Los Angeles, Apr 4 (EFE).– The winding down of the critically acclaimed “Mad Men” saga, hailed by Rolling Stone magazine as the best drama series of all time, marks an end of an era for the AMC cable network and U.S. television and will be must-see viewing over the next several weeks for millions of Americans.

The final seven of the series’ 92 episodes, termed “works of art” by AMC President and General Manager Charlie Collier, will air from April 5 to May 17.

Although the final broadcasts are shrouded in secrecy, “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner told Efe in 2011 that the task of bringing closure to the series was comparable to making an exquisite dessert.

He said then he wanted to have the “perfect cognac” that leaves an aftertaste in the mouth but does so within the parameters of the series, adding that there is no need for surprises.

Jon Hamm, who plays brilliant advertising executive Don Draper, the series’ main protagonist, said in a recent interview with GQ magazine that “the one constant thing I’ve had in my career is now removed.”

“And that’s an eye-opener: Are people still going to take me seriously? Am I just going to do romantic comedies for the rest of my life? What’s next? And I don’t know, you know? I wish I was smug enough to have had a grand plan,” the 44-year-old actor said.

He recently underwent 30 days in rehab for alcohol abuse, and his partner, Jennifer Westfeldt, told GQ that “the darkness of Don has weighed heavily” on Hamm.

“Mad Men” drew just around 1 million viewers in its first season, which aired in 2007 and introduced Americans to the staff of the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency in Manhattan, but its popularity more than tripled as its reputation grew as a sophisticated and gripping examination of life during the socially turbulent 1960s.

The winner of 15 Emmys and four Golden Globes, the series also has captivated audiences with its depiction of that era’s male chauvinist work world, with its chain-smoking and martini-drinking executives and their sexual liaisons, as well as its accurate re-creation of fashion trends of that time. EFE