Sci-Fi Storm

The Walking Dead returned last night from the mid-season break and the heartbreaking ending it left viewers with to huge numbers, pulling in 8.1 million viewers for the main airing, and a total of 10.1 million including the two encore airings, hitting a series high. Perhaps more amazing is that it did this against the Grammy Awards, which were the second most watch Grammys ever on television.

We’re still part way through the second season (with a heartbreaking mid-season finale), but AMC has announced a 16-episode order for a 3rd season of the hit zombie series The Walking Dead at the Television Critics Association press tour. The second season was 13 episodes, following the initial debut of 6 episodes.

The Walking Dead returns for the second half of Season 2 on February 13th.

Apple has compiled it’s annual “Rewind” list, which lists the top downloads on it’s iTunes service, and in the U.S. it was a British SF show that beat all comers. Doctor Who topped the list of TV Season downloads, joined by True Blood and The Walking Dead among the genre in the top 10. The Walking Dead had the top-selling single episode, “What Lies Ahead”, with Terra Nova‘s “Instinct” at 6th and Smallville‘s “Finale, Parts 1 and 2” at 10th.

In movies, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 was named “Best Blockbuster”, while Source Code was 7th among movie downloads.

Told you zombies were all the rage…AMC’s super-hit The Walking Dead has already been renewed for a third season, after only the second episode of the second season has aired.

We’ll see if they decide to fire anybody at the last minute this time 🙂

The zombies are taking over! Remember all that drama about Frank Darabont leaving as showrunner for AMC’s The Walking Dead? Either it had no effect on the fans, or it seriously boosted interest in the show, as last night’s second season premiere broke records for a basic cable program for the key 18-49 and 25-54 demos (4.8 and 4.2 million respectively), and reached 7.3 million total viewers is the first showing alone (up 38% over the first season premiere), and 11 million for the extra showings that followed.

It seems that the abrupt departure of Walking Dead showrunner Frank Darabont is still shrouded in mystery, and if the reports are correct, rather disturbing on the part of network AMC. According to The Hollywood Reporter, AMC may be strong-arming the cast and crew to not speak at all about the departure.

Everyone was surprised by the announcement of his departure, when the cast and crew were brief in separate meetings by Ben Davis, AMC’s vice president of scripted series, but without explanation as to why. Now sources from the inside explain the lack of anyone from the cast talking to the press as AMC “terrorizing” them, given that “They’re on a zombie show. They are all really easy to kill off.”

There is still much to be learned about the situation, but it may be a long way off before we really know the story. But it seems that AMC, relatively new to original scripted programming, is having trouble grasping how to handle that programming.

Frank Darabont’s time in charge of Walking Dead is over – he’s stepping down as showrunner at least, and #2 Glen Mazzara is taking over the day-to-day tasks as showrunner. It’s very strange to see this, as he had just appeared this past weekend at the show’s Comic-Con panel and everything appeared normal. The reasons for his departure are still unclear, as is what if any relationship he will still have with the show.

The 2011 Primetime Emmy nominations were announced today, and it looks like cable TV is the big winner this year. Read on for a list of the genre shows and their nominations.
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After just airing its second episode, AMC has already ordered a 13-episode second season of its smash hit The Walking Dead. “I wish all programming decisions were no brainers like this one,” said Sharon Tal Yguado, SVP Scripted Programming. “No other cable series has ever attracted as many Adults 18-49 as ‘The Walking Dead.’” according to Charlie Collier, President of AMC. “This reaffirms viewers’ hunger for premium television on basic cable. We are so proud to be bringing back ‘The Dead’ again, across the globe.”

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

Step aside vampires, the zombies are moving in…the premiere episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead, which got a lot of buzz at Comic-Con and through some viral marketing (the best kind to spread zombiism), killed (groan) in the Halloween night ratings with 3.3 million in the adult 18-49 demos and 5.3 million overall – better than any cable series premiere this year. There are 5 more episodes, but I have a feeling the zombies have moved into town for a longer dinner engagement…