AMC's "The Walking Dead" spin off to be a prequel?

AMC announced a few months back that they were in the early stages of developing a spin off series to "The Walking Dead", now we are hearing that the new series "will be a prequel of sorts, one that would chronicle the early days of the epidemic and the effort to contain it."

Creator Robert Kirkman previously told IGN that the new series would be set in a different location and would feature completely different people. "It definitely won’t be set in Georgia… It’s important to us that this show exists on its own. The spin-off has to be a show worthy of existing, or else we've all sold out."

Robert Kirkman talks "The Walking Dead" season 4

Along with the newest showrunner Scott M. Gimple, Robert Kirkman is at the centre of "The Walking Dead" season fours development and knows what he is planning for the upcoming season. There is definitely a lot of questions after last weeks Season 3 finale and Kirkman has discussed what we can look for in the fourth season.

As mentioned recently, David Morrissey is back as a series regular in the fourth season. Here’s what Robert Kirkman told IGN about The Governor: "Yeah, he’s still very much in the mix. That’s certainly not the last that we’ll see of him. When we see him again and where we see him again, that’s the big question. It’s not going to be like it was in Season 3; it’s not going to be Rick and the Governor on a collision course with a conflict between them. He’ll be used in very different ways next season."

We’ll see a different Carl and Rick in Season 4: "Rick has had a success. The people at the prison have survived this conflict with the Governor, he brought people from Woodbury into the prison, and he’s kind of had this big win. He’s had this moment where he’s brought people together and he’s doing good things. But he’s had this tremendous loss in that Carl has lost this piece of his humanity. This has been Rick’s main mission throughout the show, to protect his family. We’ve seen two very big failures on that front this season.
Moving into next season, we’re going to see a very different Rick, but one of his main goals is to manage this situation with Carl and see if he can bring him back from this darkness that’s crept into him. Whether or not he’s able to do that, we’ll have to see. But this is a big change in the character of Carl, but it’s something that’s going to be weighing heavily on Rick next season."

Although it seemed very likely, Robert Kirkman confirmed that the new season will take place at the prison once again: "I’ll say that there are a lot of familiar elements that are remaining. Michonne is still around, Rick and his group are still in the prison, the Governor’s still out there… so there are a lot of things that are carrying over from Season 3 to Season 4, but I can’t stress how different things are going to be.
There are going to be some radical changes to those elements that are going to bring in a lot of new storytelling. While [Season 4] does seem somewhat familiar, it’s going to be vastly different from Season 3."

"The Walking Dead" hires new writers

"The Walking Dead" third season hasn't even finished yet, but a huge section of the filming was done last year. The focus is now moving towards the development of the fourth season, with Scott M. Gimple taking over as the seasons show runner. It is now being reported that there is a few new writers joining the set up.

Robert Kirkman: “We’ve always been sort of moving in and out of the comic book, and I think that we’re going to continue to do that. I think that there are huge elements of the comic book in Season 3. Moving into Season 4, it’s going to be pretty much the same…”

Gale Anne Hurd: “We are going to amp up the threat of the walkers, because they’ve started to seem like a manageable threat. They are not a manageable threat… [Scott M. Gimple is] very character-driven; he wrote the episode where Sofia comes out of the barn, he wrote [the Season 3 episode] ‘Clear,’ so you get his voice.”

In case you missed the recent news on Season 4 by AMC here it is;

"AMC announced today that the cast and crew of “The Walking Dead” return to Atlanta, Georgia on Monday, May 6th to begin production on season four. AMC also confirms Scott M. Gimple as showrunner and executive producer for the series’ fourth season to premiere in October with 16 episodes. Gimple has been on the show’s writing staff since season two. Co-Executive Producer, Emmy® Award-winning Special Effects Makeup Supervisor and Director Greg Nicotero and Producer Tom Luse have also been elevated to executive producers. “The Walking Dead” is based on the comic book series created and written by Robert Kirkman and published by Skybound, Kirkman’s imprint at Image Comics. Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert continue to serve as executive producers for season four.

"Scott has been an essential part of this show since he came aboard at the very beginning of season two. He’s contributed to guiding this show in a substantial way that has resulted in a lot of the key scenes and storylines fans have dubbed signature moments of ‘The Walking Dead,’ " said Kirkman.  "I am thrilled to begin work on a brand new season of ‘The Walking Dead’ with Scott at the helm, and I truly believe we could be embarking on what will be the best season of this show yet."

"Scott’s voice has been an integral one since he joined the show. Greg Nicotero is a true artist whose work is simply brilliant. And, Tom Luse has really created the machine that allows this very large show to get made week to week. We congratulate all three in their new roles on the series and look forward to ramping up production on season four," said Joel Stillerman, AMC’s EVP of original programming, production and digital content.

"I’m thrilled to continue the tradition of the spectacular, cinematic, horrifying, exciting and emotional storytelling of ‘The Walking Dead,’" said Gimple. "I’m a huge fan of the comics, and started with the show on the other side of the set, as an avid viewer. Over the past two years, it’s been an incredible privilege making such great television with the best cast and crew I’ve ever worked with – I can’t wait to make some more."

Gimple has written some of the most celebrated and talked-about episodes from seasons two and three including episode 306 (Hounded) and last season’s climatic mid-season finale episode 207 (Pretty Much Dead Already), which revealed Sophia in the barn. Gimple previously worked on NBC’s acclaimed series “Life” and ABC’s cult favorite “Flashforward.” “Flashfoward” began as a collaboration with David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight, Man of Steel) with whom he co-wrote both the Sony feature film Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and episodes two and three in the upcoming inaugural season of Starz’ “DaVinci’s Demons.” Gimple also worked for Matt Groening’s Bongo Comics, where he wrote and edited “Simpsons Comics.” He has also written stories for the comic books “What If?” and “Spider-Man Unlimited."

Nicotero (Kill Bill, Transformers, Inglorious Basterds) and his team received the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup two years in a row (2011/2012) for their work on “The Walking Dead.” In addition to leading the visual and special effects and makeup for the series, Nicotero has directed several episodes. Luse (Remember the Titans, “One Tree Hill,” Jeepers Creepers, “The Joneses,” “Everwood”) has been with the show since the beginning of production and was instrumental in setting up the production of AMC’s first owned scripted series. Based in Atlanta, he manages and oversees the day-to-day production of the series."

Top 3 TV Shows

So I decided to do a feature on what I think are the best TV Shows currently airing, this is no way me saying "oh you're wrong, these are the best shows". These are just the shows that I love watching the most every week. This list will not include Sitcoms, well because that is just a whole other list for a whole other day. Thought I would mix it up an only name my top 3 shows, everybody does a top 5 or even a top 10 but when you're going as far as naming 10 you are naming a good 80% if not more of the shows you watch. It is easy to just name them an not put any thought into it. I was also thinking about including an honourable mentions section, but after I wrote this piece I put a list of all the shows I'd put in my "honourable mentions" section. I turned out to be every other show I watched ha ha, I just couldn't pin down shows. I'd love to hear what you guys/girls are watching give me some ideas of what to watch next, so just leave a comment below an let me know.

1 - Sons Of Anarchy

Obviously it had to be "Sons Of Anarchy", Kurt Sutter is an absolute genius. Sons combines every genre we all love, it has something for everybody. There isn't a single thing about this show that I don't like, all the characters are well defined, there is twists to keep you coming back for more, the intensity of the story will keep you on the edge of your seat every episode. The show is so gritty at times you feel like looking away to avoid seeing something you feel you shouldn't but you know you have to.

 "A man in his early 30s struggles to find a balance in his life between being a new dad and his involvement in a motorcycle club."

2 - The Walking Dead

Another show from a small network, "The Walking Dead" I originally heard about "The Walking Dead" a couple a few years ago when it was just a comic book series. But when I heard it was being made into a TV Show I was apprehensive to say the least I mean we hadn't seen a zombie TV Series, but my apprehension were completely off. "The Walking Dead" turned out to be by far the best Horror/Drama show there has ever been. I have watched countless Zombie-related films, the show is even better than all of these combined.

"Police officer Rick Grimes leads a group of survivors in a world overrun by zombies."

3 - Supernatural

Supernatural is easily my favourite show on Television right now I've been watching it since 2006/2007. Just because it is my favourite it doesn't obviously make it the best at times the story lacks the intensity of the above two shows. Its kind of hard to review this show its overall story changes each season, but even admitting that I'm hung on every word uttered in this show. Its kind of like "X-Files" in a way but more of a Horror version. This isn't the only show that revolves around supernatural events as its main theme "Grimm" & "True Blood" (much more vampire than supernatural, but you catch my drift).

"Two brothers follow their father's footsteps as "hunters" fighting evil supernatural beings of many kinds including monsters, demons, and gods that roam the earth."

"Zombieland" TV Series?

It's looking more and more likely that a "Zombieland" sequel is not going to happen, which I personally believe is heartbreaking I loved the original. But, the Zombieland TV Series that has been rumoured since I'd say 2011 appears to be on the up and up. Back in October 2011, it was announced that Fox and Paramount Pictures were discussing bringing onto the TV scene.

Back then Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick the original screenwriters for the movie were working on scripts for to be developed as 30 minute episodes. For those that were unaware, like myself "Zombieland" was originally developed as a TV Pilot which was written by Reese and Wernick so these guys have had the basic layout for a TV Series set up for a long time.

It's being reported that the project is moving onto the casting stages an the production company has sent out casting call sheets for the main characters. It's looking likely that the characters are going to differ a bit from the film, below we have some apparent information on what the characters are going to be like.


“Tallahassee is still kind of a snarky weirdo, but he seems to have a much less spiky relationship with Columbus. He and Columbus have a pretty amusing thing where they riff on the fact that Steven Seagal movies always have three-word titles like “Marked for Justice” or “May Cause Diarrhea.” But Tallahassee also dispenses homespun wisdom about how to feel happy with your life. He also tells a weird story about being in a trailer park with a perpetually nude Matthew McConaughey. He also has a somewhat heartwarming scene where he tells Columbus that he’s been wandering aimlessly for a long time, but maybe he’s been put here for a reason — to help Columbus and the others.

Columbus is much the same, except that he tracks down his grandma and grandpa (Bubbie and Peepaw) only to find them recently zombiefied. Also, Columbus is trying to deal with his newfound relationship with Wichita, after their first kiss. He has started calling her “Krista,” her real name — but there are some problems, especially after she finds him reading a book about fatherhood. He tries to organize a romantic scavenger hunt for her in the IKEA they’re camping out in, but it goes kind of horribly.

Wichita is still trying to look after Little Rock, trying to teach her math with problems about someone stealing from a liquor store and jumping on a train going 42 miles per hour, with a cop chasing in a car going 88 miles per hour. We also learn a lot more about Wichita’s backstory, including how she ran away from her father after he had her stealing people’s Christmas presents — and later, she found out she had a sister who was also being a grifter with her dad.

Little Rock seems actually kind of excited about meeting Columbus’ grandparents, before they turn out to be zombies. And she shares some of her own backstory, about how her dad parked her at a school while he went off grifting on his own — and then yanked her out of school right before a dance that she was looking forward to.”

Bare in mind that none of these details have been officially announced, with that being said what television station wouldn't want this on their network. Look at the success of some of the other Horror related shows on television now "Supernatural" has reached its 9th Season, "Walking Dead" is one of the favourite shows in the US and the UK plus the likes of "True Blood" and "American Horror Story".

"The Walking Dead" picked up for 16 episode 3rd season

By the looks of it AMC have realised that a 13 episode season just doesn't cut it, when it comes to a show of "The Walking Dead"'s epicness. They have recently announced that they had commissioned a third season which will consist of 16 episodes.




"AMC announced today from the Television Critics Association (TCA) Press Tour in Pasadena, CA that the third season of The Walking Dead will consist of 16 episodes. Previous season orders were for 13 episodes. AMC’s international broadcast partner FOX International Channels (FIC) will follow the 16 episode order and structure a similar schedule worldwide. Season 2 of the critically acclaimed global hit series continues to deliver the strongest telecasts for any drama in basic cable history against Adults 18-49, as well as, top international pay-TV ratings on Fox International Channels’ (FIC) major markets. The Walking Dead is based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. Glen Mazzara serves as the series’ showrunner and executive producer. Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert and Frank Darabont are executive producers with Greg Nicotero as co-executive producer.

The Walking Dead has received rave reviews from countless critics, both domestic and international, who heralded the series as “above all else, The Walking Dead hasn’t lost the most important ingredient in its strangely successful recipe: it’s thrilling” (The Hollywood Reporter), “…with Dead’s riveting cast of characters, the personal dynamics are almost as potent as the gory thrills” (Us Weekly), “The Walking Dead is a feast. Dig in.” (The Guardian, UK), “It doesn’t even take three minutes to realise that this series is setting standards” (Der Tagesspiegel, Germany)"