Wow!!!!!!!!! Can't wait for it to start, it looks really good!

Heads up to anyone following this show. It premieres 10/16 with a 90 minute show but there's going to be a LONG break about mid-season. 11 weeks. First they lost Frank Darabont, now this. Personally, I think AMC is just trying to kill the show. AND it's going up against Dexter. With Dexter's ridiculous season last year they could get away with that. But I think I'll just watch Dex & catch TWD on demand. Bad move on AMC's part IMO.

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AMC Is Splitting Up The Walking Dead's Second Season

There was some good news and a gigantic pile of bad news at AMC today concerning its hit series The Walking Dead. But because I like to put a smile on your face before I completely ruin your mood, we'll start with the good news: The Season 2 premiere will be 90 minutes long! Yipee!

Now for the bad news: The 13-episode second season will be sliced in two like the soft torso of a lumbering, rotting corpse as it meets the fine steel of a katana. The first seven episodes will air over seven consecutive Sundays starting October 16. That will take the series through November 27. Then it goes on break. A long break. Like, a backpacking through Europe break.

The remaining six episodes won't begin airing until February 12. That means December and January will be entirely zombie free. Yikes! I can't stand split seasons. Hate 'em to death. And I can't think of a reason anyone would like them. Especially with a season that's only 13 episodes long in the first place!

Breaks suck. They cost networks marketing dollars, because they essentially force the promotion of two different premieres. They disrupt the flow of the affected series, and with a serialized show like The Walking Dead, that will be extra noticeable. NBC tried a long break during the first season of The Event, and that program never recovered (not that it ever stood a chance). Men of a Certain Age returned for Season 2.5, but no one knew about it and the show was canceled. I suppose AMC could have started The Walking Dead early and finished it by the end of 2012, but the network seems locked on launching the series in October as part of its "Scary Halloween Month" or whatever.

However, before you take out your quill and legal pad to pen an angry letter ("To whom it may concern at AMC, what about my feelings!?"), consider the decision from AMC's side. I reached out to AMC to poke around about why they're choosing to go with a break and not run it straight through, and now I understand. Fact: TV always goes into hibernation in December, because everyone's traveling across country to Grandma's house. Sundays in January belong to football—especially the Super Bowl, which kicks off (literally!) on February 5. Scheduling The Walking Dead against America's number-one obsession would mean crummier ratings, as Sunday Night Football and zombies would overlap on the East Coast. And if I were forced to choose between watching my fantasy football team choke or watching The Walking Dead, I'd catch up with the monsters on my DVR the following day.

But the lengthy break has the potential not just to hurt The Walking Dead and its fans, it could completely derail Hell on Wheels, the new AMC Western that's due to launch Sunday, November 6. If the network applies the same reasoning behind The Walking Dead's break to Hell on Wheels—and it should, unless something fishy is going on—we're looking at four consecutive episodes to introduce us to the series, then the same two-month break, then the final six episodes (presumably paired with The Walking Dead's last six episodes). Splitting up a debut season is a huge risk, and frankly, not a very wise business decision, given that viewers are fickle creatures with short-term memories. A new series needs time to sink its claws into a new audience, and cutting the introductions short is like walking out of a room in the middle of a conversation. (Requests for comment on Hell on Wheels' scheduling from AMC were not returned as of press time.)


http://www.tv.com/news/amc-is-splitting-up-em-the-walking-dead-em-s-second-season-26608/

Well if we can go with True Blood off for a whole year then we can go with this being off for 3 months. I still look forward to seeing it and a 90 minute opener, thats great!!

Tony Marino wrote:

Well if we can go with True Blood off for a whole year then we can go with this being off for 3 months. I still look forward to seeing it and a 90 minute opener, thats great!!

Well, we'll see. People are creatures of habit. When they find something else during the 11 weeks they probably won't bother to come back. I don't think they're smart enough to pull it off without Frank Darabont. Maybe the network should have have premiered the show sooner to avoid a ridiculous hiatus like this. But I think the truth is the cheapskates at AMC know they screwed the pooch in losing Darabont. Because all that wonderful stuff we all love about The Walking Dead? Yeah, that would be Darabont.

Well they claim that its going to be just as good and even better without him. We shall see. I agree that people might find something else to watch but I DVR it so I can watch it at anytime after its on.

AMC is throwing money at Mad Men & taking it away from The Walking Dead. Now you would think that even though Mad Men for some ungodly reason only explainable by strange forces in the universe wins the Emmys, but TWD is their top rated show. Actually top rated in the HISTORY of the network. So you would think that is where they would want to focus. More filming will be indoors. They apparently want to cut down on the zombies. They think they can make this show cheaper. Funny they don't think that about Mad Men...

My gut feeling is the real reason for the extended break is so people won't immediately notice the difference from the eps Darabont did & then the ones from AMC's experiment. I hope it does well but I have my doubts especially when the rumor going around is that the cast & crew are being warned to keep their mouths shut & reminded that it is a zombie show & anyone can die. What's in danger of happening here is what happens when you let the suits run the music business. They take it out of the hands of the artists & hand it to some jackass with a marketing degree. It ends up losing its heart & soul.