TV I Can't Wait to See: Fear the Walking Dead

Image from source, THR

Finally! Though still five or six weeks away, we know when Fear the Walking Dead, a companion series to the AMC mega-hit, will debut (August 23), how many episodes it will be (six, the first season), and we even have a full-length preview! Though I'm not bowled over by the title they chose, I love the premise. Most zombie stories start mid-apocalypse. Starting at the beginning will solve a lot of riddles that have either had to be ignored by fans, or fanwanked away (how did they over-run society, how did it get so bad so fast?). [Story continues below]



Of course, the chief problem inherent in the genre is, "how do you end the story?" And this is largely irrelevant in an ongoing series. So long as the parent series and/or its spinoffs remain popular, they don't have to devise a resolution. If this spinoff works (and if there are any others), I suppose they could end it with either having all of the remaining survivors setting up together on an island or something, or even having the zombie contagion simply dying out, leaving a handful of people to repopulate. Then we could have, After the Walking Dead!

[Excerpt]
 
Comic-Con: 'Fear the Walking Dead' Debuts Full Trailer, Sets Premiere Date

Following a string of cryptic teasers, AMC officially released the first trailer for Fear the Walking Dead on Friday at Comic-Con, where the cabler also revealed that the L.A.-set series would debut on Aug. 23 and lead directly into the season six premiere of the flagship series. There will be a special Talking Dead airing Oct. 4 after the season finale of Fear. . .

Read more at: The Hollywood Reporter

Blast from the Post: Night of the Living Zombies!

While watching the mid-season premiere of The Walking Dead season 3, I was so taken with zombies, I thought it should be this weeks edition of Blast from the Past. It might also have something to do with spending part of my afternoon reading Deadline by Mira Grant, part two in the Newsflesh trilogy of zombie novels. Yeah, that's how I roll.

So, without further ado, here are some choice video zombie nuggets, from the sixties to today. Nomnomnom!

And that pretty much brings us up to date! There are, of course, other examples of the zombie genre (and some would exclude 28 Days Later), but these are the high points--and a few low ones!

Happy Monday, everyone, have a great week!

The Walking Dead Slaughters Competition!

You'd scream too! Image from source, HuffPo

I'm a diehard loyalist when it comes to my favorite TV shows. If I really like a show, I stick with it, through thick and thin. We're talking Dynasty and both versions of Melrose Place from start to finish! I've chronicled several of my favorite shows here on the blog, from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dollhouse, Better Off Ted, FlashForward, V, Swingtown and others. The common thread is that those shows all got early cancellations.

The "Greenlee Curse" is finally broken! Not only did The Walking Dead start out as a hit, it has only gotten bigger and more popular. Last season, there started to be reason to worry. Much like the first presidential debate two weeks ago, the reviews weren't very good, and the whining started. It snowballed in the blogosphere, a perception of "bad" growing much larger than any actual real problem with the show. I'll concede in season two that a) they hunted for the girl in the woods for far too long; b) they cowtowed to Hershel Greene for too long; c) Lori needs to die; and d) Carl needs to stay where they tell him to.

But otherwise? I loved every episode. As in True Blood, some episodes are better than others, but all of the episodes were worth watching. For every fan who complained that it was too "talky," and that they need more zombies, I say shut the hell up. If every episode is top-heavy with zombie slaughtering gore, it'll get boring. Hell I just watched a decapitation on Hawaii Five-0--something that would have been unthinkable on prime time TV a dozen years ago--and didn't even blink. Calm down, relax and enjoy the show. Yes, they had a few pacing problems last season, but the way these guys bitch, I wonder why they even watch it! I'm just happy that they've hit their stride again, and are being rewarded with stellar ratings numbers. No more Greenlee Curse!

[Excerpt]


'The Walking Dead' Season 3 Ratings: Premiere Breaks Records

"The Walking Dead" continues to shatter ratings records. The Season 3 premiere of AMC's popular drama had 10.9 million viewers at 9 p.m. and 15.2 million when factoring in the encore. It was up 50 percent compared to the Season 2 premiere. . .The premiere is also the biggest basic cable telecast ever amongst total viewers. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

In Case You Missed It: Mitt Romney's Black Monday Started with a Campaign Post Mortem

Image from source, Politico

Did you see this? I know that yesterday's new cycle was taken over by a discovered Mitt Romney video, in which he insulted almost half of America. But Mittens' day didn't start out much better. He was greeted by a multi-page, in-depth post mortem of his campaign. Now, obviously, it can't be a literal autopsy of a campaign that still figuratively draws breath. But this sort of deconstruction of the weaknesses of a presidential campaign typically only appears after the patient has died. So, its appearance in the September before the election is kind of peculiar, and makes you think that Politico sees the Romney campaign as the walking dead.

[Excerpt]

Inside the campaign: How Mitt Romney stumbled

Stuart Stevens, Mitt Romney’s top strategist, knew his candidate’s convention speech needed a memorable mix of loft and grace if he was going to bound out of Tampa with an authentic chance to win the presidency. So Stevens, bypassing the speechwriting staff at the campaign’s Boston headquarters, assigned the sensitive task of drafting it to Peter Wehner, a veteran of the last three Republican White Houses and one of the party’s smarter wordsmiths.  Not a word Wehner wrote was ever spoken. . .

Read more at: Politico

The Walking Dead Season 3 Preview!

Having read the first 48 issues of the comic book since the second season ended, I can only say. . . squeeeee! I can't wait!

Re-Elect Obama, America Becomes The Walking Dead?

There are scary ads, like the LBJ "Daisy" ad, and then there's this. Rick Santorum takes the fear mongering so far, it becomes a Saturday Night Live Digital Short. I chuckled at the spinning merry-go-round. Some of the imagery cause WTF moments, and what's with the smiling old dude in the preview there? Does he LIKE "Obamaville"? Anyway, it's mostly hilarious.

Walking Dead Season Finale Scores Huge Ratings

Andrea kicks ass! From source, HuffPo

Now that I'm a rabid fan of AMC's The Walking Dead and HBO's True Blood, I get to experience the joy of fantastic, quality television, and the frustration of "mid-season finales" and tragically short seasons. The Walking Dead just wrapped its second season, and weighs in at a total of 19 episodes. There are more episodes than that in one full-length network season. I know, I know, quality over quanity.

To read internet fan message boards, quality is in short supply on TWD. They whine and complain endlessly about every little thing, from casting, to writing, to acting. It reminds me very much of Star Trek's sequels, Voyager and Enterprise. Fans watched every single episode, obsessed over every single detail, but hated everything about them. It's counter-intuitive.

The truth is, the second season did have a weak spot. One was the several-episodes-long "what happened to Sophia?" story arc. Half of the season was taken up with it, and--though it had a satisfying resolution--it felt like it was going nowhere. It seems like if you have a short number of episodes, you probably ought not drag out anything. And that would pretty much be my only complaint;* that some story lines traveled a little too slowly. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed the show.

Tasty. Also from Huffington Post

One of the fans' main complaints is that there's too much talking, not enough zombies. This is a "be careful what you wish for" complaint. On the episodes that did feature tons of zombies, the adrenaline was pumping, the action was sick, and I was on the edge of my seat. But you can't make that the whole show! If you don't know who the people are, what they're about, what their interpersonal relationships are, you don't care about them when they die.* Another complaint will be how this or that character reacted to a situation, or maybe someone acting out of character, or something someone said (they hate Lori, the leader's wife). And I say, This is a zombie apocalypse! The fact that they're not catatonic in a corner, wetting themselves already makes it unrealistic.

Anyway, after a semi-draggy first half (still chock full of highlights), the second half of season two was pretty much fantastic, all the time. And the fact that they're willing to kill off characters that you don't expect is pretty thrilling. On the afore-mentioned Star Trek, you could know 99% of the time who would and wouldn't die. Not on The Walking Dead. So, the stakes are always high.

*SPOILER*

And here, I have to mention Jimmy. Jimmy is a teenager apparently, and one of the regular characters in residence of TWD's second-season farm house. I say apparently, because when he died in the final episode? I had no--still have no--memory of him whatsoever. So, let me amend my "no other complaints" statement. There were some background characters who got very little development.


[Excerpt]


'The Walking Dead' Ratings: Season 2 Finale Shatters Records 

"The Walking Dead" closed its Season 2 with lots of blood, guts, zombies and big ratings. The Season 2 finale (9 p.m. ET on AMC) brought in 9 million viewers. According to the network, "The Walking Dead" is the No. 1 drama series in basic cable history with men 18-34. "The Walking Dead's" Season 2 finale grew more than 50 percent in total viewers compared to Season 1's finale. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

AMC Renews The Walking Dead for a Third Season!

Image from source, Deadline: Hollywood

Yeah, I've been entertaining this evening, along with The Other Half, which is why I'm late to blogging. But I'm back! And none too soon, either. Because AMC--after only two episodes this season--has already renewed The Walking Dead for a third season! And I was a little worried. Not because I didn't like the show, no, no, far from it. But because a big part of the two new episodes this season have been largely character-driven, with the scary zombies taking (mostly) second stage. So, YAY!, America is a little more with it than I thought!

[Excerpt]


AMC Renews ‘Walking Dead’ For Season 3

After shattering cable ratings records with its second-season premiere, AMC’s zombie drama The Walking Dead has been quickly rewarded with a third-season pickup. “Today we are pleased to announce that the ‘dead’ shall live as we proudly renew The Walking Dead for a third season on AMC and, globally, with our terrific partners at Fox International Channels,” AMC president Charlie Collier said. After launching its second season with 7.3 million total viewers and 4.8 million in the adults 18-49 demographic — the most ever for a basic cable premiere. . .

Read more at: Deadline: Hollywood

With special thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for the link.