All Things:AMC television

THERE’S GOOD AND BAD NEWS ABOUT THE WALKING DEAD: SEASON 2 | CHUD.com

But today there are two announcements. Firstly, the season premiere of The Walking Dead will be, much like the show’s pilot, 90 minutes. Great!

Here’s the bad news: the season will be split up. Yeah, that’s right. 7 episodes this Fall, the remaining 6 coming in February.

Look, I wholeheartedly acknowledge that December and January are tough months for television, what with all the holiday mingling and gift-giving and such but give me a break. This is the kind of thing that killed a fantastic show, Men Of A Certain Age, and while ultimately the writing was on the wall for that show and it never so much as sniffed the kind of ratings that The Walking Dead gets, it’s still bad news when you string an audience along and expect them to be back after a hiatus. Especially after all of the internal muckety-muck that has gone on with the show which calls to question just how good season 2 will be anyway.

I don’t expect season 2 to suffer because of this, at least not ratings-wise. But it doesn’t do a thing to maintain or cater to a loyal fanbase. It’s television blue balls, is what it is.
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Yeah, well therein lies the problem. With all the drama and upheaval behind the scenes, there are concerns about the quality of the upcoming season. AMC basically forced out Darabont because he wanted the show to be as good as it could be and fought them over budget/content/etc. While I imagine that would get tiresome after awhile the results were visible for all to see. If you read some of the demands that AMC were making(example:shoot indoors instead of outdoors because it's cheaper) you can tell where AMC's concerns lie. Look, they have to figure that even if the next season and the following season suck eggs, folks will still stick around enough for AMC to put up pretty good numbers for a cable station. So they really don't care. They have NO motivation to make this as good as it can be. So, lowered quality and a mid season hiatus(which will no doubt be filled with AMC shamelessly re-running the original episodes into the ground) don't really bode well for this show.
 
Dragon*Con 2011 Video:Walking Dead panel

The audience was told precisely eight times (yes I counted) prior to the panel beginning not to ask about Darabont. And while the children on the panel didn’t have much to say, all three adult actors shared at least one “Frankism” — all the while staying very guarded about Darabont’s departure.

One notable “Frankism” mentioned by Yeun came when he explained the different terms the characters use for the zombies, such as geeks, walkers, and roamers.

“I don’t think we ever refer to them as ‘zombies’, because it’s a world that didn’t know what they were prior [to the zombie outbreak],” Yeun said. “So, to call them ‘zombies’ is a little too convenient since that word hasn’t been created yet.”

“It’s a Frankism,” he added.

In another instance, Bernthal responded to a fan question about feeling liberated that his character Shane has managed to stay alive longer than his graphic novel counterpart.

“Frank and I, when we started, we really set out to do something very specific with Shane and I knew he would last longer than he does in the graphic novel,” Bernthal said. “Knowing that your character could bite it at any moment is tough, especially when you’re working with a bunch of people that you really, really love…”

Personally, I believe the cast is mostly pissed off about how AMC has treated its highest rated program and are also scared they’ll get canned if they speak up about it.
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More reason for concern.
 
hmm good point. i haven't really kept up to date with it so had no clue. now i am concern and not looking forward to it as i did before. i don't understand why they would be doing all this when they had such a succesful first season and are expected to continue that success. it's like they're sabatoging it on purpose. AMC is known for their greatness in shows, what are they smoking over there? or, better yet, what drugs are they taking? i'm telling you it's a weird time for all.
 
It comes down to the guys in charge not being used to runaway success. Like every bean counter who gets involved with a creative project they overestimate their worth and try to put their stamp on things instead of just riding the success. They do not realize that a reduced budget only means reduced results. While it may please the shareholders it alienates the viewers, you know...the people who get those higher ad rates for your channel...
 
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Off2NvrLnd said:
i'm gonna pray to the universe that it doesn't go sideways.
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May come to that. We will see. From what I am reading the first half of the season before the split is Frank Darabont's The Walking Dead, while the half after the hiatus is gonna be the real test cause that's when the training wheels are off. You never know...it may be fine. Mazzara is an accomplished showrunner with a better idea of the system as far as dealing with the suits...Darabont is used to the world of features. Bigger budgets, more time to tinker...etc. We just won't really know until it starts back up. Gotta hope for the best, and, if not, hopefully the ratings will drop drastically enough for AMC to realize/fix their mistakes in time to save it. The buzz was so over the top for season 1...but anyone remember Heroes? Once that spit the bit there was no saving it.
 
Zombie Fans Sigh in Relief! Greg Nicotero Named Co-Executive Producer of The Walking Dead! | Horror Movie, DVD, & Book Reviews, News, Interviews at Dread Central

I would like to think that this is a good sign and as close to an apology/commitment that you are going to see from the powers-that-be. As I have said in the past, it was openly admitted that Darabont/AMC had a contentious relationship and I think Mazzara was being groomed as a replacement anyway, probably as early as season 3. Giving Nicotero the promotion means that another valuable piece of the puzzle will be kept in place. Hopefully this means that the ship has been righted.
 
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