The negotiations between "Mad Men" creator Matt Weiner and AMC and Lionsgate are now precarious after foundering on three proposals that Weiner objects to, reports Deadline.com.

Weiner is objecting to inserting product placement into the series, cutting two minutes from each episode in order to add more commercials and cutting two regular cast members to save money, the story notes. Representatives for Liongsate and AMC say negotiations are continuing, but the article says that talks are about to collapse because of these three issues.

The piece notes that a similar dispute over an extra two minutes of commercial time arose two years ago, with the sides ultimately agreeing to allow episodes to run past the 11 p.m. mark so more commercials could be added without cutting the script. Even if the episodes are cut by two minutes, each episode will still be longer than most basic cable drama series, the story notes.