Reflections on ‘The Walking Dead’ Season One
by Alyse Wax at Fear Net
The grave is still fresh on The Walking Dead season one, but we are already jonesing for more. With only a six-episode season, can you blame us? While we have the next eleven months to speculate on what we can expect to see next season, we couldn’t wait to share some thoughts. Like things we liked….
The gore. Oh the gore. Greg Nictoero and his team really outdid themselves on The Walking Dead. First off, the zombies in the show are top-notch. All practically done – not digitally – these zombies look real. But on top of that, the detail in these zombies is better than you can find in most high-budget feature films. Strips of dangling flesh slide away to reveal yellowing bone. Claret blood gurgles from fresh wounds. The camera doesn’t shy away from an axe splitting open a head or a baseball bat knocking one clean off the shoulders. Bravo to AMC for not backing off on the gore.
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‘The Walking Dead’ Producer Gale Anne Hurd on Where the Zombie Series is Going
By Michelle Kung at The Wall Street Journal
“The Walking Dead,” AMC’s newest addition to its roster of scripted programming, began with a bang and ended on a similarly high note. The zombie drama, based on Robert Kirkman’s comic book series, scared up 6 million viewers for the finale “TS-19″ on Sunday — the highest episode rating ever for an AMC series. (As a point of comparison, AMC’s critically-acclaimed drama “Mad Men” averaged 2.9 million viewers an episode for its fourth season.) It’s no surprise then that the series has been renewed for a second season.
We spoke to producer Gale Anne Hurd about what to expect when the show returns next year.
AMC has already ordered a second season of “Walking Dead,” but it sounds like production won’t start up again until next spring. How do you guys plan to keep audiences engaged and thinking about the show until it returns?
Throughout the whole process, AMC has been great and working with Constantine Nasr, our behind-the-scenes producer, to produce the EPK [electronic press kit] and posting webisodes and “making-of” sort of material. I’m sure that will continue. Obviously, the DVD will be released in the spring and once we start up production again, we’ll continue to put new, behind-the-scenes material on the web as well.
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‘Vampire Diaries’ exclusive: Nina Dobrev talks this week’s steamy sex scene (and the resulting bruises)
by Mandi Bierly at Inside TV
The promo for Thursday’s midseason finale of The Vampire Diaries (The CW, 8 p.m. ET) shows the unthinkable happening: Stefan (Paul Wesley), now trapped in the tomb with Katherine (Nina Dobrev), giving in to her. If the teaser is any indication, it could be the hottest captive sex scene since a certain cage encounter on Lost.
“First, Jeremy getting trapped in the tomb was like, Katherine wins! When Stefan came in, she’s like, ‘Wow, I couldn’t have planned this better if I tried. The one person I want to be stuck with, here he is, and now he’s got nowhere to go. I will seduce him, I will tease him, I will anger him.’ The line between love and hate truly is very, very thin,” Dobrev says. “So she has a chance to egg him on, and he can’t do anything about it. He has no choice but to listen, and yeah, it is a very kind of sexy, manipulative scene, and he gives in. It’s pretty crazy.”
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Ian Somerhalder Talks Nina Dobrev, Bromance & ‘The Vampire Diaries’ Steamy Fall Finale (VIDEO)
by Maggie Furlong at TV Squad
Today is Ian Somerhalder’s birthday, and I have a present for all of his loyal fans: a sit-down with Damon Salvatore himself to talk all about this week’s big ‘Vampire Diaries’ fall finale (Thurs., Dec. 9, 8PM ET on The CW).
Ian opens up about bromance and being jealous of Alaric’s new love, his own show romances and the power of his lovely co-star Nina Dobrev. He also dishes about Damon taking advantage of alone time with Elena while Stefan is stuck in the cave with Katherine. And if you saw this week’s preview, you know there was plenty of seducing and smooching in the cave — was it clever editing, or will things really get that steamy?
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Coming Soon: Dirk Gently trailer
Stubby the Rocket for Tor
Following in the wonderfully quirky footsteps of Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes, Dirk Gently has finally arrived at the BBC—and he’s looking good!
Based on Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, Stephen Mangan stars as the oddball holistic detective in the upcoming weekly series. The show is listed as “coming soon” to BBC Four.
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Syfy orders 11 episodes of superhero action series Alphas
via Blastr
Remember the Syfy pilot we reported on more than a year ago, about ordinary citizens who gain extraordinary abilities? Well, Syfy must have been impressed by what it saw, because Alphas just got the green light for 11 episodes in addition to that 90-minute pilot.
Here’s how an earlier Syfy press release described the series:
Alphas follows a team of ordinary citizens whose brain anomalies imbue them with extraordinary mental and physical abilities. Taking the law into their own hands, the unlikely team, led by Dr. Lee Rosen (David Strathairn) investigates cases that suggest other Alpha activity to uncover what the CIA, FBI and Pentagon have not been able or willing to solve. These gifted individuals must balance their quirky personalities and disparate backgrounds with their not always visible powers as they work to solve crimes, stop the ticking time bomb and catch the enemy.
Filming will begin early next year in Toronto, and the series will debut next summer.
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I didn’t watched the trailer for Vampire Diaries because I haven’t watched last weeks episode yet, but holy crap!!! Looks like they’ll be ending the year with a ridiculous cliffhanger! And Alphas sounds like it could be really good, or really bad. I guess we’ll see this summer.
Did you agree with the Walking Dead reflections? What do you hope to see next season? Will you watch Dirk Gently (or have you read the books)? What did you think of the Vampire Diaries videos?
