via press release:
AMC LAUNCHES NEWEST ORIGINAL DRAMA "THE Walking Dead" WITH A 90-MINUTE PREMIERE EPISODE ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31, 10PM
Series Stars Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn and others
Written, Directed and Executive-Produced by Frank Darabont, Executive Produced by Gale Anne Hurd
New York, NY - August 2010 - AMC's newest original series, "The Walking Dead," will premiere on Halloween night, Sunday, October 31 at 10 PM ET. The Sunday night series will debut with a 90-minute premiere episode, airing at 10 PM, October 31st. Subsequent episodes will be one-hour long presentations.
In conjunction with the announcement, today AMC released a four and a half-minute trailer, previewing the series, as was seen at this year's Comicon. The trailer can be viewed on www.amctv.com.
The series will premiere during AMC's Fearfest, the network's annual blockbuster marathon of thriller and horror films. Fearfest is celebrating its 14th Year by airing 14 consecutive days of themed programming with more than 50 films.
"The Walking Dead" is AMC's first wholly-owned original series.
"The Walking Dead" is based on the comic book written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. The six-episode series tells the story of life following a zombie apocalypse. It follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln ("Love Actually," "Teachers," "Strike Back"), traveling in search of a safe and secure home. Jon Bernthal ("The Pacific," "The Ghost Writer") plays Rick's sheriff's department partner before the apocalypse, Shane Walsh, and Sarah Wayne Callies ("Prison Break"), is Rick's wife, Lori. Supporting cast include Laurie Holden ("The Shield"), Jeffrey DeMunn, Chandler Riggs and Steven Yeun.
Three-time Academy Award-nominee Frank Darabont ("The Shawshank Redemption," "The Green Mile") serves as writer, director and executive producer. Chairwoman of Valhalla Motion Pictures, Gale Anne Hurd ("The Terminator," "Aliens," "Armageddon," "The Incredible Hulk"), creator of the original comic series, Robert Kirkman, and David Alpert from Circle of Confusion serve as Executive Producer. Charles "Chic" Eglee ("Dexter," "The Shield," "Dark Angel") and Jack LoGiudice ("Sons of Anarchy," "Resurrection Blvd") are Co-Executive Producer.
About AMC
AMC reigns as the only network to ever win the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series - Drama three years in a row and the only basic cable network to win back-to-back Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series. Whether commemorating favorite films from every genre and decade from the most comprehensive library or creating acclaimed original productions, the AMC experience is an uncompromising celebration of great stories. AMC's original stories include the Emmy Award-winning dramas "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad," and insightful non-scripted programming such as "AMC News." AMC further demonstrates its commitment to the art of storytelling with curated movie franchises like AMC Hollywood Icon and AMC Complete Collection. Available in more than 95 million homes (Source: Nielsen Media Research), AMC is a subsidiary of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, which includes sister networks IFC, Sundance Channel, WE tv and Wedding Central. AMC is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile. AMC: Story Matters Here(SM).
The comic is awesome, can’t wait to see this!
Looks great. I know what I’ll be doing on Halloween.
So excited! For this show, but mainly because of this:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dish-network-adds-amc-hd-to-industry-leading-hd-lineup-101302769.html
WOO HOO! I never watched Breaking Bad or Mad Men because of this, but I’ll be watching Walking Dead in HD, which I couldn’t be happier about. Also, I’ll actually start watching Rubicon.
the trailer was pretty awesome. Highest-rated AMC original ever in the making?
So since the press release lists it as a “six-hour series,” does that mean it’s a miniseries? Or is there an option for renewal?
I would be shocked if AMC hasn’t finally found something that appeals to the masses. Maybe not True Blood ratings masses (though maybe it will grow like TB), but at least comparable to any USA show masses. And I say this knowing I probably will not be watching. I don’t do zombies.
I know peeps have dvrs but its going up against steelers@saints & game 4 of the world series that nite.
I’m so going to be watching this, how can a show go wrong when it’s about an actual zombie apocalypse?!
They should do cross-over episodes.
where does it say that? Not in the release above. The word miniseries is used nowhere, and the word “series’ is used several times including ““The Walking Dead” is AMC’s first wholly-owned original series.”
It doesn’t say six-hours, but it does say, “The six-episode series…” which does sound like it may be a miniseries, though it is the first time I’ve heard that about it.
Ah, Julia’s on the case! I did a search on “mini” and couldn’t find it anywhere but completely missed the “six-episode series.” I’ll check and see what I can find out.
Ah, Julia’s on the case! I did a search on “mini” and couldn’t find it anywhere but completely missed the “six-episode series.” I’ll check and see what I can find out.
Yeah, I thought maybe they might specifically avoiding the word “miniseries,” since that brand of entertainment seems to have gone out of style.
Although, now that I think about it, didn’t “Breaking Bad” have a short first season? I don’t watch it, but I vaguely remember hearing about that somewhere.
It’s a 6 episode 1st season. I read a blog where Darabont said that AMC specifically ordered only 6 episodes as a test run to see how the show does. If it does well, AMC will order a 2nd season and increase the order to 13.
Breaking Bad’s first season was 7 episodes, but that was due to the writers’ strike. The original order was 13 episodes, I think. (But it may have been 10 or 12, too. I don’t recall exactly, and I didn’t start watching until right before season 2.)
I’m predicting the series premiere gets anywhere from 4-5M viewers and maybe a 1.5 in the demos. Really looking forward to Halloween night.
Great, thanks!
“Breaking Bad’s first season was 7 episodes, but that was due to the writers’ strike. The original order was 13 episodes, I think. (But it may have been 10 or 12,”
I think it was a 9 episodes season:
“New York, NY – June 20, 2007 – AMC announced today that it has greenlit Breaking Bad, the one-hour original drama from acclaimed writer/producer/director Vince Gilligan (X-Files). The network ordered eight new episodes in addition to the pilot which was shot on location in New Mexico earlier this year…..”
I’m so there. This looks great. I still can’t believe AMC took a chance on this but hurray.