Tag: AMC

Watch The First Trailer For AMC’s ‘Preacher’!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: Following the first few seconds of footage that debuted just 48 hours ago, AMC has just released the first full trailer for AMC’s Preacher adaptation.

Based on the twisted and popular ‘90s comic book franchise of the same name, “Preacher,” created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, is the story of Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper) a conflicted Preacher in a small Texas town who is inhabited by a mysterious entity that allows him to develop a highly unconventional power. Jesse, his ex-girlfriend, Tulip (Ruth Negga), and an Irish vampire named Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun) embark on a journey to, literally, find God. The Sony Pictures Television and AMC Studios co-production was developed for television by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg (“This Is the End,” “Superbad,” “Neighbors”) and showrunner Sam Catlin (“Breaking Bad”). The series is set to premiere mid-2016.

It looks about as spot-on as we could hope for, and seeing as Preacher was actually the first comic book series that I read in its entirety (likely long before I was old enough), you bet I’m looking forward to it.

Watch the trailer below, and be sure to let us know what you think!

Duh: ‘The Walking Dead’ Has Been Renewed For A Seventh Season!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: This is probably (definitely) the least surprising thing that I’ve read all year.

The Walking Dead, one of (if not the) the most popular series on television… has been renewed for another season. Also, we’ll be getting another season of that crazy popular talk show, The Talking Dead.

AMC president Charlie Collier shared in the ridiculous sentiment, stating: “Thank goodness someone had a Magic 8-Ball with them in our many long internal meetings about these renewals. When, on the third shake, ‘without a doubt’ filled the murky blue screen, we knew we had to proceed with new seasons of ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘Talking Dead. All joking aside, we are so proud to share these shows with fans who have been so passionate, communicative and engaged. We are grateful for and continually impressed by the talent, effort and excellence on continuous display by Robert Kirkman, Scott Gimple, Chris Hardwick and the many people with whom we partner to make these unique shows possible. The result: More Walking and Talking. Hooray.”

Scott Gimple will thankfully return as showrunner, and Executive Producers, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Greg Nicotero, and Tom Luse will also be returning.

An episode count for next season has not yet been revealed, but it’s probably safe to assume that we’ll see 16 episodes as we have for the past four years.

Now that we’re a few episodes into Season 6, is the show piquing your interest once again? I recall last year’s season garnering a lot of negativity from fans, and this year has been all but the opposite,

In any case, are you looking forward to another year of our favourite survivors? Sound out below!

Several Seconds Of ‘Preacher’ Footage Are Now Online!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: We’re finally just a couple of days away from our first real look at AMC’s adaptation of Garth Ennis’ Preacher, and the network has just debuted the first snippet of footage online.

Actually, ‘snippet’ may be too generous. It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it five seconds or so, but in any case, it’s pretty.

I sure am tired of the whole ‘teaser for a teaser’ idea however, anyone else?

Preacher stars Dominic Cooper as Jesse, Ruth Negga as Tulip, Joseph Gilgun as Cassidy, Emily Woodrow as Lucy Griffiths, and Ian Colette as Arseface. Take a look at the footage below, and be sure to check back on Sunday for the full trailer.

NYCC 2015: Ming and Mike Talk ‘Comic Book Men’ Season Five, ‘Star Wars,’ BronyCon, and More

by Eric Francisco

Ming Chen and Mike Zapcic on AMC’s Comic Book Men are the excited opposites to the subdued, sarcastic Bryan Johnson and Walt Flanagan. Unlike Bryan and Walt, according to Kevin in my other interview, Ming and Mike soak up their newfound geek celebrity at Comic-Cons around the country. Who can blame them?

“I love the travel. I’m an adventurer so I think it’s fun,” Ming tells me at this past New York Comic-Con. “I’m visiting cities I never thought I’d be able to go to. The fact that there are fact so many cons now. It’s just fun. Me and Mike come back from a day where guys were in church basements or at the mall or some little closet somewhere. Now, they’re in filled convention halls.”

Mike Zapcic, his co-worker and co-star, chimes in. “Take a look at this,” he gestures in the press room. “This is the entire Javits Center.”

“They take over cities,” Ming adds. “New York Super Week has taken over New York City. San Diego takes the whole city. It’s fun. It’s not grueling at all. It’s more of an adventure to me. It’s like Lord of the Rings, sort of.”

But like a journey to Mordor, it takes its toll.

“It’s a little tiring,” Mike admits. “Don’t get me wrong. I love going to the cons. I love our fans. First and foremost to me, that’s what it’s about. It’s going out and we’re like ambassadors for Comic Book Men, as stupid as that sounds. We still have entire families coming up and saying, ‘We love watching you guys. You teach us something every week. We’re not afraid to let our kids sit and watch this.’ That’s essential what it is for us, for me.

“For him,” Mike gestures to Ming, who begins to laugh. “He is a party animal. Now if you guys had said, ‘What are you doing later on tonight?’ His itinerary is open. He’ll meet you there.” One wouldn’t assume the Asian guy out of a group of comic book nerds would party up, but that’s just because you haven’t seen Ming at hotel parties after conventions.

But cons remain sacred ground. Mike adds: “I recently talked to a friend of mine. She was recalling the first time she went to a con. I think it was Dragon*Con, maybe five or six years ago. She literally broke out in tears. She was like, ‘These are my people. I didn’t know things like this existed. I’ve been going around, I couldn’t find people like me. And, here’s a whole three, four day weekend full of people just like me.’ She got so emotional. Literally it brought her to tears. I’m just like, welcome home. This is it.”

The fifth season of the AMC reality series for dweebs has drummed up a dedicated fan following that stays tuned in after The Walking Dead. Because of that, notable names in geek culture have waltzed through the doors, from Nichelle Nichols to Daryl McDaniels of Run-D.M.C. Season five will be no different.

“Stan [Lee] drops by again which is always a pleasure,” Ming says. “We had Jim Lee also.”

Mike Zapcic: “What a great guy,” Mike gushes. “Just the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet.”

When asked about favorite moments out of the four seasons thus far, Mike replies: “I loved the drag race.”

In a recent episode, the gang drag races Adam West’s Batmobile against the Green Hornet’s Black Beauty. As a fan of the Green Hornet, it was one of my favorites too.

“I’m a big fan of Bruce Lee, for the obvious reasons” says Mike. I show him my phone wallpaper, which was actually Alex Ross’ cover for Kevin Smith’s Batman ’66/Green Hornet #1 cover. I didn’t plan it that way.

What works about Comic Book Men is the guys themselves. Bryan, Walt, Ming, and Mike are like a married couple of four, bickering and giving each other shit but never making any of it malicious. Most reality TV manufacture drama. Comic Book Men has impromptu, hilarious pop culture debates.

“We’ll never stop that,” Mike says. “I’ll be 85 and I’ll be talking about, ‘You know who’d have a really cool wheelchair? Batman would have a really cool wheelchair!’ I’ll still be complaining about the three prequels when I’m 85. I mean, no doubt.”

Working in reality TV have also informed the gang just what goes in to making these shows. They get it: it’s manufactured. But they can’t stand to watch other reality TV, but not for reasons you think. “There’s the whole Wizard of Oz,” Ming says. “We’ve seen behind the curtains. You can see little details.”

Mike adds: “Oh, yeah. I’m not going to name names, but you watch that and you’re like, ‘Holy crap, are you fucking wooden?’ I mean, I know I am wooden. These guys take it to another level. I’m watching Rick just try to be pissed off like, ‘Chum Lee!’ That’s horrible. Get really pissed at the guy and throw something as him.”

Being a “Pawn Stars for geeks,” the guys are still waiting to see their dream items.

“The one things that are like truly one of a kind are I think are movie props. Anything from like the first three Star Wars would be incredible. Although, sometimes you look at stuff like that and it’s so beat up and I was like, ‘This is it?'” The magic goes away. “Like Han Solo’s blaster pistol was like rubber.”

Mike brings up Adam West’s utility belt in *Batman*. “It’s a piece of pleather and some wooden dowels spray painted yellow. That’s like, wow. I want something cool.” Mike then spoils a cool item that they see in season five. “I even saw the Batcopter this season. They had the shark repellent. All it was, was a bunch of canisters strung up. That just sucks. Come on! I want it to be shiny.”

Despite being roughly the same age, Ming and Mike splinter in a generation gap when it comes to their pop culture diet. “He’s more late ’70s,” Ming says referring to Mike. “I’m an ’80s kid. As much as you love the ’80s as well, I think our toys and collectibles are still from different. It’s only maybe, five years apart but it’s still a different. It seems like a whole world.

“You can literally tell time by toys,” he adds. “It’s great.”

Being a fanboy show, surely they don’t have their pulses on everything. I ask them if there are any fandoms that surprise them by their sheer existence, and I can’t say I’m surprised.

“My Little Pony” Ming replies quickly. “Those guys are insane.”

Mike recalls the episode they hit up BronyCon. “When we went down to Baltimore to the BronyCon, I got booed off stage. I thought I just being kind of clever.”

Mike went as a veterinarian. A bloody veterinarian. “Sometimes, the ponies don’t always make it,” he says with a smile.

Someone naturally brings up Star Wars. Because of course. Male:

“I have no mixed feelings. It’s J.J. Abrams. I’m giving him my full confidence. I am very excited. I got chills,” Mike says. Ming echoes.

“Yeah, beyond excited. Once that John William’s score kicks in and you see the X-Wings back again. ‘Chewie, we’re home.’ Come on. You must have a black heart if that doesn’t get you a little bit.”

Comic Book Men premiers Oct. 18 at midnight EST on AMC.

NYCC 2015: Kevin Smith’s Expectations and Love for ‘Comic Book Men’ Season 5

by Eric Francisco

Being from Jersey, I can’t stress enough how much of a hero Kevin Smith was to me. Even if I don’t always find the quality of his work pleasing, and I’ll be the first to admit his record is spotty, he still remains a hometown hero. He’s proof that no one can be too lazy to find success, and every day I wonder if I’d ever have enough guys to max out a dozen credit cards just to make a movie that may or may not be worth it.

At New York Comic-Con, I had the pleasure of sitting right next to the man himself and hear him talk about the next season of Comic Book Men. While he’s always more of a standby guy, just hearing about what happened in the store, the man is still hands-on with the show, thus making one of the few reality TV shows I find myself ever tolerating.

To any Kevin Smith fan, you should know how much the dude loves talking. He’s built an entire career on it. At the press rooms of New York Comic-Con, he was no different.

On the unique construction of Comic Book Men: Didn’t even create it, happened by accident because we wanted to include the podcast and one of the only reality shows where there’s never a moment where you’re the camera and somebody is fucking looking at you going, “You know what happened? I hate this guy.” Or, “Fucking, I was there.” Like the podcast table allows us the device of they have to tell me the stories as opposed to telling it to the camera. One thing I really love [about the show] in terms of the medium, I thought that as clever in terms of, “Wow, we got away with what they call OTF, on the flight, talking to the camera.” I’ll sit there for three days and record and then come out, we do that two more times. The editors go produce it. I start seeing cuts like I started seeing cuts maybe five weeks before. And then basically watch the episode; note it if there’s stuff to cut. And I’m first and foremost, more than anything even more than a writer anymore, I’m an editor.

That’s what I love to do and I got a good sharp attention for it. So I’ll go through an episode and watch it and they’ve done all the heavy lifting, it’s all there but then I’ll just be like, “Cut 12:10 to 12:15.” It’s a strenuous work. There was one I first cut it the episode of Shatner was like, he didn’t show up till the last five minutes and I was like, “Are you kidding me, we spoke for two hours and he did some wonderful shit.” We went back in and it’s one of the best episodes we ever did. So I’m going like, “I made that happen.”Sometimes you just the person on the outside who’s like, “Come on dude. I was there and I know we got more with this guy and if we’re going to sit down with Will Shatner, let’s fucking sit down.” So that episode took a nice jump. So that’s what I doubt really it’s those dudes, and I keep pointing at, those four dudes, produced all the material.

I know it’s an unscripted show, [but] we’re not reality. They’re aware of cameras, they’re fucking everywhere. Otherwise why would they agree to do the show? So some people in season one got shitty about that but, look it’s not reality, it’s of course not. But we never called it that. It’s unscripted. Those cameras show up and then Brian will say, “Okay, the transaction will start.” And they start bringing him through and it just happens that way. And if they’re doing a story episode he sets them in a four shot and then he goes, “Okay, start talking.” And they start generating conversation.

I give them all props, all the content of that show is on their minds, they’re paid as on-camera performers of themselves because it’s not technically performance, they’re playing themselves. But they’re writers as well and those are my friends like the dudes least likely to be writing TV fucking writers and they back doored into it. They generate same thing a writer’s room would do for a bunch of actors so, they get to be themselves but come up with the material. And all their bickering, like Brian and Walter, they’ve been practically married for 40 years.

All that bickering and shit talking became this show, like it became their podcast first on Steve, Dave and that podcast became this show. So I don’t know, it’s a real testimony to everyone else, it may be the most successful I’ve ever been involved with and that’s because I have very little to do with it other than show up and be myself sometimes but, it’s a joy, I love it so much.

How his expectations from the first season have changed now that they’re on season five: I’ve always had zero expectations in regards to the show at all, came together organically and accidentally. If I tried to make it happen, it wouldn’t happen, this dude Charlie Collier wanted original media. I met him through Ellis Siden one of the producers on the show and he said, “AMC is looking for a geek program, cheap geek program.” I said, “Why?” It was because they had, The Walking Dead that worked very well, but they got to go shoot season two and they’re afraid that the audience that showed up is going to lose interest and go away. So they want to keep the geek attention and they thought, “You might know how to do that.” I was like, “Never, oh my God. No.” And so I said, “If you were ever going to do something inexpensive,” I said, “If you put Pawn Stars in a comic book store, that’s be amazing.” As I grew up watching Antiques Roadshow I always fucking watched it with my father, no comics. Toys, every once in a while.

And every time they did it, you’re fucking [gestures excitedly] and you wished for an All Berries episode where it was nothing but toys and fucking comics and so that’s what I pitched. I was like, “Do that man, because I know my audience would watch that, I’d fucking watch that.” So, didn’t even pitch my store or my friends, just pitched that idea. So I had no expectations that it would be some of my store or these guys would be it, eventually it wound up being those dudes. What I said to this dude Charlie Crewman, I was like … he said, and “AMC is interested in shooting a pilot so you’ve got 10K to do it. So is that good?” He goes, “Well, we’ll eat up most of that in location fee, and I was like, “What do you mean location fee?” He goes, “Well, we got to pay a comic book store to shoot there.” The idea was to find the most acerbic comic book store staff in America in a nationwide search and then go shoot there. I said, “Well, I got a comic book store.” And that’s the first time I’d said it in one month that we’d been talking about this fucking show. And he goes, “You’re serious?” And was like, “Yeah, I’m right behind New Jersey, I got a comic book store.” He goes, “Why didn’t you ever say anything?” And I was like, “I don’t know, I guess it sound braggy if I say bit out loud.” [laughs] And he goes, “Really?”I said,”Yeah, and the dudes that work there are very, very funny. Like they do this podcast together called Tell ‘Em Steve Dave so, they could stand in for however is going to be the most acerbic comic book store and staff that we find in our nationwide search.

And he said, “Well, how can I see ’em and hear ’em?” I said, “Here’s a link to their podcast.” And then next day Charlie calls up and he goes, “You’re a fucking idiot, this is the show.”

I never thought to put them forward because they’re not interested in this shit.” Like Ming loves this. and was like, “Oh my God let’s do this of course.” Bryan and Walter, no interest. Like they come up from straight up Jersey style, where they’re terrified of somebody making them look stupid and that was the reason they didn’t want the show. I called Walter, “You want to do the show? AMC, they do Mad Men, they do Walking Dead. They could do a show at Secret Stash.” I was like, it’d be amazing. And Walter was like, “No, I don’t want to do it.” And I said, “Why?” And he goes, “Because I don’t want to be Snooki.” [laughs] Which just shows you how far back this shit started man.

And I was like, “Dude, why wouldn’t you want to be Snooki? She made a lot of money last year.” And he didn’t want to do it for any reason other than I’ve talked him into it because the store was like, I said like years prior, “We’ve got about two years left on that store. So ride it out because I ain’t making anymore Jay & Bob movies so we’re not making anything that would make anyone come into the store anymore.” Most places are going digital, brick and mortar’s dying and shit. We’ve had a great run over ten years, we’re going to shut it within the next two or three. And so as I was talking to him on the phone and like almost at the two year mark, I was like, “I’ll tell you what dude; having a show in fucking AMC is like a commercial for the fucking store, it might make people come into the store.” And that’s the only reason he did it, he goes, “Well, if it keeps the store open, I’ll do it.” And now look at him, his the fucking star of the show it’s fucking crazy.

So I had no expectations then it organically just fucking happened. If I went pitching this and tried to make it happen have my heart in it, I know this business, it wouldn’t happen, This happened by accident and shit.

The fact that it happened by accident and then found a little audience at night with a million people watching, helps that we have two juggernaut shows leading in, in front of us and what not. It’s a gift every year when they renew it and then when do renew it, since I’ve really never had the biggest influence on the show I’ve always hesitated to be like, “All right, this is what we’re doing this year.” It best when I let those dudes do it.

The show kind of works the way it works the way it works, where it’s like I come in, I don’t know what the fuck happened and they tell me a story. And so I never wanted to interrupt that flow. Every once in a while I’m like, “Oh, we should do this.” Like if we go to season six, I know for a fact there’s an episode where I desperately want to do. Years ago I got into my alma mater, Henry Hudson Regional High School, they have this like dopey wall of fame, like hall of fame shit. It’s like me and ten other people. And the boys have been on TV for like five years, so I was there the other week and, I was like,“Oh, my God. You should induct the boys.” And the school was like, “Yeah, we’ll totally do that next year.” So I was like, “Oh my God, if we can go back to high school with this TV show, like I’ll drop the mic, I’ll walk away.” So if we get to season six maybe we’ll get too do that but other than that, I’m just happy to be the guy who comes in. The exact role I play on the show is the exact role I play off camera as well.

Comic Book Men premieres Oct. 18th at midnight EST.

Fall TV 2015: Top 10 New & Returning Shows!

by Gabriel von Grünbaum

With shows debuting year-round now and the internet liberating us from the chains of broadcast scheduling, fall’s television premiere season doesn’t quite feel like the mark your calendar affair of yore. Still there’s some great new entertainment coming at us this time of year to gather and enjoy.

There is one trend I’ve noticed in combing through everything—there are a lot of variations on one particular theme. It feels like half the shows on television are an Unusual Genius Helps Authorities Fight Crime (UGHAFC?). It doesn’t mean we should write a show off just for falling into this category—some are doing it very well—only that I’m a little amazed to find the pattern unfolding right under my nose. Some returning UGHAFCs include Sleepy Hollow, iZombie, Castle, The Flash, Scorpion—Grimm mostly fits, although, the authorities are more often tolerated or managed. Some new UGHAFCs are Blindspot, Limitless, Minority Report—Gotham‘s side plot is technically the coming of age for a future UGHAFC. I’m sure you could probably come up with some more examples. I think the strength of UGHAFC shows like Sleepy Hollow, iZombie and Castle is the amount of time we get to spend in the Unusual Genius’ world and how well developed that world is.

I’ve been dutifully consulting my Magic 8 Ball about this fall’s lineup of new and returning shows and thought it only fair to share some results with you. There’s a lot of exciting stuff popping on screens all over and I decided to cut through the noise and find the best possible feasts for the ever dwindling spare eyeball-time. First of all, I’m trying to keep the focus on those shows with some sci-fi/fantasy elements—but there may be some shout-outs and honorable mentions that lie on the fringes. That’s about it, so let me shake this ball and we’ll get started!

Top 5 Harvest of Returning Shows:

№ 5: SLEEPY HOLLOW

(Oct. 1st, 9pm, FOX) Dear Magic 8 Ball (is that how you address these things?), I feel like Sleepy Hollow is poised now to embrace the power of the dark side with wit and and style to become even better. Muah ha ha ha ha! Will the new season mark its entry into the television halls of greatness?! — “Outlook good.”

Watching Sleepy Hollow develop, as it tests its footing on the shaky television landscape, has been enjoyable. Their strongest element is absolutely the man-out-of-time/fish-out-of-water dynamic of Ichabod Crane as he’s forced to face off against magical monsters tied to the American Revolution each week. The handsome Tom Mison, as Ichabod is inspirational casting and he deservedly carries the show alongside the innovative creatures/monsters each week. His back in my day gripes each week, comparing America today to the first days of the nation, are an absolute comedy highlight of the show—and moments like the time he’s handed a gun which he fires once and then tosses because pistols only had one shot during the Revolution—priceless.

As for the rest of the cast—fine actors for the most part—one gets the impression, subconsciously at the very least, that they and the writers are still trying to figure out how exactly they fit into this world. Personally, I was disappointed with the decision to write Ichabod’s wife, Katrina Crane (the lovely Katia Winter), off the show. She felt like the second most solid and interesting character next to Ichabod but it became apparent that the writers didn’t know what to do with her.

The other choice I have reservations about was humanizing the headless horseman. Yes, it’s interesting to find out the monster’s backstory but the resulting manifestation of this personification of doom and destruction feels more effective when its operating out of a removed realm of all but inexplicable evil. I don’t necessarily feel the need to understand the daily emotional motivations of a headless demon (unless they are incredibly fascinating and unexpected). The fact that a decapitated creature from hell wants to kill and destroy works satisfyingly all on its own.

A really great thing to count for the plus column is that, whatever their special effects budget is, they’re using it very well to create some really stunning visuals and excellent creatures.

On the whole, the UGHAFC series had a very good start and it gets stronger and more enjoyable with each episode, even through most of its minor missteps. Considering that they’ve taken a short story by Washington Irving, twisted it with another of his short stories, Rip Van Winkle, and are managing to serve up entertainment that I look forward to each week is quite a feat in itself. I look forward to hoisting a mug of warm mead to the new season of Sleepy Hollow!—(P.S.: Bring back Ichabod’s wife!)

https://youtu.be/fzak6l4w11g

№ 4: iZOMBIE

(Oct. 6th, 9pm, CW) Dear Magic 8 Ball, I had a great time watching the first season of iZombie—will the second season be able to hold up and possibly be even better? — “Most likely.”

iZombie has been adorable fun right out of the gate since starting last season—which is an odd thing to say about anything having to do with zombies (see The Walking Dead below). Versatile Rose McIver is perfectly cast as Olivia “Liv” Moore (get it?!) who became a zombie after getting scratched by one at “the worst boat party ever” on Lake Washington and, after waking a little less than dead, left her budding career as a doctor to become a medical examiner’s assistant at the Seattle PD morgue—which supplies her all the fresh brains her new zombie metabolism craves.

As a viewer, you eagerly follow her through the unfolding plots. Zombies themselves are a conceptually diverse tool in storytelling, allowing for grim commentary on various aspects of modern life. The fresh take that iZombie uses is in identifying with the zombie main character, relating to the isolation and the desire to connect with others—to fit in when you feel like an outsider. Will she let her family get close to her again? Will she get back together with her fiancé? Or will she eat them all as she fears she will? Meantime, Liv is out solving the murders of the victims who come through the morgue as a makeshift UGHAFC “police psychic” because she gets visions from the lives of the brains she eats. Not only that, it’s a delight each week to watch her act in strange new ways because she also takes on the victims’ habits, skills an personalities! (You could almost say she’s the next best thing to Tatiana Maslany’s performance of over ten clones and counting in Orphan Black.)

Her two closest cohorts turn in great performances too. Rahul Kohli as the medical examiner and closest confidant about all things zombie, Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti, and Aly Michalka as Liv’s befuddled bestie and roommate, Peyton Charles, use the elegance of their natural comedic timing even in dramatic service to the more heartfelt scenes. The effect is laughs and “feels” at all the right moments.

After more developments than I can list here during the first season, I’m really looking forward to everything that’s poised to unfold for season two of iZombie!

https://youtu.be/E4I3BWFJwcg

№ 3: THE WALKING DEAD

(Oct. 11th, 9pm, AMC) Dear Magic 8 Ball. . . astonishment, cringing, canned food, The Walking Dead. . . More excellence? — “Without a doubt.”

The Walking Dead. Holy crap, The Walking Dead. I think we can all agree that this show has pushed television into new territory. I don’t recall seeing or hearing of anything like this on television before. Legit graphic horror as a television show that’s not really pulling any punches—and it’s not just out to shock you, it’s the thinking-person’s horror that’s exploring the nature of life, relationships and defending yourself with anything in reach. Wow. I think this likely helped pave the way for the horrifically gorgeous 3 seasons of Hannibal (til they yanked the plug on that awesome sauce).

This has the most realistic feel of all the entries in this countdown. The reason it comes in at number 3 for me is that it’s just so damn heavy—heavy drama and most times I’m looking for some more levity in my entertainment. If you’re a gloomy Gus, this could be your number one.

The Walking Dead is basically like daily American life with the volume turned all the way up. When hordes of rotting corpses lurk around every corner, hungry to rip you apart and eat you alive, what is it that’s most important to you?—and what are you willing to do to get it and protect it? The Walking Dead reveals the essence of life contrasted against terrifying death on an individual basis that exposes elemental truths of humanity—the good, the bad and the ugly. It questions the true nature of what it means to be strong and to be weak. The surprising and shocking punches these revelations land with sink in like reminders of what we’ve always felt was floating just beneath the surface of our world.

With everything (and everyone!) won, lost, taken and found in Arlington at the end of last season, I cannot wait to see what’s in store for our band of raw threadbare avatars to the richness of the human condition on the next installment of The Walking Dead. (P.S.: Someone please bring back hauntingly beautiful Hannibal!)

№ 2: SUPERNATURAL

(Oct. 7th, 9pm, CW) Dear Magic 8 Ball, I’m addicted to Supernatural. Will my love be returned yet again with a remarkable season 11?! — “It is decidedly so.”

If you were able to take the very best things about the greatest buddy-cop teams, blend that with the cream of campfire ghost stories and then throw open the doors of possibility—you’d have only the jumping off point for the series. It continuously finds ways to keep folding in more—more character dynamics, more storytelling structures, more deep questions tastily sandwiched into monster mayhem. . . If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that they were taking notes from Doctor Who.

The brilliant minds behind Supernatural have successfully built a dynamic that feels comfortable for the returning viewer week to week and at the same time allows for amazing flexibility. Much like The X-Files, one episode may be extremely dramatic followed by one that is practically an hour-long comedy! In fact, I might describe it to a potential viewer as a healthy combo of The X-Files, Ghostbusters and Starsky & Hutch. A sort of on-the-road dude version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, if you will.

The Winchester brothers, Sam and Dean (irreplaceably played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles), crisscross the country “saving people, hunting things.” The entire series started as a buddy-cop, road-trip, monster/ghost of the week flavored sort of affair—with the boys chiefly fueled by burgers, unleaded, damsels in distress and the hunt for the demon that killed their mother and Sam’s girlfriend. In those early days, the season-long story arc would take a distant backseat, in their black 1967 Chevy Impala, to each episode’s encounter.

Since then, the Supernatural universe has been massively fleshed out and now each week is most often about another piece in the puzzle for the season’s storyline. The boys have graduated from tackling urban legends come to life each week to taking on hell, purgatory and even a rebellion in heaven over the course of a season.

Every time I think, “Well, that’s it. The end of the series. There’s nowhere to go after that season finale,” they pick up on some unfinished aspect I missed to spin a fresh new season around. It’s a magically delightful sort of 3-Card Monte—”Whoa, I was looking over here while they were setting that up over there!”

They’ve picked up an excellent entourage along the way of reoccurring characters, including my current favorites, Crowley (I can never get enough of Mark Sheppard), the new king of hell, Castiel (Misha Collins is awesome!—he should be cast in everything), a rebel angel who once took over heaven, and now Claire (a very impressive Kathryn Newton) the orphaned teenage daughter of Castiel’s vessel (long story), who brings a fresh new dynamic and energy to the show for each episode she’s in.

One of the remarkable feats that Supernatural has pulled off, quite a few times now, is reaching through the fourth-wall. They’ve done it in several different ways and haven’t fallen on their faces yet—if anything, it has actually enriched the experience of the show each time—extending the definition of “supernatural” in a deeper way that seems to defy the physics of television shows themselves. (Tried a couple different ways of explaining more here—but I don’t think reading about it would give the experiences justice. I would rather not rob you of those first experiences yourself, if you don’t already know what I’m talking about.)

Without giving too much away, the ancient (original?) curse that kept Dean alive in the previous season has consequences that pit the brothers against each other last season. Now, with the setup for The Darkness impending, the new season of Supernatural looks promising indeed.

https://youtu.be/tdIbvJ_RgiA

№ 1: DOCTOR WHO

(Sept. 19th, 9pm, BBC America) Dear Magic 8 Ball, will the new season of Doctor Who be some can’t miss television? — “You may rely on it.”

The idea that Doctor Who isn’t the number one show on everyone’s must-see TV list (or “rather ought to” telly queue?) is a concept I find wholly befuddling. Doctor Who is, quite simply, the culmination of all human storytelling up to now—it is the ongoing saga that has successfully digested all other existing story structures. It’s sci-fi, fantasy, drama, horror, comedy, thriller, western, classical, procedural, ghost, love, family, monster. . . The storytelling lens of Doctor Who is so broadly fine tuned that the lucky and talented writers are able to weave any tale they wish through it. Every episode is a display of magic unfolding. It’s safe to say, if there is any kind of storytelling you like, Doctor Who has episodes for you—and if there are story types you don’t like, Doctor Who may just put them in a new light for you.

To say that Doctor Who is like The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Star Wars, Back to the Future, The Terminator, Alien, Indiana Jones, and even The Labyrinth and Harry Potter all rolled into one isn’t inaccurate—but it just doesn’t do the show full justice because it’s even more than that.

There are two caveats for American viewers: the first is that it’s a British show—and it becomes far more British the further back in the canon you go. British, meaning that, the pace and construction of characters, themes and interactions can take a moment to adjust to for Yankee brains. It’s just a slightly different perspective on the world that Hollywood rarely shines a light on. The second thing to keep in mind, particularly if you plan to dig into the back catalog, regards the production: producers of the show have always done their best to show all of time and space with whatever limited budget they were allotted. Since the fabric of spacetime is apparently infinite and their budgets weren’t, you can see where they might often fall short—but, if you could forgive some papier-mâché costumes and old cardboard sets you were richly rewarded by the stories. To quote the Doctor himself, “it’s more like a big ball of wibbly–wobbly. . . timey-wimey. . . stuff.” That said, the further decades you go back, the more you can see how it has grown from something akin to filmed children’s theatre into the juggernaut it is today. Additionally—and this is coming from two decades working in digital format conversions—although recent advancements are making it unnecessary, the British have always broadcast television in the PAL format at 25 frames per second, while American eyeballs have been tuned to NTSC at almost 30 frames per second for decades and decades. Even after conversion, what you’re watching can feel “wrong” on a subconscious level to the Yankee brain just because the flicker is different. It took me about six of those earlier episodes to adjust. These days, most entertainment is being shot at standard film speed which is 24 frames per second, a frequency the entire world is accustomed to.

Now that the show has garnered ever stronger international audiences, the “Britishness” has become a bit more universal and the production values have gone way up. You can pinpoint the change to the episode of the first season that Matt Smith took over the reins of the Doctor. The only requirement now is a tolerance for the initially perceived silliness and frequent leaps of faith (fat that comes to life, alien assassins that consume your life’s potential and then leave you to live to death, a police “phone booth” that is a whole world larger on the inside and travels through time and space)—for which you are fully rewarded. After some time as a viewer, the concepts begin to feel much less far fetched—the show succeeds in taking nearly any “wacky” setup and presenting it as honestly valid and valuable.

Last season introduced Peter Capaldi as the Doctor and, while every “regeneration” is traumatic for viewers, this one somehow felt more so. The writers weren’t exactly sure how to write for him yet? It became the Clara Oswald season, which was perfectly fine by me. Jenna Coleman as the Doctor’s current companion is really electric and has delivered some of the most powerful scenes on the show recently.  Now the breaking news of this being her last season on Doctor Who is extremely disappointing after she carried the last season. What the future holds after this season is uncertain but I’m sure it will be great—I’m just devastated that this will be the last of Clara Oswald as the companion. So catch her while you can!

I’ve often been moved to tears, fallen from the couch in peels of laughter, cringed with fright and been held breathless in astonishment—frequently in the same episode (“Blink”, “The Girl in the Fireplace” and “Vincent and the Doctor” just to name a few). I expect all of this (and more!) with the new season of Doctor Who.

Returning Honorable Mentions:

№ yeah!: CASTLE

(Sept. 21st, 10pm, ABC) Dear Magic 8 Ball, should I stay loyal to my not-so-secret crush on Castle this season? — “Yes.”

Strictly speaking, Castle doesn’t belong on this list—but I feel the need to give it a shout-out regardless. The fact that it stars Nathan Fillion is practically a qualifier all on its own. The rest of the cast—including Stana Katic, Seamus Dever and Jon Huertas—are fantastically enjoyable as well.

Honestly, if it wasn’t for Fillion, I never would have checked this show out in the first place—procedurals just aren’t my cup of tea—but Fillion as a bestselling crime fiction writer embedding himself with the NYPD?! Had to give it shot—and I’ve been far from disappointed. (Well, that and—full disclosure—I first met Seamus back when I was performing standup with his lovely, funny and talented wife, Juliana Dever [frequent guest star as Det. Kevin Ryan’s girlfriend/wife], years ago and was excited to cheer on his big break with Fillion when the show premiered.)

Castle continues to plumb the writer playing cop—with actual cops!—UGHAFC premise brilliantly. They feature enough stories that blur the lines between the realities of a police procedural and Rick Castle’s love of sci-fi/fantasy to keep me hooked and invested week after week. Episodes like the one with the man who said he was from the future, the one with the artifact that may have been a portal to a parallel dimension or the one about vampires. . . or Bigfoot—the list goes on—are often left delightfully open ended. Am I looking forward to the new season of Castle? You betcha!

№ hope?: AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

(Sept. 29th, 9pm, ABC) Dear Magic 8 Ball, the special Agents of SHIELD have yet to uncover my devotion. Will they pull it off this season? — “Better not tell you now.”

The fun thing about season premieres (and finales) is that shows typically have bigger budgets to play with. Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD is a good example of that this season. Fan reaction to the show overall thus far has been lukewarm on average. Scripts are lacking strength with some plots and dialogue that can feel forced. Characters are difficult to connect with. The whole thing has a sort of manufactured aftertaste.

Fresh out of the gate this season, the show is looking pretty dazzling but will they be able to connect with viewers who are dying to love them? Being one such viewer, I’m settling in for this season of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD and hoping they finally open up to me.

№ zip-a-dee-doo-dah: THE FLASH

(Oct. 6th, 8pm, CW) Dear Magic 8 Ball, The Flash looks great but I think I’m missing something—should I take another run at it this season? — “Concentrate and ask again.”

There are a lot of folks that are huge fans of The Flash. I am merely a fan. For about the first 10 episodes you watched as the show sort of meandered around, testing its footing to see what tone it wanted, what kind of show it would grow into. It was interesting enough to keep me watching but, even as its direction became more focused in the final few episodes, I still wasn’t finding myself able to really connect with any of the characters. The portrayals all felt a bit too cartoony to me. I want to care, I really do, but I don’t. If I can’t invest in the characters, I can’t invest in the story—and there’s a lot of great story to work with.

To tell the truth, the show is already one of the better options on TV—but, in age of so many series that are able to make significant connections with viewers, The Flash is coming up a bit short. There is so much in the works for the series’ second season, more time travel, parallel dimensions, parallel Flashes. . . It’s all sounding very exciting—I’m just hoping The Flash‘s creators can get me to care.

№ bat: GOTHAM

(Sept. 21st, 8pm, FOX) Dear Magic 8 Ball, Gotham‘s looking good—did they lose some weight? Should we make a date this fall? — “Signs point to yes.”

Very pleased to see that Gotham recognized its shortcomings from last season, corrected course and is off to nice start this fall. Honestly, even after the last Gotham update here on Geekscape, I didn’t think the show was going to make this list. Many times, when a series or franchise attempts to make a course adjustment, creatives’ egos and/or executives’ bottom lines can interfere, making the adjustment not enough or overly extravagant.

So far, it seems Gotham’s refocus is just right—characters are exhibiting a fuller range of emotion and the whole presentation has just the right amount of silliness, inherent in Batman stories from the beginning. The dark whimsy has been blended back in to properly offset and enhance the ol’ Detective Comics‘ native flavor of gloomy dreariness on the palette. Its a balancing act that the comics have been pulling off for decades and you can feel when screen adaptations get wrong. I’m very much looking forward to seeing how the season plays out. Bravo, Gotham creators!

№ hmm: GRIMM

(Oct. 30th, 9pm, NBC) Dear Magic 8 Ball, what’s up with Grimm? Should we be watching the new season? — “Reply hazy, try again.”

Honestly, I really like Grimm. I look forward to each next episode. However, there is something I keep trying to put my finger on that keeps me from fully connecting with the show. My current theory is that there is an “underlying apology” to its presentation—maybe? A sort of, “Sorry we’re not a standard cop show—but we’ve got a really nice secret society of creatures mythology thingy we’re working on that we hope you’ll like!”

Just be true to yourself, Grimm!—be proud of the dorky/geeky genre baby that you are! If you double-down and go whole-hog with what you’ve created, your current audience will become solid devotees—and probably start dragging more people to the party!

The two characters that seem to genuinely inhabit the world of Grimm are Monroe and Trubel—with a shout-out to Bree Turner, as Rosalee, and Sasha Roiz, as Capt. Renard. Silas Weir Mitchell as Monroe, the gentle, awkward and reserved big bad wolf was a surprise hit very quickly. This guy is clearly a professional actor who studied the material he was given and created a marvelously rich character out of it that is my main draw to the show each week. Jacqueline Toboni as Trubel, a runaway who discovers she has special abilities to hunt as a grimm, is another example of marvelous acting chops and has been an invigorating addition. Her take on the character is an excellent fit with the mythos in play.

The real trouble is that it seems the writers too often lean on story constructs better suited to soaps and primetime cop dramas. Even when they try and dive deeper into the secret society and the royals it comes off more like something from General Hospital or The Young & the Restless rather than exciting and mysterious, like a Frankenstein, Dracula, Indiana Jones or Goonies type vibe. I mean, Nick’s longtime girlfriend gains powers and suddenly decides to be evil?! I didn’t get that at all.

The show is inspired by Grimms’ Fairy Tales; I recommend returning to that source material and capturing that magic. Should you watch Grimm? I don’t know—I do—and I wish I could feel stronger about recommending it.

Returning Show Quick Takes!

THE LEFTOVERS — Damon Lindelof, I love you as a human being with excellent taste and a creative soul—but I’ve been burned by your creations too many times to give this fascinating premise a shot.

AMERICAN HORROR STORY: [ANYTHING] — More like Eccentric European Fetish Story and I prefer to get my obscure French vampire sex romps from the source—Gérard Depardieu.

ARROW — A lot of people really love this show and it has clearly done well in the ratings. Maybe you’re one of these fans (or potential fans) but for my palette, I got the impression at the start that this might have that neutered and manufactured flavor to its construction and I have yet to see any clips or segments that make me think I might’ve been wrong. (Yes, I just used “neutered” and “flavor” in the same sentence and am now questioning all the life decisions that have led me to this point.)

ONCE UPON A TIME — I feel so strung-along by this show; like it’s always just about to get good—or even interesting. Once again, I’m just going to give it a few more episodes to. . .

SCORPION — This UGHAFC show is actually pretty neat and fun, I enjoy watching it—however, it’s placed pretty much at the end of my queue each week. I don’t feel like I have to watch it. I really do like it though.

Top 5 Crop of New Shows:

№ 5: HEROES REBORN

(Sept. 24th, 8pm, NBC) Dear Magic 8 Ball. . . Uh, Heroes Reborn? — “Ask again later.”

I was really ready to write this off out of hand but the pilot has me sort of pausing to consider. After the fizzle-out of Heroes the first time around, for its self-important meandering storylines that didn’t come to any interesting conclusions, it looks like we may be in for more of the same. The thing with Heroes is that it somehow makes you doubt if you’re really not enjoying it or just not synched up with it properly. Then once the episode’s been over for a few hours, you realize you really didn’t care about it at all and could’ve better spent that time gardening, researching French poetry or stalking your ex.

I have the feeling that Heroes Reborn is going to be more of the same. However, it’s just good enough to bite your lip and try to hang on for a couple episodes to make sure. It has started out addictive, like the first series (best story line; Zachary Levi’s serial mutant/”evo” killer—worst story line; the girl who can enter a video game with a sword), let’s hope that it’s not ultimately disappointing, like the first series. Damn, this is a special kind of hell. Just get it right, Heroes Reborn!—for crying out loud, just get it right.

https://youtu.be/7vs78vS7MFo

№ 4: BLINDSPOT

(Sept. 21st, 10pm, NBC) Dear Magic 8 Ball, the setup ingredients for Blindspot‘s entertainment level seem perfect—maybe too perfect. Is this a safe bet to get into this season? — “Signs point to yes.”

Blindspot sneaks onto this list with a decent sci-fi-adjacent premise and the casting of my favorite part of the Thor movies, Jaimie Alexander, as Jane Doe—a woman who wakes up naked, zipped inside a duffle bag and freshly covered in cryptic tattoos; with no memory of anything. . . except the skills to do everything. . . especially kicking ass. Are you kidding me?!—I’m so entirely in!

Her tattoos seem to point to large scale crimes and attacks that haven’t taken place yet—so, naturally, I’m holding out that she’s actually from the future and her memories were chemically wiped to keep her from playing the lottery, retrofitting a Delorean and starting Skynet or something. So far the show hasn’t backed up my theory yet. Bullocks. Alexander’s performance in the pilot is pretty dead on as, essentially, a newborn in a frightening world, with frightening skills and the frightening realization that she has no idea if she prefers coffee or tea because she doesn’t know what they taste like. The second episode feels a little worrying, like they may allow the super-cool setup to drift into the background as they concentrate on being just another UGHAFC procedural. Let’s hope not. Creators; if that is your intention, take a look at Castle and take notes—they’ve clearly nailed the formula.

I’m already hooked on Blindspot and I’ve got my fingers crossed that they keep me seduced.

https://youtu.be/9FHLBldRdIo

№ 3: LIMITLESS

(Sept. 22nd, 10pm, CBS) Dear Magic 8 Ball, will Limitless live up to its name—with entertainment!? — “Outlook good.”

Limitless returns us to the world of the film it’s based on. Chances are, your feelings about the film is probably how you’ll feel about the pilot—and then a bit more. For example; I thought the film was fine but I’m really liking the show so far. If you didn’t like the movie you may really not like the pilot—however, it’s got some good things going for it: great cast, pretty good (and simple) setup and, somehow, the show feels a touch more relatable than the movie did. I also found it rather inspirational; not in the, “I wanna do drugs,” kinda way but in the, “I’d like to reclaim that mental and physical agility I enjoyed as a youth. Do some Sudoku. Hit the gym. Bust out some parkour. Make sure my health insurance is paid up,” sorta way. The lingering feeling at the end of an episode is one of fun—a peek at what the world might be like if it really was your playground.

Some people like the instigating premise of the plot, some don’t. Either way, the strength of the show is in the casting and the clever writing. Jake McDorman plays the guy who stumbles into the super drug NZT. I last saw McDorman in the enjoyable failure, Manhattan Love Story, and he seems to bring a certain relatable sparkle to anything he does—I’m glad to see him again in the lead role here. Jennifer Carpenter plays the FBI agent who must hunt him down and control him to contain the situation. Of course, Carpenter was previously the delightfully scene-chewing sister in Dexter and she brings her relatably pleasing hidden below the surface cocktail of damaged-goofball.

The dynamic becomes the man-boy slacker, who is suddenly made into a super-genius, being wrangled by a woman who may secretly resent having had to grow up. She seems to sympathize and identify with the chemically induced slacker savant and struggles with the conflict of wanting to follow his lead while still following her orders from the FBI.

The danger here is the show falling into that same UGHAFC mold that’s been done a lot lately. If they manage to continue keeping that in the background and focus on telling the journey of a guy thrust into knowing infinitely more than he ever should, that will make for a really entertaining series. It probably helped a lot that the first two episodes are directed by the brilliant Marc Webb ((500) Days of Summer, The Amazing Spider-Man). All things considered, I’m enjoying Limitless a lot more than I thought I would.

№ 2: THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE

(pilot available now, series continues Nov. 20th, Amazon) Dear Magic 8 Ball, can The Man in the High Castle really deliver on the amazing promise shown in the pilot already? — “Outlook good.”

Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle is really rather impressive. I have to admit, while I am a huge fan of the shopping perks that come with Amazon’s Prime membership (anything I want can show up at my door in hours!), I haven’t ever used it to watch anything except for The Addams Family movie and episodes of Hannibal (so good—someone bring it back!) which weren’t available elsewhere. This pilot—which was picked up for series earlier to start this fall—looks like it’ll be the show that finally puts Amazon in my regular rotation.

The show is an engrossingly complex answer to a simple hypothetical question: What if the Allied forces had lost WWII to Axis powers? The story picks up in an alternate 1960s where the US has been split into Nazi and Japanese Empire controlled states. There’s a narrow band of neutral territory between them—and their political scheming against each other—running along the Rockies. It’s within this neutral zone that the mysterious Man in the High Castle is rumored to exist—releasing films of an alternate reality where the Allies won the war. I know, right?!

Adapted from a Philip K. Dick story, I should warn you it’s probably not going to be the feel good show of the fall (take other adaptations of Dick’s works; Blade Runner, Minority Report, Total Recall. . .)—but if they keep working the source material properly, you can bet it’ll continue to be great. That is to say, the pilot is great and very promising already. The success of this initiating episode must be due in large part to the executive producer—who directed that richly visceral adaptation of Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? creating Blade Runner—Ridley Scott.

So it’s already impressive and it’s in excellent hands?—I think it’s a safe bet that adding The Man in the High Castle is going to enrich all our queues with some marvelously engaging entertainment.

№ 1: ASH vs EVIL DEAD

(Oct. 31st, 9pm, STARZ) Dear Magic 8 Ball, I don’t even need you on this one. I couldn’t be more stoked for the arrival of Ash vs Evil Dead! — “Groovy.”

Ash vs Evil Dead?! Are you kidding me? No question—if you can only watch one new show this season Starz’s extension of the Evil Dead franchise is the one. To be fair, the Evil Dead flavor isn’t for everyone but if you’re reading Geekscape this is very likely your cup of tea, even if you don’t know it yet.

That “flavor” is difficult to put into words but here’s a shot: it’s a genuine horror screwball action comedy. It’s what might result if Monty Python teamed up with National Lampoon to produce a Stephen King story. It doesn’t pull punches with the horror or the comedy. You’re knocked out of your seat with frights and laughs.

The key players are back in what they are describing as a natural evolution of the material; prolific producer/writer/director Sam Raimi (Army of Darkness, Spider-Man) and the irreplaceable Bruce Campbell (Burn Notice, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.) as Ashley “Ash” J. Williams. This time out, they’re joined by another regular Raimi player, Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess, Salem) in what sure to be one heck of a badass team up.

I really don’t know what else I can tell you—it’s “you had to be there” entertainment. You could read the excitement of our reaction at the SDCC announcement. It’s the ol’ Evil Dead made fresh and new by the very same hands that made it in the first place—including the one and only Ash, his boomstick and his chainsaw hand! If you want more than that, you’ll have to make it yourself with your own army of deadites! Ash vs Evil Dead, baby! I think it’s going to be like pillow talk for your face.

https://youtu.be/unnLg1TPCYM

New Honorable Mentions:

№ ooh: CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND

(Oct. 12th, 8pm, CW) Dear Magic 8 Ball, I know this is kinda outta left field but—should I spend this fall with the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? — “Most likely.”

This Crazy Ex-Girlfriend stalks her way on here for living in a hilarious world where she can bust out musical numbers wherever she goes. That can technically qualify as fantasy when. . . What? You say you don’t like musical numbers? Ha ha ha, I was once like you. However, I think series creator, star and certified geek herself, Rachel Bloom begs to disagree with your feelings—making her point with her hit, NSFW (without headphones), YouTube sensation: F*** Me, Ray Bradbury. See now how your feelings were wrong? It’s okay—the same thing happened to me. If that video is what she can do with a shoestring indie budget, I’m looking forward to what she’ll might pull off with a Hollywood bankroll—after she has to wash her mouth out with soap! Salacious! Sign me up for a recurring date with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

№ sooner!: JESSICA JONES

(Nov. 20th, Netflix) Dear Magic 8 Ball, Jessica Jones is absolutely can’t miss, right?! — “Signs point to yes.”

Jessica Jones really deserves to be in the top 5 of new shows—Heroes Reborn could easily be bumped to make room for such promise—but, at this point, this really is mostly just promising promise. There aren’t many details out there about what Netflix is doing with Jessica Jones. Marvel fans know it’s the story of an UGHAFC who has mostly hung up her superpowers to become a private eye but exactly where and how this series picks up the story remains to be seen. Netflix has done a fantastic job with Daredevil so the outlook is very good for this new entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I’m a huge fan of Krysten Ritter since Veronica Mars so I’m super excited to see her in the super title role here. David Tennant as Kilgrave and Carrie-Anne Moss as Harper are just a couple more of the excellent cast. If and when any new shreds of detail emerge you can bet that Geekscape will get the Jessica Jones nuggets to you, just as we have been. I want to put this in my eyes right now!

New Show Quick Takes!

THE MUPPETS — Hell yeah! Already into this all the way. Bit darker than I was expecting—almost like a drama with hilarious frosting. Like a slower paced Aaron Sorkin creation—with puppets.

SUPERGIRL — Man, I hope this is any good! At this time, I have yet to see anything that conclusively tips the scales—and my expectations are low. So, here’s hopin’ you fly, Supergirl.

SCREAM QUEENS — Happened to catch a clip of Scream Queens and found it delightfully amusing. Looking forward to catching up and watching this little gem. Judging by the creators’ former effort, Glee, it should be great for at least a season.

MINORITY REPORT — I’m sorry. I just don’t have any more room—especially for something that appears to have gutted all the fascination out of the original story to make this show just another UGHAFC lightly dusted with sci-fi. What I really wish is that this was another season of Almost Human—damn, that was a good show. . . bad name, good show.

Geekscape Reviews ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Season 1

by jake108

Well, with the season over, we can now reflect on the good and bad of FTWD’s first season. Don’t worry, we’ll also be recapping the season finale too!

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

The season finale started off shots of Los Angeles on fire. Granted, there were only a few select parts on fire, but it was nice seeing the city after spending so much time in the safe zone and compound. As far as the episode goes, most of it falls in line with the prediction I wrote last week. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one in predicting a breakout coupled with a walker security breach to the compound, but luckily, we were treated with a little more than that.

fear-the-walking-dead-episode-106-nick-dillane-935

Things that I didn’t predict were the highest points of interest in this episode. First, the group suffered a sizable loss by leaving the doctor at the compound. It was easy to see that she had given up, but maybe with a little push, she could have been persuaded. Instead, she went out No Country For Old Men style. A doctor in the group would have boosted their survival potential.

Shorty after, Nick and Strand attempt an escape, but eventually get held up by a hallway full of walkers. Our group comes to the rescue, and all make it out of the compound, but not without injury. First, the soldier Daniel tortured last episode got his revenge by shooting Ofelia. I’m still a little unclear as to why he would shoot her instead of Daniel. My only guess was that it would hurt Daniel more by seeing his daughter get hurt. Ofelia’s injury is treatable and will probably be healed by the time season 2 comes around.

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Second, Liza is bit…or scratched by a walker, which means she has to go. Before dying, she made a point by saying that the bite doesn’t turn people, it’s the infection that comes from the injury. It would seem that to become a walker, it doesn’t matter how you die, so long as the brain is uninjured. We should also note that zombies are able to survive underwater. This was especially evident in a scene in a The Walking Dead Season 3 episode where [Spoilers] Michonne breaks The Governor’s head aquarium, prompting a severed head attempting to bite Michonne. Also let’s not forget the well-walker found on Hershel’s farm [End Spoilers]. So while the group will eventually reach Abigail, which is presumably the name of the giant boat just offshore, they will still be in danger. Strand, the newest addition to the group, seems to be on top of things so far. If he keeps it up, he may have some ideas to repel water-walkers, should it come to that.

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When I first caught wind that AMC would be producing a prequel to The Walking Dead, I had hoped they would delve more into how the outbreak initially begun. What caused the outbreak? Who was patient zero? How did it spread so rapidly? While FTWD attempted to answer some of these questions, I found that most of the plots in the first season fell flat. It worries me that the folks behind The Walking Dead franchise seem to be focused more so on where to place their next walker setting than the story of humanity’s demise. We got our zombies in the south, we got see them in Los Angeles, soon in the ocean, and now we get to see them on a plane!

I get the Midi-chlorian argument. Keeping a mystery going drives the story in a positive way. I know, I watched LOST. But you have to at least acknowledge the mystery at some point. Even Kenobi had an answer to what the Force was in episode IV. Maybe if FTWD had a few more episodes to work with, we could have gotten away from the heavy family drama that hampered the first half of the season.

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On a more positive note, the cookie-cutter characters started to develop in the season finale. It’ll be interesting to see them come into their own as the series goes on. Perhaps the most interesting characters on the show are Strand and Chris. Say what you will about Chris, but he has the age and potential to engage in a few power struggles next season. With his mom dead, and his resentment toward his father even stronger, Chris will probably make more than a few hotheaded decisions.

Agree? Disagree? Don’t be afraid to comment! As always, thanks for reading!

‘Fear The Walking Dead: Flight 462’ To Debut This Sunday!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: Back in August AMC announced plans for a standalone The Walking Dead special, set to take place in the Fear the Walking Dead timeline, and to be set on an airplane in the early days of the infection.

Today, the network announced further details about the special, and it sounds damned cool. Here’s the synopsis:

“Fear the Walking Dead: Flight 462” tells the story of a group of passengers aboard a commercial airplane during the earliest moments of the outbreak. Over the course of the series, the plane and the lives of its passengers are put in jeopardy once they discover an infected traveler. The series is written by L. Signorino and Mike Zunic and directed by “Fear” director of photography Michael McDonough.

I really enjoyed the airplane scene in 2013’s World War Z, and having an extended look at freshly-turned walkers on a plane should be interesting as hell. Or boring as hell. We’ll see I suppose.

AMC has revealed that the first of 16 episodes will debut during this Sunday’s season finale of Fear the Walking Dead, with the remaining episodes airing during commercial breaks of The Walking Dead proper’s sixth season.

While zombies on a plane sound interesting enough, the coolest aspect of the news has to be the revelation that one character who somehow survives the attack will join the cast of Fear the Walking Dead in season two.

Are you down with the idea of a standalone special? Do we already have enough The Walking Dead? Sound out in the comments below!

- Flight 225 _ Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 1, Episode 1 - Photo Credit: Justina Mintz/AMC

Geekscape Recaps: Fear the Walking Dead – ‘Cobalt’

by jake108

With the penultimate episode of season one out of the way, it’s looking like we’re going to get a heavy dose of action next week. Still, this week we got a new character and a ton of build up for this season’s climax. So let’s get to it!

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

The episode opens up with the downtown camp we’ve been hearing about since last episode. The people in the cages are presumably tagged as threats to both the safe zones and downtown camp. The clinic seems to be located inside a high school gym. The clinic is down to three doctors after the two best were sent on an evacuation order. It’ll be interesting learning where this evac center is located since it seems to be reserved for people with a higher role in society – more on this later.

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Meanwhile, back at the safe zone, Daniel and Ofelia decide to take one of the military personal hostage with the hopes of getting some information and eventually using him for a potential trade. I can’t say this is the smartest idea for the Daniel and Ofelia to do, but they’re definitely running out of options. This was evident by the time Daniel decided take the torture route. After the torture, Daniel was able to learn exactly what the military has planned.

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Some other interesting military tidbits we should be aware of is how stretched the military is. One sergeant told LT. Moyers that some of his men had been awake for fifty hours. Either Moyers is grossly misusing his soldiers, or there’s just not enough to go around. Honestly, it’s probably both.

We get a further dose of what exactly the military does when they leave the safe zone. Most of the action takes place while Travis takes a ride along with LT. Moyers into Downtown Los Angeles. During these sequences, Travis is exposed what the world has become outside the safe zones. After a brief battle inside a library, Moyers fails to return to the humvee. The real answer as to what exactly happened to Moyers is up for debate. Regardless, the people who had once reported to him have no interest in continuing their duty.

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Perhaps the best addition to the series is Victor Strand. Strand seems to have a good understanding of how the world is going to work post-apocalypse. It’ll be interesting to see him and Nick team up for the inevitable escape from the downtown facility. His actions next episode will probably establish Strand as an integral character to the series.

By the end of the episode, we are all familiar with “Cobalt.” In the next episode, we’ll presumably see the start of the extermination of all civilians in the safe zone. I can’t imagine all the soldiers will follow their orders and kill civilians, so we may end up seeing a coup of some sort, which will also be coupled a large force of walkers. Below, you’ll find evacuation orders that coincide with Cobalt:

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 That’s all for next week! Did I miss something? Don’t be afraid to comment! See you next week!

Check out next week’s promo and a sneak peek!

Geekscape Recaps: Fear the Walking Dead – ‘Not Fade Away’

by jake108

It’s another Sunday and we’re in for another night of FTWD analysis! This episode, we got a run down on the effect the military has the neighborhood and how the rest of the outside world might be coping. Hint: It’s not great.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead! 

We’re nine days into the quarantine and power outage. It seems like the neighborhood and our characters are trying to preserve any sense of normalcy they can, or at least trying to. The most pressing matters seem to be a lack of medicine, telephone lines, and fluctuating electricity. Though, the people are receiving rations, which means some sense of order still exists.

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The neighborhood our characters find themselves in seem to be one of twelve safe zones. It would also seem that the military either thinks they do have the upper-hand, or they’re lying to the public about how bad it really is. If you’re interested to see where the other safe zones are in the area, take a look at this map pulled from the second screen experience:

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The public seems to grasping on to anything to prevent losing their minds. A biblical verse, Revelations 21:4 pops up at least twice this episode. I’m honestly not sure if it’s just a really popular verse to recite during the zombie apocalypse, or if the same person is going around posting the same verse around town. It’s probably both. For those of you who would like to know what the verse is, you can find it here:

“And God shall wipe away all the tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.” Revelations 21:4

As the episode goes on, Madison begins to have her second guesses as well. This is fueled further by the case of the mysterious light reflection in the dead zone. I had hoped we’d see some character additions, but, well, the person(s) in that house didn’t seem to make it through the episode.

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The military was made to be the villain a few times this episode. Their most ominous military action was of course taking Griselda and Nick away via trucks. They also did not honor their commitment of allowing Daniel, her husband, to go with her. It seems reasonable to remove a dying person away from the secured location. After the abduction, Lisa tells the military doc that Nick isn’t a “threat,” but Nick is taken anyway. I assume a “threat” is anyone who is tagged as a high probability of becoming a walker.

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It’s hard to say what will show up next week. However, it’s easy to think that we’ll get more of the same next week. More military drama, more family drama, and maybe a potential rebellion. I can only hope this military vs. the people thing doesn’t last the rest of the season. We’ve already been there before in other shows. With any luck, we’ll see our characters leave the neighborhood for good next week!

Did I miss something? Have any questions? We’re here to help! Don’t be afraid to comment!

Geekscape Recaps: Fear the Walking Dead – “The Dog”

by jake108

It’s been a couple of weeks since we last had our dose of FTWD. While the second episode of the series didn’t end on a major cliffhanger, I admit, the fate of Los Angeles has been looming in the back of my mind for a few days now. If you’re like me, then luckily for us, we got to see what’s happened since the riots that broke out at the end of the last episode!

WARNING: Spoilers Ahead

Look, I don’t know about you, but I’d be pissed if I knew cops were shooting zombies. I mean, I’d be flipping cop cars, vandalizing stores, and starting fires. But that’s just me. What we know for sure is that there are walkers present in the riots and people are actively being turned during the violence. It’s because of the violence that Travis and company are forced to escape the barbershop.

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This is where some of the more interesting details were heard on Travis’ radio. Eleven states have declared a state of emergency and the FAA is getting ready to ground all flights – more on this later. This is coming right before we see how the hospital is checking in, and, well, they’re not so great. It would appear that major city hospitals are all comprised by walkers at this point. The state of the hospitals wouldn’t be able to hold up for long with a fluctuating power grid.

FTWD 1.3.3

Aside from the violence, we get a little more into some of the family drama. It’s sprinkled throughout episode, but the most significant part came when Alicia saw a walker up close for the first time. After vehemently denying that her boyfriend ended up becoming a walker, Alicia was forced to reconcile with the current events. However, I must point out that this character was on track to attend California Berkley, yet she’s been treated and made ignorant of what’s been going on. I get that the mother is trying to shield her daughter from some of the more gruesome aspects, but she couldn’t possibly think she could hide it forever. I would think that a lack of information is what’s going to get a lot of people killed.

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Toward the end of the episode, Nick looks into the air and sees one plane flying erratically. This is possibly linked to the spin-off show that’s set to tie into FTWD. By now, the FAA should have grounded all flights. This plane, however, probably left before the notice to ground all flights was sent out. This also means that the cockpit must be compromised since it’s still in the air.

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Now, with the military present, it’s clear the government has some idea as to what’s going on. This also means that California was probably one of the eleven states to declare a state of emergency. It’ll be interesting to see how the military controls the situation. I’m guessing it’s not gonna be great.

For those of you interested, here’s Executive Order S-21 pulled from AMC’s second screen experience:

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Comments? Did I miss something? Don’t be afraid to comment! See you next week!

GOD Has Spoken. ‘PREACHER’ Gets Series Order From AMC

by Bigyanks

In not so surprising news, AMC has ordered ‘Preacher‘ to series, its adaptation of the Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s comic of the same name.

Executive producer, Seth Rogen celebrated the news by tweeted out a poster for the series.

http://twitter.com/Sethrogen/status/641693712796545024/photo/1

Preacher centers on Reverend Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper), a conflicted Texas minister who merges with a spiritual force called Genesis. In doping so he is granted the powers and voice of God. He is joined by his girlfriend Tulip (Ruth Negga) and the Irish vampire Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun). Lucy Griffiths (Emily Woodrow) and Ian Colletti (Arseface) also star in the project.

Preacher was one of the first comics series I completely read when I came back into comics back in 2005 so I’m really looking forward to seeing it come to life. My favorite casting in the show is Joseph Gilgun, I enjoyed his run on Misfits and I can tell he’s is going to embody that Cassidy persona like no one else could.

Geekscape Recaps: Fear the Walking Dead – ‘So Close, Yet So Far’

by jake108

We’re here for another episode of FTWD, and I have to say that this episode was a little better than last week’s pilot. Luckily for us, the dosage of family drama and angst was toned down, but only a little. The episode title perfectly summed up tonight’s events as our set of characters seemed to be on the brink of getting out of the city the entire time, but were ultimately faced with some overwhelming obstacles.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead! 

This episode picks up just about where we left off last week. The family is again in disarray amidst the impending zombie apocalypse. Unfortunately, not a lot happened this episode. The episode was action heavy and we got a glimpse of what Downtown Los Angeles was like just before the full-scale outbreak. Other than that, it’s everything fans of The Walking Dead can expect.

FTWD 1.2.5

One thing that did stand out this week was how prevalent “the virus” was for the second straight episode. This illness was heavily hinted at last week, but it seems to have little to do with the walker-plague we saw in TWD at the prison. By my count, there was maybe one confirmed walker who was turned simply because they died from the virus. That was Mr. Dawson. More on him later.

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At first, it was looking as if Alicia’s boyfriend, Matt, was succumbing to the virus when it was revealed he had been bitten.  Why he didn’t call 911 or seek medical attention after being bitten is beyond me. My only guess was he was bit at home and passed out or…

Regardless, I have to admit I felt a bit anxious in some of the sequences in downtown Los Angeles. Making viewers anxious is something the folks behind TWD and FTWD seem to be good at. This is supplemented by the lack of knowledge the people seem to have about what’s really going on. This was hit on again by Nick after returning home from killing a walker.

FTWD 1.2.2

It’s a shame that one of the people who was keen on the current events eventually turned. That was Mr. Dawson, who I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of next episode. His eerie cough foreshadowed what became of him. However, he and the police officer can’t be the only ones packing up getting ready to go. By the end of the episode, it would seem like the freeways are hopeless and roads leading in and out of the city are closed. Just take a look at this traffic map posted to AMC’s FTWD second screen experience:

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With the next episode being two weeks away, I hope the show picks up the pace and shows the family navigating through society’s demise. This episode was a good start and it will be interesting to see just how the military and/or national guard deals with this crisis. If I’m being honest, Jericho did an excellent job of showing the demise of life as we know it and I would love it if FTWD incorporated some of the elements Jericho (spoilers) had when hinting at news of surviving cities, political leaders, and the rise of new nations. We can dream, can’t we?

That’s all for this week! Did I miss something? Having anything to add? Don’t be afraid to comment!

Ready For More ‘The Walking Dead’? A Stand-Alone Special Is Incoming!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: It’s pretty freaking clear that the world cannot get enough of The Walking Dead. From decade-running comic, to the cable-leading main series, to the record breaking companion, to multiple award winning video games (and a new mobile game), it seems as though every single thing with The Walking Dead branding on it is bound for immense success.

We hope that you’re ready for even more The Walking Dead, as EW has just revealed that AMC is planning an awesome-sounding standalone special, one that’s set to take place on a plane in the same time-period as Fear the Walking Dead.

The 30-minute special will debut online at an unannounced time, and also be broken up for airing during The Walking Dead‘s commercial breaks.

While zombies on a plane sound interesting enough, the coolest aspect of the news has to be the revelation that one character who somehow survives the attack will join the cast of Fear the Walking Dead in season two.

I thoroughly enjoyed World War Z‘s airplane scene, and though I definitely avoided 2007’s Flight of the Living Dead, I’m really excited to see what AMC does with this standalone (and whether or not they keep us guessing as to who may survive).

The special will be produced by Fear the Walking Dead showrunner Dave Erickson (who I spoke to back at SDCC) and co-executive producer David Weiner, so at least we know that it’s in good hands.

What do you hope to see in the special? Sound out below!

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Geekscape Mobile: ‘The Walking Dead’s Official Mobile Game Is Available Now!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: We showed off its first gameplay trailer earlier this month, and just a couple of weeks later The Walking Dead: Road to Survival has hit the iOS App Store, as well as Google Play.

The game “is a mature, intense, story-driven game that emulates the ongoing struggle to survive in a harsh and unforgiving world overrun by vicious Walkers and ruthless fellow survivors. Difficult decisions must be made that determine who lives or dies and how future events unfold in the game’s narrative. Gamers play alongside iconic characters such as Rick, Michonne and the Governor as they navigate the challenges of collecting resources, building and fortifying their compounds, searching for and rescuing fellow survivors, all while managing to fend off the onslaught of the undead.”

Sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it? Development of the title was overseen by The Walking Dead creator himself, Robert Kirkman, so I certainly hope its up to the standards set by the phenomenal graphic novel.

Kirkman notes that “Working with the Scopely team, we’ve had the unique opportunity to translate The Walking Dead story into a deeply interactive and engaging mobile experience. The game design, the aesthetic, the tone and the writing have all come together in an authentic way that we know Walking Dead fans will love.”

Take a look at the game’s official TV spot below, and head to the iOS App Store or Google Play to download.

‘The Walking Dead’s Sixth Season Gets A Stylish New Teaser!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: Just one day after the insanely successful premiere of AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead, the network has debuted a stylish new teaser for the upcoming season of The Walking Dead proper.

The video definitely puts style over substance, as it basically just creatively shows off our survivors along with some neat music. But after last night’s Fear premiere, you’re just itching for whatever Walking Dead you can feast your eyes on, aren’t you?

Take a look at the teaser below, and let us know if you’re looking forward to season six.

Geekscape Recaps: Fear the Walking Dead – “Pilot”

by jake108

Fear the Walking Dead, the first spin-off series of The Walking Dead premiered last night. If you’re not an avid fan of The Walking Dead, fear not! This new series has a new cast, new setting, and little boundaries as to what direction the showrunners want to take. The city in peril this time is Los Angeles, which should make for some good fun. There are plenty of crazy things happening in East LA to begin with. Adding zombies to the mix, well, I’d probably just hang around El Chucho for safety.

WARNING: Spoilers Ahead!

The pilot starts with Nick Clark waking up in what appears to be a church-turned-drug-nest. Chris wanders around the church looking for his girlfriend Gloria when he stumbles upon her eating someone face. He promptly runs out of the church and is hit by a car. Civilians crowd around him and we now establish that FearTWD takes place shortly before the outbreak encompasses Los Angeles.

AMC promo FearTWD

Early in the episode, not much happens besides establishing our new set of characters. There are some hints here and there as to each character’s personal history and their professions, something we never got right away with most of TWD’s characters. We also get a couple of hints at what’s to come, specifically with principal noticing an increasing number of student absences due to illness. This is interesting considering that we know very little on what caused the initial outbreak. We do know that in TWD, some walkers died of a flu before turning. These walkers were easily identified by their eyes.

Flu Walker TWD

Continuing on this subject, we got our first good look at what a walker looks like during the initial outbreak. Despite the “sickness” that’s spreading throughout the city, it does not appear this situation and the walker flu we saw in TWD are related. The most telling piece of evidence is all in the eyes.

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Furthermore, Calvin looked more like Morgan’s wife after she turned. It’s possible that we’ll be seeing lot of walkers like this due to the fact that their flesh isn’t necessarily rotting…yet.

TWD morgan wife

Early in the episode, Madison catches a student bringing a knife to school because he’s afraid of, well, zombies. The student also mentions that there are reports in five states. In fact, the school is a significant host to foreshadowing what’s to come. Everything from the student, the principal who cares about the school’s attendance, to the lesson on man versus nature. Travis, who is teaching a lesson on Jack London, goes on to state that “nature always wins.”

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Going to the freeway sequence, I found it interesting that Madison tries to use her cell phone. Is it possible there was something more involved to keep the public from calling out? If so, why was the helicopter able to keep their feed going long enough to get footage to get onto the internet? By the next morning, all of the kids were watching the incident on their phones. The news break even prompted the district to shorten the school day entirely.

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In any case, reports have been popping up on the internet. The kid being able to deliver the stat that there have been cases in five states is evidence of this. As more and more cases are seen in Los Angeles, it’ll be interesting to see how people prepare for the city’s doom.

Literary Reference!

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When Nick’s mom and Travis visited the shooting gallery (the church), they found a book Nick had been reading. Winesburg, Ohio is a collection of twenty two stories mostly centered around one protagonist, George Willard. It was written between 1915 and 1916. Many of the stories deal with isolation and loneliness, both of which attribute to what Nick is going through. Furthermore, the stories reflect on Willard’s increasing independence, culminating with his departure from the town itself. In FearTWD, it’s clear Nick and his family will have no choice BUT to leave.

That’s all for now! Think I’ve missed something? Don’t be afraid to comment! See you next week!

Watch The First Three Minutes Of ‘Fear The Walking Dead’!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: Can you believe that Fear The Walking Dead is finally just a few days away from premiering?

AMC today debuted the series’ slow and stressful opening scene, and I have to say that it definitely has me looking forward to Sunday.

I’ve felt a little iffy about Fear The Walking Dead since the companion series was first revealed. Sure, the world wants as much The Walking Dead as it can get (again, you do know that there’s both a comic book and incredible video game too, right?), but would this series simply be the same show in a different location, and without the survivors we already know and love? How could it differentiate itself from what’s essentially the most popular television series on the planet?

After having an opportunity to speak with the cast and producers of the series last month at Comic-Con, any concerns that I had about Fear the Walking Dead disappeared, and I’m now simply excited to see where East Los Angeles, and the beginnings of the infection, take this dysfunctional blended family.

Take a look at the opening scene below, and be sure to let us know what you think. As I mentioned above, Fear The Walking Dead premieres this Sunday on AMC!

If you’re looking for more from the series, my interviews with the cast and producers are here:

-Rubén Blades and Mercedes Mason
-Kim Dickens and Alycia Debnam-Carey
-Frank Dillane and Creator Dave Erickson
-Cliff Curtis and Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd
-Elizabeth Rodriguez and Lorenzo James Henri

Watch A Gameplay Trailer For ‘The Walking Dead’s Official Mobile Game!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: Aside from the terrible voice acting, this actually looks pretty cool.

Next Games has just debuted the very first gameplay trailer for The Walking Dead’s upcoming official mobile game, The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land.

The game has survivors, Daryl Dixon, fighting the walker menace and saving other survivors from Terminus to the Prison.

Teemu Huuhtanen, Next Games CEO noted that “The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land is devotedly crafted for The Walking Dead fans. We are very excited about the momentous opportunity to bring one of the most adored TV shows into the mobile realm in collaboration with our partner AMC, the creators of the TV series. We combine IP, TV show talent and join forces with AMC in a never-seen-before way. This game is a big first step in Next Games’ strategy to become the premier partner for TV networks, movie studios and beyond who aspire to work with a veteran game studio in extending their IP into mobile games.”

Mac McKean, senior vice president of digital media for AMC adds “The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land has the thrill of hand-to-hand walker combat, but players also get the opportunity to solve strategic puzzles, build their own survival refuge and develop their group. It’s a beautifully rendered, thoughtful and engaging mobile game, and we’re so pleased with what our partners at Next Games have created. We’re looking forward to giving fans an exciting new way to engage with the world of The Walking Dead.”

Take a look at the trailer below, and let us know if The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land will be enough to pull you away from your Candy Crush addiction. The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land is slated for release on iOS this October!

https://youtu.be/7mxtwAnaKzg

Geekscape Interviews: ‘Fear The Walking Dead’s Elizabeth Rodriguez and Lorenzo James Henri Talk Parenting And More!

by Derek Kraneveldt

It’s been a few weeks now since the always-incredible (and always exhausting), events of San Diego Comic-Con, and I’m beyond excited that I’m just now able to talk about one of the highlights of this year’s week in San Diego.

If you’re a long-time reader of Geekscape, you’ll know how huge of a fan of The Walking Dead I am. I’ve been keeping up with the comic book since I was in high school, passionately wrote Geekscape’s Walking Dead Weekly column before life got in the way, and of course, ate up every single second of Telltale’s incredible The Walking Dead video game.

So of course, I jumped at the opportunity to speak with the cast and producers of the new, mysterious companion series, Fear the Walking Dead.

Now, that being said, I’d felt a little iffy about Fear The Walking Dead since the companion series was first revealed. Sure, the world wants as much The Walking Dead as it can get (again, you do know that there’s both a comic book and incredible video game too, right?), but would this series simply be the same show in a different location, and without the survivors we already know and love? How could it differentiate itself from what’s essentially the most popular television series on the planet?

After having an opportunity to speak with the cast and producers of the series last month, any concerns that I had about Fear the Walking Dead disappeared, and I’m now simply excited to see where East Los Angeles, and the beginnings of the infection, take this dysfunctional blended family.

And that was all before that awesome trailer was released.

The interviews were run in a round-table format, and had journalists speaking to a few of the actors (or producers) at the same time. As it was a round-table, not all questions were mine, but all of them are definitely worth reading. It wasn’t the fantastic trailer or meeting these actors that made me really excited for Fear The Walking Dead, but the passion, excitement, and chemistry that all of its talent have with the project and each other.

Here’s what Elizabeth Rodriguez and Lorenzo James Henrie, who play Liza Manawa and Chris Manawa had to say about the series.

Question: Can you start by introducing us to your characters and how they fit into the world?

Elizabeth: Yeah, well. In my world, it’s all about me so… [laughing]

Lorenzo: See you guys later.

Elizabeth: And my son, even though it’s not. I’m playing Liza Manawa and Lorenzo’s playing Chris Manawa. He plays my son and we are Cliff Curtis’ first family and we got separated a few years ago. The great thing is he didn’t leave me [chuckle] so there’s not that victim thing that gets boring for me. So we had a kid, I put my jeans on the back burner, I want to go to med school, it didn’t happen. We were raising him, cut to we grew apart, things didn’t change. We separated three years ago.

Now, I’m sort of burning the candle on both ends and going back to school. I know that as a single mother predominantly, I can’t go to med school, so I go to nursing school, which plays a big factor in what happens along the way and I’m very protective of Chris. We have a good relationship with his father. His father is part of a different family now, the Clarks, which require more time because the Clarks’ children, one of his, you’ll see and so I think I’m just…the only hiccup is that when he says he wants to pick up his son, he needs to do that and be a man of his word when it comes to his son. And then Lorenzo… [crosstalk]

Lorenzo: Hello, hello.

Elizabeth: As a teenager has his own issues.

Lorenzo: Yeah, I mean Christopher is a product of a kid that his father and mother got a divorce so he’s very angry. More on his dad than on his mom. I mean how can you hate your mom if something bad happens? It’s just something about that. But no, he’s very wounded, he’s very angry with his father. He wants to become a man but now he does not have a father to look up to. So there’s going to be this journey of this kid who wants to stand up to his father. He wants to be like his father but he can’t because he doesn’t really like the guy anymore because he broke the biggest promise you could ever break, to his mother, to his son, so with the journey of this whole with the backdrop of the zombie apocalypse and stuff, will they come together as a family? Will they love each other? Will they grow? Will they survive and Christopher is trying to be the man like his father, someone like his father.

Elizabeth: I think there is a pull and push like there is with a lot of teenagers trying to figure out. What happens is…[crosstalk]

Lorenzo: I love you, dad. I hate my dad.

Elizabeth: Yeah, he comes and grabs us because he knows information before we do and I’m like, you’re crazy and then these family units come together…[crosstalk]

Lorenzo: That’s a big point too because Chris is at that end, I mean we both resent the other…I mean Christopher resents the other family…[crosstalk]

Elizabeth: I know.

Lorenzo: Christopher hates those other kids.

Elizabeth: I know you do.

[Laughing]

Elizabeth: Because you’re a teenager. That’s because you’re a teenager.

Lorenzo: No. It’s… [crosstalk]

Elizabeth: I don’t. As a parent, I ask him question. I ask about the kids and if he’s okay and what’s going on there. So these worlds come together, these families come together and along the way we pick up a third family which they’ll tell you about themselves later.

So we end up under a certain roof, and there’s parents and children and who’s going to protect whom and how is this going to sort of work along the way?

Talent left to right: Lorenzo James Henrie (Chris) and Elizabeth Rodriguez (Liza). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.
Talent left to right: Lorenzo James Henrie (Chris) and Elizabeth Rodriguez (Liza). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.

Question: How do they realize that it is the apocalypse and that the zombies are coming?

Elizabeth: We don’t. It takes a long time.

Lorenzo: You’re going to have to find out soon.

[Laughing]

Elizabeth: We get information and then we get a little more information and then we get the trade and then things happen.

Lorenzo: You’re just going to have to watch. [crosstalk]

Elizabeth: Yeah, things start out slowly and then things happen really fast.

Lorenzo: It gets insane. It’s like lighting a cigar. Burning slowly.

Elizabeth: Yes. It has a slow burn and then things like this in real life take a trajectory that then things happen and we realize things really fast. In the later episodes but you see in things that if you know “The Walking Dead,” you’re like, the signs are right there, people! [giggling] But our heroes don’t watch “The Walking Dead,” so we are clueless.

[Chuckle]

Question: Do you watch “The Walking Dead”?

Elizabeth: Yes, but we can’t talk about that right now. [Giggle] We do but the thing is that it doesn’t inform the story we’re telling. It’s…[crosstalk]

Lorenzo: It’s completely – if you would have watched both shows side by side, they’re completely different…[crosstalk]

Elizabeth: Yeah, ours is definitely a family drama with that as a backdrop, with Los Angeles being a big character. And the greatest thing I think is just that. It’s not having the rules, the fear is in not knowing who’s alive, who’s not alive. What is this? How? Is it your neighbor? Is it your friend? Is it just a sickness? How do you make…It’s not just this person, oh, okay. Take that one out, take that one out, take that one out. It’s all struggling with the humans…[crosstalk]

Lorenzo: It’s got a lot of layers.

Elizabeth: With knowing people only as human beings. How do you get from that mentally to they’re not? How does one do that, you know, and hold on to your values and not lose your mind and not still survive and take care of your loved ones.

Question: So it’s basically a story about the characters and they happen to be living the zombie apocalypse. As a viewer we know it’s going to happen. We know like, there’s the killer. It’s going to get to you but for you, how is it to play this strong woman who has to take care of the family and then has to hear about this what all these walker zombies and…? [crosstalk]

Elizabeth: Well, because I’m a nursing student, I end up sort of learning more than some of them at some point. They start out knowing more than I do and then because that’s my instinct, I end up helping. I am more privy to information sooner than they are and so I think for my character, I love playing this. It’s incredible to be able to play. Oh, this woman is going to school that’s independent that is also single mother. That is no BS. I think that her thing is being able to help and how could she help? She can help because she can put her nursing skills to use and so I think any time – we don’t ever feel helpless. So you find ways to do that, however you can, and my character ends up doing that in a greater context.

Question: You talked a little bit about the family drama.  When we watch, how soon do we get to some action and how soon do we get to…? [crosstalk]

Elizabeth: You got…You do…[crosstalk]

Lorenzo: You’ve got to watch it.

[Laughing]

Elizabeth: You do…you get glimpses of it you will get things where you will be like, well, everyone was like, what just happened? You know, you guys, are like, people come on!  You do get that. You get that in the first episode. You get that going along the way and then it all falls apart the way apocalypses do. [Laughs] I mean I could only compare it to what were talking about this in detail before our principal day of photography, we were going to talk about in reference we know so it would be to me like a natural disaster, like you know, Katrina where you think oh, your government is going to take care, oh, and then you watch this on TV and you’re like, this is impossible that we’re not equipped and this is happening. So it’s that sort of idea like 9/11, where you’re just watching this thing and your brain can’t process it so you’re like, oh, this is a movie and I’m watching anything but what’s really happened.

And so it’s that sort of natural phenomenon to try to make sense of something within the realm of what we understand. Not we can jump to, this must be – this must be walkers, you know. [laughing] It’s that kind of thing and like along the way, making choices between bad choices and worst choices and how do you live with yourself and how do you redefine yourself every step of the way.

Question: What bad choices and good choices?

Elizabeth: There are no good choices, there is only…in the situation everything we do, you…

Question: The fact is you guys want us to survive, it’s a good choice.

Elizabeth: That’s just your natural instinct.

[Laughing]

Question: That’s good.

Elizabeth: Of course it is. That’s why we’re all here right now. [laughing] Survival of the fittest.

Talent left to right: Lorenzo James Henrie (Chris) and Elizabeth Rodriguez (Liza). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.
Talent left to right: Lorenzo James Henrie (Chris) and Elizabeth Rodriguez (Liza). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.

Question: Will there be much humor in the show?

Lorenzo: What is that?

Elizabeth: Humor.

Question: Will there be any like moments or is there a character that brings in humor with them?

Elizabeth: Well, I bring a lot of humor off camera. [laughing]

Lorenzo: There is some humor.

Elizabeth: Is there humor? That’s a good question.

Lorenzo: Yeah. There is humor.

Elizabeth: I don’t. I can’t ever remember the differentiation between the camera is on or off because I’m such a clown. [giggle]

Lorenzo: She’s the best worker.

Elizabeth: Let me see. Is there humor?

Question: Don’t worry.

[Laughing]

Elizabeth: No, I can’t tell you whether there is humor or not. I don’t remember.

[Laughing]

Question: It seems like you genuinely have a motherly son bond…[crosstalk]

Elizabeth: Oh my god it’s so easy. Look at this one. It was so easy.

Lorenzo: She’s the best.

Elizabeth: I’m like he’s the sweetest thing and the great thing is that he gets to play this sort of good, innocent, the same energy and it’s so much easier. [chuckle] Like a guy showing up just like [laughing] and he has to play this little sweet guy and I love you. He makes it so easy. And immediately there was like this nurturing aspect to him. I find myself talking like, don’t’ do that! Oh my god, I’m sorry. I’m not your real mom.

[Laughing]

Question: Are the zombies still called walkers?

Elizabeth: They are walkers. They are infected. We don’t even know they are walkers. They are infected at first because that’s all we know that they are infected. We had no idea anything other than that.

Question: So how does it feel to walk on an infected set?

Elizabeth: It’s interesting because at times there were like it’s not…you don’t always feel like you’re in. Sometimes, it’s like this family stuff and other times I do these scenes where I’m like, oh my God, this is the genre. And other times I’m like I’m in an action film. [laughing] There are times when I’m like – it’s a total like action.

Lorenzo: It’s pretty surreal because you go home at night and you’ll be like, wait, what did I just do?

Elizabeth: Yeah, yeah.

[Giggling]

Lorenzo: And I try to fall asleep. What was I looking at?

Elizabeth: Yeah. There are days where it’s long and things happen and you literally have to come home and wash the day away of what you just experienced all day because they do a really good job of making it feel really real, all the chaos.

Question: Does it give you nightmares?

Lorenzo: No.

Elizabeth: Kim had some nightmares. Ask her about them.

Lorenzo: I don’t have any nightmares.

Elizabeth: I do have nightmares but I don’t have children in real life and all I keep thinking is if I did, I would be the worst mother right now because I would be like, you’re not going anywhere. You can’t go anywhere [laughing] I would be to my child to be like, you have to go a therapist [laughing] and get away from me. I need to go live with someone else, because there is no way not to bring that home. Like I drive now and in L.A. you sort of – like even in Vancouver, you see homeless, you don’t know whether they’re mentally challenged, drugs and you are like all these people could be walkers. Like you just can’t help it. What’s differentiating them? And I think the fact that it’s in L.A. it makes it interesting because you just assume that they’re just part of the characters of L.A. streets, much easier.

Lorenzo: Just go down to Santa Monica, and you’ll find…[crosstalk]

Elizabeth: Yeah or downtown, you know what I mean, they sound a hell of a lot more in Atlanta than they do in the streets of  L.A. We could be walking amongst them now.

Question: No one would notice.

Elizabeth: Yeah. No one would notice in L.A. for the most part.

Talent left to right: Lorenzo James Henrie (Chris) and Elizabeth Rodriguez (Liza). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.
Talent left to right: Lorenzo James Henrie (Chris) and Elizabeth Rodriguez (Liza). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.

Question: So how does it feel, working in this environment than being in the city that’s so cynical in a way that people don’t really believe in this stuff and they are like, oh, we need hard science and we’re not going to believe these shenanigans and stuff like that? How do you feel about that environment? How do you feel especially you dealing as teenager with all this stuff that I know as a teenager? Your character must be going through a lot of things. How do you react to the zombie apocalypse?

Lorenzo: The fear really describes it perfectly because you really don’t know what it is and Christopher wants to put something to it but he can’t because he doesn’t know what it is and the only people he could turn to are his parents and he doesn’t really want to turn to his dad for the advice. So it’s the unknown, its the fear, the unexpected that you really just don’t know how to – it’s like going in cold water of the first time. You’re so shocked that it takes you a few seconds to really absorb what really happened. So it’s a lot of mixed feelings. It’s a lot of ultimate fear, right?

Elizabeth: I feel like the thing that these walkers in the apocalypse – the only part of the genre that you could literally replace that with anything. With ISIS, with – you get a place in you know, any war, you can replace it with terrorism and I feel like when I think about it – I would think that all these people are subdued on a day to day with these things. The only thing that they think is that it’s going to end. You know, that there’s an end date.

Question: So you can identify more with these characters than you do with the ones that you do in “The Walking Dead” for example?

Elizabeth: Right now we do because it’s about understanding. So we identify more with these characters than the ones we haven’t become them yet.

Lorenzo: And I think…[crosstalk]

Elizabeth: We haven’t gone to the place of it being okay and being able to go, they’re human or not. It’s that trace of going from being one of us to becoming – they accepted this is the world we are living in and these are the rules and this is it. This is how you take them out. [laughing] And this is how you keep living. So it’s that transition of us watching us become that or not.

Lorenzo: Thank you.

Elizabeth: Thank you guys

Question: Thank you.

Question: Thank you so much.

Elizabeth: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Fear The Walking Dead premieres on August 23rd. Looking for more of the talent? Here are the rest of the conversations:

-Rubén Blades and Mercedes Mason
-Kim Dickens and Alycia Debnam-Carey
-Frank Dillane and Creator Dave Erickson
-Cliff Curtis and Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd

FearPoster

Geekscape Interviews: ‘Fear The Walking Dead’s Cliff Curtis And Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd Talk The Series’ Slow Burn And More!

by Derek Kraneveldt

It’s been a few weeks now since the always-incredible (and always exhausting), events of San Diego Comic-Con, and I’m beyond excited that I’m just now able to talk about one of the highlights of this year’s week in San Diego.

If you’re a long-time reader of Geekscape, you’ll know how huge of a fan of The Walking Dead I am. I’ve been keeping up with the comic book since I was in high school, passionately wrote Geekscape’s Walking Dead Weekly column before life got in the way, and of course, ate up every single second of Telltale’s incredible The Walking Dead video game.

So of course, I jumped at the opportunity to speak with the cast and producers of the new, mysterious companion series, Fear the Walking Dead.

Now, that being said, I’d felt a little iffy about Fear The Walking Dead since the companion series was first revealed. Sure, the world wants as much The Walking Dead as it can get (again, you do know that there’s both a comic book and incredible video game too, right?), but would this series simply be the same show in a different location, and without the survivors we already know and love? How could it differentiate itself from what’s essentially the most popular television series on the planet?

After having an opportunity to speak with the cast and producers of the series last month, any concerns that I had about Fear the Walking Dead disappeared, and I’m now simply excited to see where East Los Angeles, and the beginnings of the infection, take this dysfunctional blended family.

And that was all before that awesome trailer was released.

The interviews were run in a round-table format, and had journalists speaking to a few of the actors (or producers) at the same time. As it was a round-table, not all questions were mine, but all of them are definitely worth reading. It wasn’t the fantastic trailer or meeting these actors that made me really excited for Fear The Walking Dead, but the passion, excitement, and chemistry that all of its talent have with the project and each other.

This time around, it’s Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd, along with Cliff Curtis who portrays Travis in the series.

Question: Tell us, how did that happen? Was it AMC who came to you or did you go to AMC with the spin-off?

Gale Anne Hurd: Well, we had had discussions in the past, about doing another show within the universe that Robert Kirkman had created with the comic book hit “The Walking Dead,” but there was never a, we want to launch something, or, this is when we’re going to launch it. It was really, let’s get the right story.  Let’s have a reason for doing this, not just, oh, we need this for a particular time. That’s the way good television happens I think. You get it right, and then you put it on the air. Not only that, unlike “The Walking Dead,” which launched with a six-season order, we shot a pilot, so that everyone could decide, is this a series that stands on its own, that deserves to be on television? We went through the process as if we were a first show, and luckily everyone said thumbs up and here we are with a two-season order.

Question: We know the universe of “The Walking Dead.” We know how it works and we know that it’s going to be really fast.

Gale Anne Hurd: Our characters don’t.

Talent left to right: Cliff Curtis (Travis), Gale Anne Hurd (Executive Producer). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.
Talent left to right: Cliff Curtis (Travis), Gale Anne Hurd (Executive Producer). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.

Question: That’s the thing, but how to play that with the audience? How to play the difference [crosstalk] that we know and they don’t.

Gale Anne Hurd: Well, you know what? I don’t know if you’ve already heard this answer, but Greg’s [Nicotero] not here anymore, so [laughs] I’m going to steal Greg’s answer. Imagine you’re watching a Hitchcock film, and you know there’s a bomb under the table in a briefcase. What that does is create tension and if you have done it right and if you invest in the characters, it creates real concern, and drama. If you do it right, it’s not just frustration that the characters aren’t smart enough to know what they shouldn’t really know, at that point in the apocalypse. I mean, and you can address that too.

Cliff Curtis: It is a basic tenet in genre, you know. There are basic devices that you can use in that genre that’s like, there’s a doorway at the end of the hallway, and you shouldn’t go down that hallway, and by all means you must not open the locked door. [laughs] There it is! [crosstalk] Of course!

Gale Anne Hurd: The movie and the TV show would be over if they didn’t do that [crosstalk] right?

Cliff Curtis: You know what I mean, that’s a basic – so that’s the same premise. That’s like, there’s something that our characters don’t know. It’s a mystery to us. It’s not a mystery to our audience, but we watch, and also we pantomime, like it’s a basic device that we use, that we say the pantomime, the character’s always right there. The kids are like, behind you! Behind you! The monster’s behind you! You know, the characters are like, busy, so they’re going on with their day. Audiences love that. We love that. We love to sort of repeat that for some reason, some mechanism in our brain that loves the entertainment of that tension. It doesn’t seem to hurt this at all. In fact, as you said, it creates the tension, it creates the possibility that the audience knows what’s behind the door, and what’s locked up there, and the characters don’t. The fun is watching the characters struggle with what’s out there in the world and not know. That’s kind of the fun of the show, which you don’t get from the other franchise and that’s the clear distinction between them.

Question: You will have to give several seasons that distinction, because if “Fear” comes to that point of “The Walking Dead,” it should be like something different so the audience…

Gale Anne Hurd: No, the difference really is we’re dealing with completely different dynamics in terms of a blended family, in terms of Los Angeles, an urban setting, it’s East Los Angeles. They’re not going to be out in the woods, it’s going to be a woods-free experience [laughs] and everything about this is dealing with, okay, what happens when your world that is, you’re concerned about your drug-addicted stepson, you’re concerned about your estranged ex-wife, your relationship with your son who feels he’s been supplanted in your heart by this new family. Those are your concerns. Those are what you really care about. Then this happens, and those concerns aren’t going to change, and once again, who can you trust, who can you not trust? What is the role of civil authority, the military, in all this? We’ve really not dealt with that at all in “The Walking Dead.”

Cliff Curtis: It seems the appetite for storytelling can never be satiated. How many ways can you tell a love story? How many ways can you tell…? How many ways can you explore a genre? I think that it’s really determined by how well drawn the characters are, and their relationships. One thing that the creators and everybody at the team are doing a great job of in the show is really working very hard to make the experience of the apocalypse, what’s coming, feel very real, and feel very authentic. There were times I’d walk on set and it really was impressive in terms of how real it felt. It didn’t feel like I was in a genre situation at all. It felt like I really was a high school teacher and we were dealing with a catastrophe, a natural catastrophe that didn’t make any sense.

Gale Anne Hurd: Remember, the characters of “The Walking Dead.” We started this actually with Rick Grimes, Shane Walsh, police officers. They’re used to dealing with crises and emergencies, with carrying guns, shooting guns. They are the people that we would look to, to save us. You’re not looking to an English teacher and a guidance counselor to help you navigate through this new world.

Cliff Curtis: An English teacher.

Question: Do you think with this particular series you are targeting a different audience because “The Walking Dead” is full on horror and gore and all of that stuff, very graphic. And from what I’m hearing, this one is more of a friendlier and you see more of the families and you get to see how the society…. [crosstalk] succumbs to the apocalypse.

Cliff Curtis: Then you have the… sorry.

Gale Anne Hurd: When you see the promo later on, you’ll see, it’s still the same universe. It’s not as if this is the sanitized version that we’re going to cut away, but because we are beginning with normal, real life, it’s as if it started happening today. What would happen? As we know from “The Walking Dead,” things tend to accelerate fairly quickly.

Talent left to right: Cliff Curtis (Travis), Gale Anne Hurd (Executive Producer). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.
Talent left to right: Cliff Curtis (Travis), Gale Anne Hurd (Executive Producer). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.

Question: By the nature, it is a slow-burner. It’s actually [crosstalk] a slow…

Gale Anne Hurd: Yes.

Cliff Curtis: Yes, it’s… a slow-burner.

Question: “The Walking Dead” is not. It’s actually totally is the opposite. Do you feel that the audience could be surprised?

Cliff Curtis: I think, professionally it’s been a pleasure to be in the privileged position to have this mothership, which is, you know, the juggernaut, which is the original franchise, and to say we don’t have anything to prove. We’re not competing with that franchise. We’re not going out to sort of try and you know, sort of like be that on steroids. We’re starting afresh. It’s a new show. We’ve got nothing to do with the other show in all practical senses. And to have the quiet confidence of a creative team that knows what they’re doing. We will discover who our audience is, and we’ll take the time to earn that audience, and as that audience gets to know us, we’ll get to evolve as a show. I don’t think anybody or everybody knew what was going to happen with the original show, and if they started out saying, we’re going to be the biggest show in the world, they wouldn’t have become the show that they were. We certainly aren’t making that mistake. We’re saying, well, we’re starting off with a blended family in East LA who doesn’t know what’s going on, and we’ll see where we go with it, and we’ll see who the audience is who relates to these characters. Maybe there will be some migration over, that would be great. Maybe some audience will remain with the other show, and that’s okay. Maybe we’ll build a new audience, and that will be wonderful. We really don’t know. We can’t call it. Nobody can.

Question: Dave [Erickson] was saying that you’ve had quite a bit of input in terms of, like there’s a lot of you in Travis which is weird… How has that process been?

Cliff Curtis: Yeah, it’s strangely like playing… he’s still an American character, and he still is from East LA, well, from LA. He lives in East LA. They were very generous. Dave [Erickson], everybody, Gale [Anne Hurd], AMC, were very generous in giving me this opportunity to sort of allow me to sort of bring aspects, like my character’s name, my last name is Manawa, because I play a lot of Latin rolls. So they thought why don’t we try it with, you could be an American Maori perhaps? So we took that. I’m wearing my character belt today [laughs]. My sister made that, and the costume designer saw that, so that’s really cool. There are little hints, there’s little aspects of me, that reflect who I am and where I’m from, within the character. We don’t make a big deal out of it. [crosstalk] We don’t hit it too hard.

Gale Anne Hurd: That’s one great thing about Los Angeles. It is a melting pot of people from all over, living very tightly packed in an urban setting. In Atlanta you’re not going to find that or certainly in the suburbs around Atlanta. That’s why this is really a blended family in more ways than one. It’s blended culturally, ethnically as well as [crosstalk] there’s sort of stepchildren although they’re not married yet, there’s blended family in that respect.

Cliff Curtis: Yes. There are aspects about ethnicity that I’ve drawn upon that we’ve had, but it’s not really focused on at all. The parts of me that align very much with my character that I really enjoy is he’s an optimist. He believes in the goodness of humanity. He works hard to take care, he has strong core values about family and about people he loves, and about contributing to society. Practical-wise he’s a fixer. He fixes stuff. All of those are things that, I don’t get to play that a lot. I’ve got a lot more in common with an English literature character than I do with me in the character I play in films you know, that I played. I don’t have a lot in common with a CIA agent or an FBI agent or a detective, but an English lit, you know they study the minds, philosophy. My character’s got traits that are more along the lines of relationships. He believes in winning hearts and minds, that’s why he’s a high school teacher, and perhaps why I’m an actor. He believes strongly in the goodness of humanity, and that’s something that’s worth fighting and dying for, the goodness in humanity. I believe in those things and since Dave [Erickson] and everyone’s been very generous in terms of allowing me to affect the evolution of my character by bringing those things into the role. Perhaps that’s what sets him up as a character perhaps not best suited, for this new world. It’s like, oh, he has time to talk about stuff. It’s just he’s completely unprepared and his strengths are also his weaknesses. It’s been really fun.

Question: I heard you saying you’re trying to get them to go down…

Cliff Curtis: Not yet, that was a bit of a joke, but yes. I’m going to pitch [crosstalk] to everybody to sort of like do a season in New Zealand.

Gale Anne Hurd: Field trip!

Question: How does it feel playing this character that believes in the goodness of people and to play it in this world of “The Walking Dead” and specifically this world that is focused in a harsh city and going through a natural disaster, an apocalypse, how do you feel coping with those emotions?

Cliff Curtis: It feels good. It feels good, because it’s like, my character’s not numb to those things. I think that in a world like the other show, characters avoid – the characters are numb. They’ve cut that part of their humanity off. They just don’t deal with shit. It’s so – and perhaps there were other characters in our ensemble that were much quicker to adapt. My character’s not, and that feels good to me because I think I would – I perhaps wouldn’t get there so quickly, and perhaps that makes me vulnerable and I find that really satisfying to have a character like… For example, the distinction between my character and Kim’s [Dickens] character, Madison, mine is named Travis, she’s more of a pragmatist, and I’m more of an idealist. I want to fix stuff, she just wants to get stuff done.  You know, the American attitude… [crosstalk]  being not from America.

Gale Anne Hurd: Also, she’s like, get the college applications in.  I mean, she’s got a checklist because she has a lot of kids to counsel. You have to be quick, you have to get things done, you have to move on. Whereas with you, you know, he wants every student in his classroom to understand what he’s trying to impart.

Cliff Curtis: Yes, I’m studying literature! I’m studying what it is you think and how does… [crosstalk]

Gale Anne Hurd: Why it’s relevant to these kids’ lives.

Cliff Curtis: What you think matters, and how do your feelings and your thoughts correlate, and what actions should follow? You know, that’s like the back of the brain to the front of the brain journey, and this world has not a lot of time for that, to sort of like, let’s sit down and talk about this.

Gale Anne Hurd: Honestly, I know this sounds crazy but there are some things that are addressed in this show I wish I could tell you that will blow you away. That are simply relevant to the world we’re living in now, and that’s what we can do with LA, the urban setting, and these characters.

Talent left to right: Cliff Curtis (Travis), Gale Anne Hurd (Executive Producer). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.
Talent left to right: Cliff Curtis (Travis), Gale Anne Hurd (Executive Producer). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.

Question: Does that mean the show is more pessimistic than the other one?

Gale Anne Hurd: No!

Question: Because we’re going to see humanity, civilization decline and fall off and people lose their…

Gale Anne Hurd: No, because… [crosstalk]

Cliff Curtis: I think that’s the fear part. So you can fear, you see…

Gale Anne Hurd: Yes.

Cliff Curtis: You know I’ve got family back home that are just so insanely addicted to the show. [laughs] You know, like, they screamed and yelled at me when I told them I was considering the show, that I must do it. The people that have committed to the show, they’re not just into it for like, the splatter effect. They really believe that the zombies, this is what I understand anyway, they really believe that the show is a metaphor for life and what it reveals is our deep-seated fears about life itself. We just use this device as a device to sort of say, what is your worst fear? You know, and your worst fear is that, to be stuck in a world where we’re all pessimists, and we have no hope of a future for our children and for the people that we love. That’s our worst fear. Our worst fear is not some outbreak or an earthquake, or like some people from over there coming and attacking us. Our worst fear is what goes on, and that’s what I love about my character. His weapons of choice are what’s here and here, not what gun you’re toting or what sword you’re handy with. I’m really excited about the potential of that character.

Gale Anne Hurd: It’s important to remind, I think, ourselves, and I think the viewers, that we’re living in a world in which the news is almost daily in assault and people do find hope in our characters. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t keep watching.

Cliff Curtis: We need characters that are going to say, and we need human beings you know, we are reflecting life we need human beings, we need people on our side who are going to say, yes, things are looking really bad, and that’s okay, and we’re going to be okay and we’re going to figure out what needs to be done so we’re going to be okay and things are going to get better.

Gale Anne Hurd: There are people who will be able to claim that and do it.

Question: All right guys, thank you so much.

Fear The Walking Dead premieres on August 23rd! Looking for more conversations with the talent? Here you go:

-Rubén Blades and Mercedes Mason
-Kim Dickens and Alycia Debnam-Carey
-Frank Dillane and Creator Dave Erickson
-Elizabeth Rodriguez and Lorenzo James Henrie

FearPoster

Geekscape Interviews: ‘Fear The Walking Dead’s Rubén Blades and Mercedes Mason Talk East LA, Snipers, And More!

by Derek Kraneveldt

It’s been a few weeks now since the always-incredible (and always exhausting), events of San Diego Comic-Con, and I’m beyond excited that I’m just now able to talk about one of the highlights of this year’s week in San Diego.

If you’re a long-time reader of Geekscape, you’ll know how huge of a fan of The Walking Dead I am. I’ve been keeping up with the comic book since I was in high school, passionately wrote Geekscape’s Walking Dead Weekly column before life got in the way, and of course, ate up every single second of Telltale’s incredible The Walking Dead video game.

So of course, I jumped at the opportunity to speak with the cast and producers of the new, mysterious companion series, Fear the Walking Dead.

Now, that being said, I’d felt a little iffy about Fear The Walking Dead since the companion series was first revealed. Sure, the world wants as much The Walking Dead as it can get (again, you do know that there’s both a comic book and incredible video game too, right?), but would this series simply be the same show in a different location, and without the survivors we already know and love? How could it differentiate itself from what’s essentially the most popular television series on the planet?

After having an opportunity to speak with the cast and producers of the series last month, any concerns that I had about Fear the Walking Dead disappeared, and I’m now simply excited to see where East Los Angeles, and the beginnings of the infection, take this dysfunctional blended family.

And that was all before that awesome trailer was released.

The interviews were run in a round-table format, and had journalists speaking to a few of the actors (or producers) at the same time. As it was a round-table, not all questions were mine, but all of them are definitely worth reading. It wasn’t the fantastic trailer or meeting these actors that made me really excited for Fear The Walking Dead, but the passion, excitement, and chemistry that all of its talent have with the project and each other.

First up, Rubén Blades and Mercedes Mason, who play Daniel and Ofelia Salazar.

Talent left to right: Mercedes Mason (Ofelia), Ruben Blades (Daniel). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.
Talent left to right: Mercedes Mason (Ofelia), Ruben Blades (Daniel). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.

Question: Hey, so what can you tell us about your characters?

Rubén Blades: Nothing! There are snipers. They’re reading your mouth. You go like, what do you think about…. No it’s interesting because they said we are going to talk to the media and I said, about what? [laughs]

Rubén Blades: You can’t say anything other than you know… yeah, well, yeah I…

Question : What can you not say?

Mercedes Mason: [laughs] Smart! Wow.

Rubén Blades: I have a relationship with a camel. But… [laughs]

Mercedes Mason: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Rubén Blades: That would be the development…

Question: So, yeah…

Mercedes Mason: Episode 5, Episode 5. Yeah. [laughs]

Rubén Blades: I shouldn’t have said that but…

Question: Yeah.

Rubén Blades: What the hell?

Mercedes Mason: Now we have to kill him I think. That’s what happens.

I play Ofelia, Daniel’s daughter. I’m a daughter of immigrant parents. So, she’s very sort of ambitious but a naïve girl who is very Americanized. She’s you know… been an American now for her whole sort of conscious life. So she’s very protective of her parents and when all of this happens her instinct is to protect them. And little by little, she starts realizing, one, she doesn’t know who her parents are at all, which really has to dictate how she figures herself out, and two, she realizes she can start relying on them and there’s strength there. And it’s almost like they have to weaken to know each other all over again.

Rubén Blades: I’m Daniel Salazar… and Ofelia’s father, and Patricia Reyes Spíndola from Mexico plays my wife. She’s a wonderful actress, really solid. And we come from a Central American country to start a new life in Los Angeles. This scenario… this situation happens, and as this season develops you start realizing that my character has a background that no one knew.

Mercedes Mason: And that includes his daughter. I read the episode where Ofelia discovers something about Daniel. Literally emailed him in a panic. I was like, oh my God, please tell me that you read it. And he’s like no, not yet. And then every day I’m like bugging him I’m like, did you, have you read it?”

Talent left to right: Mercedes Mason (Ofelia), Ruben Blades (Daniel). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.
Talent left to right: Mercedes Mason (Ofelia), Ruben Blades (Daniel). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.

Question: [laughs] What kind of background?

Mercedes Mason: Look at you, you’re good. You’re good.

Rubén Blades: It’s interesting because as the story develops his background ends up being helpful. [laughs] It’s interesting, it’s just everyone has a secret. We all do, all of us. And under certain conditions these things can end up being interpreted differently.

Mercedes Mason: But it’s also revealed to us as we go along so… Daniel’s secrets have been revealed to him, mine hasn’t been revealed to me yet so I’m dying to figure out…

Rubén Blades: And that’s like one category… that’s one of the things that…

[Crash in background]

Mercedes Mason: Ooooohhhh, Party foul!

Rubén Blades: Not my drinking. [laughs] I like that about this show though. It also…

Mercedes Mason: It keeps us on our toes.

Rubén Blades: Yeah, you don’t know. You can be anybody. You think, well, I’m a main character. No, [Sound] Fschwhip. [laughs] Not anymore.

I mean somebody bites your ass and you’re dead. I don’t care if you’re Meryl Streep, you’re going. You know they’ll kill you. You don’t know. My band is rooting – I’m a musician,  so my band wants me dead. As soon as possible. [laughs]

Mercedes Mason: [laughs] They’re writing anonymous letters…

Rubén Blades: As soon as possible. Why don’t you kill this guy, as soon as he comes in have somebody bite him. Because we want to work, you know?  I’m the singer so…

Mercedes Mason: [laughs] They’re just waiting.

Question: So is that what happens when you’re getting the script and every week you’re like, am I dead, am I dead? Is that how it can happen?

Rubén Blades: You don’t know what’s going to happen.

Mercedes Mason: [laughs] We read it backwards.

Rubén Blades: Not a joke. Really, we don’t know. Nobody knows. It’s very interesting.

Question: Do we see any of your musical talents on the show?

Rubén Blades: No, thank God. [laughs]

Rubén Blades: My life is very complicated as it is and… but it’s interesting because it’s not like stereotypical Latino. All of a sudden I’m going to start singing “La Malagueña.” [laughs]

Mercedes Mason: [laughs] He plays… he’s going to do the Polka just to mix it up.

Rubén Blades: So it’s interesting. I don’t know, I hope not.

Question: But if you die, “La vida te da sorpresas” is a really good song.

Rubén Blades: And die with that t-shirt on. [laughs] And have a little plug for myself. When did Salazar start doing that, he knows that song? [laughs] What year is that song? I have a t-shirt actually. I have it there. [laughs] No, I’m serious. “La vida te da sorpresas.”

Talent left to right: Ruben Blades (Daniel), Mercedes Mason (Ofelia). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.
Talent left to right: Ruben Blades (Daniel), Mercedes Mason (Ofelia). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.

Question: So LA is the background. I mean there’s a lot of Latin community, especially in LA, so can we expect a lot of, you know thinking on the Latin audience like because…

Rubén Blades: No. Not like that because it’s about people. That’s what I like about this. It’s not a token thing. The thing begins to fall apart and all of a sudden because of the situation a family is thrust upon another family basically.

Mercedes Mason: For survival.

Rubén Blades: For survival reasons and all of a sudden, very happily they end up together. [laughs]

Mercedes Mason: And your culture doesn’t mean anything at that point.

Rubén Blades: It doesn’t mean anything. And they don’t care. I used to say this with friends of mine…

Mercedes Mason: Except there’s some respect things.

Rubén Blades: Yeah, absolutely.

Mercedes Mason: You know there are a few cultural things like that, yeah…

Rubén Blades: Cultural things that are different. That are…

Mercedes Mason: …make it difficult to live together, you know co-habitat.

Rubén Blades: You know, right… So it’s an outlook. It’s a way of looking at things. But I tell people, it’s an interesting thing, you go to a museum, right? When you walk in, you see a painting. You react to the painting. You don’t ask…

Mercedes Mason: Who was the painter?

Rubén Blades: Did a black person paint this, a gay person painted this? You know, you don’t ask those stupid questions. You’re touched by the thing. Okay, so, recently some watercolors by Hitler were sold for like $400,000. I looked at them. They were nice. But, dammit Hitler painted them… [laughs] So you go, oh no, I don’t want to have this, you know… so it’s very hard. So you get two families together because of the situation. And then you’re going to react to each other as human beings. Not as these are Latino people. You don’t give a shit, if you’re drowning, you’re like, excuse me, are you Christian? [laughs] No? Okay, but will you throw me that thing anyway?

Mercedes Mason: I’ll drown. [laughs]

Rubén Blades: I need to survive. That’s what happens here. So the Latino scenario is just we are Latins. It doesn’t dictate… no I like that, because it’s about people.

Mercedes Mason: It’s the human condition. It’s about right and wrong. Yeah it has nothing to do with…

Rubén Blades: What do you do in a situation like that?

Question: But I think that’s the best part of this presentation of Latinos because you are not a stereotype…

Mercedes Mason: It’s not a stereotype.

Question: Yes, exactly and that feels great because as a Latina I can relate to that instead of if you were wearing like a Mariachi suit. [laughs]

Mercedes Mason: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well Episode 2… No, I’m kidding… [laughs] But, let me show you pictures…

Question: How do you feel working… uh, it is a different culture. It’s not a stereotype. It is a different culture. We know Latino families are completely different from…

Mercedes Mason: There is a little bit of that. There’s some warmth, there’s some, you know… a little bit of difference there but it doesn’t dictate our behavior. Do you know what I mean? Whereas, traditionally a certain culture would dictate like… if you’re Latin, well you know I’m being stereotypical. You have to wear hoop earrings, you have to say this you have to eat that.

Rubén Blades: I would never permit that to begin with.

Mercedes Mason: I mean he wears hoop earrings in every episode, but that’s his choice. [laughs]

Rubén Blades: It’s like oh… like you said, the big mariachi hat. That has nothing to do with anything.

Question: You’re not Speedy Gonzales. You are your own person.

Rubén Blades: No, and on top of everything the other aspect that I thought was interesting was that the family is from Central America. So that’s unusual, you know… and it’s again more real because you have a lot of Central Americans here in Los Angeles.

Mercedes Mason: Yes.

Rubén Blades: The pupuseria’s and you have all those Koreans you know, also. It’s not like everybody’s Chinese.

Mercedes Mason: Yeah, I was going to say it’s not Asian it’s… right.

Rubén Blades: So, but it was interesting. The way that they came about this was interesting.

Mercedes Mason: And it adds the layers. Especially the fact that Salazar’s left El Salvador because of political reasons. That adds another layer, especially as an actor. You get to add so much into that. That knowledge really colors how you perceive things.

Rubén Blades: Yeah, and it was an interesting thing to do as an actor. If you’re going to be in a series you want something that will be surprising and something that will be challenging. And not this linear kind of, Ricky Ricardo… [laughs] You never know where it’s going and it has a background that is complicated. There are going to be moral judgements. It’s going to be very, very, very interesting to see what your reactions will be. Because, nothing is what it seems to be.

Mercedes Mason: Right, it keeps turning. I have to say I commend AMC as well because it’s quite recent that ethnic leads are even in shows. And again, as human beings not as African American, Latin, Asian, whatever the situation may be. It’s refreshing. It’s especially because the show’s shown in LA, we’re sort of a melting pot of all these cultures. And it’s really – you see all of us we’re sort of every flavor and color of United Benetton so everything’s represented.

Rubén Blades: How can you do a show in New York and not have Latinos in it, for instance, and there’s so many of them. There are so many shows. Right now in, for instance in ‘74 when I got to New York… I think there were two Mexicans in New York. [laughs] Maybe. Never saw a Paraguayan. I met a Paraguayan once and I asked for his autograph because I had never met a Paraguayan. But I’m not important. I said, oh yes you are. [laughs]

Mercedes Mason: Yes you are.

Rubén Blades: Sign this. Because now I know you exist. You know? And there are shows in New York where you don’t see a Latino. Not one, not one. Not even a cab driver. You don’t see them… so now in Mexico… in New York… there are many. So the city has yet another added element. You have Puerto Ricans, of course. Dominicans, of course. And they’re contributing. We’re all contributing to the city. Now we have our Mexicans, we have Ecuadorians, now all of a sudden now there are more groups represented. And I know that… and maybe they think that we’re all the same. We all sing La Cucaracha and we all go bull fighting and have arroz. [laughs] But all that is different you know. The difference between a Mexican, and a Cuban, and a Paraguayan, and Ecuadorian is obvious to us. Not to others. But it creates complexity and they are respecting that in this one because they have a Central American presence. And it’s a very refreshing thing.

Mercedes Mason: But, hopefully if we’ll get to the point where, like AMC, it’s not even talked about. At this point it’s just a family. We’re becoming such an amalgam of different cultures in the world. I mean you know, in 2030 there’s so many mixes there really isn’t a clear line between cultures and the fact that we’re still deviating between well these are the Latins and these… It shouldn’t be like that. We should just all… and that’s what I love about this. One of the things I loved is none of this matters.

When the world is about to end, now what? It becomes a human condition. It becomes, oh my God, who do you rely on? What’s wrong? What’s right? If we were having coffee yesterday as my neighbor now you’re trying to eat my face, am I allowed to kill you? [laughs] I saw you…

Rubén Blades: Not this beautiful. That happens to be my daughter dammit. [laughs]

Mercedes Mason: Not the face, Not the face!

Question: He’s your dad, I wouldn’t do that.

Mercedes Mason: Thank you. Yes. He is.

Question: He looks dangerous.

Mercedes Mason: I cannot wait for you guys to see all… you’re going to die…

Rubén Blades: It’s very interesting you see. It’s going to be very interesting. I wish you…

Mercedes Mason: Hang on, when I read it, I literally emailed him in such a panic. I was so excited.

Rubén Blades: I wish I could see your… the faces of everyone here.

Mercedes Mason: Yes, yes, yes. Quick guys, give me all your numbers we’re going to Skype. [laughs]

Mercedes Mason: When it comes out…

Talent left to right: Ruben Blades (Daniel), Mercedes Mason (Ofelia). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.
Talent left to right: Ruben Blades (Daniel), Mercedes Mason (Ofelia). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.

Question: I noticed that also that all the characters are blue collar or social workers but they’re kind of real. Does that add to the show or there’s no entertainment lawyer or artist. They would die first, no? [laughter]

Mercedes Mason: But it’s also East LA. Like to me, when you come to LA you’d want to be in the entertainment business. You go to Hollywood, you go you know… there’s a different vibe. For us, it’s survival. Again, like Ofelia’s parents came to create a new life. To survive. It had nothing to do with Hollywood.

Rubén Blades: I’m a barber.

Mercedes Mason: Yeah. It had to do with creating a new life. And I think, you know you go to East LA, you go to some other areas of Los Angeles, it’s real. You know people have this impression of glossy LA. And, I love that they’re presenting the gritty aspect of it.

Rubén Blades: And I’m a barber, and that’s it. That’s not what I used to do. But all of a sudden that’s what I need to do to survive. So, it’s interesting.

Question: Do you use a blade on one of the zombies? [laughs]

Rubén Blades: We’re going to get shot. [laughs]

Question: They can’t see me…

Rubén Blades: No, they’re over there.

Mercedes Mason: You know what we should do? They are recording we should just sign language and you know…

Question: [laughs] She said yes.

Question: [laughs] Were you fans of the show before-hand?

Rubén Blades: I read the… I’m a contrarian so if everybody talks about something I immediately suspect. [laughs]

So I’ve become suspicious immediately and my first reaction is, I don’t want to see this. But you know what I did though? I have all the comics I collect comic books. So, for many people here, this is the first time they’ve come to Comic-Con? I’ve been coming since ‘85 so… I have like 15,000 comic books.

Question: Do you come to Comic-Con?

Rubén Blades: I used to come more before because what is happening now is that it’s not anymore about comics. It’s more about other things and you go and you walk a block and you step on nine Wookies. You know? [laughs] And when it started getting like that I said it can’t really.

Mercedes Mason: He dresses as a Wookie in the privacy of his own home.

Rubén Blades: So, I’ve been coming here and buying comics and whatnot. So, I’m familiar.

Question: So, do you read comics?

Rubén Blades: Yeah.

Male Speaker 3: What are you reading right now?  What do you like?

Rubén Blades: I think, well right now… and you know I call it “Golden Age” but right now los hermanos Hernandez.  Do you know them? “Love and Rockets?” Boy, you have to read that.

Question: That’s the name?

Rubén Blades: “Love and Rockets” yeah, los hermanos Hermandez they’re Mexican, the best. Some of the best stories. [inaudible] And Frank… the new take on Batman. Frank Miller? Moore. Alan Moore. So I… the writing has become very, very advanced, I mean it’s pretty good. It’s really good. And I like it because it’s like storyboards so you know you get to develop also a way of looking at things.

Question: So as a fan-boy, a lot of for example Peter Jackson came dressed up.  Daniel Radcliffe dressed as Spiderman. So if you could dress up as something you know to blend with the main hall, which character would you choose?

Mercedes Mason: Good question!

Rubén Blades: I would like to be the Invisible Man. [laughs]

Mercedes Mason: I mean you have to do a little Wonder Woman. You have to have a little female power in there. 

Fear The Walking Dead premieres on August 23rd! Looking for more conversations with the talent? Here you go:

-Kim Dickens and Alycia Debnam-Carey
-Frank Dillane and Creator Dave Erickson
-Cliff Curtis and Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd
-Elizabeth Rodriguez and Lorenzo James Henrie

FearPoster

Geekscape Interviews: ‘Fear The Walking Dead’s Kim Dickens And Alycia Debnam-Carey Talk About Human-Looking Walkers And More!

by Derek Kraneveldt

It’s been a few weeks now since the always-incredible (and always exhausting), events of San Diego Comic-Con, and I’m beyond excited that I’m just now able to talk about one of the highlights of this year’s week in San Diego.

If you’re a long-time reader of Geekscape, you’ll know how huge of a fan of The Walking Dead I am. I’ve been keeping up with the comic book since I was in high school, passionately wrote Geekscape’s Walking Dead Weekly column before life got in the way, and of course, ate up every single second of Telltale’s incredible The Walking Dead video game.

So of course, I jumped at the opportunity to speak with the cast and producers of the new, mysterious companion series, Fear the Walking Dead.

Now, that being said, I’d felt a little iffy about Fear The Walking Dead since the companion series was first revealed. Sure, the world wants as much The Walking Dead as it can get (again, you do know that there’s both a comic book and incredible video game too, right?), but would this series simply be the same show in a different location, and without the survivors we already know and love? How could it differentiate itself from what’s essentially the most popular television series on the planet?

After having an opportunity to speak with the cast and producers of the series last month, any concerns that I had about Fear the Walking Dead disappeared, and I’m now simply excited to see where East Los Angeles, and the beginnings of the infection, take this dysfunctional blended family.

And that was all before that awesome trailer was released.

The interviews were run in a round-table format, and had journalists speaking to a few of the actors (or producers) at the same time. As it was a round-table, not all questions were mine, but all of them are definitely worth reading. It wasn’t the fantastic trailer or meeting these actors that made me really excited for Fear The Walking Dead, but the passion, excitement, and chemistry that all of its talent have with the project and each other.

You can read my interview with Rubén Blades and Mercedes Mason, who play Daniel and Ofelia Salazar here, and this time around, it’s Kim Dickens And Alycia Debnam-Carey, who portray Madison and Alicia Clark.

Talent left to right: Alycia Debnam-Carey (Alicia), Kim Dickens (Madison). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.
Talent left to right: Alycia Debnam-Carey (Alicia), Kim Dickens (Madison). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.

Kim Dickens: Hi, I’m Kim Dickens.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: Hi, I’m Alycia Debnam-Carey.

Kim Dickens: She has an Aussie accent.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: I’ve got a crazy last name. Sorry. [laughs]

Question: So ladies, what can you tell us about your characters in the show?

Kim Dickens: I play Madison Clark, who is a high school counselor and mother to Alicia and Nick, a couple of teenagers. One of them is a ne’er-do-well and one of them is a golden child. I’m pointing to Alycia [Debnam-Carey] [Alycia laughs]. We’re sort of forming a new second family with my boyfriend I’m in love with, Cliff [Curtis]. I mean, not Cliff. [Alycia laughs] Cliff’s the actor. I’m kind of in love with him, anyway… Travis, and we’re joining our family, sort of a modern, fractured patchwork family put together. I play the single mom that has been raising her kids and meets the apocalypse.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: So, I play Alicia with the same character name as myself, which is kind of strange. But spelt differently so it is still a little different. [laughs] She’s kind of the weird sister with kind of frustrating needs. She’s the golden child as Kim has said and she’s an over-achiever. She’s in a really great position but she really wants out of Los Angeles. She kind of has a beautiful boyfriend and is ready to go to Berkeley. She’s from a bit of a broken home. She’s lost her dad and the brother’s a little wayward and gone off on his own. He’s suffering with addiction. She sort of feels like kind of caught up in the downward spiral in a way. Though she has a great love for the family, she just wants to get out.

Kim Dickens: To break away from the drama.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: Yes.

Kim Dickens: Good luck! [laughs!]

Alycia Debnam-Carey: That’s not going to last long. [laughs]

Question: In the universe of “The Walking Dead,” everything is happening at the same time?

Kim Dickens: It is the same universe and mythology as “The Walking Dead” but we are before that. Before you meet Sheriff Grimes and his coma and everything, we are sort of what happens during that coma and a little bit before that, in a different part of the United States.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: It shows you the crumbling of civilization and how something like this epidemic would affect society and the speed at which it happens, too.

Question: Is that going to go slow or –

Kim Dickens: It is a little bit, we call it a bit of a slow burn, you know.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: It’s certainly what our first season really focuses on – the destruction of society.

Kim Dickens: It’s like the initial crumbling. It’s like the first three weeks where it’s all of happening. It’s really the Internet rumors and the paranoia of a virus….

Alycia Debnam-Carey: Conspiracy.

Kim Dickens: Conspiracy theories. We’ve covered about three weeks in our first season of six episodes.

Question: How soon in your show will be seeing walkers and things like that?

Kim Dickens: I don’t know. You have to tune in.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: I know! [laughs]

Kim Dickens: I don’t know. We could wait until the very end of the season and what that will be like but no.

Question: [laughs] So they’re not necessarily at the beginning?

Kim Dickens: I don’t think I could give any spoilers away but they’re going to be there.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: It is the same world.

Kim Dickens: It will surprise you.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: We’re uncovering it in a very different way. These zombies, these are not looking like what we already know in “The Walking Dead.” They’re not kind of like those zombies as we know it.

Kim Dickens: They still look hauntingly familiar like your neighbor and your co-workers. It’s a little…

Alycia Debnam-Carey: They’ve very humanistic still. That makes it harder to tell.

Kim Dickens: It makes it very confusing as to how to handle it.

Talent left to right: Alycia Debnam-Carey (Alicia), Kim Dickens (Madison). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.
Talent left to right: Alycia Debnam-Carey (Alicia), Kim Dickens (Madison). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.

Question: It’s not clear like what happened, how it all came to be like that. I was reading – it’s going to be happening with the rumors and everything. Do you think at one point, you are going to know what happened?

Kim Dickens: I don’t know. I don’t think that’s our priority to sort of unearth what the cause of it is, but you never know –

Alycia Debnam-Carey: Where the show might lead us.

Question: How would you say that the style of “Fear the Walking Dead” is different from the style of “The Walking Dead?”

Kim Dickens: How our title is different?

Question: The style, the style of the show.

Kim Dickens: Oh, the style.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: The style is really different. The setting of Los Angeles makes it initially so, the environment is different. I look at it because I’m a fan of the original “The Walking Dead.” It has got a quiet provincial feel in a way. It’s rural, it’s out in the woods and it’s very pulled back or stripped back. This one is very urban. It’s the community, it’s the city, and it’s a cultural melting pot. It’s in every sense artistic as well. It feels very layered. The original of course is, too. This one is stacked with so many layers. You slowly start to see how that crumbles away.

Kim Dickens: A very urban, grounded, diverse community. It’s not your typical Los Angeles with red carpets and stuff. Though I think it will be really fun if walkers did ruin someone’s red carpet moment.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: You see like, a Hollywood celebrity walking around with half a face. [laughs]

Kim Dickens: We have got to get some cameos.

Question: You’re a fan of the show. I mean how cool is it to get this role?

Alycia Debnam-Carey: Oh, it’s awesome. To be honest, I hadn’t watched it before and then I got the gig. Then at once I have to go and watch it now. It’s given me an excuse to like, binge-watch three weeks of amazing television. Then after that I very quickly fell in love with the show. It is such an amazing, complex drama and it’s almost like the walkers are like a side plot in a weird way. I think that’s how our show is great, too. It has so much dense drama, personal interactions and human dynamics and that for us I think is a real feast.

Question: Are they staying in L.A. or are they leaving L.A. at that point or deciding to run away from it?

Alycia Debnam-Carey: We’re staying in L.A. for the first season. We don’t know beyond that.

Question: Is it shot only in L.A.?

Kim Dickens: We shot the pilot in L.A. and then we had to go to Vancouver to shoot the rest of our season, which is another five episodes. Now we’re in L.A. for about three weeks shooting. We’re shooting right now. We’re shooting more exteriors in L.A. It’s not just like going in or out of the doors. It’s like full scenes that are in the environment of L.A.

Question: Anything there, anything iconic –

Kim Dickens: Right now we are in East L.A. That’s where we’re filming. They’re going to grab some skylines. We’re going to see the beach. They’re going to see stuff.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: We’re going to have iconic smoggy sunsets. [laughs] That’s so typically L.A. It doesn’t feel like any other city. East L.A. is such a different Los Angeles to what you typically think of as L.A.

Talent left to right: Kim Dickens (Madison), Alycia Debnam-Carey (Alicia). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.
Talent left to right: Kim Dickens (Madison), Alycia Debnam-Carey (Alicia). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.

Question: How are the special effects? Was it a fun thing to do? Or a tedious process?

Alycia Debnam-Carey: Any kind of special effects is always really fun I think.

Kim Dickens: I like the action stuff that we’re doing. For me it’s been probably one of the most exhausting jobs I’ve ever had but the most fun. I get a little bit – I love the action stuff and if I get just a dialog scene, I’m kind of like, eh.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: It’s a little give and take.

Kim Dickens: We can wrestle and fight.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: You are up until often the middle of the night. The next day we all just have bruises everywhere. The last couple of days I just had to cover up my legs with just make-up powder because it has been terrible. [laughs]

Kim Dickens: We like to do as much stuff as we can.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: It’s just so fun.

Question: How is it working with Cliff [Curtis]?  Have you met him before?

Kim Dickens: I never met him before but I camera-tested with him for the role. He’s just a lovely person. He’s like a New Zealand manly man but there’s such tenderness and sweetness in his heart and soul. He’s just like really a magical person and such an artful soul. It’s such a joy to work with him.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: The way he works, too. He’s such a joy to watch. He comes into a scene sort of just nothing and then just finds it. It’s amazing. It’s such a treat. Both Kim [Dickens] and Cliff [Curtis] are amazing.

Question: How do you think a fan of “The Walking Dead” will react to “Fear the Walking Dead”?

Kim Dickens: I hope they have a strong reaction to it.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: Whether they’ll love it or hate it I’m not sure. I think that it is so different. I think maybe that will be a little bit of a shock at first. It is very, very different. I think people will really come around to it especially by Episode 6 I think it will really get locked in. They’ll be like, wait a second. It’s a whole different game now!

Kim Dickens: I think it’s such a passionate audience. I think they’re ready to give us a chance. They really believe in the show runners and creators and all that: Robert Kirkman and… I think they’re going to have to make that decision when they see it. I think they’re going to have to allow it to be different. I feel like they’re pretty open-minded and like I said they have a very passionate, voracious appetite for it. I hope we please them.

Question: How hands-on is Robert Kirkman on the set? Is he there all the time?

Kim Dickens: He’s not there all the time but he’s our boss. He’s our guy. He’s our visionary.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: He’s very hands-on.

Question: What’s he like?

Kim Dickens: He’s great. He’s very funny. He’s fantastic. He’s a warm, big guy and he’s a fan of so many shows like himself. We were just talking to Elizabeth [Rodriguez] and he’s such a huge of “Orange is the New Black.” He just knows, you know, he just loves the work.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: He’s very invested in it.

Question: If you could actually meet some of the characters of “The Walking Dead,” which ones…?

Kim Dickens: Sherriff Grimes for me.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: Yes, me too, or Norman Reedus. I think that would be a fun one.

Kim Dickens: Is he the character? You mean Daryl? [laughs]

Alycia Debnam-Carey: I mean Daryl or Norman [Reedus] I like! You know what I mean. [laughs]

Kim Dickens: Yes, that would be awesome.

Question: How does it feel working in this particular series because the writer is basically competing with himself from 20 years ago and it’s a different story? We’re seeing kind of the beginning and how everything went to hell basically. How does it feel working on something you know is going to end up badly? You have to pretend, oh, it’s just rumors.

Kim Dickens: I think we just really grounded and rooted the show in these characters and these relationships, you know, that are very real and now we just play into that. What would I do to survive? What would I do to figure this out? What is the best choice? As actors we get in there, we pretend. [Alycia laughs] I personally began watching “The Walking Dead” and when I got close to this role I stopped because I didn’t want to have a preconceived idea of what my character was going to know. In fact I was advised that I shouldn’t know any more.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: The discovery was kind of a hard thing. It’s a slow burn and it takes time to reveal itself.

Kim Dickens: It takes the moments of discovery and paranoia, the questioning, and naiveté. We’re in the dark.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: As humans you try to justify anything. Anything abnormal you really try to make it logical, make sense of it. All of those nuances are so important to making this world of discovery real. I think that’s what such an essence of this show, “Fear the Walking Dead.” It’s all about what is coming, the unexpected, and the unknown.

Kim Dickens: The audience is going to be just screaming at us on TV. What are you doing? Don’t do that!

Alycia Debnam-Carey: Yes, yes! It’s got some great little typical light moments. It’s great.

Talent left to right: Kim Dickens (Madison), Alycia Debnam-Carey (Alicia). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.
Talent left to right: Kim Dickens (Madison), Alycia Debnam-Carey (Alicia). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.

Question: How much were you told about the character in your first season when you started? Were you told everything and how safe did you feel in “The Walking Dead” world?

Alycia Debnam-Carey: It feels like on every show now they’re killing off leads.

Kim Dickens: I was given the basic outline of my character and a lot of back story that really helped me inform her but beyond what happens in the future I don’t really know except when I get the scripts. I’m pretty excited.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: They’re pretty quiet in the scripts, too. They release them only when they need to. That’s the show. [Alycia laughs]

Question: Does the show talk about the official reaction of the government and the politics and stuff like that? Is it part of the show?

Kim Dickens: Is that a spoiler?

Alycia Debnam-Carey: Yes. [laughs]

Kim Dickens: It’s interesting because of what you do look for, you know… The biggest fear for the characters and I think the thing that will plug in with the audiences is the fear that you’re not able to protect yourself. You do turn to your authority figures.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: Who do you trust?

Kim Dickens: Yes. Who do you trust and who can you trust and who shows up for these people? It would be interesting to see.

Question: How would you cope? How would you fare?

Kim Dickens: Terribly.

Alycia Debnam-Carey: Badly. I think if there’s anything we’ve actually learned from this show it was, we would not do very well! [laughs]

Fear The Walking Dead premieres on August 23rd! Looking for more conversations with the talent? Here you go:

-Rubén Blades and Mercedes Mason
-Frank Dillane and Creator Dave Erickson
-Cliff Curtis and Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd
-Elizabeth Rodriguez and Lorenzo James Henrie

FearPoster

Geekscape Interviews: ‘Fear The Walking Dead’s Frank Dillane and Creator Dave Erickson Talk Audience Reaction And More!

by Derek Kraneveldt

It’s been a few weeks now since the always-incredible (and always exhausting), events of San Diego Comic-Con, and I’m beyond excited that I’m just now able to talk about one of the highlights of this year’s week in San Diego.

If you’re a long-time reader of Geekscape, you’ll know how huge of a fan of The Walking Dead I am. I’ve been keeping up with the comic book since I was in high school, passionately wrote Geekscape’s Walking Dead Weekly column before life got in the way, and of course, ate up every single second of Telltale’s incredible The Walking Dead video game.

So of course, I jumped at the opportunity to speak with the cast and producers of the new, mysterious companion series, Fear the Walking Dead.

Now, that being said, I’d felt a little iffy about Fear The Walking Dead since the companion series was first revealed. Sure, the world wants as much The Walking Dead as it can get (again, you do know that there’s both a comic book and incredible video game too, right?), but would this series simply be the same show in a different location, and without the survivors we already know and love? How could it differentiate itself from what’s essentially the most popular television series on the planet?

After having an opportunity to speak with the cast and producers of the series last month, any concerns that I had about Fear the Walking Dead disappeared, and I’m now simply excited to see where East Los Angeles, and the beginnings of the infection, take this dysfunctional blended family.

And that was all before that awesome trailer was released.

The interviews were run in a round-table format, and had journalists speaking to a few of the actors (or producers) at the same time. As it was a round-table, not all questions were mine, but all of them are definitely worth reading. It wasn’t the fantastic trailer or meeting these actors that made me really excited for Fear The Walking Dead, but the passion, excitement, and chemistry that all of its talent have with the project and each other.

My favourite interview of the entire convention is transcribed in full below. Sons of Anarchy producer Dave Erickson acts as executive producer, writer, and showrunner of the upcoming series, and he had some incredible insights on what we’re set to see later this month. I really, really with that Frank Dillane was able to answer more questions, but Erickson’s enthusiastic, intricate answers took most of our allowed time.

Question: So guys, how do you feel that the audience and the fans of “The Walking Dead” will respond here?

Dave Erickson: I think they’ll love it. No. [laughs] I think the show’s – there is enough connective tissue – there is enough, we’re living in the same world that Robert [Kirkman] created and the same mythology, the same rules apply to the walkers are infected, and so I think there’s definitely – there’s enough. It’s in the heart and soul of the original and the comic is present. I’d like to think that, maybe, there will be some folks who come to the show who don’t – I know there’s maybe one person left in the world who hasn’t seen “The Walking Dead.”

Question: Yeah.

Dave Erickson: But there may be some who would – we’ll see. A lot of people have asked me that just because the show does 17 million viewers just in the States and I actually think there is – I feel like Robert [Kirkman] and now, Scott [Gimple] and that group, and [Greg] Nicotero and Gale [Anne Hurd], David [Alpert] – they’ve helped us, because I feel like they’ve created this world in which, I think, we will open strong. I think people will come out of curiosity, and then, I think, we’ve produced a good show and people respond to it whether – I’m not worried about the numbers. I’m not worried about getting near that particular mark because I think it’s a little bit unrealistic for any show to expect to do that, but I think people will like it.

I think there’s – you get to see, especially, the fans of the show because we’re living in this pocket for Season 1 that they didn’t explore in the comic and they didn’t explore in the original, which is we get to see what Rick missed. We get to actually see the fall of the society. You see the fall of the major metropolis, but do so through the prism and filter of this highly dysfunctional blended family, which I promise, there is no resemblance to my own – just watch everything kind of crumble. I think what people will enjoy is the steps and the first time people became aware that these – because one of the things Robert was interested in when we first sat down was you don’t assume just because somebody is turned, they’re coming after you.

You don’t assume that they’re dead. You think that they’re sick or you think that they’re on something. For our characters, it’s – when they actually get to a place where they’re forced to, and Frank’s character has to deal with this pretty early, when they’re forced to deal with somebody who was a friend a day ago, who now is acting this way and I have to do violence to protect myself, Robert and I really wanted to explore what does that mean emotionally and psychologically if you have to do violence, too?  Because our walkers still look for the most part – they look human. They have not been degraded and atrophied in a way the wonderful work that Greg and his team have done in the original show. They do wonderful work on our work as well, but it’s a very specific look.

You don’t know in the early days of this if you have to lash out in that way, you don’t know if two days later, the cops will come into your door and say, you know the guy you knocked up the other day, well, yeah. He was sick. So it’s an interesting exploration and it’s all elements of that. The nature of, I think, the brilliant narrative stroke in the comics and coma, it was wonderful and it came before Danny Boyle, I know, but it was a lovely way to dive into the apocalypse, but they really went from zero to apocalypse in a heartbeat and we get the opportunity to extend the season. So that really explains it, so it’s a long waited answer. But yes, that’s the idea.

Talent left to right: David Erickson (Executive Producer and Showrunner) and Frank Dillane (Nick). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.
Talent left to right: David Erickson (Executive Producer and Showrunner) and Frank Dillane (Nick). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.

Question: Setting it in LA, like, what was the reasoning behind that? Do you allow you to…

Dave Erickson: Well, both Robert [Kirkman] and I live there, which was appealing. [laughs] No. I think he very much wanted it. Robert’s from Kentucky, he’s from the South, rural Georgia, it’s been explored on the show for the past several seasons, so to do something that was distinctly urban, to do something that had a very different look, that was the, I think, the first impulse. Second is we definitely wanted to see a major city and try to depict the fall of a major city. What happens – we arrived in Atlanta at the end of the pilot of the original show and the city blocks the dead to try to dramatize what that process would have been like was, I think, was appealing.

For me, dramatically, the show is really about reinvention and it’s about identity and California, the West Coast, LA, specifically. It’s a place where people go to disappear and to reinvent themselves, to change, to become something else. Most of our characters, I won’t say which ones, they’ve had experiences in their past that have scarred them. Things that happened whether crimes done to them, things that they have done and they’ve moved here, they’ve arrived to distance themselves from that. With the onset of the apocalypse, some of these things – the secret that they’ve hid, the things that they have done, their personality traits are, actually, will better suit them for survival.

So it’s about how to become something completely different or dig back into what you were before and find ways to survive. But it just felt like it was a really interesting confluence of, I think, a thematic that works with the city we chose, but also works with our characters, which I think will come across, but that was the reason for LA, as opposed to – and then, also, I live there.  And then we went and shot in Vancouver, so it makes absolutely no sense.

[Laughing]

Question: Yeah.

Question: There is no character that’s coming from the entertainment industry. Is it because none of those would survive after that time?

Dave Erickson: No. It’s funny because – no. We went through – Robert [Kirkman] and I went through the process where I would [laugh] I would write a lot of shit and I send it to him, he would go [laughing]. No. There was. There was actually, there was a couple of characters in the first, in the early incarnations, that were – and I think the feeling was and I ultimately agreed that it was an easy place to go. A little bit too expected and it begged for parity. It was the right move not to go in that direction. It’s not to say that that doesn’t happen in the future, but as it is right now.

So the thing about the Los Angeles that we’re representing on the show, it’s East LA. There’s a specific neighborhood, which is very close to the school we shot at in the pilot. The hospital – there’s a hospital, so I mean it all has a very un-Hollywood look to it and that was what was important to us as well. So you don’t see – you’re not going to see Hollywood Boulevard. You’re not going to see the Hills. You’re not going to see the West Side. It’s primarily East Side. The thing about, one of the great things, our director, Adam Davidson captured, he’s from Los Angeles, born and raised. He has a beautiful gift for really getting a sense of place and because our show, we’re catching up, the audience is well ahead of all of our characters, which is a big part of attention for this season is waiting for them to get it and to walk in that fine line where the audience never wants to just slap them and say, wake up, which I think we’ve done.

But it’s like every time you cut your wide shot, you’re looking at these stacks, hill sites, all of these homes, like, one on top another, you’re looking at these packed freeways. You’re looking at – and the audience is going to watch those. They’re great because they bring in the city and they keep the show cinematic and open, but from a story telling perspective, it’s like every person that’s watching the show is thinking they are all going to die, [laugh] and that dude doesn’t know yet. It’s working for us on a number of levels.

Question: I have to ask about casting. Plus, Frank, probably, well, is he kind of new to this role?

Dave Erickson: Any casting process, except for Frank because Frank came in pretty easily. It takes – I was just looking for actors that I hadn’t seen. Cliff [Curtis] has done television, but he hasn’t done a ton of television and I got very lucky because I was just going through, just trying to think of people that I admired and the people whose work I’d seen and I’ve seen Cliff in “Three Kings” and I’ve seen Cliff in “Training Day.” And then I got to watch “The Dark Horse.”

Question: That is new.

Dave Erickson: Yeah.

Question: Yes.

Dave Erickson: And it’s like, he’s a chameleon. He can do anything.

Question: Yeah.

Dave Erickson: And he has this deeply, empathetic quality and for this character because this is like he’s really the moral compass of the show and he’s just so grounded and so rooted and so honest in his performances, so we just got lucky. We Skyped and he was, I think, he was shooting and he was actually playing Christ.

Question: Yeah.

Dave Erickson: I think he [Cliff Curtis] was finishing that film. He was just incredibly gracious because we put him through – he had to fly out on a day’s notice and come to read and he had fly out again on another day’s notice to sit down and do a read with Kim [Dickens] and he was just lovely. And the second, we were talking about it before, the second we saw Kim and Cliff read opposite each other it just – it felt right, in the same way, when we had Frank [Dillane] read with Alycia [Debnam-Carey], it just felt like we had a family and there was, like, the chemistry which is really, really tricky. You hear about that, so many shows they shoot the pilot and then it’s just not working and they start re-casting and that was never ever a question or issue for us at all. Everybody just kind of clicked. And so he’s playing – we’ve also wanted to make sure we were just letting him bring some more of his own identity to the show, so he is of Maori descent. That’s the character. He’s been at America for – he was born and raised in States. I think it’s the first time he’s actually, aside from shooting in New Zealand, where he’s not – there is a quality to him, which is something I actually want to be talked a lot about, just his tats and his experience in his life and my hope is that it will continue to inform the show and inform the character over the next few seasons. No. They had a short answer. He’s awesome, so that was it.

[laughing]

Question: I think it is.

Dave Erickson: Yeah.

Talent left to right: David Erickson (Executive Producer and Showrunner) and Frank Dillane (Nick). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.
Talent left to right: David Erickson (Executive Producer and Showrunner) and Frank Dillane (Nick). Photo by RHS Photo. Courtesy of AMC Global.

Question: If I got it right, there was long running in the alley in one of the teasers. Are you? What are you running from?

Frank Dillane: Ahh.

Dave Erickson: What do you think he’s running from?

[laughing]

Frank Dillane: My girlfriend.

[laughs]

Question: The husband of your girlfriend.

Frank Dillane: Yeah.

[laughs]

Dave Erickson: Yeah. Why do you think I’m running?

[laughs]

Question: How do you do a show that’s part of this huge world that it is “The Walking Dead” and future exist, and the people love it – how do you take this world and turn into something new because it is completely different from what we’ve been hearing and reading and all the things that you’ve been saying about this particular show? It’s going to feel like more like a drama. We’re going to get to know the characters and I’m assuming you’re going to make us fall in love with them and knowing that they’re going to die.

[laughs]

Question: So how do you do that? How do you take these challenges especially because there’s a big fan base?

Dan Erickson: It’s starting with, fundamentally, it’s starting with a family drama and the problems that the family has. Robert [Kirkman], at some point, said we’re just talking about “The Walking Dead” and talking about the quality of the comic and just the show at large. It’s your parents just got divorced, oh, there are zombies. He didn’t get out to the prom, oh, there are zombies. I think that’s, in principle, I think, there are elements of that in the comic and in the original show, but we’re able to, because we stepped back a little bit from it, we’re actually able to establish those dynamics, and really, cement them early on.

So it is about Frank’s [Dillane] character has a very specific problem and something he’s been dealing with for a long time. He will continue to deal with it throughout the season and throughout the show. It’s about Cliff’s [Curtis] character who’s divorced from Liza, played by Elizabeth Rodriguez, and he’s trying to bring his son into Madison’s family with Frank’s character and Alycia [Debnam-Carey] and just the everyday we’re dealing with, the difficulty of that. What does that mean? And what’s great is all of those problems, which I’ve dealt with in my own blended family are actually, they actually work in the world strangely.

It’s in the simple things. It’s like, okay, Dad, I know you want to go back and get your girlfriend. But why can’t we just go? Why can’t we be our own family? Why do we have to go on and blend and be with that family? And it’s putting those characters in this position where who do I save? Who do I love? Is it my biological son? Or do I owe it to – I have fallen in love with this woman. One of the wonderful things I think about the show is that between Cliff and Kim [Dickens], Madison and Travis, there is true love there.

They really do care about each other. You see them together and you want them to stay together and it’s the pressure of the apocalypse as they come that will create fractures of issues and that’s – but there is a love story, fundamentally, it’s a love story there. It’s a love story. It’s really pointing the story between Frank’s character and Madison, his mother as well.

So that, to me, is sort of the heart and soul of it. As long as we can hold true to the problems, those conflicts that we’ve established early on and continue to build on top of those rather than start with the supply run episode, which we will have to do because we have to get supplied. As long as we do that first, I think we’ll be okay. I think it will really be these characters, and yes, and the danger that they made. We will love them and they may die. That’ll help too.

[laughs]

Question: Thank you so much.

Dave Erickson: Thanks guys. I appreciate it.

Question: Thanks.

Fear The Walking Dead premieres on August 23rd! Looking for more conversations with the talent? Here you go:

-Rubén Blades and Mercedes Mason
-Kim Dickens and Alycia Debnam-Carey
-Cliff Curtis and Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd
-Elizabeth Rodriguez and Lorenzo James Henrie

FearPoster

New ‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Promo Shows LA Going Dark!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: I’ve felt a little iffy about Fear The Walking Dead since the companion series was first revealed. Sure, the world wants as much The Walking Dead as it can get (you do know that there’s a comic book and incredible video game too, right?), but would this series simply be the same show in a different location, and without the survivors we already know and love?

Hell no. After having an opportunity to speak with the cast and producers of the series at San Diego Comic-Con (more on that in a few days), my qualms have disappeared, and I’m now simply excited to see where East Los Angeles, and the beginnings of the infection take this dysfunctional blended family.

Then, of course, the trailer came out, and solidified my excitement for this starkly different production.

Today, AMC debuted a creepy new teaser for the premiere episode, showing off a bustling Los Angeles quickly becoming dark and smoky.

Take a look at the teaser below, and let us know if you’ll be watching on August 23rd!

‘Fear The Walking Dead’s Second Season To Consist Of 15 Episodes!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: I’ve felt a little iffy about Fear The Walking Dead since the companion series was first revealed. Sure, the world wants as much The Walking Dead as it can get (you do know that there’s a comic book and incredible video game too, right?), but would this series simply be the same show in a different location, and without the survivors we already know and love?

Hell no. After having an opportunity to speak with the cast and producers of the series at San Diego Comic-Con (more on that this August), my qualms have disappeared, and I’m now simply excited to see where East Los Angeles, and the beginnings of the infection take this dysfunctional blended family.

Then, of course, the trailer came out, and solidified my excitement for this starkly different production.

It definitely looks as though we’ll have no shortage of our new survivors, as at the ongoing Television Critics Association press tours, showrunner Dave Erickson revealed that season two will consist of 15 episodes.

THR’s Lesley Goldberg has learned that the series’ second season will likely be split in two, just like in The Walking Dead proper.

I wonder what short of split we’ll see next year. I imagine we’ll see the first seven or eight episodes in the Summer, and the remainder in the Winter when The Walking Dead is on its Christmas break. This mean’s we’ll be seeing plenty of the under all year round, which sounds both awesome, and a little bit exhausting.

Are you looking forward to Fear the Walking Dead? Sound out below!

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SDCC 2015: Watch The First Trailer For ‘The Walking Dead’s Sixth Season!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: If you thought The Walking Dead‘s intensity had hit its ceiling, it looks like you were wrong. Somehow, things look crazier than ever in the upcoming episodes.

Following the fantastic first trailer for Fear The Walking Dead, AMC has debuted our first look at The Walking Dead’s sixth season, which is set to debut on October 11th.

From the trailer, it looks as though things turn sour between Morgan and Rick, and eventually the entirety of Alexandria. It definitely looks to echo some of the Image Comics series recent happenings, but, of course, with its own TV spin.

And what the heck is Daryl up to?

In any case, take a look at the trailer below, and let us know what you think! We’ve got quite a ways to wait for this one, but at least we’ll have Fear The Walking Dead to tide us over. Which series are you more excited for?

SDCC 2015: The Full Trailer For ‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Is Here, And Exciting As Hell!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: I’ve felt a little iffy about Fear The Walking Dead since the companion series was first revealed. Sure, the world wants as much The Walking Dead as it can get (you do know that there’s a comic book and incredible video game too, right?), but would this series simply be the same show in a different location, and without the survivors we already know and love?

Hell no. After having an opportunity to speak with the cast and producers of the series at San Diego Comic-Con this week (more on that this August), my qualms have disappeared, and I’m now simply excited to see where East Los Angeles, and the beginnings of the infection take this dysfunctional blended family.

The first full trailer for the series has just been revealed, and it does a phenomenal job of setting up the six-episode first season. We see a great deal of the character’s lives before any incident, followed by just a few of the things that they go through after the world, well, ends.

It looks very cool, and I really can’t wait for its August 23rd premiere. Take a look at the trailer below, and be sure to let us know what you think!

New ‘The Walking Dead’ Season Six Images Feature Daryl, Glen, Maggie!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: We’re about a week away from seeing the first trailer for The Walking Dead‘s sixth season (it’s likely coming at Comic-Con), and AMC today debuted the first three images from the upcoming season.

Sure, they’re totally boring and not nearly as cool as the SDCC poster for Fear the Walking Dead, but WOOHOO WALKING DEAD!? Right? No?

In any case, you can take a look at the images below, and be sure to let us know what you hope to see next season, The Walking Dead season six premieres in October!

WD1

 

WD2

WD3Source: EW

 

Here’s The Awesome Comic-Con Poster For ‘Fear The Walking Dead’

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: So this poster is awesome.

AMC today debuted the official San Diego Comic-Con poster for this Summer’s anticipated The Walking Dead spinoff, Fear The Walking Dead. We’re bound to see this poster everywhere next week, as The Walking Dead typically has a huge presence at the convention.

We know the series is set in Los Angeles, and this poster features a pretty big LA landmark, along with the tagline ‘fear begins here’. The ominous footprints are what really make the image, however, as those are clearly not the steps of a regular, un-infected human.

Take a look at the image below, and let us know what you think! Fear The Walking Dead premieres later this Summer!

Fear