TV News

AMC Greenlights Two Reality Series, One Set In Kevin Smith’s Comic Book Shop

The network known for their scripted
dramas is entering the reality TV market with two new series. AMC
announced that JJK Security and Kevin Smith’s Secret Stash
have both been greenlighted for a season order. Both series will
start in 2012, with Secret Stash premiering some time in the
first quarter and JJK Security in the third. After budget
cuts have affected three of their series, the choice to move into
unscripted shows is likely also due to AMC being strapped for cash.

Secret Stash will be executive
produced by Kevin Smith and take place in his New Jersey comic book
store, Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash. The goal of the series
will be to display the world of comic book shops and the culture that
comes along with them. Smith expressed his excitement about working
with the network, “Draper. Meth. Zombies. This show couldn’t
be on a better network.” Six hour-long episodes of the series have
been ordered.

The Walking Dead: Season Split and Premiere Extended

AMC announced today that The Walking
Dead’s second season premiere would have the same treatment as
the first season with a 90 minute extended episode. The network also
stated that the second season would be split in half. The first seven
episodes will air this fall as planned, beginning on October 16 and
kicking off AMC’s annual Fearfest lineup. The season will finish its
run with the final six episodes beginning on February 12.

It is commonplace for cable networks to
divide their show’s seasons, though this marks the first occasion for
AMC. It won’t be their last, as the network will likely also be
splitting Breaking Bad’s final sixteen episode season. The
network’s newest series, Hell on Wheels, which begins November
6, will be airing along with The Walking Dead’s first half,
and will maintain AMC’s presence on Sunday nights until the the
second half begins.

Ronald D. Moore Working on Western for ABC

According to Deadline, former Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica producer Ronald D. Moore has set up a new pilot at ABC, a western TV Series titled Hangtown. With no official confirmation or denial from ABC as of yet, information surrounding the show remains speculative, but Deadline offered this as a description for the concept, should it go to series: 

“Described as a Western with a procedural overlay, Hangtown is set in the early 1900s in a frontier town that’s begun to rapidly expand with the coming of the railroad. It centers around three characters: the Marshal, a Matt Dillon/Clint Eastwood type who prefers to solve crimes by his instinct, a young Doctor from the East Coast who is interested in using the new field of forensics to solve crimes, and a young woman writer who is trying to sell dime novels to the publishing houses in New York about crime in the Wild West. Every week the instincts of the Marshal, the science of the doctor, and the young woman’s drive to tell a rousing good yarn to her editors, combine to solve crimes in a wide-open, lawless town.”

Fringe Going Back to the Future

Fringe show-runner Jeff Pinker has confirmed that new episodes in the upcoming fourth season of the sci-fi drama will return to the future. In the show’s acclaimed third season finale, Peter (Joshua Jackson) was erased from history after traveling to a dystopian future world and subsequently altering the universe with the power at his disposal.

“The future that we saw in 2026 will now not have happened, because by altering the past, inevitably you set in motion a new chain of events that lead to a different future,” Pinkner told TV Guide. The executive producer also revealed that the fourth season ofFringe will include more glimpses into the past.

The CW Gets Supernatural Creator To Adapt Deadman

In the ever growing trend of comic book
adaptions, Deadman will be the next to take a shot at
television. Deadline announced that The CW will be developing the
series based on the DC property. Eric Kripke, who created the
network’s longest running series, Supernatural, will be
helming the new project. President of CW, Mark Pedowitz, expressed
the importance of finding a replacement for Smallville, which
ended in May after ten seasons; “We’re looking next year to do a
superhero show if the right superhero comes to be.”

Deadman
revolves around Boston Brand, a murdered trapeze artist and acrobat.
After his death he becomes a ghost with the ability to possess
anyone. He uses his ability to help those he inhabits with their own
challenges, while also hunting down his killer. Created by Arnold
Drake and Carmine Infantino, the character first appeared in a 1967
issue of Strange Adventures.

Trailer for Failed Locke & Key Pilot

Despite not being picked up by Fox,
Locke & Key keeps coming up in the news. Only a month
after the failed pilot’s screening at Comic-Con, a trailer meant for
advertisers has been released online. The adaption of the comic
series by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez was passed on by Fox during
the Network Upfronts a few months ago. After shopping the pilot
around cable stations, the series still isn’t any closer to finding a
home.

The story of Locke and Key
centered around a family who moves into a new home that is full of
supernatural secrets. Bringing with them the grief over their
patriarch’s untimely death, the Locke family is now caught up in the
strange and dangerous occurrences in and around Key House.

David Hayter Bringing The Damned to Showtime

X-Men screenwriter David Hayter is reportedly adapting The Damned into a television series for Showtime. The Oni Press comic written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Brian Hurtt follows the adventures of Eddie, a man who is drawn into a Chicago turf war between three warring families of demons. “I’ve been privy to some of what is planned for the series, and I gotta tell you, it is gonna be awesome,” wrote Bunn on his blog.

Hayter is known for writing and co-writing on comic book movie adaptations including; X-Men, X2 and Watchmen as well as being the voice of Solid Snake in the Metal Gear Solid franchise. Whilst the comic had a prohibition-era setting, the show is set to be based in modern-day Chicago. According to Deadline, Littlefield Co. and CBS Television Studios will produce The Damned alongside Oni Press’s sister company Closed on Mondays Entertainment.

Shawn Ryan Pilot Headed to ABC

Shawn Ryan isn’t usually known for going too far out of the box
with his programming. Rather, his body of work is that of procedural
shows that for the large part have an edge to them that makes them,
well, good. His newest venture with ABC, however, would struggle to be
classified as procedural, or contained within a box of any kind.
According to Deadline, Ryan has teamed up with feature writer Karl Gajdusek (Dead Like Me) for a pilot called Last Resort.

Fringe Casting Hints at Story Line

William Sadler announced via Twitter more than a week ago that he was off to Vancouver to work on Fringe. The
actor previously appeared as Dr. Bruce Sumner — head of St. Claire’s
Hospital — in the first season episode “The Equation” where he actively
tried to get a visiting Walter reinstitutionalized. Walter first took
residence in the mental institution following the fire in his lab that
led to the death of Carla Warren, his assistant.

A Return for Babylon 5?

Actor Walter Koenig suggested that the television show Babylon 5 may return to television.  Koenig told fans at a Las Vegas Star Trek convention that Producer J
Michael Straczynski is working on reviving the show.

Koenig reports “He told me he is in negotiations to re-acquire the rights to Babylon 5 and
it looks pretty good.” Koenig added: “Now what that portends I am not
entirely sure. It could be a new series or it could be a feature film,
but he (Straczynski) was quite animated about it. He seemed very excited
and Warner Brothers is dealing with him in good faith. So you might see
another Babylon 5 in the not too distant future.”