"The Walking Dead" Season 2 Updates

[Snaploud]

the fault is with AMC for caving in to Mad Men's guys. Are we really blaming them for basically asking for, and getting a ludicrously high salary? It's up to AMC to say "No".

My guess is that it would have led Mad Men to ending up on another station. I'm not sure they had any good choices.

 

[scnj]

the fault is with AMC for caving in to Mad Men's guys. Are we really blaming them for basically asking for, and getting a ludicrously high salary? It's up to AMC to say "No".

My guess is that it would have led Mad Men to ending up on another station. I'm not sure they had any good choices.

That may be so, but then they could have taken that leftover money and put it into Breaking Bad, Walking Dead and Hell On Wheels. Given the ratings, will any other network pick up Mad Men? AMC should have played harder ball.

 

[JWD75]

The creator of Sons of Anarchy weighs-in:

"why darabont got fired - weiner. he held AMC hostage, broke their bank, budgets were slashed, shit rolled down hill onto gilligan and frank," he tweeted Thursday, the first in a series of missives. He immediately followed up, writing, "no one else wants to f*cking say it, but the greed of mad men is killing the other two best shows on tv -- breaking bad and walking dead."

I've got a bad feeling about this. I just hope that the loss of Darabont isn't a crippling blow to the quality of the show.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

the fault is with AMC for caving in to Mad Men's guys. Are we really blaming them for basically asking for, and getting a ludicrously high salary? It's up to AMC to say "No".

My guess is that it would have led Mad Men to ending up on another station. I'm not sure they had any good choices.

Mad Men doesn't get high ratings. Its value is just in Emmys prestige. But the likely places where Mad Men could end up - HBO and Showtime - are the least likely to need help in that department.

I think AMC could have driven a harder bargain.

 

[PsychoPere]

As of last year, Mad Men was pulling in approximately 6 million viewings when adding together all airings, DVR, and VOD.

 

[Ryan]

I find this article from The Holywood Reporter to be extremely frustrating and troubling:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/walking-dead-what-happened-fired-221449

I liked this bit:

Despite the show's success, AMC stuck to its original position on [cutting] the second-season budget. When those involved with the show protested that the network was taking chances with its biggest hit, AMC's head of original programming, Joel Stillerman, is said to have declared, "Ratings have no bearing on this conversation."

Talk about butchering the golden goose.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

As of last year, Mad Men was pulling in approximately 6 million viewings when adding together all airings, DVR, and VOD.

Pfft, TWD does that in one episode. No need to pad the numbers by cobbling everything together. Comparison of the series' ratings here.

The season finale of AMC's zombie drama "The Walking Dead" lurched all the way to the ratings record book. The episode drew six million viewers, more than any other AMC series.
That let AMC lay claim to the somewhat esoteric but still noteworthy crown of having the most watched drama series in basic cable history among the coveted 18-49 demographic.

...

Overall, "The Walking Dead" has been by far the most popular series ever on AMC, drawing twice as many viewers as the channel's most critically lauded show, "Mad Men."

(I have no idea why the HuffPo thinks the demographic the advertisers want to reach is "esoteric." It's more like "the whole point of TV." )

TWD also does great overseas:

Season one of The Walking Dead marked the best performance for a US cable show in the international market. It delivered record breaking ratings in both the US and internationally.

But this whole fracas does have the benefit of demonstrating why it's good that TV honchos make heartless decisions based on a cold-blooded look at the Nielsens. To do it any other way just means the suits are going to favor their pet projects. Why should I have any respect for that? I don't care about what they like, I care about what I like! I'm willing to let the Nielsens be the arbiter because at least it's objective.

So the next time you're favorite show gets axed for low ratings, just be glad it isn't being axed because the suits like a different show better.

 

[Morpheus 02]

How much money would be saved if they got rid of the AMC execs?

 

[PsychoPere]

Well, it looks like we're going to need to be okay with a small number of episodes at a time...

Season two is set to premiere on October 16 with a 90-minute episode, then air six more episodes over a six-week period before going on hiatus. The season will then resume on February 12 for the remaining six episodes.

 

[clint g]

Well, it looks like we're going to need to be okay with a small number of episodes at a time...

Season two is set to premiere on October 16 with a 90-minute episode, then air six more episodes over a six-week period before going on hiatus. The season will then resume on February 12 for the remaining six episodes.

I would rather they just hold all the episodes until February. I don't mind having short seasons but it just kills me when they spread them like this

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Yeesh. Just show all 12 and then let us wait another year for the next bunch. We waited a year for this bunch, didn't we?

 

[Dream]

Yeesh. Just show all 12 and then let us wait another year for the next bunch. We waited a year for this bunch, didn't we?

One of the advantages of nearly all cable shows is that they run straight through a season instead of taking breaks in between like network tv.

This is just yet another brilliant decesion by the suits at AMC after firing the showrunner and deciding to shoot most of the second season indoors because it is cheaper.

 

[the G-man]

I'll give the new showrunner a chance because he worked on "the Shield." But I have a feeling that network interference is going to kill this show fast.

 

[Brikar99]

This is just yet another brilliant decesion by the suits at AMC after firing the showrunner and deciding to shoot most of the second season indoors because it is cheaper.

It's a brilliant decision... that allows them to release DVDs and blu-rays in six-episode chunks.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Great. They'll make a few extra bucks on the DVDs and get the series cancelled in the process.

 

[Dream]

Great. They'll make a few extra bucks on the DVDs and get the series cancelled in the process.

I remember when Sci Fi tried that shit with BSG. Fans were SO pissed.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Darabont rejoins the show "in some capacity."

Six weeks after suddenly exiting the show he created, executive produced and ran – AMC’s The Walking Dead – Frank Darabont is still in discussions to continue on with an unspecified role on the show. According to inside sources, Darabont is likely to retain his executive producer title, but just what that will mean in terms of his creative input remains uncertain.

Is this just damage control spin?

 

[Morpheus 02]

Darabont rejoins the show "in some capacity."

Six weeks after suddenly exiting the show he created, executive produced and ran – AMC’s The Walking Dead – Frank Darabont is still in discussions to continue on with an unspecified role on the show. According to inside sources, Darabont is likely to retain his executive producer title, but just what that will mean in terms of his creative input remains uncertain.

Is this just damage control spin?

Or maybe they read my post on this thread about firing the AMC execs to save money and took it as a serious threat?

 

[Sindatur]

Darabont rejoins the show "in some capacity."

Six weeks after suddenly exiting the show he created, executive produced and ran – AMC’s The Walking Dead – Frank Darabont is still in discussions to continue on with an unspecified role on the show. According to inside sources, Darabont is likely to retain his executive producer title, but just what that will mean in terms of his creative input remains uncertain.

Is this just damage control spin?

Either that or "Oops, we messed up. HELP!!!!!"

 

[clint g]

Darabont rejoins the show "in some capacity."

Six weeks after suddenly exiting the show he created, executive produced and ran – AMC’s The Walking Dead – Frank Darabont is still in discussions to continue on with an unspecified role on the show. According to inside sources, Darabont is likely to retain his executive producer title, but just what that will mean in terms of his creative input remains uncertain.

Is this just damage control spin?

Either that or "Oops, we messed up. HELP!!!!!"

That's how I take it. Perhaps they realized making good TV is harder than they thought