is a reference to Weiner.

In other news, "HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO WAIT TO LEARN OF THE RAMIFICATIONS FROM DON'S DECISION TO PROPOSE TO HIS FRENCH-CANADIAN SECRETARY?"

UPDATE: Deadline reports that Weiner objects to three things that AMC and Lionsgate have asked for: They want to integrate product placement into the show; the want to cut two minutes running time from each episode to add commercials; they want to eliminate or reduce two regular cast members to save money.

Read the full New York Times blog post here.