The Daily Beast: "Fall TV Preview: Where We Left Off"

Can’t remember how Revenge, Homeland, The Good Wife, or Dexter ended? Refresh your collective memory about the cliffhangers for 27 returning shows—and previews of what’s to come.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Fall TV Preview: Where We Left Off," in which Maria Elena Fernandez and I refresh your memory about how 27 shows--from Revenge and Homeland to The Good Wife and Boardwalk Empire--ended last season... and offer a glimpse about what's to come.

Carrie remembered stuff! Leslie was elected! Sheldon took Amy’s hand! Gloria is pregnant! Nucky whacked Jimmy! Victoria Grayson’s plane blew up! Dexter…oh, Dexter!

The fall TV season is officially here, which means we can all breathe a sigh of relief and pull ourselves up from the cliff-hanging precipice. Sure, there’s a bunch of new TV shows across the dial champing at the bit for your attention. But we want to focus on your returning old favorites.

What’s next on Scandal—will we find out who Quinn is? Will Emily track down her mother on Revenge? How will Captain Cragen deal with that dead hooker in his bed on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit? And just what will the gang at Greendale get up to on Community without Dan Harmon at the helm?

To refresh your memory after the long, hot summer, The Daily Beast has a guide to the good and bad times of last season and a peek into what’s coming next this fall.

Parenthood (NBC; Tuesdays at 10 p.m.; returns Sept. 11)

Where We Left Off: You’ll be forgiven for not remembering, since Parenthood wrapped its season way back in February. Crosby (Dax Shepard) and Jasmine (Joy Bryant) finally tied the knot; Adam (Peter Krause) and Crosby decided to keep the Luncheonette open; Mark (Jason Ritter) proposed to Sarah (Lauren Graham), even though the two were at odds about whether they wanted to have children. Elsewhere, after the heartbreak of not getting the baby they meant to adopt, Julia (Erika Christensen) and Joel (Sam Jaeger) instead adopted a five-year-old Latino boy, Victor (Xolo Mariduena).

Where We Pick Up: The entire Braverman clan prepares for the departure of Haddie (Sarah Ramos), who is heading off to Cornell. Sarah and Mark are happily engaged, and Sarah stumbles onto a job working for a curmudgeonly photographer (Ray Romano). Amber (Mae Whitman) is now working with her uncles at the Luncheonette, while Drew (Miles Heizer), now a high school senior, is ecstatic about the return of Amy (Skyler Day) from camp, but the course of (young) love never did run smooth. Kristina (Monica Potter) and Adam consider getting a dog for Max (Max Burkholder), while one of the Bravermans faces a—SPOILER ALERT—potential medical crisis. Prepare to cry. A lot.

Continue reading at The Daily Beast...

The Daily Beast: "Fall TV Report Card: The Winners and Losers"

With the 2011-12 television season in full swing and the cancellation orders stacking up, Jace Lacob rounds up the season’s winners (Revenge! Homeland!), losers (Man Up! Whitney!), and draws.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest story, "Fall TV Report Card: The Winners and Losers," in which I offer up not a critic's list, or a Best of 2011 TV list, but a business story selecting the winners and losers (as well as draws) for the first half of the 2011-12 television season. (Those selections are in the gallery.)

With the 2011-12 television season well underway, it’s become increasingly clear that this isn’t the best fall the broadcasters have ever had. Back in May, when the networks touted their new offerings to advertisers, it appeared they were trying to take some risks with their programming.

But the opposite is true: most of those shows featured what the networks hoped were built-in audiences for retro brand settings (Pan Am! The Playboy Club!) or remakes of vintage television (Charlie’s Angels, it’s back to pop-culture heaven for you), but viewers largely stayed away from these and many of the new fall shows.

Those claiming that viewers’ attention is elsewhere, such as on the Internet, likely don’t have a response for the oversize audience for things like AMC’s The Walking Dead, now the highest-rated cable show on the air, or the first post–Charlie Sheen episode of CBS’s Two and a Half Men. (The latter could be due to sampling, but the show has remained consistently in the range of 14 million to 16 million viewers since then.) It seems as though people are watching television, but they’re increasingly just not that excited about what’s airing on the broadcasters. (Just look at the declining fortunes of once-invulnerable reality franchise The Biggest Loser.) Which is downright worrisome, as the networks have to replace aging series and churn out new and zeitgeist-grabbing programming on a yearly basis. And sorry, Fox, but that wasn’t The X Factor, despite the nonstop hype.

Continue reading at The Daily Beast...

The Daily Beast: "The Fall TV Season Begins!"

Time to head back to the couch, America. The fall TV season is here and all of your favorite shows—from The Walking Dead and The Good Wife to Dexter and Boardwalk Empire—and a slew of new ones are soon heading to a TV set near you. Will you find Ringer to be the second coming of Sarah Michelle Gellar… or is it the second coming of Silk Stalkings? Time will tell, but at least your TV favorites are back with brand new seasons, and lots of plot twists.

To refresh your memory after the long summer, over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, entitled "The Fall TV Season Begins!," in which Maria Elena Fernandez and I round up a guide to the good and bad times of last season--or in this case, 23 cliffhangers--and offer a peek into what’s coming next this fall.

Press Release: The Paley Center for Media Announces PaleyFest2011 (True Blood, Freaks and Geeks, The Walking Dead, American Idol!)

THE PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA ANNOUNCES PALEYFEST2011
THE TWENTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL WILLIAM S. PALEY TELEVISION FESTIVAL

March 4–18, 2011, at Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, CA

Evenings Honoring True Blood, The Walking Dead, 10 seasons of American Idol and a reunion of the casts of Judd Apatow’s Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared are the first four honorees revealed from PaleyFest2011’s 12-Event Lineup

Los Angeles, CA—The Paley Center for Media will present the twenty-eighth annual PaleyFest: The William S. Paley Television Festival (PaleyFest2011) from March 4 to 18, 2011, returning to the historic Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, California. The Festival is also revealing four of its 2011 honorees: HBO’s True Blood, AMC’s The Walking Dead, FOX’s American Idol, which will be honored for its ten seasons on the air, and the seminal cult classics Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared, which will be jointly honored on one special evening.

PaleyFest is an extraordinary interactive pop culture event, connecting fans with the casts and creators of their favorite series as well as the icons who have changed or are changing the face of media. Named for William S. Paley, founder of both the Paley Center and CBS, annual Festival celebrates television’s rich and diverse programming and the creative process behind the medium. During each evening, the audience views episodes or highlights of the featured work and has the opportunity to ask questions of the cast and creative team or the individual involved in its production.

The complete schedule for PaleyFest2011 will be announced on Wednesday, January 19, 2011, first on the Paley Center twitter feed (twitter.com/paleycenter) and available on paleycenter.org with additional details. Starting today, the all-inclusive Festival Pass is available for purchase at ticketweb.com—just in time to give the perfect holiday gift to the ultimate TV fan. The Festival Pass includes one guaranteed ticket for premium seating each night, access to Festival events, free parking, concession stand vouchers, a one-year Paley Center general Membership, and other benefits. Starting January 19, several PaleyFest2011 Ticket Packages will be announced and available, also at ticketweb.com. Individual tickets will go on sale to Paley Center Members on Friday, January 21, and to the general public beginning the following Sunday, January 23, 2011.

Since the first Festival in 1984, the Paley Center has honored more than three hundred programs, including 24, Alias, American Idol, Battlestar Galactica, The Big Bang Theory, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cheers, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Damages, Desperate Housewives, Dexter, Entourage, Family Guy, Friends, Friday Night Lights, Glee, Grey’s Anatomy, The Golden Girls, Gunsmoke, House, The Honeymooners, Laugh-In, Lost, Mad Men, M*A*S*H, Modern Family, My Name Is Earl, The O.C., The Office, Roots, Route 66, Sábado Gigante, Seinfeld, The Simpsons, Six Feet Under, South Park, thirtysomething, True Blood, Ugly Betty, The Untouchables, The West Wing, and The X-Files, along with such personalities as Judd Apatow, Lucille Ball, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Sally Field, Jane Fonda, John Frankenheimer, Jim Henson, Bob Hope, Angela Lansbury, Jack Lemmon, George Lucas, Mary Martin, Carl Reiner, Garry Shandling, Flip Wilson, Jonathan Winters, and many others. PaleyFest panels are recorded and are available for viewing at the Paley Center in New York and Los Angeles.

PaleyFest2011 is made possible in part by a grant from the William S. Paley Foundation.

Mermaid's Tale: The Mausoleum of All Hope and Desire on The Walking Dead

"I remember my dream now." - Jim

Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that I've been watching screeners of AMC's zombie apocalypse drama The Walking Dead but haven't been as captivated as I was with the pilot episode. However, I watched the fourth and fifth episodes of the series over the weekend and found both of them to be on par with the harrowing atmosphere of the pilot, giving viewers an intense experience that shows the gripping struggle for and by humanity.

In a land beset by demons, can the survivors of a global apocalypse retain their humanity? Or does killing monsters make you a monster yourself? Once you cross that moral line, can you step back over it?

This week's sensational episode of The Walking Dead ("Vatos"), written by Robert Kirkman (who created the series' underlying material) and directed by Johan Renck, put the focus back on the human aspect of the drama, giving us an installment that largely revolved around familial bonds, starting with that gorgeous scene in the boat between Andrea (Laurie Holden) and Amy (Emma Bell) in which they reminisced about their father, likely dead, and their own childhoods, the way in which their father taught them to fish using different methods.

He understood that the two girls, separated by twelve years, needed different things: that Andrea needed to catch fish to feed the family and that Amy needed the throw them back into the water. Two very different women joined by the unbreakable bond of blood.

But, even amid the madness of the helter-skelter world they live in, Andrea's focus wasn't just on survival by on Amy's birthday and she wanted to make it as special as possible, looking everywhere for something to wrap up the mermaid necklace she took from the department store back in "Guts." A birthday present, a charm, for a smiling girl.

It was not to be.

I want to commend Laurie Holden for her breathtaking performance in this episode, for both the love and loss that she conjured out of thin air and for the heartbreak she displayed upon Amy's death at the hands of a walker. Her eternal concern for her younger sister--evidenced by when Amy got up to go to the bathroom--transforming itself into a keen grief when she sees her ripped into my a walker upon emerging from the RV in search of toilet paper.

Such a human dilemma, really: her final words, her last thought on this earth, being something so trivial and so universal. A flicker of normalcy in a world gone mad. The horror that Holden's Andrea displayed filled me with dread, so connected as it was with Jim's own history: his own experience of seeing his family ripped apart by walkers, unable to save them, unable to do anything. Amy's fate decided while Andrea sat not 30 feet away with the others.

If Merle hadn't have taken the van, it's possible that Rick and the others could have saved more of the group. As it were, they arrive just as the walkers attack the camp and are able to save the majority of refugees. But if they hadn't gone back for Merle in the first place--or that bag of guns (or gotten diverted by the vatos who kidnapped Glenn), Amy's death could have been prevented.

Instead, a few hours shy of her birthday, Amy bleeds to death in front of the RV, her broken body cradled by her sister Andrea. "I don't know what to do," Andrea cries out, guilt and her confusion coursing through her veins as her sister dies in her arms.

The fragility of human life, the transience of all things, are only too fitting when juxtaposed with Dale's concerns with time, his insistence on winding his watch, his belief in the importance of keeping time. The watch itself emblematic of Faulkner's line about "the mausoleum of all hope and desire."

The horror of Amy's death is at odds with that beautiful scene at the beginning, two sisters in a boat on a cerulean blue lake. What's left of that bond leaks out onto the ground. But the terror is not just of a woman passing, it's that death isn't the end anymore. In this new world, the dead walk again, demons in human form, all teeth and nails and insatiable hunger. Is this what time holds for Amy? For all of them? Is there any place of safety remaining in this world?

There's something to be said for the vatos' philosophy. They closed themselves in, barricaded the doors and looked after the elderly that were left behind. Their aggression a front for something else. While I wasn't crazy about the vatos storyline--thugs with hearts of gold! a factory concealing an old folks' home--it showed that there is still humanity in the midst of savagery and there are other bands of survivors just like our central group.

But surviving is a relative term. Jim survived the zombie attack that killed his family. He escaped at the price of their deaths but he's haunted by what he experienced. How does one go on with that rambling through your head? His dream, the reason for digging those graves, tenuously out of grasp until he glimpses the carnage around the campfire. He now knows why he was digging those holes. He knows for whom he was digging them. But is it a sign of prescience? Or of inevitability? That death would claim those close to them, breaking their charmed circle?

"Wildfire," next week's episode--which I watched yesterday--continues the threads here, exploring the aftermath of the attacks and giving Holden another incredible opportunity to soar as an actor. (The teaser scene below gives you a taste of her agony.) It's an episode that sets up the final act of the season and offers a few intriguing questions as well as some potential answers.

While it might strike fans of British drama series Survivors as somewhat familiar (and seemed to jump over some key points along the way), the episode plays out with a tremendous amount of tension and dread, a riveting installment that refuses to let go of your attention. It's both harrowing and heartbreaking, gruesome and gripping. And I can't wait to see just what happens next...

Next week on The Walking Dead ("Wildfire"), Rick leads the group to the CDC after the attack; Jim must make a terrible life and death decision.

No-Brainer: AMC Renews The Walking Dead for Second Season

No surprise that AMC is gearing up for another invasion of The Walking Dead.

Just a day after airing the series' second episode, the cable network announced officially that The Walking Dead would return for a second season of thirteen episodes. (Yes, thirteen episodes this time, as was rumored a while back.)

The renewal shouldn't be a shock to anyone watching the numbers as the launch of The Walking Dead broke cable records, as it reached more of the key demographic than any other series in history. (I'll let that sink in for a second.) While the second episode dipped slightly in overall viewers, it saw an uptick in men 18-49.

“The Dead has spread!” said Charlie Collier, President, AMC, in a statement. “No other cable series has ever attracted as many Adults 18-49 as The Walking Dead. This reaffirms viewers’ hunger for premium television on basic cable. We are so proud to be bringing back The Dead again, across the globe.”

That worldwide reach is due to AMC's partnership with Fox International Channels, which rolled out the series to 120 countries as part of an unprecedented global launch for The Walking Dead.

The full press release from AMC announcing the renewal can be found below.

AMC RESURRECTS “THE WALKING DEAD”
FOR A SECOND SEASON

BIGGEST SERIES IN CABLE HISTORY
AMONG ADULTS 18-49

Network Greenlights 13-Episode Season of Original Hit Series

Biggest Global Original Series Debut on Fox International Channels
(New York, NY – November 8, 2010) AMC announced today the renewal of “The Walking Dead” for a 13-episode second season. Since debuting Sunday, October 31, “The Walking Dead” has broken ratings records, with the series reaching more Adults 18-49 than any other show in the history of cable television.

Today’s announcement also includes Fox International Channels’ (FIC) global renewal for a second season, following record-breaking premiere ratings in 120 countries in Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. “The Walking Dead” was the highest-rated original series premiere ever to air on FIC simultaneously worldwide.

“The ‘Dead’ has spread!” said Charlie Collier, President, AMC. “No other cable series has ever attracted as many Adults 18-49 as ‘The Walking Dead.’ This reaffirms viewers’ hunger for premium television on basic cable. We are so proud to be bringing back ‘The Dead’ again, across the globe.”

Ratings Highlights for The Walking Dead - Episode 2, which premiered on AMC Sunday, 11/7:

10pm airing – 3.1 HH rating with over 4.7 million viewers;
Adults 18-49 – 3.3 million viewers;
Adults 25-54 – 2.8 million viewers;
Men 18-49 – 2.1 million viewers.

Ratings Highlights for the The Walking Dead - Episode 1, which premiered on AMC Sunday, 10/31:

10pm airing – 3.7 HH rating with over 5.3 million total viewers;
Adults 18-49 – 3.6 million viewers;
Adults 25-54 – 3.1 million viewers;
Men 18-49 – 2.0 million viewers;

“I wish all programming decisions were no brainers like this one,” said Sharon Tal Yguado, SVP Scripted Programming. “‘The Walking Dead’ is a TV masterpiece on so many levels. We want at least 10 seasons, if not more. Kudos to AMC!”

AMC’s “The Walking Dead” is based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. Kirkman serves as an executive producer on the project and three-time Academy Award-nominee Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) serves as writer, director and executive producer. Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator, Aliens, Armageddon, The Incredible Hulk), chairman of Valhalla Motion Pictures, serves as Executive Producer. David Alpert from Circle of Confusion and Charles “Chic” Eglee (Dexter, The Shield, Dark Angel) serve as Executive Producers.

“The Walking Dead” tells the story of the months and years that follow after a zombie apocalypse. It follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, who travel in search of a safe and secure home. The comic goes on to explore the challenges of life in a world overrun by zombies who take a toll on the survivors, and sometimes the interpersonal conflicts present a greater danger to their continuing survival than the zombies that roam the country. Over time, the characters are changed by the constant exposure to death and some grow willing to do anything to survive.

Shot on location in Atlanta, “The Walking Dead” is led by a cast that includes Lincoln (“Teachers,” Love Actually) as Rick Grimes, Jon Bernthal (“The Pacific,” The Ghost Writer) as Shane Walsh, Sarah Wayne Callies (“Prison Break”) as Lori Grimes, Laurie Holden (“The Shield,” Stephen King’s The Mist) as Andrea, Jeffrey DeMunn (Stephen King’s The Mist, The Green Mile) as Dale, Steven Yeun (“The Big Bang Theory”) as Glen, Emma Bell (The Bedford Diaries) as Amy and Chandler Riggs (Get Low) as Carl Grimes.

About AMC
AMC reigns as the only cable network in history to ever win the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Drama Series three years in a row, as well as the Golden Globe® Award for Best Television Series - Drama for three consecutive years. Whether commemorating favorite films from every genre and decade or creating acclaimed original programming, the AMC experience is an uncompromising celebration of great stories. AMC's original stories include the Emmy® Award-winning dramas Mad Men and Breaking Bad, and entertaining non-scripted programming such as AMC News. AMC further demonstrates its commitment to the art of storytelling with curated movie franchises like AMC Hollywood Icon and AMC Complete Collection. Available in more than 96 million homes (Source: Nielsen Media Research), AMC is a subsidiary of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, which includes sister networks IFC, Sundance Channel, WE tv and Wedding Central. AMC is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile. AMC: Story Matters HereSM.

About FOX International Channels
FOX International Channels (FIC) is News Corporation’s international multi-media business. We develop, produce and distribute 183 wholly- and majority-owned entertainment, factual, sports and movie channels across Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa, in 35 languages. These networks and their related mobile, non-linear and high-definition extensions, reach over 300 million subscribing households (875 million cumulative) worldwide. We also operate a global online advertising unit, .FOX (pronounced “dot-fox”) specialized in online video and display, and four TV production houses. In operation since: August 14, 1993.

Talk Back: The Series Premiere of AMC's The Walking Dead

Here's to hoping you did more on Halloween than just go trick-or-treating.

Last night marked the series premiere of AMC's new horror series The Walking Dead. While you already read my advance review of the first three episodes here, now that TWD has premiered, I'm curious to know just what you thought about the zombie apocalypse drama.

Were you put off by the gore and violence? Or was it just the right amount of muck and mayhem for you? Did you believe British actor Andrew Lincoln as a Southern cop? Were you on the edge of your seat the entire time? Watch through clenched fingers? Unable to look away? Did the pilot episode linger with you the rest of the evening?

Also, were you struck by similarities to both 28 Days Later and Survivors? Did you feel it advanced zombie mythology or, er, regurgitated it?

And, most importantly, will you tune in again to The Walking Dead next week?

Talk back here.

Next week on The Walking Dead ("Guts"), Rick unknowingly causes a group of survivors to be trapped by walkers; as the group dynamic devolves from accusations to violence, Rick must confront an enemy far more dangerous than the undead.

Death Goes Walking: An Advance Review of AMC's The Walking Dead

Zombies represent a real nexus of fear for me, something approaching an all-out phobia.

Perhaps it has to do with the fact that zombies--unlike, say, other horror-based characters like vampires or werewolves--are brought about by something uncontrollable like a virus. They become a faceless mob, hell-bent on feasting on human flesh, transmitting the virus as it takes over the world. Unlike vampires (whose hunger is based upon something entirely different and inimical), zombies have no intellect. Rather they represent something alien, chaotic, and unstoppable, a walking virus in rags and bones that doesn't realize that it has shed its last vestiges of humanity.

One of the most eagerly anticipated new series this fall is AMC's The Walking Dead, a horror drama based on the ongoing comic book series by Robert Kirkman that's executive produced by Frank Darabont and Gale Anne Hurd. The six-episode first season launches on Sunday, bringing a horror series to basic cable fittingly on Halloween night.

In the hands of Darabont and his team, that central notion of humanity is explored through the nightmare situation that unfolds. What makes us essentially human? If we become monsters in the name of survival, do we lose that inherent humanity? How does one live when surrounded with so much death? Is there any possibility of happiness to be wrung out of this new hell? What happens when we're alive but dead inside?

The answers to those very questions are at the heart of this gripping, ultra-violent series, which follows the survivors of a full-on zombie apocalypse. Whether they're shooting or beheading zombies, those ragtag humans remaining are holding on dearly for survival and the series explores the unbreakable nature of the human spirit. Simple pleasures--a hot shower, a fast car, the sight of a loved one--take on monumental weight in the face of such horrific adversity.

British actor Andrew Lincoln (This Life, Love Actually) stars as Officer Rick Grimes, a local deputy sheriff who is in a coma at the time of the zombie uprising and awakens in a deserted hospital to a world that's very different than the one he left behind, a dark mirror image of where the familiar and comforting have turned topsy-turvy. (The comparisons to 28 Days Later are inevitable.) A vase of fresh flowers is long dead, its petals crushed and dried. A nurse's station becomes an ominous place, the creaking doors, chained and padlocked, containing the dead who continue to walk.

Rick provides a natural entry point to the series for the viewer, his disorientation ours as he attempts to find his bearings in these new circumstances. Where are his wife and son? What has happened to the world while he was sleeping? His journey will take him back to their house and ultimately out into the world, on a mad quest to reunite his family.

But this is a horror drama, after all, and the stakes are high, as is the mounting body count. Rick's journey towards Atlanta becomes a path of destruction and the pilot episode ("Days Gone Bye") is one of the most tension-ridden episodes of television you'll ever see, a white-knuckle thrill-ride that had me breathless with anticipation and dread. The ominous tone and foreboding atmosphere is ably assisted by cinematic-level visuals, sweeping shots of emptiness that signal the isolation and fear gripping Rick while rendering the swarms of zombies, their teeth and nails and rotting flesh, all the more terrifying.

As I mentioned earlier, I have a real fear of zombies that's almost paralyzing in its severity, but I couldn't help but fall under the spell of The Walking Dead's opening salvo. The plot is arranged in such a way that it becomes impossible to look away, dragging you along with its breakneck pacing and overwhelming horror. Its more philosophical questions remind of the short-lived British television drama Survivors, which also explored the ways in which we hold onto--or discard--our humanity in the face of cataclysmic change. The empty streets of Atlanta, however, hold nothing but death at the hands of the savage mob, just as in Survivors it contained a viral death warrant.

I will say that I was slightly let down by the series' second episode ("Guts"), which pushed it into far more prototypical horror territory, negating some of the moral importance of the pilot episode. Rather than continue to mine those themes, the episode focuses much more heavily on the logistics and terror aspect of the zombies as Rick finds himself in an impossible situation and then goes from the frying pan into the fire. (Lest I spoil plot particulars, I'm being intentionally vague here.) Still intense, but the violence begins to grate rather than engage after a while.

Additionally, the dialogue in the second installment felt particularly stilted in this episode and unrealistic and certain characters--again, I won't say who--behaved in manners that seemed to shout out that they had never seen Scream or any other horror movie and didn't know the "rules." (Stupid behavior, after all, gets you killed.) Rather than feel panic for these individuals, I actually found myself feeling that it would be justified for them to get eaten after behaving so idiotically. (Which is a bit of a problem in a series about survival and humanity.)

Fortunately, the third episode ("Tell It to the Frogs") put the series back on track in my opinion, better balancing the horror and dread with humanity and hope, zombies with matters of the heart and soul. It also delves into the makeshift community established by the survivors of the zombie storm, a place where members attempt to recreate society anew with rules, chores, regulations, and lookout duty. It's a place where a string of tin cans becomes an early warning system, where clothes are washed by hand, and the simple pleasure of fishing for frogs becomes a wish fulfillment fantasy.

The Walking Dead's cast is top-notch. Lincoln simmers with intensity, his honor and duty as affixed to him as his deputy sheriff's uniform. (I can't get one particular scene, in which he solemnly apologizes to a female zombie before ending her, out of my mind.) Jon Bernthal, who plays Rick's partner Shane, exudes a hard sadness. Former Prison Break star Sarah Wayne Callies plays Rick's wife Lori, a woman who is determined to keep her son Carl (Chandler Riggs) safe. Look for Steven Yeun to break out as Glenn, whose irrepressible nature is at odds with the horror witnessed around him. Michael Rooker and Norman Reedus are terrifically terrifying as redneck brothers Merle and Daryl Dixon.

I'm intrigued to see just where The Walking Dead is going and how long it can sustain its tension and horror in the long run. But despite some bumps in the road (particularly, again, in that second episode), even this zombie-phobe is along for the ride. Though I might just be watching with my hands half-over my eyes.



The Walking Dead premieres Sunday evening at 10 pm ET/PT on AMC.

The Daily Beast: "AMC: Television's Hottest Network"

Mad Men. Breaking Bad. Rubicon.

Those titles are intimately familiar to any television devotee and cabler AMC, the home to those groundbreaking series, is about to launch their fourth original series this weekend with The Walking Dead.

Over at The Daily Beast, I examine AMC's success, speaking to the channel's top executives--president/general manager Charlie Collier and SVP of original programming Joel Stillerman--as they dive headfirst into the horror genre with Sunday's The Walking Dead.

The piece, entitled "AMC: Television's Hottest Network," contains a discussion with Collier and Stillerman covering AMC's brand, their programming decisions, and the future and challenges for the basic cable network as well as topics such as the fate of Rubicon, next year's crime drama The Killing, and much more.

The Dead Walk: AMC Announces Halloween Launch Date for The Walking Dead

Be prepared to be scared.

AMC has announced an official launch date for its upcoming zombie series The Walking Dead, which is based on Robert Kirkman's comic book series.

The Walking Dead, which stars Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, and Jeffrey DeMunn, will launch with a 90-minute series premiere on Sunday, October 31st at 10 pm ET/PT.

The official trailer for The Walking Dead can be viewed below. "Stay focused."



The full press release from AMC can be found below.

AMC LAUNCHES NEWEST ORIGINAL DRAMA “THE WALKING DEAD”
WITH A 90-MINUTE PREMIERE EPISODE ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31, 10PM

Series Stars Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies,
Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn and others

Written, Directed and Executive-Produced by
Frank Darabont, Executive Produced by Gale Anne Hurd
New York, NY – August 2010 – AMC's newest original series, “The Walking Dead,” will premiere on Halloween night, Sunday, October 31 at 10 PM ET. The Sunday night series will debut with a 90-minute premiere episode, airing at 10 PM, October 31st. Subsequent episodes will be one-hour long presentations.

In conjunction with the announcement, today AMC released a four and a half-minute trailer, previewing the series, as was seen at this year’s Comicon. The trailer can be viewed on www.amctv.com.

The series will premiere during AMC's Fearfest, the network's annual blockbuster marathon of thriller and horror films. Fearfest is celebrating its 14th year by airing 14 consecutive days of themed programming with more than 50 films.

“The Walking Dead” is AMC's first wholly-owned original series.

“The Walking Dead” is based on the comic book written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. The six-episode series tells the story of life following a zombie apocalypse. It follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln (“Love Actually,” “Teachers,” “Strike Back”), traveling in search of a safe and secure home. Jon Bernthal (“The Pacific,” “The Ghost Writer”) plays Rick’s sheriff’s department partner before the apocalypse, Shane Walsh, and Sarah Wayne Callies (“Prison Break”), is Rick's wife, Lori. Supporting cast include Laurie Holden (“The Shield”), Jeffrey DeMunn, Chandler Riggs and Steven Yeun.

Three-time Academy Award-nominee Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Green Mile”) serves as writer, director and executive producer. Chairwoman of Valhalla Motion Pictures, Gale Anne Hurd (“The Terminator,” “Aliens,” “Armageddon,” “The Incredible Hulk”), creator of the original comic series, Robert Kirkman, and David Alpert from Circle of Confusion serve as Executive Producer. Charles “Chic” Eglee (“Dexter,” “The Shield,” “Dark Angel”) and Jack LoGiudice (“Sons of Anarchy,” “Resurrection Blvd”) are Co-Executive Producer.

For more information, visit AMC’s press website, http://press.amctv.com .

About AMC
AMC reigns as the only network to ever win the Golden Globe® Award for Best Television Series - Drama three years in a row and the only basic cable network to win back-to-back Primetime Emmy® Awards for Outstanding Drama Series. Whether commemorating favorite films from every genre and decade from the most comprehensive library or creating acclaimed original productions, the AMC experience is an uncompromising celebration of great stories. AMC's original stories include the Emmy® Award-winning dramas “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad,” and insightful non-scripted programming such as “AMC News.” AMC further demonstrates its commitment to the art of storytelling with curated movie franchises like AMC Hollywood Icon and AMC Complete Collection. Available in more than 95 million homes (Source: Nielsen Media Research), AMC is a subsidiary of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, which includes sister networks IFC, Sundance Channel, WE tv and Wedding Central. AMC is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile.

San Diego Comic-Con: AMC's Panel for Zombie Drama The Walking Dead

Missed the hordes of zombies at this weekend's San Diego Comic-Con International? Or the actual walking dead themselves?

Worry not, zombie fiends, as AMC has released highlights from its panel for its upcoming zombie drama The Walking Dead--based, of course, on the comic book series by the one and only Robert Kirkman--so you can get a look at the cast and crew of the horror-filled series even if you didn't make it to San Diego.

The eleven minute video--which picks out the best bits from the Walking Dead panel on Friday--can be viewed below in its entirety.



The Walking Dead launches in October on AMC.

San Diego Comic-Con 2010: Preview Night Photos

San Diego Comic-Con International 2010 kicked off last night with the annual Preview Night, an opportunity to walk the convention floor before the true madness begins.

Which is funny in a way because the floor was already teeming with people who were either after the latest freebies or checking out the behemoth booths and merchandise offered by a slew of studios, television networks, comic sellers, and, well, anything and everything under the sun.

Missed Preview Night? Here's a selection below of photography capturing some of the highlights of the convention floor--from Green Lantern and Tron: Legacy to The Walking Dead--courtesy of Mark DiFruscio.

WBTV Booth



Tron: Legacy









The Walking Dead







FOX Booth



Green Lantern



Salt/Priest

The Daily Beast: "Angelina Jolie & Other Nerd Bait at Comic-Con"

San Diego Comic-Con is upon us.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can check out my latest feature, entitled "Angelina Jolie & Other Nerd Bait at Comic-Con," which rounds-up the 14 most anticipated--and thus buzzy--panels from both film and television.

Among the standouts that are sure to be action-packed this year: Salt, True Blood, Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, Green Lantern, The Expendables, Being Human, Red, The Walking Dead, Tron: Legacy, Thor, Let Me In, Paul, all of WBTV's many shows, and the J.J. Abrams/Joss Whedon Visionaries panel, presented by Entertainment Weekly, among others.

What are you most looking forward to and what panels do you think will live up to the hype? Head to the comments section to discuss.

First Look: Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes on AMC's The Walking Dead

AMC today released the first photo of Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes from the set of the cabler's upcoming supernatural drama The Walking Dead, set to premiere this October.

Robert Kirkman, creator/writer of the comic and executive producer on the series says:
"Writing this book for the past seven years I've gotten very close to the character of Rick," said Robert Kirkman, who wrote the comic on which The Walking Dead is based, and who will serve as an executive producer on the AMC drama. "Andrew Lincoln embodies every aspect of the character that fans know and love. After seeing this photo I don't think that there will be a doubt in anyone's mind that he's perfect for the role."

A larger version of the photo can be found below.



Here's how AMC is positioning the series: "The Walking Dead tells the story of the months and years that follow after a zombie apocalypse. It follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, who travel in search of a safe and secure home. The comic goes on to explore the challenges of life in a world overrun by zombies who take a toll on the survivors, and sometimes the interpersonal conflicts present a greater danger to their continuing survival than the zombies that roam the country. Over time, the characters are changed by the constant exposure to death and some grow willing to do anything to survive."

The Walking Dead is expected to launch in October on AMC.

Channel Surfing: Glee Finale Secrets, USA Gets Common Law, Sarah Drew Promoted on Grey's Anatomy, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos caught up with Glee's Jane Lynch, co-creator Brad Falchuk, and executive producer Dante Di Loreto to discuss five secrets from the Glee season finale, including the fact that the smooch between Will (Matthew Morrison) and Emma (Jayma Mays) wasn't scripted ("Her reaction is totally real," he said), no tear enhancers were used, Jonathan Groff and Idina Menzel may return next season, the writers deserve an Emmy (according to Lynch), and Sue Sylvester won't be turning all mushy next season. [Editor: personally, I thought the Glee season finale was pretty weak, coasting by on sentimentality rather than genuine--or earned--emotion. But I've found that to be true throughout the first season.] (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

USA has given a cast-contingent pilot order to buddy/cop comedy Common Law, which revolves around two LAPD officers--Wes and Travis--whose once-strong friendship has fractured, leading their captain to send them to couples therapy. Project, from CBS Television Studios and Junction Entertainment, is written/executive produced by Cormac and Marianne Wibberley (National Treasure), and executive produced by Jon Turteltaub. "If you're going to do a cop show, it better be something special, and we believe this one is," said Jeff Wachtel, USA's EVP of original programming. (Variety, Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Sarah Drew has now been bumped to series regular on ABC's Grey's Anatomy next season, following the successful closing of her deal. Move comes after fellow rookie Jesse Williams was upgraded earlier this week. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos talks with John Stamos about his upcoming role on Season Two of Glee, catching up with him while he was at the gym. "I'm singing and dancing every day. All day," Stamos told Dos Santos. "So I hope they let me sing and dance a little. I started watching the show when they goofed on me and fell in love with Glee. I find it to be a celebration of diversity and I'm proud to be joining that whole extremely talented team." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

AMC's upcoming zombie drama The Walking Dead is headed for the international marketplace, following a deal between the cabler at Fox International Channels, which secured the rights to distribute the series outside of the US and Canada as well as home video rights. "We look at The Walking Dead as an amazing opportunity to serve as both the network and the studio," AMC president Charlie Collier told Variety. "We think there's a universality to this type of story, plus the genre travels well and has a longevity to it that makes it a really good business opportunity." (Variety)

Director Leslie Linka Glatter (Mad Men) has joined the staff of FOX's midseason cop drama Ride-Along as a co-executive producer/director. Elsewhere, Deadline's Nellie Andreeva reports that Brad Turner (24) has joined the staff of CBS' Hawaii Five-O as co-executive producer/director and David Amann (Without a Trace) has joined returning ABC drama Castle as an executive producer. (Variety, Deadline)

Oprah Winfrey's nascent cable network OWN is said to be developing projects revolving around celebrity chef Cat Cora and fashion expert Carson Kressley and a reality series that focuses on a mediation program from executive producer Tom Forman. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC Studios has singed a two-script deal with 100 Questions creator Christopher Moynihan (who also starred on NBC's ill-fated US adaptation of Coupling years ago), under which the projects will be co-produced by Tagline Pictures. (Deadline)

CBS has hired Louis Boyd as VP, alternative programming. He will report to Jennifer Bresnan. (Hollywood Reporter)

Oxygen Media has promoted Jason Klarman to President, effective immediately. He will report to Lauren Zalanick, President of NBC Universal Women & Lifestyle Entertainment Networks. (Deadline)

Style has ordered a third season of reality series Giuliana & Bill, which will launch either later this year or at the beginning of 2011. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: ABC Expands Lost Finale (Again), Actors and Execs Talk Lost Twist, 24 Movie Update, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Looks like there's more Lost than we thought. The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd is reporting that ABC has expanded the series finale of Lost by a half an hour, bringing the finale's running time to two and a half hours on May 23rd, after the two-hour recap special, Lost: The Final Journey, and before a special edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live featuring the cast at 12:05 am that night. The decision to expand the series finale was made after executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse completed post-production on the final episode. "The producers of ABC's hit drama have shot so much crucial material for the show's hugely anticipated series finale that the network has agreed to extend the last episode by an extra half hour," writes Hibberd. Which means that we get another half an episode of the series. Lucky, lucky us. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN LAST NIGHT'S EPISODE OF LOST! Entertainment Weekly's Jeff Jensen has an interview with Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse about last night's episode of Lost ("The Candidate") and about certain matters of good and evil. Asked why the producers had to kill off Sun and Jin this week, Lindelof said, "Because now you know this show is willing and capable of killing anyone." And those wondering about the Man in Black's true nature need to read the following quote: "There is no ambiguity,” said Cuse of the Man in Black. "He is evil and he has to be stopped... There will be very little debate at the end of this episode that [Fake Locke] is evil and bad and has to be stopped. The main narrative reason for him killing our main characters is to establish how much of a bad guy he is and to clearly identify him as the antagonist rolling into the end of the series." (Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch)

Elsewhere, TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams talks to Lost's Yunjin Kim about last night's episode. "It was a brilliant way to end Sun and Jin's life on the island," said Kim of the episode that killed off her character and Daniel Dae Kim's Jin. "Because of the way the story is going, especially once we get to Episode 15, 16 and 17, it's moving at a pretty fast pace. Let's say if Jin dies alone, Sun would only grieve for Jin for two seconds and we'd have to move on with the storyline. It was a very romantic death... As soon as I got on the phone with Damon Lindelof, he said 'This phone call is not one of those phone calls.' He told me how it was going to happen and I actually thought it was a beautiful ending to both of the characters. It will only propel the other survivors to go after Locke [Terry O'Quinn], and have a very good reason to go after Locke as aggressively as they do in the final episodes." (TVGuide.com)

E! Online's Megan Masters talks with 24 executive producer Howard Gordon, Kiefer Sutherland, and Mary Lynn Rajskub about the long gestating 24 feature film... and how the series finale of 24, set to air later this month, will impact the plot. "It's less of a cliff-hanger as much as it is a personal ending between a few of the characters, which is very intimate for us, when we're not blowing up the planet," Sutherland told Masters. "It was very wonderful for us to make and I hope the audience likes it as well. I'm very happy with it." Gordon agreed: "It's exciting, it's emotional and it just feels right. The ending fits somewhere between Jack dying and a happily ever after." As for Rakskub, she believes she'll be playing Chloe for some time to come. "The series really lends itself to the movie, but having said that, it is a satisfying ending," Mary Lynn Rajskub, who plays fan fave Chloe, says. "Things are coming to a head in a pretty exciting way. This whole year has been a really strong year to go out on and the ending is just as strong... I know for sure that I'll be Chloe for at least a few years from now." (E! Online's Watch With Kristin)

NBC has confirmed that Jimmy Fallon will be the host of the 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, which will be telecast on Sunday, August 29th at 8 pm ET and 5 pm PT. "Hosting the Emmys has been a dream of mine ever since they told me I was doing it," said Fallon. (Variety's Emmy Central)

Deadline.com's Nikki Finke and Nellie Andreeva have an update on their Primetime Pilot Panic List, tracking rumors about which pilots are going to get the greenlight to series and which will fall by the wayside. (Deadline.com)

The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd is reporting that Laurie Holden (The Shield) is the latest actor to board AMC's upcoming zombie drama series The Walking Dead, where she has been cast as Andrea, described as "a key member of the survivor group who has a proficiency with a sniper rifle and falls for a man twice her age." Also cast: Steven Yeun, who will play Glenn. (Hollywood Reporter)

Former Life on Mars co-stars John Simm and Philip Glenister are set to reunite on-screen for Sky1's upcoming murder drama series Mad Dogs. (Broadcast)

Steve Blackman and Craig Turk have been promoted to co-head writers on ABC's Private Practice. They will report to creator Shonda Rhimes but will serve as "de-facto co-showrunners" on the series, which is widely expected to be returning next season. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Jessica Walter (Arrested Development) has been cast in an upcoming episode of ABC Family's Make It or Break It, where she will play the grandmother of Cassie Scerbo's Lauren. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

It's official: Debra Winger is heading to Season Three of HBO's In Treatment, where she will play a patient of Gabriel Byrne's Paul in the upcoming season of the psychoanalysis drama series. (Variety)

GSN has ordered raunchy comedy game show Late Night Liars, featuring Jim Henson Company's puppets, and will launch the series on June 10th at 11 pm ET/PT. Larry Miller will be joined on the series by "two human contestants [who face] off against a panel of four 'celebrity puppets' who are also drunk and telling half-truths." (Hollywood Reporter)

E! Online's Jenna Mullins talks to Glee's Jonathan Groff about his character's motives on the FOX musical-comedy. "He's certainly up to something, that's for sure," Groff said. "My reasons for being at the high school are surprising. I was surprised... He has some surprises up his sleeves, none that I can reveal right now." (E! Online's Watch With Kristin)

Jamie Ray Newman (Eastwick) has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc on Season Two of Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva, where she will play "an accomplished lawyer from a rival law firm who possesses a killer instinct," according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. In other casting news, the series has also cast Emily Kuroda (Gilmore Girls) as the mother of Margaret Cho's Teri and Robin Givens will play "a mean-spirited cosmetics lab exec who accuses Jane’s (Brooke Elliott) client of wrongdoing." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

TLC has renewed reality series Hoarding: Buried Alive for a second season, with nine episodes on tap. (Variety)

A&E has renewed Paranormal State for a firth season, with 20 episodes set to air in the fourth quarter of 2010. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Chuck Renewal Prognosis Improved, Sarah Wayne Callies Hunts The Walking Dead, Conan, Castle, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Could it be that things are looking up for Chuck? Deadline.com's Nellie Andreeva breaks down the current on the bubble series at the broadcast networks, including NBC's Chuck. "Last year, NBC’s Chuck got an 11th hour reprieve, clinching a partial 3rd-season order on Sunday afternoon before upfront week," writes Andreeva. "This time around, its fate will be decided earlier if the show’s producers get their way. Several days ago, creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak pitched NBC their vision for Season 4 and producing studio Warner Bros asked the network for a quick resolution so the series could keep its writing staff. Even with NBC brass happy with their drama development, the spy dramedy’s chances of renewal are considered very good -- and certainly a lot better than last year when a sponsorship deal with Subway sealed the renewal. With the show rising in the ratings this week and fans staging rallies tomorrow, Chuck may be one solid ratings performance... away from an early renewal." [Editor: in other words, tune in tonight in huge numbers and LIVE.] (Deadline.com)

Meanwhile, today marks the day for the multi-city Chuck flash mobs, but if you're not in one of the cities participating, don't fret: you can still show your support for a fourth season of Chuck by participating in the Twitter mob scheduled for today between noon and 1 pm Pacific Time. Sample tweets include: "@NBC – We want more #CHUCK! Give us another season of flashes and fun. The world’s safety depends on it! #FlashChuck" or "#CHUCK rules! @NBC show your love for CHUCK and the fans will show their love back. We want a 4th season! #FlashChuck" (ChuckTV.net)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that former Prison Break star Sarah Wayne Callies has been cast as the female lead in AMC's upcoming drama series The Walking Dead, based on Robert Kirkman's comicbook series. Callies has been cast as Lori Grimes, described as "the slowly-unraveling wife of the show’s hero, Rick (Andrew Lincoln)." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The New York Times's Bill Carter talks to Jeff Gaspin's efforts to pull NBC's schedule "out of a long, precipitous slide," the network's development slate, and the C-word: Conan. "Late night’s not my problem anymore," said Gaspin, referring to Conan O'Brien's move to TBS. "I don’t have to worry about Conan anymore. Whereas if he was on Fox we’d all be, you know, what’s it going to do? That’s all over. The Conan story is gone for me." (New York Times)

Meanwhie, did you miss last night's Conan O'Brien interview on CBS' 60 Minutes? You can watch the full video of O'Brien's chat below.


Watch CBS News Videos Online

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos talks to Nathan Fillion about the upcoming season finale of his ABC procedural drama Castle. "Beckett has set her eyes on another man, and it's really getting to Castle," Fillion told her. "He's really not having an easy time with it, so we're getting to a point in time where she's gotta make a choice. And he's gotta make a choice! There's gonna be a choice made. An emotional choice. It's an emotional cliffhanger." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

In other Castle-related news, co-showrunner/executive producer Rene Echevarria has left the series after he was unable to reach a new deal with studio ABC Studios. Creator Andrew Marlowe, who shared showrunning responsibilities with Echevarria, will now serve as the series' sole showrunner when it returns for a third season this fall. (Deadline.com)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan has a brand new interview with "A Song of Fire and Ice" novelist George R.R. Martin, whose fantasy novel series is the basis for HBO's upcoming series Game of Thrones. (The series itself is undergoing some cast changes at the moment: Jennifer Ehle was replaced by Michelle Fairley and Tamzin Merchant--who played Daenerys Targaryen--will be replaced as well.) "I knew that the limitations of budgets and the censorship limitations," said Martin about possible television homes for "A Song of Fire and Ice," ruling out the broadcast networks. "I know it’s loosened up some since I was active in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s, but I can still remember the fights with Standards and Practices and censors about the sex and violence. And the books are full of sex and violence. I didn’t want some watered-down, bowdlerized version of this... [HBO] had done shows like Deadwood and Rome and The Sopranos and that was the kind of thing I saw this as." (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Showtime has announced its summer launch dates, which includes Season Eight of Penn & Teller: Bullshit and new series The Green Room with Paul Provenza on Thursday, June 10th from 10-11 pm ET/PT, The Real L Word on Sunday, June 20th at 10 pm ET/PT, and Season Six of Weeds and the launch of The Big C on Monday, August 16th at 10:30 pm ET/PT. (via press release)

Zoe Kravitz--the daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet--has been cast in a six-episode story arc on the upcoming season of Showtime's Californication, where she will play Zoe, a "wild child" musician who looks to recruit Becca (Madeleine Martin) for her all-girl band. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

E! Online's Megan Masters has an interview with Vampire Diaries star Matt Davis, in which the former Damages co-star talks about why his Alaric is in need of some steamy sex scenes on the CW supernatural drama series. "We decided that the best way to reconcile them is a ménage à trois," Davis said, joking, about the return of Alaric's wife Isobel. "No, it's shocking. To see this missing wife of his after so long. Not only is it shocking, but those moments never go the way you expect them to. His whole life changed when she vanished, and he's been searching for her ever since. [To] finally confront the thing he's been looking for? That would turn your life upside down, and it will definitely be a big moment for Alaric." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Barry Sonnenfeld is heading overseas. The Pushing Daisies director/executive producer has teamed up with Fluent Media Group and Resonant TV to develop a supernatural drama series Beat the Devil that will be pitched to foreign networks ahead of the US. "Five years ago, it was unthinkable of a U.S. studio acquiring a scripted format from another country," Gonzalo Cilley, head of Resonant TV, told Hollywood Reporter. "We want to have Barry involved from Day 1 so he can use all of that experience and information when he pitches the American version." (Hollywood Reporter)

Nascent pay cabler Epix is said to have signed a deal with Oliver Stone and author Bruce Wagner to develop Los Angeles-based drama series Still Holding, based on Wagner's novel, which revolves around three people living in the City of Angels. (Variety)

20th Century Fox Television has signed an two-year overall deal with Bones writer Karyn Usher, under which she will develop new projects for the studio and remain aboard Bones as a co-executive producer. (Variety)

Sony Pictures Television has signed a new two-year deal with producer Jamie Tarses. (Deadline.com)

Britt Robertson (Life Unexpected) has been cast in Disney Channel original telepic Avalon High, where she will play a high school transfer student who discovers that her fellow classmates are actually the reincarnations of King Arthur and his round table. Project is based on a Meg Cabot novel. (Variety)

Megan Park (Secret Life of the American Teenager), David Charvet (Melrose Place), and Boti Bliss (CSI: Miami) will star in Lifetime original telepic The Perfect Teacher. Elsewhere, Michael Badalucco (The Practice) will be recurring on HBO's upcoming period drama series Boardwalk Empire. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: AMC's Walking Dead Grabs Andrew Lincoln, Yvonne Strahovski Talks Chuck, True Blood, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Looks like The Walking Dead has grabbed its lead (and fortunately not feasted on his brain): British actor Andrew Lincoln (Teachers, This Life, Love Actually) has been cast as Rick Grimes in AMC and Frank Darabont's adaptation of Robert Kirkman zombie comic series, which has been ordered for six episode. Series, which is set to launch in October, will revolve around a group of human survivors who attempt to find a place to live after a global apocalypse renders the majority of the planet's population into zombies. Lincoln will star opposite Jon Bernthal, who plays his police partner, Shane. Meanwhile, Sons of Anarchy's Jack LoGiudice has come aboard the series as a co-executive producer. (Variety)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan has a brand-new interview with Chuck's Yvonne Strahovski, in which they discuss the major plot twist that occurred in this week's episode and what's coming up on the next six episodes. "It's a different feel," said Strahovski about the next pod of episodes. "I think for my character, she's always sort of been abnormal -- she's always been a spy and she doesn't really know how to live a non-spy life. I think Chuck has taught her over the seasons how to sort of be more normal. I think she relaxes somewhat and she doesn't hold her feelings in so much. It's definitely an interesting journey for my character and it's definitely a lot of fun to play that, when they're together. It's kind of a release." (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Lauren Bowles (Old Christine) has been cast in a recurring role on HBO's True Blood, which returns this summer for its third season. Bowles will play Holly, described as "an oddly prescient single mom who gets hired as a waitress at Sam’s watering hole." While Bowles will recur in the third season, she could return as a series regular for Season Four of True Blood. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The Wrap's Josef Adalian is reporting that Jack Black's Electric Dynamite shingle has signed an exclusive production deal with Reveille as it expands into the arena of television and that Priyanka Mattoo will over the shingle's television business, which will be based at Reveille's offices. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

FOX is getting into the music game as it prepares to launch a week of music-themed programming that it has dubbed Fox Rocks during the beginning of May sweeps. Among the offerings: a duet between Booth and Brennan on Bones, a fairy tale episode of Fringe featuring songs performed by Anna Torv and Lance Reddick, an appearance from Olivia Newton-John on the May 4th episode of Glee, a musical couch gag on The Simpsons featuring Ke$ha’s "TiK ToK," and more. (via press release)

American Chopper is heading back to TLC. The cabler has made a deal with the series' Teutul family--all of them, in fact--to appear in a resurrected version of American Chopper that will be announced later this week at TLC's upfront presentation (Hollywood Reporter)

House's Nurse Jeffrey (Patrick Price) will get his own spinoff of sorts in the form of a iPhone application called inHOUSE, which will feature Jeffrey in a series of "appisodes" beginning May 24th, which according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, "will feature an Upstairs, Downstairs style of storytelling and explore the world of Princeton Plainsboro that exists beyond Dr. Crankypants and Co." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The Hollywood Reporter has a recap of last night's White Collar panel at the Paley Center, where creator Jeff Eastin and cast members Matthew Bomer, Tim DeKay, Willie Garson, and Tiffani Thiessen. (Hollywood Reporter)

TV Guide Channel has found its celebrities for its upcoming Curb: The Discussion series, which will follow each episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm when it launches in June. Among the actors who will watch each episode and then discuss the ethical issues that it brings up: Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Hamm, Seth Green, Dave Navarro, Dr. Drew Pinsky, and Hill Harper. Susie Essman will serve as a moderator. (via press release)

BET has given a pilot order to comedy Let's Stay Together, from writer Jacque Edmonds Cofer and director Henry Chan. Project, which stars Malinda Williams, Bert Belasco, Joyful Drake, RonReaco Lee, and Erica Hubberd, revolves around an engaged couple--pediatrician Stacy (Williams) and contractor Charles (Belasco)--who try to "blend their successful, independent 21st century lives into a traditional 20th century marriage." (Hollywood Reporter)

Warner Bros. Television has promoted Melinda Hage to EVP of current programming. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: AMC Orders "The Walking Dead," Elizabeth Mitchell Talks "V" Return, Big Bucks for "Lost" Finale Ads, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

AMC has ordered six episodes of zombie drama series The Walking Dead, based on the Robert Kirkman comic book series of the same name. Production on the six-episode first season of The Walking Dead is set to begin in June in Atlanta, with Kirkman serving as executive producer alongside writer/director Frank Darabont, Gale Ann Hurd, David Alpert, and Charles "Chic" Eglee. News comes as cabler AMC begins to cast the production, with Jon Bernthal (The Pacific) attached to star as Shane; the cabler has targeted an October 2010 launch date for The Walking Dead. "AMC strives to make original shows that play like movies and The Walking Dead is a perfect complement to the network's celebrated movie franchise, Fearfest, which has always been an important destination for our audience," said Charlie Collier, AMC President, in a statement. "With its depth of story and the remarkable talent attached, The Walking Dead gives us an opportunity to raise the bar significantly within this popular genre, and continue our commitment to being the home of premium programming on basic cable." (via press release)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan has an insightful interview with V star Elizabeth Mitchell, who talks about the return of the ABC sci-fi series and her role as Juliet Burke on Lost (as well as whether she will be returning to the series before it wraps up). "In a way, it was such a crazy thing to come into doing [V] after working on Lost," Mitchell told Ryan. "I think it was wonderful for me to be able to take a step back and figure out what I really wanted to do and how I would create this person. I don't feel like we lost momentum -- it was more like, we built excitement to go back to work and we were rested and ready and really charged up." (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

That's a lot of Dharma-brand mac and cheese: A single 30-second spot during ABC's series finale of Lost will cost roughly $900,000 when the serialized drama wraps its run on Sunday, May 23rd, according to a report in Advertising Age, a huge leap in price from the $213,000 offered at May's upfront presentation. "There are many advertisers willing to pay a reasonable premium for inventory in programs that generate such a highly passionate and rabid fan base," Kris Magel, exec VP-director, national broadcast at Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Initiative, told Advertising Age. "There is definitely value in that." (via Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

NBC has announced that Season Four of Friday Night Lights will launch on Friday, May 7th at 8 pm ET/PT, a week later than originally indicated. No reason was given for the change in scheduling on the series, which has already aired on DirecTV's Channel 101. (via press release)

Tyler Labine (Sons of Tucson) has been cast in CBS multi-camera comedy pilot True Love opposite Jason Biggs and Minka Kelly. Project, from Sony Pictures Television and CBS Television Studios, revolves around Henry (Biggs), a lawyer in a relationship, who falls for a stranger (Kelly). Labine will play Henry's best friend, replacing Dan Fogler. Casting is in second position to Sons of Tucson for Labine. (Hollywood Reporter)

Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) has dropped out of the untitled Will Ferrell-executive produced Comedy Central series that he was attached to, in which he was originally going to play a man who moves back in with his parents (Chris Parnell and Horatio Sanz). No replacement was named and the search is underway to recast the role for the series, which had received a ten-episode order from the network. "Comedy Central, Gary Sanchez Productions and Jon Heder have mutually decided to part ways over creative differences with the character," said Heder's rep in a statement. "Jon wishes the show nothing but success, and is very grateful for the opportunity." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files, Variety)

Pilot casting roundup: Nick D'Agosto (Heroes) has joined the cast of NBC comedy pilot This Little Piggy opposite Brooke Bloom and Ben Koldyke; Jessica Lucas (Melrose Place) has been added to ensemble comedy pilot Friends With Benefits; and Ashley Madekwe (Secret Diary of a Call Girl) has been cast opposite Katharine McPhee and Michael Cassidy in Josh Schwartz's NBC comedy pilot The Pink House, where she will play Jamie, a husband-hunting neighbor. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC Family has announced launch dates for its new original series Pretty Little Liars, Huge, and Melissa and Joey. Pretty Little Liars--a mystery series revolving around a missing teenage girl and a group of former friends who come together when they begin to receive eerie messages--will launch on June 8th at 8 pm ET/PT. Nikki Blonsky-led drama Huge, from creators Winnie Holtzman and Samantha Dooley, will launch on June 28th at 9 pm ET/PT. Comedy Melissa and Joey, starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence, will launch in August. (Variety)

BBC Two has commissioned another season of political comedy The Thick of It. [Editor: my heartfelt pleas go out to BBC America to air the batch of episodes that we have still not had a chance to see Statside.] (Broadcast)

FOX is said to be close to issuing a pilot order for comedy prank series My Parents Are Gonna Love You, in which everyday people bring home a celebrity to introduce to their parents as their significant other... but the celeb is utterly obnoxious. The longer they can string the parents along, the more money the marks will win. Project, based on a Banijay Entertainment format, is executive produced by Jean Michel Michenaud and Chris Cowan. (Hollywood Reporter)

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck is reporting that Demi Lovato (Sonny With a Chance) will guest star in an upcoming episode of ABC's Grey's Anatomy. Lovato will play "a patient at Seattle Grace/Mercy West who will be treated by Alex (Justin Chambers) and Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) for possible schizophrenia" in an episode slated to air in May. (TV Guide Magazine)

Season Seven of FOX's reality competition series So You Think You Can Dance will undergo some format changes, with Mia Michaels set to return as a judge and a choreographer, and 10 dancers would be picked from the contestant pool... who will then be paired with past all-star participants, with one dancer getting eliminated each week. So You Think You Can Dance is set to launch on May 27th. (Hollywood Reporter)

HBO has cancelled sports talk show Joe Buck Live after three episodes. (Broadcasting & Cable)

ABC Studios has signed a two-year overall deal with David Zabel (ER), under which he has come aboard drama pilot 187 Detroit as executive producer/showrunner. Should the project be picked up to series, he'll remain in that role while also developing new projects for the studio. (Hollywood Reporter)

Susan Rovner has been handed oversight of both comedy and drama development at Warner Bros. Television, following the departure of Len Goldstein, who is now heading up television at Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage's shingle Fake Empire. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

Disney Channel has renewed preschool comedy Imagination Movers for a third season. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

AMC Gives Pilot Orders to "The Walking Dead" and "The Killing"

AMC today announced that it has given pilot orders to two projects in development.

Both zombie drama The Walking Dead, based on the comic book by Robert Kirkman, and crime drama The Killing, a US adaptation of Danish television series Forbrydelsen have received pilot orders and will begin production in the second quarter of 2010.

"The Walking Dead and The Killing are alone in their class in terms of the quality of the storytelling," said Joel Stillerman, AMC’s senior vice president of original programming, production and digital content, in a statement. "Both have remarkable talent behind them, and present that rare opportunity to raise the bar significantly within a genre. It is a very exciting next step in our continuing commitment to presenting smart, sophisticated storytelling with broad appeal."

Robert Kirkman will serve as an executive producer on The Walking Dead and while Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) will write, direct and executive produce the pilot, alongside Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert.

The Killing, written and executive produced by Veena Sud (Cold Case), hails from Fox Television Studios and revolves around the murder of a young girl which leads to a major police investigation.

The full press release from AMC can be found below.

AMC ORDERS TWO PILOTS, BUILDING ON NETWORK’S
ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING STRATEGY

Pilot Order For
THE WALKING DEAD
Based on the Comic Book Series by Robert Kirkman

Pilot Order For
THE KILLING
Adapted from the Danish Series “Forbrydelsen”

New York, NY - January 20, 2010 - AMC announced today two pilot orders for The Walking Dead and The Killing. Based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman, The Walking Dead, has been in publication since October 2003 and is one of the most celebrated contemporary genre comics. The Killing is based on the wildly successful Danish series Forbrydelsen. Both pilots go into production in second quarter 2010. Today’s announcement marks the fourth and fifth pilot orders from AMC. The first three pilots developed were Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and Rubicon, which all led to full series orders. Today’s announcement comes on the heels of AMC becoming the only network, in television history, to win three consecutive (2008, 2009, 2010) Golden Globe Awards for Best Dramatic Series for Mad Men.

“In a short time AMC has become known for telling the best stories on television. Today’s announcement underscores the network’s commitment to working with the premier talent in the industry and further supports AMC’s commitment to being the home for premium television on basic cable,” said Charlie Collier, president and general manager of AMC.

“The Walking Dead and The Killing are alone in their class in terms of the quality of the storytelling. Both have remarkable talent behind them, and present that rare opportunity to raise the bar significantly within a genre. It is a very exciting next step in our continuing commitment to presenting smart, sophisticated storytelling with broad appeal,” said Joel Stillerman, AMC’s senior vice president of original programming, production and digital content.

Previously announced as a project in development, Robert Kirkman has signed on to serve as an executive producer on The Walking Dead and three-time Academy Award nominee Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) has signed on to write, direct and executive produce. Valhalla Motion Pictures has signed on as the production company to produce the series with its Chairman, Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator, Aliens, Armageddon, The Incredible Hulk) to executive produce. David Alpert from Circle of Confusion has also signed on as executive producer.

Written and executive produced by Veena Sud (Cold Case) The Killing is a drama series based on the murder of a young girl that then prompts a major police investigation. From Fox Television Studios, The Killing is executive produced by Mikkel Bondesen (Burn Notice) from Fuse Entertainment. Fuse’s Kristen Campo is also a co-producer.

About The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead tells the story of the months and years that follow after a zombie apocalypse. It follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, who travel in search of a safe and secure home. The comic goes on to explore the challenges of life in a world overrun by zombies who take a toll on the survivors, and sometimes the interpersonal conflicts present a greater danger to their continuing survival than the zombies that roam the country. Over time, the characters are changed by the constant exposure to death and some grow willing to do anything to survive.

About The Killing
The Killing ties together three distinct stories by a single murder and as the detectives assigned to the case disagree about the best course of action, they chase down a variety of leads and suspects. Along the way there are major repercussions for the victim’s family, the detectives, the suspects, and the local politicians connected to the case. It is an exploration of Seattle politics; a unique portrayal of a victim’s grieving family, and a study of the personal life of a cop. There are no accidents in The Killing. Everyone has a secret, and while our characters think they’ve moved on, their past isn’t done with them.

About AMC
AMC reigns as the only basic cable network to win back-to-back Primetime Emmy® Awards for Outstanding Drama Series and Golden Globe® Awards for Best Television Series - Drama and boasts a comprehensive library of the most entertaining movies of all time. Whether commemorating favorite films from every genre and decade or creating acclaimed original productions, the AMC experience is an uncompromising celebration of great stories. AMC's original stories include the Emmy® Award-winning dramas Mad Men and Breaking Bad, the upcoming miniseries The Prisoner and insightful non-scripted programming such as AMC News. AMC further demonstrates its commitment to the art of storytelling with curated movie franchises like AMC Hollywood Icon and AMC Complete Collection. Available in more than 95 million homes (Source: Nielsen Media Research), AMC is a subsidiary of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, which includes sister networks IFC, Sundance Channel, WE tv and Wedding Central. AMC is available across all platforms including on-air, online, on demand and mobile. AMC: Story Matters Here.