AMC bets that fans of Walking Dead want to watch people talk about the Walking Dead.
The adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s and Tony Moore’s comic book is about a group of survivors in southern America dealing with a population that is nearly all zombies. The first six episodes of the The Walking Dead TV show were a huge hit for cable network AMC, garnering positive critical reviews, numerous awards and great ratings. A second season is being made as we speak and will debut on October 16th. Wanting to make as big of a splash as possible, AMC tapped notable G4 host Chris Hardwick to host a show called “Talking Dead” to air live directly after the episode airs.
AMC plans for the half-hour show “Talking Dead” to discuss what had just happened in the episode with Hardwick moderating as writers and producers field questions from fans. There’s no word yet on whether the zombies will attack and kill Hardwick, but there’s always a chance.
Full disclosure: I have not read the comic or seen an episode of Walking Dead – even though I have the anthology in my stack of “shit to read”. I suppose that if such a talk show played after a series that I cared about – say Game of Thrones – I would pay attention to it, but this seems like such a shameless way to keep viewers tied to AMC after their hit show ends.
I may be biased against Hardwick – dude’s annoying, right? – but I don’t think this show will work.
What do you think? Would you watch “Talking Dead” after you watch an episode of Walking Dead? Is the trend of “after-shows” you’d like to see continue or is the only way for you to be satisfied is if an actual zombie plague attacks Hardwick and rips his throat out on national television?
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Published: Sep 22, 2011 08:52 pm