Walking Dead

Can't see the thread....new one.


‘Walking Dead’ Bosses Promise Farm Fresh Season 2
by Julie Zied
Jul 1st, 2011 | 11:22 AM | Comments 0

“The Walking Dead” is going country. When Season 2 of AMC’s hit zombie drama returns in October, expect the Walker-filled streets of Atlanta to be replaced with a more scenic backdrop.

“Season 1 focused on Atlanta so much, and we got to see desolate Atlanta and how this stuff affects cities,” “Dead” executive producer Robert Kirkman (who also created the comic books upon which the series is based) said on the show’s blog. “But rather than repeat ourselves, we’re going out into the woods. We’re gonna see a lot of rural roads and open fields see how bad things are as you get away from the city centers.”

More specifically, the gang of CDC refugees will be “dropping anchor” at Hershel’s Farm, according to writer, director and executive producer Frank Darabont. “Last season was so challenging because it was different locations pretty much every episode,” Darabont said. “Here, we’re sorta following the template of the comic book and that puts us at Hershel’s Farm for a good chunk of the season. Obviously we range out from there, but it’s a primary location for the season and that’s a terrific advantage really.”

Darabont and Kirkman dropped several more hints about the upcoming season – including a potential baby on board. “I don’t know if we’re giving anything away, but…something as simple in the comic books as ‘Lori gets pregnant’ winds up being sort of a fantastic complication on screen,” Darabont said.

And keep an eye out for a possible love interest for Rick’s (Andrew Lincoln) rescuer, Glenn (Steve Yeung). “He ended up being a fan favorite in the first season, so we get to see a little bit of romance for this guy,” Kirkman said.

‘Walking Dead’ Creator Makes A Sudden Exit From the Show
by Craig Tomashoff
Jul 27th, 2011 | 12:05 AM | Comments 0

It looks like the zombies have claimed another victim, and this time, it’s one of their own. Deadline Hollywood is reporting that the mastermind behind the hit AMC series “The Walking Dead,” Frank Darabont, is leaving the show just as it’s preparing to launch its’ second season. The word from Deadline is that Darabont, who comes from the world of feature films, never adjusted to the brutal schedule of TV production. Despite reports that he is gone completely, Deadline is claiming talks are ongoing to keep him on the show in some capacity. The good news is that this behind-the-scenes turmoil hasn’t slowed down production, and the next season of “Walking Dead” is still slated for an Oct. 16 premiere date.

That's interesting. Is he the person that fired all the season 1 writers?

UPDATED: ‘Walking Dead’ Creator Makes A Sudden Exit From the Show, Replacement Named
by Craig Tomashoff
Jul 28th, 2011 | 10:05 AM | Comments 0

UPDATED: AMC has released the following statement:

The Walking Dead’s Glen Mazzara, writer and executive producer, is expanding his responsibilities to assume the role of showrunner. AMC is grateful to executive producer, writer and pilot director Frank Darabont whose contributions to the success of The Walking Dead are innumerable. We continue to discuss his ongoing role with the series.

Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead graphic novels, executive producer and writer on the series, will remain in this role and will continue to steward the brand. Gale Anne Hurd will remain in her role as Executive Producer. The production continues on schedule for an October 16th premiere.

It looks like the zombies have claimed another victim, and this time, it’s one of their own. Deadline Hollywood is reporting that the mastermind behind the hit AMC series “The Walking Dead,” Frank Darabont, is leaving the show just as it’s preparing to launch its’ second season. The word from Deadline is that Darabont, who comes from the world of feature films, never adjusted to the brutal schedule of TV production. Despite reports that he is gone completely, Deadline is claiming talks are ongoing to keep him on the show in some capacity. The good news is that this behind-the-scenes turmoil hasn’t slowed down production, and the next season of “Walking Dead” is still slated for an Oct. 16 premiere date.

It's back this Sunday

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Brrraaains! ‘Walking Dead’ Back for Another Season
by Associated Press
Oct 13th, 2011 | 7:42 AM | Comments 0


BY: DORIE TURNER

SENOIA, Ga. (AP) — Just down the road from a tiny country church in rural Georgia, the apocalypse has already arrived.

A band of scrappy survivors is fighting the undead, camping in the woods in hopes of outrunning the hordes of zombies roaming the world. Few of them have made it, and at any moment they could be eaten alive and turned into one of the monsters that haunt them day and night.

It’s just another day on the set of “The Walking Dead,” the hit AMC series that starts its second season Sunday (9 p.m. EDT) with 13 horrifying new episodes. Based on the popular comic book of the same name by writer Robert Kirkman, the show is about life after the zombie apocalypse.

Last season introduced Rick Grimes, a small-town sheriff’s deputy played by British actor Andrew Lincoln, who woke up from a coma in the hospital to find his town overrun by flesh-eating monsters and his wife and son missing. He eventually stumbles upon his family, along with his best friend Shane Walsh (played by Jon Bernthal) and other survivors, at a campground outside the city.

“The show is not about how gory we can make it,” said co-executive producer Greg Nicotero, the show’s special effects makeup guru who also directs this season. “We want it to be shocking. We want to remind the audience of the world we’re in — that world is brutal and savage and raw. But it’s also about survival.”

As always, the show follows the first rule of the zombie genre: No one on the show has ever heard of a zombie, calling them “walkers” instead. They spend each episode learning the tricks of surviving the undead: avoiding loud noises that will draw their attention, using rotting carcasses to mask the smell of the living and finding creative new ways to kill the monsters stalking them.

“Dead” began six months of filming in and around Atlanta in June, boasting plots full of hair-raising new zombie encounters and heart-stopping action. The first season — which was just six episodes — ended with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta blowing up and leaving the group with little hope of finding a cure to the virus that creates the zombies.

The new season opens with the survivors, led by Rick and Shane, heading off to Fort Benning, Ga., but getting snagged along the way as a member of the group disappears and another is injured. Enter new character Hershel, a farmer, and his family and friends, to help the group as they look for respite from the hell that has become their new reality.

The show has been plagued by rumors of tension after the abrupt departure of showrunner Frank Darabont, who has an executive producer credit this season, and news of budget trimming for the hefty production. But that hasn’t slowed the crew, which has worked into the wee hours of the morning many days to capture the intensity of the roller-coaster plot.

And the show’s avid fans aren’t disappearing. A series of brief “webisodes” creating a back story for a zombie seen in the first season got more than 2 million hits within days of being posted recently on AMC’s website.

The AMC drama drew more than 5.3 million viewers on its Halloween premiere last year, and got just as many viewers for the following week — not to mention sales of Kirkman’s award-winning graphic novel, drawn by artists Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard, have steadily increased since the show was announced last year.

Bernthal, who like many of the actors worked with a dialect coach to capture the classic Georgia drawl, said he signed onto the project after reading the pilot’s detailed description of the world the show would create.

“It painted a picture that was so vivid and so compelling,” said Bernthal, sporting a shaved head and latex “dirt” covering his knuckles. “I’d never read anything like that before. Although there wasn’t much of Shane in the pilot, I just want to be part of this show and a part of this world.”

The set is just as strange: Zombies in full makeup munching on snacks around the craft services table; plastic bags full of animal guts from a local butcher; crew members spattering fake blood — made of corn syrup and food coloring — over actors before shooting a scene; a giant light on a crane sitting next to an aging barn in the middle of a quaint cow pasture; crew members asking, “Where’s the zombie?” when it’s time for the next scene.

For actors such as Robert “IronE” Singleton, who plays T-Dog, the show is a chance to work in his hometown. Singleton grew up in the housing projects of west Atlanta just down the road from the quarry featured in the first season.

“This is my old stomping ground,’” said Singleton, who played a menacing thug in last year’s award-winning movie “The Blind Side,” also filmed in Atlanta. “It was an emotional moment for me. I remember when I was around guys like the guy from ‘The Blind Side.’ Here I am making movies right in my backyard. It’s just surreal.”

His success is partly owed to Georgia’s growing reputation as a mini-Hollywood with such movies as the current remake of “Footloose” and the upcoming “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” as well as TV shows such as the CW’s “The Vampire Diaries” and USA’s “Necessary Roughness.” And then there’s actor-producer-writer Tyler Perry, who opened his multimillion-dollar TV and film studio in southwest Atlanta in 2008. The state gives millions in tax breaks to film and TV projects, which has catapulted Georgia to the top five among U.S. states for productions.

Thanks to Nicotero and his team, “Dead” has made a name for itself in special effects makeup, winning an Emmy this year for outstanding prosthetic makeup for a series, miniseries, movie or a special.

AMC couldn’t have chosen a better special effects makeup wizard than Nicotero, who began his career under horror flick director and writer George A. Romero with 1985’s zombie classic “Day of the Dead.” Nicotero went on to do special effects makeup for everything from “Dances With Wolves” to a spate of Quentin Tarantino films, including “Pulp Fiction” and “Inglourious Basterds,” but his career in zombie films has made him something of an expert in the undead.

Nicotero’s craft of special effects makeup — rather than using computer-generated effects or characters — gives the show an even eerier feeling as the human aspects of each zombie shine through, reminding viewers that the creepy monsters were once people. Some zombies may be in a scene for just a few seconds but can take up to three hours of makeup to be transformed into the undead.

“I always tell my crew, ‘Make them dirty so I can smell it,’” said Eulyn Womble, the costume designer who takes lighters and scissors to clothing to create the tattered zombie look. “I want to look at them and smell how gross and old and dirty they are, and how rotten their flesh is.”

Looking forward to seeing the new season!

The premier lived up to expectations. There are a few things that occurred to me....noticed them last season too : For example, how do they do their laundry ? I know we can't expect the writers/directors to waste time showing those scenes, but think about it. Some of them stab, shoot, zombies at close range, even dissect them as we saw last night, and their clothes are covered with blood and gore, not to mention their hands and arms. But in later scenes their clothes are clean again or at least presentable. I worry about these things.... :lol:

Also Sarah Wayne Callie who plays the Sheriff's wife.....I wonder if she's related to Dayton Callie who played Wild Bill Hickock's friend in Deadwood and now plays a retired sheriff on Sons of Anarchy. That's not a common last name but he was born in Scotland in '56 so they are probably not related. His bio has no clue, so I'll research Sarah. I worry about these things.... :lol:

Based on this I'm guessing they are not related and I just noticed that she has an 's' on her name...........never mind...

Sarah Wayne Callies was raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is the daughter of two university professors. She graduated from Dartmouth College and received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Denver's National Theatre Conservatory. She currently stars in the breakout hit AMC series The Walking Dead as "Lori Grimes"... See full bio »
Born:
Sarah Anne Callies
June 1, 1977 in La Grange, Illinois, USA


And then you have to wonder why Daryl Dixon, the guy with the crossbow and the one with the most common sense, has the Schutzstaffel emblem on his motorcycle gas tank. Although it's most likely that he found the bike which in itself is a rather odd combination of 'features". It has the classic ape-hanger handlebars and bobbed fenders of the stereotypical Harley riding outlaw, (the SS emblem would be consistent with this genre) but it has an old Triumph engine ! What the....?

So in order to reconcile the image with reality we have to create a back story for this bike. (did you know that last season some fans created a back story for one of the zombies ? ) I don't know how they recognized it from one scene to another, but you could create a back story from just one brief appearance.

Anyway...this bike originally belonged to some good 'ol Georgia backwoods boy. He wanted a full-fledged Harley 'bobber' with all the stereotypical features but couldn't find one within his price range. So he scrounged up parts where he could afford them and cobbled together this bike. The old Triumph engine could be gotten for a song, ditto the ape-hangers and peanut tank. The tank may have already had the SS emblems on it or he may have found the decals somewhere. Either way he had no clue what they stood for. Whew ! I'm glad I got this figured out....in my own mind. :lol:

---------------------------------

While the rune itself has no direct connection to National-Socialism, the Sig rune used by Karl Maria Wiligut (Himmler's official occultist) in his own runic row (Wiligut runes) was used in the context of Nazi mysticism and is most commonly used to refer to the insignia of the Schutzstaffel (SS) of the Third Reich.

Guido von List in his "Armanen runes" called the rune "Sig", apparently based on Sigel, thus changing the concept associated with it from "Sun" to "victory" (German Sieg), arriving at a sequence "Sig", "Tyr" in his row, yielding Sigtyr (God of victory), a name of Odin. Under this name of "Sig rune", the s-rune played a certain role in Fascist symbolism, most notably in the badge of the Schutzstaffel (SS), but this is credited to the Wiligut runic row of Karl Maria Wiligut as opposed to Guido von List.
Two white oblique Sig Runes on black: The symbol of the Nazi SS

The SS Sig Runes design was created in 1931 when Walter Heck, a Sturmführer in the SS, drew two reversed and inverted Sig Runes side by side and noticed the similarity to the initials of the SS. Heck sold the rights of the Sig Runes to the SS for 2.5 Reichsmarks, and the runes were quickly adopted as the insignia of the Schutzstaffel and became one of the most commonly used forms of SS unit insignia. [1]

The Hitler Youth also used a single Sig Rune, but not as the emblem of its organization. The similarity to the SS insignia was an indication that the Hitler Youth was considered by many to be a central recruiting area for membership in the SS.

Wiligut wrote of the rune in 'Whispering of Gotos – Rune-Knowledge' under the pseudonym Jarl Widar in the magazine Hagal 11 (1934), Heft 7, pp. 7-15]' in the section '6. Runes Speak!':

* "In the Al Gotos’ fire of Spirit in Matter demonstrates – Through Energy the “sig-sal-sol-sun-rune,” and mastery of creation…"

Great episode but I think the extra half hour was only for added commercials. Banjo I was also wondering about the laundry and human hygiene situations. Those zombies smell like rotting decomp. Remember last season they tried to hide amongst the zombies by covering themselves in their stink but then it started raining. Yuck! So your point is well taken. Also, why are they not picking up better, newer vehicles along the way. There must be a lot of newer RVs that aren't being used at the moment. Certainly they would have to find a safe place to get a new one but fixing the same broken RV every few days would be annoying. Anyone else like the church zombies? Awesome!

The Walking Dead and Homeland are both very suspense filled shows and I watched them back to back and then Dexter. That's a lot of Sunday night suspense.

Good points Rus . I wondered about the vehicle situation too. They certainly have their pick from many...the guy that has decided to leave on his own has picked a Mazda. That's okay if he sticks to the pavement but I'd look for a Jeep or other 4WD high ground clearance vehicle.

I noticed the commercial situation too. After the first segment they ran about every 8-9 minutes. From now on I'm DVR-ing it so I can fast forward.

My Sunday nights are a real 'chore' too. :lol: The Amazing Race/TWD/ then I DVR Dexter and Homeland when they are on the later HD Showtime channel. I could watch the new eps earlier on a non- HD channel but that's unacceptable for the true geek. Then Boardwalk Empire while they are being recorded. When TWD goes to its regular one hour, I'll have a gap in there that must be filled. The last part of Sunday night football ? Desperate Houswives ? Pan Am ?...assuming it lasts that long which isn't likely.
The Sy-Fy Sunday night movie ? Oh the humanity !

‘The Walking Dead’: Shockers From the Season 2 Premiere
by Joel Keller
Oct 17th, 2011 | 9:08 AM | Comments 0

Sunday night, “The Walking Dead” returned for a second season, after a year that included a highly-acclaimed first season, Golden Globe nominations, record ratings for AMC, the firing of the entire writing staff, and — most controversially — the dismissal of showrunner Frank Darabont. Would the show, about a ragtag group trying to stay alive during a zombie-filled apocalypse, come out of the gate strong after all the off-screen controversy?

Absolutely. In fact, the second-season premiere establishes something that the brief six-episode first season really didn’t have time to do: a sense of who these refugees are. For most of the first season, we basically saw the group running from the “walkers,” or otherwise avoiding getting bitten. Some made it, some didn’t. There was some character development in the first season, mainly regarding the affair between Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) and Lori Grimes (Sarah Wayne Callies), with a little existential angst from camp tough girl Andrea (Laurie Holden) mixed in for good measure. But, for the most part, we saw people running and shooting… and running some more. This episode shows us some more insight into why these people are running.

Of course, that character exploration took a back seat to the episode’s most shocking moment, which came at the very end. On the search for Sophia Peletier (Madison Lintz), who de facto group leader Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) lost in the Georgia woods as he tried to lure away two walkers who were chasing her, Rick, Shane and Rick’s son Carl (Chandler Riggs) come across a sign of life they haven’t seen in ages: a deer. In a long final scene, the three look at the deer in wonder, realizing that there is a reason why they’re constantly running in fear: there’s life and hope out there.

Watch The Season Premiere Below:

As Carl slowly approached the animal, you just knew something was going to happen, but what? The last thing anyone would have guessed was that Carl would be shot right in the chest. Actually, he took a bullet that went right through the deer, which means that the deer was the target. What does this mean? People who have read the “Walking Dead” graphic novels may know what’s coming next, but newbies like us can only guess. It’s pretty obvious the hunter was another non-walker. But who?

Before the big, final shocker of the night came a series of smaller surprises, but ones that bode well for the upcoming season:

Shane and Andrea want to skedaddle. Both want to leave the group, but for their own reasons: Shane wants to separate himself from the pain of being around Lori and Rick, and Andrea just wants to go somewhere and end it all, especially after the walkers got her sister Amy. She was especially angry after group elder Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) forced her to escape the about-to-implode CDC building in the season-one finale, telling him he had “no right” to force her hand like that.

A herd of walkers! We now know where some of the rumored budget cuts that AMC and Darabont allegedly fought over might have come: only shoot the zombies’ feet! Yet again, a group of post-humans come out of nowhere to feed along the highway where the group is stopped. That’s the second time that’s happened, but unlike when a herd invaded the refugees’ camp, no one got eaten, though Andrea came close; thankfully, Dale was able to drop her a screwdriver in time for her to get her hungry pursuer in the eye.

Wonder which person will be the unlucky one the next time it happens? Our bets are on T-Dog (IronE Singleton), who almost got eaten when he ripped his arm open trying to hide from the herd. Of course, Daryl (Norman Reedus) was there to save him, even though T-Dog was responsible for leaving Daryl’s brother Merle (Michael Rooker) on that Atlanta roof in season one.

Carol grows a backbone. The walkers were a blessing to Carol (Melissa Suzanne McBride), because they ate her abusive husband Ed. To that end, with her daughter Sophia missing, she had enough gumption to blame Rick for leaving her little girl behind, then when the group found the abandoned church in the woods, she thanked Jesus for the death of her husband. Can’t get more backbone than that.

For the most part, though, the premiere was a low-key return, spending most of the episode concentrating on the search for Sophia. What it did was set up some of what we might see in the coming weeks. Yes, the group is still running. But if this show is to succeed during this more traditional, 13-episode season, it’s going to have to slow down and show the audience who these people are and why they keep running. Otherwise, the chase will get old.

But so far, so good. Will Shane and Andrea stay, and how will that affect the group’s dynamic? Will Rick buckle under the pressure of having to be the brave one? Will Daryl forget about being a racist jerk and assert some leadership? And will Lori ever tell Rick what happened when she and Shane thought he was dead? We’re definitely looking forward to finding out.

Still very good. I watched that 1/2 hr. "Talking Dead" show last night, that comes on right after. They had an exec. producer and an annoying "comedian". The producer was not informative about any future eps of course but did have one interesting observation. The reasons that they are called "Walkers" and not Zombies is that in that world of the show and its characters they had never heard of zombies, there were no earlier zombie shows/movies, etc. to watch to influence their naming.

Also learned several facts: You can donate/lose 40 % of your blood before it's fatal. The boy that plays Carl is 12 years old and is "wise beyond his years" according to the producers. When he needs to cry for a scene he thinks of his dog that died.


‘The Walking Dead’: Carl Fights for His Life at Hershel’s Farm
by Joel Keller
Oct 24th, 2011 | 9:50 AM | Comments 0

After the shocking final scene of last week’s season two premiere, “The Walking Dead” continued to surprise in week two, with Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) doing everything he can to save his son Carl (Chandler Riggs) after being accidentally shot by a hunter.

Instead of opening directly after the last scene from the premiere, though, the cold open of “Bloodletting” gave us a look at how, in pre-zombie days, Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and Carl found out that Rick had been shot. What it told us was that a) their marriage was in more trouble than we realized, and b) all of their troubles got pushed out of the way as soon as Shane (Jon Bernthal) showed up at Carl’s school to tell Lori about what happened.

But just because those feelings were pushed aside, first by Rick’s injury then by the zombie apocalypse, doesn’t mean they’re still not there. And, as we saw in the first episode, Season 2 is going to be about exploring the characters more, not just how they react to former humans trying to rip their flesh from their bones.


The next thing we know, Rick is running, carrying a bleeding Carl against his torso, towards a farmhouse, Shane and the hunter who accidentally shot him not far behind. From there, we enter what seems to be a safe haven from the walkers, with kindly a kindly old Dr. Hershel Greene (Scott Wilson), his daughter Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and some other family members. The farmhouse should be a welcome sight for the show’s fans, as it provides a settled base of operations for them for a while, even if there are still issues hanging in the air:

Where’s Sophia? Sophia (Madison Lintz) remained missing for the entire hour, and there was a split decision on whether to retreat back to the farmhouse or stay on the highway where the girl could find everyone. Daryl (Norman Reedus) again stepped up to the leadership plate, devising a plan which gives them the chance to retreat and not feel like they’re abandoning Carol’s (Melissa McBride) kid. The transformation Daryl has made from a redneck loose cannon to the only person in the group with his stuff together has been remarkable, but not unwelcome. He even managed to raid his brother’s drug stash to get antibiotics for T-Dog (IronE Singleton)!

Speaking of T-Dog… It could be the infection raging through his bloodstream, but he’s starting to get the same “what’s the point” existential angst that Andrea (Laurie Holden) has been feeling. At one point, he even pointed out that he was the “only black guy” in the group, showing that he’s watched enough horror movies to know what the deal was. Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) tried to talk him down, but will we see T-Dog get taken down by his guilt, or the infection? Or will the walkers still get him?

The Grimeses and their troubles: Even though Rick is wobbling from blood transfusions, he is still the square-jawed Dudley Do-Right of the group, almost to a fault. On two separate occasions, he just couldn’t sit still, wanting to run out to find Lori, then wanting to join Shane and the hunter as they foraged for surgical supplies at a high school overrun by walkers. In the first case, Shane convinced him to stay saying he’d never live with himself if Carl slipped away while he was trying to be the hero. In the second case, though, Lori’s anguish as she screamed at her husband to stay put pointed out some of what’s wrong with their marriage: he wants to be a hero, and she just wants to have someone who’s a husband and father. Let’s hope we see more of this play out this season.

Who are these people at the farmhouse? And why are there no walkers there? There are some still wandering the woods, as Andrea found out — Maggie, the doctor’s daughter, came out of nowhere to save her. But at the farmhouse? The scene is pristine and peaceful. And even though Dr. Greene is wise, telling Rick that, like AIDS, this zombie disease will kick the humans’ butts for awhile then get manageable, he’s only a veterinarian. Considering he’s about to cut Carl open, that’s not a piece of news that inspires much confidence.

Will Shane and the hunter make it out? If you thought the overweight hunter was going to get overtaken and eaten at the end of this episode, raise your hand. The final scene, where the two pen themselves in a vestibule, with a flimsy gate separating them from the clutches of the walkers, was about as tense a moment as we’ve had in the series so far, and it makes us look forward to next week. Who gets eaten? What’s going on with the folks in that farmhouse? And will Carl pull through? It’ll be fun to find out.

I find the combing the woods for little girl lost the most annoying thing. Did these people never hear about going shoulder to shoulder but spread out? They walk behind each other never calling out her name (no matter how softly) .

I think it is pretty much up to that girl to save herself.

You're probably right. She'll probably just show up at the motor home while the rest of them are still blundering around the woods.

Berry exactly! It has been bothering me too. Why are they following each other? They should be spread out and actually searching. Worst search party ever!

AMC Renews ‘The Walking Dead’
by Julie Zied
Oct 25th, 2011 | 1:41 PM | Comments 0

The dead will rise again next year.

AMC has renewed hit zombie drama “The Walking Dead” for a third season.

The Oct. 16 Season 2 premiere shattered basic cable ratings records, attracting a staggering 11 million (cumulative) viewers.

This past weekend’s episode drew 6.7 million viewers for its earlier airing, and another 2.1 million eyeballs for the same-night repeat airing.

“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’s President Charlie Collier said in a statement. “We are thankful for everyone’s contribution in front of and behind the camera as we continue to make ‘The Walking Dead’ a unique television experience. And, we are so proud as it continues to set viewership records around the world.”

After last nights episode on the "Talking Dead" show they had a poll of viewers as to what Shane should have done when he and Otis were running from the Walkers. 69 % said he should have kept running with Otis. 39% said he should have shot Otis, which he did, leaving him behind as "lunch" while Shane made his getaway. They didn't say how many voted.

When he shot Otis in the leg my first thought was; that's not very humane. Wouldn't it be better to shoot him in the head before he became lunch ? But they answered that on the Talking Dead segment. It seems that Walkers must dine on living tissue and if Otis would have been shot in the head he would be dead and wouldn't 'qualify'. But the pretty, red haired blogger, one of the guests on the TD show, asked; "But has that ever really been established ?" Meaning is living tissue a requirement ?

The host thought it was. But when Gale Ann Hurd, one of the exec. producers came on, they failed to ask her that question. But she did have some interesting observations about Shane. First, he is a survivor in all respects so don't expect him to disappear for any reason. Secondly, he regards himself as better able to take care of Rick's wife and son so don't look for a lessening of the "soap opera triangle" although it may be on the back burner for awhile. And thirdly Shane sees his action of shooting Otis, then being ambiguous about what happened, as being part of the new morality needed to survive in the world they find themselves in. The host thought maybe Shane was "going around the bend" based on the crazy look in his eyes when he was shaving his head. But Gale Ann says no, he is simply adapting to the situation.

Incidentally they are lucky to have her on board as one of the exec. producers.

Biography for
Gale Anne Hurd

25 October 1955, Los Angeles, California, USA

Height
5' 4" (1.63 m)

Mini Biography

After graduating, she joined "New World Pictures" as executive assistant to Roger Corman, the company president. She worked her way up through various administrative positions and eventually became involved in production. She formed her own production company, "Pacific Western Productions", in 1982 and went on to produce a number of box-office hits including The Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986) and The Abyss (1989). All were directed by James Cameron, whom she later married. They were divorced after a few years. She also later married and divorced Brian De Palma.

One of the bloggers pointed out that the farm house looked a lot like the one in Night of the Living Dead (I think that's the one he cited ). She said no, that's purely coincidental. They found the house through an aerial search and the main requirements were that it have a lot of open space around it, and be within 1 hour of Atlanta.

I'll say one thing....with Hell on Wheels and TWD playing back to back we can be assured of two solid hours of 10's on the UB index. :lol: If Boardwalk Empire sometimes steps up with a 10 and if The Amazing Race could do the same we could have 4 hours of 10's on a Sunday night....

But it can't happen, reality shows by definition can't reach that level of bleakness, especially the Amazing Race. Now if they would put one of those Bachelor/Bachelorette
shows on at 7pm, then we could have 4 solid hours of UB.....perish the thought... :lol:

I leave Dexter and Homeland out of the equation because you can't watch all 6 shows consecutively on Sunday night. One or more must be DVR'd , for me it's D and H. But if you can work D and H into the consecutive progression "live" and they come up with 10's , then that is valid.

I was puzzled as to why Lori was so "coy" and secretive about telling Glen what to get for her at the pharmacy. It was like they were both 12 years old. Then when we find out it was a pregnancy test kit that she wanted, it became clear. Of course she's pregnant, can't make things too simple you know... :lol:

Then when Glenn and Maggie get it on in the pharmacy apparently without Glenn using the condoms he found on the shelf, we have another potential pregnancy, although that may be going a little too far even for those writers....but don't count it out....

This article reminds me of two things;

If Otis was buried in a reasonably deep grave, and why wouldn't he be, why did they need to pile ~4 feet of rocks on top of the grave ? You only do that if it's a very shallow grave, to keep animals from digging it up.

And why was it so hard to pull Glenn out of the well ? He's not that big and there were 5-6 people pulling on the rope. Same thing when they pulled the walker out, although he was probably heavier. I expected for his head to be pulled off, but upper half was okay too....

‘The Walking Dead’: Glenn Gets the Only Action in a Slow Episode

by Joel Keller
Nov 7th, 2011 | 11:04 AM | Comments 0

Remember how much we loved the fact that “The Walking Dead” was slowing down and giving viewers a chance to explore the characters? Well, we didn’t mean that we wanted the show to grind to a halt.

That’s what it seems like happened in last night’s episode, “Cherokee Rose.” It seems like the entire ragtag crew, along with their farmhouse-based benefactors, didn’t do all that much during this episode — everyone, that is, except Glenn (Steven Yeun), who not only almost got eaten by a water-bloated walker-in-a-well, but then went on to have an abandoned-drug-store tryst with Maggie Greene (Lauren Cohan). Quite the day for Glenn, wasn’t it?

But you’d expect, after the shocking way that Shane (Jon Bernthal) escaped the walkers last week — kneecapping Otis and leaving him to get torn apart — we would have explored that issue a bit more this week. But except for Shane looking shellshocked in Otis’ oversized clothes, and not speaking during the big guy’s funeral, we didn’t really explore how Shane’s decision might be affecting him. Perhaps we’ll get to it in the coming weeks.

An old story did rear its ugly head, though, as we finished the episode with Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) peeing in the woods onto a pregnancy test; she didn’t even wait the requisite two minutes before seeing the ‘+’ and realizing that a) there’s a pretty good chance that the baby is Shane’s, and b) it’s tough enough keeping Carl alive in this horrible world; how will she be able to keep a baby alive, too? It’s an interesting development that will keep Shane in the fold as he goes bat-poop crazy, of course; but how long until Lori actually tells anyone anything? And will they have to come clean to Rick (Andrew Lincoln)?



Back to Glenn getting lucky. Listen, the guy needed a break after almost getting eaten by Well Walker — wasn’t that guy just completely friggin’ gross? And that’s before the bottom half of him tore off and fell back in the well. But Maggie has been intrigued by Glenn since they met last week, and since Robert Kirkman told MTV that the on-screen version of their romance will adhere relatively closely to what’s portrayed in the graphic novel series, Maggie’s assurances that the drugstore whoopie was a “one-time-only deal” doesn’t even come close to being true.

Why are we talking so much about Glenn? Because nothing else much really happened. Sophia is still missing, though Daryl (Norman Reedus) now at least has an idea where she might have gone. Hershel Greene (Scott Wilson) told Rick that the gang should shove off after they find Sophia, but Rick convinced him otherwise; it makes you wonder what ol’ Dr. Greene might be hiding. And Andrea (Laurie Holden) learned how to clean her gun. Yep, it was an action-filled week. Let’s hope the pace gets picked up a bit in the next episode.

In addition to your observations Banjo, those people had no clue how to use that horse for pulling. Not that hard. But sometimes TV people don't seem to grasp the ideas the same way I do.

Yeah, the horse was standing there at right angles to what it should have been if it was used for pulling. I wasn't sure from the brief view if it was being used , but it looked like a rope was attached to it. Without a harness they would have had to attach it to the saddle or pommel.....

‘Walking Dead’ Creator Kirkman is Keeping It Real

Nov 10th, 2011 | 8:26 AM | Comments 0

By FRAZIER MOORE

NEW YORK — When Robert Kirkman talks zombies, he sounds more like a diligent student of such creatures than the guy who creates them for an audience of millions.

For example, ask Kirkman if being transformed into a zombie is a fate worse than death and he replies, reasonably enough, “I don’t really know what it’s like to be a zombie. But I’m pretty sure what it’s like to be dead: You’re dead. That’s not good, right? Being a zombie looks bad from the outside, but from the inside, it could be a great existence.

“How a zombie feels is a great mystery.”

A hearty chap of 32 with a neat beard and an outgoing manner, Kirkman has clearly opted against being a zombie know-it-all, despite years dwelling on the subject for his wildly successful comic book, “The Walking Dead,” and the wildly successful AMC series of the same name that his comic inspired and that draws an average audience of 6.6 million viewers each week. (It airs Sundays at 9 p.m. EST.)

Catch Up On The Latest Episode Of “The Walking Dead”:

twd-ep4

As the second season unfolds, Kirkman continues to regard the zombie apocalypse at his series’ core as yet another mystery beyond his ken.

“Who knows what causes a zombie invasion? I don’t think we’ll ever find out,” he says matter-of-factly. “But that’s not what the show is about. Our show is about a group of people dealing with the fallout. If a zombie invasion were to really happen, they would be more interested in finding food and staying alive. They would not be busy trying to find out where the zombies came from.”

Like the comic book (with nearly 100 issues published so far), the series focuses not on zombies, but on a tattered group of survivors on the outskirts of Atlanta. Principal among them is Sheriff Rick Grimes (played by series star Andrew Lincoln), who, like the rest of the band, must carry on in a shattered society while defending themselves against the ever-present plague of so-called “walkers,” zombies always hungry for something – like a human – to feed on or infect.

“The more time you spend on the zombies,” Kirkman says, “the more it fits into the realm of science fiction. But we’re telling about a completely real world. The disaster could have been a massive earthquake that caused society to crumble. Having zombies instead just makes it more interesting. But they’re the only unreal thing about the show.”

Growing up in Kentucky, Kirkman was a fan of zombie movies.

“They’re totally entertaining and I have a hard time finding one that I don’t love,” he says. But he had a beef with the genre. “They always have one of two endings: Either everybody dies, or most people die and two people ride off into the sunset and you never see them again.

“I wanted to follow survivors in that world and see what they do and where they go.”

What they do is confront one obstacle after another.

On this week’s episode, the hunt goes on for a missing child. Another character falls victim to a crippling injury, a zombie attack and more. A romantic rendezvous takes a shocking turn. And Deputy Shane Walsh fondly recalls his many high school conquests, before the chilling thought hits him that, in this post-apocalyptic world, all those girls are gone.

“It’s like we’re old folks,” Shane (Jon Bernthal) tells Rick. “The people in our stories are all dead.”

Back in high school, Kirkman was bored and uncertain what to do with his life. After graduation, he was working at a lighting supply company when a friend suggested they collaborate on a comic book. With $200 he set up what he now terms a “rinky-dink publishing company and weaseled my way into comics.”

Along the way, he resolved to establish some ground rules for how zombies should behave.

“Vampires have their crosses and their garlic, and werewolves have their silver bullets,” he notes. “I’ve tried to canonize the most popular aspects of zombie lore. When I set up `The Walking Dead’ I took the best aspects of classic zombie movies and played up that stuff: for instance, most zombies shamble along. Fine. But eating brains? Ridiculous! Getting through a skull is a pretty difficult thing. So we stick to the zombies being general flesh eaters.

“I’m trying to add some new elements” – like the mindless mass migration of zombies, as if by some primitive herding instinct – “but mostly I’m trying to solidify what the actual rules are in a zombie universe.”

And now he’s doing it in a TV writers’ room in Los Angeles. Earlier this year, Kirkman, his wife and two young children uprooted themselves from Kentucky and moved West, where Kirkman, with no previous television experience, now plays a full-time role in the series, of which he is an executive producer.

“I created this world, and they optioned it for a reason, so they might as well have me involved in the process,” he says simply. “I’m one of many voices, but I feel like I’ve been included every step of the way. And it’s been fun.”

It’s also further elevated him in prominence among the zombirati. But Kirkman scoffs at the suggestion that he’s some sort of comics rock star.

“I may go to Comic-Con and get recognized and like, `Oh, can I get your autograph?’ And that may happen on the sidewalk around Comic-Con. But if I go 10 blocks out,” he laughs, “I’m just the chubby guy with the beard who looks like everyone else.”

The scene where she broke the chicken's legs was rather disturbing, audio-wise. The sounds seemed realistic although I've never heard chickens when their legs were being broken. Roscoe was laying on my lap, as usual, and he definitely didn't like the sound. I can always tell by the way he swivles his ears. He ignores TV pictures, but various audio will cause him to pay attention, momemtarily.



Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal and Laurie Holden in "The Walking Dead" (AMC) ‘The Walking Dead’: Sex, Pregnancy, Angst … And Some Zombies, Too
by Joel Keller
Nov 21st, 2011 | 11:20 AM | Comments 0

If you were hoping for some action to happen on “The Walking Dead” this week, you were probably left only semi-happy. There were some zombie attacks, of course: Glenn (Steven Yeun) stepped up and saved Maggie (Lauren Cohan) from a walker in the previously safe haven of the town drug store, and Shane (Jon Bernthal) and Andrea (Laurie Holden) had to hold off a swarm as they looked for the perpetually-missing Sophia in a housing development. But zombie attacks seemed like they were besides the point this week, which is great for character development but not so good for people who like seeing people getting eaten by zombies.

This show is really trying to hold up the not-that-old AMC tradition of “great character drama,” taking the first half of its second season to really try to figure out who the folks running from these zombies are and how they feel about this cruel world they’re living in. But the problem is that when they slow down to do that, they start alienating the fans who tuned into the show in droves in the first place. These characters are just not well-drawn enough right now to start getting into deep emotional territory, especially at the expense of zombie action. At some point, the writers need to get the gang off Hershel Greene’s (Scott Wilson) farm and get them going again.

Perhaps by the time we get there, there will be a shift in leadership. Shane’s asserting himself in a lot of different ways, not the least of which was getting it on, Hyundai-style, with Andrea in a post-walker-shooting adrenaline rush. It does seem like the impulsive Andrea is a better match for Shane than the prickly Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies); as much as Rick (Andrew Lincoln) overthinks everything, he at least pulls his wife out of her spirals of despair. After all, only Lori would take about ten conveniently-labeled “Morning After Pills” and then vomit them up five minutes later. No, Shane and Andrea could make for a great power couple, shooting off guns willy-nilly and only thinking of their own survival. It sure as heck makes more sense than the brooding and contemplation everyone else does.

Then you have Glenn. He risked his and Maggie’s necks getting Lori those Plan B pills, and now we find out that Maggie isn’t just some booty call who drops him like a sack of potatoes when convenient; she now feels that he’s as much a leader as anyone there, and should assert himself, instead of volunteering to be walker bait. Sure, it seems like the men of the group trust Carl (Chandler Riggs) with a gun more than Glenn, but he’s going to change that perception, by gum, mainly because some hot daughter of a crazy farmer says so!

Speaking of which: do you buy Hershel’s reasoning to Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) about why he keeps the walkers holed up in his barn? He figures they’re loved ones afflicted with a disease, not mindless bloodthirsty killers. So what if they beat each other to pieces over those couple of live chickens they get fed every so often? It’s the same principle we saw in the very first episode, when Morgan (Lennie James) couldn’t bring himself to shoot his zombified wife, but it was communicated much more effectively then. This time around, it just felt more sinister and weird than emotional and affecting. This makes us think something big is going to go down during next week’s mid-season finale.

Also, what are we going to see between Rick and Shane? Rick pretty much knew this entire time that Lori and Shane were doing it while he was in a coma, and looking back, he seems forgiving and understanding to both of them. But will that change? And is the baby really his (Lori seems to think so, but how can she be sure)? As skinny as she is now, Lori’s going to have trouble running from the walkers when she’s running for two, with two guys fighting each other to protect her. Let’s hope we explore that part of the story, since it seems a whole lot more exciting than the show we’re getting right now.

‘Walking Dead’ Midseason Finale Ends With a Gunshot — Why You Should Watch
by Reuters
Nov 25th, 2011 | 8:21 PM | Comments 0

The best thing about Sunday’s midseason finale of “The Walking Dead,” the series’ last new episode until February: While it leaves you wanting more, it also provides some satisfying, if heartbreaking, closure on a couple of season two’s big plots.

Specifics on which storylines would be to spoil what is a great viewing event, so, given the holiday season, far be it from us to play Grinch on your TV fun.

But it’s spoiling nothing to say that the tension between Dale and Shane, Rick and Hershel, Glenn and Maggie and Shane and Lori bubbles up — and over in a couple of cases.

Add in the dilemma of the walkers in Hershel’s barn and the continuing search for MIA kiddie Sophia, and the episode ends with a bang.

Literally.

“The Walking Dead” airs Sunday at 9/8c p.m. on AMC.

Holy Hannah ! That was quite a mid-season finale. Although I was one that didn't "see it coming a mile away" as the article thinks we should have. Rick stepped up and took the "psychic hit" for having to shoot Sophie. He knew that it would be traumatic for any of them to have to do it. With poor Sophie's fate, that plot line has run its course. I think Herschel knew she was in the barn, Maggie didn't. He didn't care that they were wasting time looking for her.

Next season they will probably leave the farm. Lori's pregnancy will add an element of danger and suspense as they take their chances on the road. It may help fill the plot void left when Glenn leaves Maggie behind, although there is the possibility that he will choose to remain on the farm, or Maggie may choose to go with them. The latter seems more likely.

The interplay between the other characters will provide plenty of plot lines but fans always like the walker scenes.


Rick (Andrew Lincoln) takes the final shot in the mid-season finale of "The Walking Dead" (AMC)
‘The Walking Dead’: 9 Burning Questions From The Mid-Season Finale
by Joel Keller
Nov 28th, 2011 | 11:19 AM | Comments 0

“The Walking Dead” is taking a little holiday break, and it aired an eventful mid-season finale last night. Well, it was eventful if you didn’t completely see the ending coming a mile away.

The first half of season two ended with a gunshot, with Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) putting a zombified Sophia (Madison Lintz) down, with Carol (Melissa McBride) looking on helplessly. This was after Shane (Jon Bernthal) took charge of the tenuous situation at the Greene farm, opening the walker-filled barn and leading a destructive volley of bullets, where most of the group picked off the zombies like they were in some twisted shooting gallery.

To say it was shocking might be a bit of an overstatement, but it did set up a lot of questions that will need to be answered in the second half of the season when it comes back in February:

What did the Greenes know? Hershel (Scott Wilson) kept warning Rick that the group’s time on the farm was temporary. And it seemed that even after Glenn (Steven Yeun) told the group about the barn, Hershel was only concerned with having the group disappear. Was it because he knew that Sophia was in there? If so, how could he let the group risk their necks searching for her for days on end? Did Maggie (Lauren Cohan) know that Sophia was in there? Or is there another secret we don’t know about?

Who is Shane going to kill in a survivalist rage? We all know that Shane’s in-it-for-himself mode is at once insane and completely rational, given the circumstances. But at a certain point, his recklessness is going to result in a non-walker-related fatality. He’s already confronted Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn), who thinks Shane is a danger to the group. When Shane uttered the title of this episode, “You’re pretty much dead already,” he had a point: it’s only a matter of time before the walkers get everyone. It’s the ones in it for themselves that will live the longest. The next time he’s faced with life or death, he may aim higher than someone’s knees in order to escape.

What’s to come of Maggie and “The Asian boy”? That would be Glenn, of course; we’re using the not-so-flattering term that Hershel used for him. It seems like they’re the Sam and Diane of this story, alternately fighting and kissing. And while light moments like Maggie smashing an egg on Glenn’s head might feel misplaced, they are refreshing when the show drags along. But if Maggie knew about Sophia and whatever other secrets her father had, how will Glenn be able to stay with her?

Will the group stay on the farm? It does feel like a safe haven, but now that they know Dr. Greene’s secret, the not-so-kindly veterinarian probably will throw them out at some point. We need to see the gang being chased again, anyway, so this might be a good thing. However, we can also see the farm being a base of operations for most of the second half of the season. But unless it gets overrun by walkers, it feels like that would be the boring way to go.

Who’s the father of Lori’s baby? Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) insists that it’s Rick, whether it’s in reality or just symbolically. But she doesn’t realize that Rick knows about her and Shane’s we-thought-you-were-dead affair, and may not want to be a dad to a kid fathered by his loco former friend.

Will the pregnancy slow the group down? Lori’s in pretty good shape, but Rick and Shane aren’t going to want her traipsing around Georgia running from walkers when there’s a bun in the oven. If anything keeps them on the farm, it’ll be the embryo.

Will Carol hook up with Daryl? We already know that Carol likes the strong, racist, domineering types. And she’s really appreciative of Daryl’s (Norman Reedus) efforts to try to find Sophia. After she mourns the loss of her daughter, we can see the two of them getting together… if Carol doesn’t get eaten first.

Is Andrea OK? Andrea (Laurie Holden) has gone from a suicidal mourning sister to a gun-toting bad-ass with shaky aim. She could go the way of Shane — heck, she may pop Dale before Shane gets a chance to — or she could become the leader of the group. She’s been such a shapeless character that she could go either way.

When is T-Dog going to die? Poor IronE Singleton. The man has had about ten lines of dialogue over the last four episodes, and it feels like T-Dog going to be zombie chow at any moment. Why don’t they put the dude out of his misery already?

I like that Rick shot the young girl. Not the fact that it was done but that was one of the first moments I thought he deserved to be the leader. It was a necessary kindness to her and I don't think the rest of them had it in them.

He'll make the best father so Shane you are just out of luck.