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 Past: Ugly Cars of the 70s!

Yes, kids, it's a rerun this week. But it's from two and a half years ago, so it's time for a revisit anyway. It's personally topical, because I'm anxiously awaiting the release of the 2015 Jeep Renegade. While I think it's great looking, there is a contingent (mostly Jeep purists) who think it is ugly. Enjoy!

ORIGINAL POST:

I don't think the new Dodge Dart will land on many
"ugly" lists. Image from MSNBC.

I got the idea for this week's Blast from the Past from the news story that Chrysler is bringing back the Dodge Dart. The new one is a much different critter from the old 60s and 70s Dart, which started kind of classic, and became desperately ugly by the mid-1970s. But so many did!

There is no doubt that Detroit made a lot of ugly iron in the 1970s. Whatever brand loyalty and reputation they may have earned in the previous 50 years was all but destroyed by those crappy cars. Some of them became classics anyway, whether ironically or not. But most of these beasties can only be loved with buckets full of nostalgia thrown on them.


1. Chrysler Cordoba - Only remembered for Ricardo Montalban's "rich Corinthian leather!"
2. Chevrolet Chevette (1976) - This ugly duckling debuted with fanfare it didn't deserve. It never, ever turned into a swan.



3. AMC Pacer - Ugly inside and out, even with a Chevy Nova inside.
4. AMC Gremlin - They took a reasonable looking Hornet, chopped off the trunk, then made it as ugly as possible.



5. Ford Pinto (1970) - Much like the Chevette, Ford tried to make this sound like something wonderful and exciting, and "care free." If you don't care about fires. . .
6. Dodge Dart Swinger - Ten kinds of ugly, swinger or not. (Cheating a little, this is a '69 commercial)



7. Plymouth Duster (1972) - This one actually looked uglier to me in its original time. Given how ugly so many other cars of the era look now, this one is growing on me.
8. Oldsmobile Omega Brougham (1976) - I picked this car because almost nobody remembers it. Unlike the others, it doesn't have a legend that goes with it. But it is a great example of how little thought went into making cars attractive in America in the 1970s. (The original ad is missing, I had to substitute an '80)



That will just about do it for me for the week. I know there are many unrepresented ugly 70s cars, so I tagged this as "Part 1."And we've got other decades to hit too! Happy Monday!

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

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!

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

Blast from the Past - Ugly Cars of the 1970s! (Part 1)

I don't think the new Dodge Dart will land on many
"ugly" lists. Image from MSNBC.

I got the idea for this week's Blast from the Past from the news story that Chrysler is bringing back the Dodge Dart. The new one is a much different critter from the old 60s and 70s Dart, which started kind of classic, and became desperately ugly by the mid-1970s. But so many did!

There is no doubt that Detroit made a lot of ugly iron in the 1970s. Whatever brand loyalty and reputation they may have earned in the previous 50 years was all but destroyed by those crappy cars. Some of them became classics anyway, whether ironically or not. But most of these beasties can only be loved with buckets full of nostalgia thrown on them.


1. Chrysler Cordoba - Only remembered for Ricardo Montalban's "rich Corinthian leather!"
2. Chevrolet Chevette (1976) - This ugly duckling debuted with fanfare it didn't deserve. It never, ever turned into a swan.



3. AMC Pacer - Ugly inside and out, even with a Chevy Nova inside.
4. AMC Gremlin - They took a reasonable looking Hornet, chopped off the trunk, then made it as ugly as possible.



5. Ford Pinto (1970) - Much like the Chevette, Ford tried to make this sound like something wonderful and exciting, and "care free." If you don't care about fires. . .
6. Dodge Dart Swinger - Ten kinds of ugly, swinger or not.



7. Plymouth Duster (1972) - This one actually looked uglier to me in its original time. Given how ugly so many other cars of the era look now, this one is growing on me.
8. Oldsmobile Omega Broughm (1976) - I picked this car because almost nobody remembers it. Unlike the others, it doesn't have a legend that goes with it. But it is a great example of how little thought went into making cars attractive in America in the 1970s.



That will just about do it for me for the week. I know there are many unrepresented ugly 70s cars, so I tagged this as "Part 1."And we've got other decades to hit too! Happy Monday!

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.