If “Sons of Anarchy” is planned to run at least seven seasons, then some of the first steps have already been taken.
At the end of January, “Sons of Anarchy” creator Kurt Sutter revealed that he had signed a three year deal with FX and 20th Century Fox TV to continue producing the series while also allowing him to develop new shows for both broadcast and cable networks.
“Closed my deal for 3 more years on ‘SOA.’ No headlines, no pushed schedule, no stealing from paul. Thank you FX and 20th for your generosity,” wrote Sutter on his Twitter account. Sutter’s comments obliquely referenced the turmoil of Matthew Weiner’s protracted negotiations “Mad Men” with AMC; which Sutter has previously blamed for gutting the budget of “The Walking Dead” and AMC’s rumored attempt to cut down the episode count on the final season of “Breaking Bad.”
On Friday, FX quietly confirmed that sixth season of “Sons of Anarchy” had been picked up, which puts the series that much closer to Sutter’s seven year plan. However, Sutter added that “if there is more story to tell beyond that, then we’ll decide then.”
Last season on “Sons of Anarchy,” Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) finally took the reigns of SAMCRO after learning that his step-father, Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman) was responsible for the death of his father and the botched hit/kidnapping attempt of Tara Knowles (Maggie Siff). While that conflict will obviously extend into the fifth season, Sutter also revealed that he has been considering a “Sons of Anarchy” prequel series about the early days of John Teller and Clay.
“I informally pitched the 1st 9 idea to FX, wrote Sutter. “We’re mulling if/when it would make sense. It would be a much different show.”
“Sons of Anarchy” Season 5 will debut this fall on FX.
