The Talking Dead

[rongravy]

I'm totally stoked that it's an hour long now, but they could've gotten someone wayyyyyyyyy better than Jabba the Butt/Kevin Smith. Nothing he said was witty, let alone relevant to the show. He's a fan? Ehhhhh, kind of not buying it. At least as much as he claims whilst mugging in front of the camera...
And we, the lucky ones, get to stare at his supersized calf "muscles".
He's the second worst guest ever, behind only Dave Navarro. Some of the comedians I've seen seem to be able to hang, but some of the guests just plain suck balls and have no reason for even being there. The chick from Community, or the tattooed fighter looking guy...
I'd prefer just people involved with the show in some way. Who wants to hear Walking Dead questions posed to posers like Kevin Smith? I couldn't give a flying flip what he thinks. I can live with the fact that the show people really can't share much in the end, but WTF do these people have to add? Nothing.
An hour of them trying to Keep Smith, and his crap comic book store show, tied into the conversation and funjinx kills the whole point of them stretching the show to an hour. I liked the little thangie they did with Milton. I'd like more of that, and more FX stuff.

[Harleydude666]

I'm totally stoked that it's an hour long now, but they could've gotten someone wayyyyyyyyy better than Jabba the Butt/Kevin Smith. Nothing he said was witty, let alone relevant to the show. He's a fan? Ehhhhh, kind of not buying it. At least as much as he claims whilst mugging in front of the camera...
And we, the lucky ones, get to stare at his supersized calf "muscles".
He's the second worst guest ever, behind only Dave Navarro. Some of the comedians I've seen seem to be able to hang, but some of the guests just plain suck balls and have no reason for even being there. The chick from Community, or the tattooed fighter looking guy...
I'd prefer just people involved with the show in some way. Who wants to hear Walking Dead questions posed to posers like Kevin Smith? I couldn't give a flying flip what he thinks. I can live with the fact that the show people really can't share much in the end, but WTF do these people have to add? Nothing.
An hour of them trying to Keep Smith, and his crap comic book store show, tied into the conversation and funjinx kills the whole point of them stretching the show to an hour. I liked the little thangie they did with Milton. I'd like more of that, and more FX stuff.

I'm no Kevin smith fan but I thought he was a decent guest. He was engaging, a few laughs and knows the show well. I also thought as a guest Navarro was a bright spot. He was all about the show.
Sorry but worst guest and show was when Sarah Silverman and some useless rubber cone were on. I really almost gave up on the show after that. The jury is still out on the format being an hour long. I wanted it also but I can see it getting to the point of overkill

[JonOfTheShred]

They should start bringing on a weekly HPOTD member.

And I still think they should get Joe Pilato to host the show.....as Captain Rhodes. Never breaking character. Get Bub as a guest star.

[babomb]

They should start bringing on a weekly HPOTD member.

And I still think they should get Joe Pilato to host the show.....as Captain Rhodes. Never breaking character. Get Bub as a guest star. I could see being a guest via skype.
The Joe Pilato and Bub thing, if he was playing Rhodes and never breaking character, it wouldn't have any relevance to the show at all.
It'd kinda be like having Hugh jackman and Anna Paquin do ballroom dancing in costume as an aftershow for a Batman cartoon.

[JonOfTheShred]

I could see being a guest via skype.
The Joe Pilato and Bub thing, if he was playing Rhodes and never breaking character, it wouldn't have any relevance to the show at all.
It'd kinda be like having Hugh jackman and Anna Paquin do ballroom dancing in costume as an aftershow for a Batman cartoon.

Only KINDA like, since the Batman cartoons never necessitated a post-episode Talk Show. Also, Hugh Jackmans portrayal of Wolverine and Anna Paquin as Rogue didn't occur until years after Batman the Animated Series and Batman Beyond were finished. And I'd rather the aftershow of Batman Animated Series consisting of Famke Janssen in character as the horny Phoenix. HNNNNNNNNNGGGG

Captain Rhodes, in character as a host would be more fitting than Chris Hardwick, who is at his best in the comedy duo Hard 'n' Phirm.

[Neil]

And I still think they should get Joe Pilato to host the show.....as Captain Rhodes. Never breaking character. Get Bub as a guest star.

The scary thing would be 90% of the audience probably wouldn't know who the hell they were :(

[rongravy]

I'm no Kevin smith fan but I thought he was a decent guest. He was engaging, a few laughs and knows the show well. I also thought as a guest Navarro was a bright spot. He was all about the show.
Smith was muggy, and I'd disagree on his knowledge of the show. I can't remember what it was that tipped me off, and I already erased it off of DVR.
As far as Navarro...
Not really a spot as much as a stain, more like a skid mark. He posed and preened, and he didn't even know the name of the character he was talking about
AFTER talking about how he watched it fervently!!!
I used to absolutely LOVE Jane's Addiction, and that dickwheel totally ruined it for me. Keep his lame ass on that idiotic tattoo show and away from my beloved show.

[babomb]

I really don't even like Talking Dead much. Extending it to an hour long show was stupid. You can tell they're struggling to fill it. They got bands performing on it now and shit.
The only decent ones are the ones with actual cast members.
It's a waste of an hour. I'd rather they replayed that weeks episode again in that time slot. Or even the previous weeks episode. Hell, replaying an episode from a previous season would be a better use of that time. Only thing worse is Comic book Men.

[Ragnarr]

If I was one of the producers of TTD, I would redo the entire studio making it appear that they are under siege from a horde of undead outside. Instead of the David Letterman city backdrop, I'd have stagehands acting as undead behind the boarded-up windows so you can only see stumbling shadows and maybe their fingers and hands trying to get thru the boards. None of these buggers have anything close to what I'd call an imagination.

[JonOfTheShred]

If I was one of the producers of TTD, I would redo the entire studio making it appear that they are under siege from a horde of undead outside. Instead of the David Letterman city backdrop, I'd have stagehands acting as undead behind the boarded-up windows so you can only see stumbling shadows and maybe their fingers and hands trying to get thru the boards. None of these buggers have anything close to what I'd call an imagination.

That would make the show 100 times better. A zombie theme to the entire set? Realistically, the money Walking Dead is pulling in, they could probably recreate a famous setpiece of classic zombie cinema every week for Talking Dead.

[kidgloves]

Just saw an advert for this on FoxUK. On next week for those who weren't watching it via other means. Not sure if it's the 1st show or what but it's on at 10.20 next week

[DayoftheZ]

I noticed that too, and I assume it will be to tie in with the season finale. I have never seen it so will be interested to see what its like.

[kidgloves]

I noticed that too, and I assume it will be to tie in with the season finale. I have never seen it so will be interested to see what its like.

Its something i put on in the background after the episode. Sometimes the guest/topic is interesting and its worth paying attention to and its pretty good after a "big" episode.
I like Chris Hardwick but i can see why others dont so its a mixed bag in entertainment terms

[MinionZombie]

Its something i put on in the background after the episode. Sometimes the guest/topic is interesting and its worth paying attention to and its pretty good after a "big" episode.
I like Chris Hardwick but i can see why others dont so its a mixed bag in entertainment terms

I had a watch of it last night and while it's good to have it on in this country, the editing job they did on it was awful (in order to take out the live quiz, or mention of "Skype" etc) ... at one point the editing was so sloppy you saw Hardwick's head snap from facing one way to the other in the same shot. :lol: The placement of the advert breaks was all over the shop, too ... so if they're going to make it a permanent thing, and AMC want Talking Dead to be more international, they'll have to come up with some way to make the show work better for international audiences - perhaps record alternative links after the live recording, or at least frame them in such a way that they can be edited out cleanly for international broadcast.

[kidgloves]

Was great again tonight. Love Kevin Smiths enthusiasm

- - - Updated - - -

Interestingly this was cut in the US cause Paul Bettany just said "fucked" on the UK version which I noticed was blanked out in the version I watched earlier.
Hmmmmmm

[JDP]

I could see being a guest via skype.
The Joe Pilato and Bub thing, if he was playing Rhodes and never breaking character, it wouldn't have any relevance to the show at all.
It'd kinda be like having Hugh jackman and Anna Paquin do ballroom dancing in costume as an aftershow for a Batman cartoon.

Technically true, but you have to admit that there are way more connections between The Walking Dead and any character or person involved with making Day of the Dead than many of the guests they have on that after show. Even the iconic wind-swept newspaper that says "The Dead Walk!" would have more connections to The Walking Dead than many of the guests.

Regarding guests in general: I remember that Alice Cooper once called the show and said he was a big fan of The Walking Dead. That would be a cool guest to have. He might even take some walkers on tour with him.

[MinionZombie]

Was great again tonight. Love Kevin Smiths enthusiasm

Interestingly this was cut in the US cause Paul Bettany just said "fucked" on the UK version which I noticed was blanked out in the version I watched earlier.
Hmmmmmm

Aye, and I dug the rapport Bettany had with Hardwick and Smith. It's fun to see other folks genuinely having fun on the show - and knowing the subject matter well. I do wish the Americans would grow up when it comes to swearing ... it's just a word, guys, come on. ;) Dug Smith's sneakily-worded 'never-ending BJ' analogy, too, heh.


I remember that Alice Cooper once called the show and said he was a big fan of The Walking Dead. That would be a cool guest to have. He might even take some walkers on tour with him.

Yeah! Now that I'd love to see! :)

Although I disagree on your assessment of most guests not being clued up on the show. There have certainly been infamous instances such as Marilyn Manson or the notorious Dave "I've invested 14 hours of my life in this show" Navarro (an absolute low point for guests on the show that has yet to be matched, thankfully). Hardwick has spoken about the choice of guests at times in the past before and has said that they always do their best to make sure the person they're having on actually watches they show. They don't have to be religious or fastidious about it, but it helps. One of their best recurring guests is this lady Yvette Nicole Brown (with her notebook of things to discuss on Talking Dead, hehe) - I love her passion and in-depth reading of the episodes. She feels like she'd fit right in on HPOTD. :)

In the past there have certainly been guests that I've spotted immediately as either fakers or just not caught up on the show properly. You can tell by how vague they are, and that they never referenced previous episodes (i.e. just reacting to what they've been shown before going live). In the last couple of seasons of Talking Dead they've really upped their game, not only including more guests from the show itself (it's rare now to not have one - or even two - guests from TWD land), but making sure their guests are clued up on TWD.

[JDP]

Yeah! Now that I'd love to see! :)

Although I disagree on your assessment of most guests not being clued up on the show. There have certainly been infamous instances such as Marilyn Manson or the notorious Dave "I've invested 14 hours of my life in this show" Navarro (an absolute low point for guests on the show that has yet to be matched, thankfully). Hardwick has spoken about the choice of guests at times in the past before and has said that they always do their best to make sure the person they're having on actually watches they show. They don't have to be religious or fastidious about it, but it helps. One of their best recurring guests is this lady Yvette Nicole Brown (with her notebook of things to discuss on Talking Dead, hehe) - I love her passion and in-depth reading of the episodes. She feels like she'd fit right in on HPOTD. :)

In the past there have certainly been guests that I've spotted immediately as either fakers or just not caught up on the show properly. You can tell by how vague they are, and that they never referenced previous episodes (i.e. just reacting to what they've been shown before going live). In the last couple of seasons of Talking Dead they've really upped their game, not only including more guests from the show itself (it's rare now to not have one - or even two - guests from TWD land), but making sure their guests are clued up on TWD.

Alice Cooper fan, I see :)

When I said "connection" I meant it as in "zombie-related", rather than if the guest is a real fan of the show or not. I agree that many of the guests are indeed real fans, but the posts I intended to respond to were more concerned with the fact that many of the guests don't have an actual connection of any kind with the show.

[MinionZombie]

Alice Cooper fan, I see :)

When I said "connection" I meant it as in "zombie-related", rather than if the guest is a real fan of the show or not. I agree that many of the guests are indeed real fans, but the posts I intended to respond to were more concerned with the fact that many of the guests don't have an actual connection of any kind with the show.

Oh yeah, big fan of Alice Cooper. :cool:

I suppose with the folks from the show itself, they're either working on the show at the time (quite a distance away, too), or they're having a break (time with family, enjoying free time, working on other projects), so there's a logisital issue. They're good at getting at least one person from one side of the camera or other to turn up and represent and buddy them up with a celebrity guest fan of the show. There's only so much time on the couch as well, so there's lots of factors I think. There were times earlier on when they wouldn't have anyone from the show for weeks at a time, but now it's quite rare to not having someone on who's linked to the show, so they've improved on that front quite a lot. It's good to have a mix between folks behind/in front TWD's cameras and commentators who take our position as viewers (acting like a conduit) so there's two perspectives on the viewing experience - sometimes the celebrity fan will ask something that isn't necessarily obvious to us all, but to someone who works on the show it's clear and so it can be explained ... so yeah, various factors and practical issues I guess.

[kidgloves]

Also love Yvette Nicole Brown. Proper TWD nerd (compliment). She's on next week with Lindelof so I'm going to have to pay extra attention so I can keep up with her.
I've always thought this genre would have legs once it hit mainstream purely with the number of fans within the industry.
We've even had the "hollywoodification" of a genre classic (imo).
Brad Pitt and Arnie have been the leads in "zombie" movies.

[JDP]

One of the The Talking Dead guests in yesterday's show might be a reader of these forums. He complained about viewers who criticize the decisions that characters in The Walking Dead make, and he specifically referred to those who say that Rick should have burned the zombies while they were trapped in the quarry instead of letting them out :lol:

Well, current events in the show prove that all those of us who thought it was a much less risky business to try to destroy the zombies while they were still trapped in the quarry were basically correct. It is not a good idea at all to try to guide hundreds of unruly zombies for miles. A whole bunch of stuff could go wrong in such an attempt, way more than simply trying to burn or blast the zombies while they are in a position that they can't get at you. It is not rocket science. It is just common sense.

[MinionZombie]

One of the The Talking Dead guests in yesterday's show might be a reader of these forums. He complained about viewers who criticize the decisions that characters in The Walking Dead make, and he specifically referred to those who say that Rick should have burned the zombies while they were trapped in the quarry instead of letting them out :lol:

Damon Lindelof? Yeah, that comment did make me chuckle, although I imagine many folks over the interwebs had similar thoughts.

To be fair, Rick's plan would have totally worked - it was the totally unforseen attack on Alexandria, and the even more 50/50 chance of the truck horn being leaned on in death - that scuppered it.

Even the burned option, as convinced of it as I initially was, would carry with it a whole heap of problems of it's own (such as attracting more walkers, lighting a massive smoke signal for any nefarious goons in the wilderness, etc).

Great to see Yvette Nicole Brown back on the show with all her insights. I love how she loves this show so much, and really digs into the meat of things, digging out little references and foreshadowing moments and so on. She's the best recurring guest they've had on the show who doesn't also work on TWD. :cool:

[JDP]

To be fair, Rick's plan would have totally worked - it was the totally unforseen attack on Alexandria, and the even more 50/50 chance of the truck horn being leaned on in death - that scuppered it.

That was one of a bunch of things that could have gone wrong with such a risky idea. If it wasn't that unforeseen attack it could have been something else. It is just not a good idea to try to lead a horde of zombies to a destination miles away.


Even the burned option, as convinced of it as I initially was, would carry with it a whole heap of problems of it's own (such as attracting more walkers, lighting a massive smoke signal for any nefarious goons in the wilderness, etc).

The zombies in the quarry are already attracting more zombies, so that would not make much of a difference. The plan is to get rid of the accumulated ones. Then you can either unblock the exits so that they no longer become trapped or let them accumulate again only to eventually get rid of them again.

As for hostile human groups, sooner of later they are going to spot Alexandria no matter what. The place is big and even has signs advertising it around the area (I don't understand why they haven't got rid of these signs yet, they might give other groups of survivors the idea to go check out the place.)

[carpetbeggar]

One of the The Talking Dead guests in yesterday's show might be a reader of these forums. He complained about viewers who criticize the decisions that characters in The Walking Dead make, and he specifically referred to those who say that Rick should have burned the zombies while they were trapped in the quarry instead of letting them out :lol:

Well, current events in the show prove that all those of us who thought it was a much less risky business to try to destroy the zombies while they were still trapped in the quarry were basically correct. It is not a good idea at all to try to guide hundreds of unruly zombies for miles. A whole bunch of stuff could go wrong in such an attempt, way more than simply trying to burn or blast the zombies while they are in a position that they can't get at you. It is not rocket science. It is just common sense.


I know people over at TWD reddit forum were flipping their shit over Rick's plan too. Quite a hilarious read if one has time to burn.