In a statement released by AMC, they says that Dish’s plans to drop the channels has nothing to do with the performance of its networks or their cost, but instead with another legal battle the two companies are in. That legal battle goes back to 2008 when Voom HD, a now defunct cluster of cable channels, which was owned by AMC sued the Dish Network for $2.5 billion apparently for some sort of breach of contract. Dish responded saying that the whole Voom HD thing is a “separate matter” and that AMC’s statement “distorts the facts of the current situation and incorrectly attempts to tie together two separate issues.”

Other channels that could be dropped from the Dish Network along with AMC are the IFC, WE, and Sundance channels.

-Dane
The Bat-Fan Podcast: Your Source For Everything Batman!

Almost immediately fans of Douglas signed the petition and gave their opinions as to why the actor would be good for the show. Fan Samantha Linnert says that “He’s always given so much for the fans and I think he’d do wonderfully on ‘The Walking Dead,’”, Kara Jones says that “The voice actor of Albert Wesker on ‘The Walking Dead?’ Two words….. Hell, yes!”

Douglas commented on the petition saying:

“I have no idea if it will work, but I’m tickled some of my Twitter fans are augmenting my agent’s job! They have a special place in my cold, black heart. Zombie fans unite!”

To take a look and sign the petition <a href=”http://www.change.org/petitions/d-c-douglas-on-the-walking-dead

” target=”_blank”>click here!

-Dane
The Bat-Fan Podcast: Your Source For Everything Batman!

L.A. Noir is a crime drama set in the 1940′s-1950′s and follows the gangster Mickey Cohen and the Police Chief pursuing him and will be based mostly on the book “L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City” by John Buntin.

-Dane
The Bat-Fan Podcast: Your Source For Everything Batman!

“I go to work and they give me a gun and a cowboy hat and say ‘rid the world of the zombie menace’, it’s not your average day job. It’s one of the coolest jobs I’ve ever had. I love that you can have an intimate scene… and then the next day you’re on a horse charging through Atlanta with 200 zombies racing behind you. It’s an extraordinary gig.”

Lincoln then goes on to say that he is appreciative of The Walking Dead TV Show’s success.

“You’ve got a great crew, great cast, great scripts, but that’s never a guarantee of success. Certainly I don’t think I’ve been in anything that seems to have caught the public’s imagination like this. Maybe it’s because it’s not a supernatural show, even though we have zombies. It’s actually about ordinary people in extraordinary situations. The thing that attracted me to the project was that you get to say something about humanity in it, and it’s full of heart.”

Well, that’s it from that interview but Star-Telegram got a chance to sit down with IronE Singleton (for another short interview) where he points out that he see’s a big contradiction in the show’s message.

“We’ve shot zombies, we’ve stabbed zombies, we chopped zombies to pieces,” says Singleton, who plays the survivor known as T-Dog. “It’s crazy how barbaric we’ve been at times. The zombies can’t help it. They’re dead. They’re monsters. But we who claim to be clinging to our humanity don’t have any excuses. That’s what’s interesting about The Walking Dead. It shows the worst in us, but it also shows the very best in us. Yes, there’s a lot of suffering in the world. But we can still try to be civilized.”

Singleton then goes on to talk about his unexpected success as an actor and his struggles growing up in a bad neighborhood where he fell in with the wrong crowd.

“It’s not what I expected — it’s so much better (talking about The Walking Dead’s success), I feel like I’ve hit the lottery. Twice! The first time I hit the lottery was with The Blind Side. To be in a film that was nominated for an Oscar, well, I didn’t think it could get much better. Then, turn right around, and I landed The Walking Dead. I hit the lottery twice within the span of a year. That’s why I say there has to be a higher power at work here. “Growing up in the inner city [of Atlanta], I lived a life that comes with that environment,” he says. “I sold drugs. I carried a pistol. I never had a relationship with my father. My mother was addicted to alcohol and crack. My brother has been in and out of the Georgia prison system throughout his life. A lot of my friends either wound up dead or in prison. Or they’re still living that same life on the street corners. I could have easily gone down that same path. But that didn’t happen. I wanted something better. There was a desire and a fire inside me. So I went to college, played Division I football while studying theater and, after I graduated, started acting for a living.”

Credit to: Digital Spy and Star-Telegram

-Dane
The Bat-Fan Podcast: Your Source For Everything Batman!

Finally, “A New Day” the first of five parts of The Walking Dead Video Game came out this week for The Playstation Network and for PC and Mac.  The Xbox 360 version of the game will be out this Friday (April 27th 2012)  via the Xbox Live Arcade and will cost $5 or 400 MS points.

-Dane
The Bat-Fan Podcast: Your Source For Everything Batman!

Universal Cable Productions Senior Vice President’s Richard Rothstein, Chris Sanagustin, and Maira Suro released a joint statement commenting on the deal.

Gale’s vision, expertise and superb taste make her and the Valhalla team a trifecta win for UCP. We are ecstatic that Valhalla is joining our studio and bolstering our efforts to expand our development — they share our creative commitment, passion for great stories and desire to produce efficiently. We’re confident that this is a collaboration that will be beneficial on multiple fronts.

1. Shane’s death was always in the cards. “This end was always going to happen,” Bernthal said, noting early conversations with former showrunner Frank Darabont about Shane’s trajectory allowed him to be strategic with the way he played the character who walked the line between hero and villain for two seasons.

2. After coming out the victor during the “18 Miles Out” episode in which Shane and Rick finally come to blows, Lincoln would bet on his former onscreen rival to come out on top were the former castmates to come to fisticuffs in real life. “He’s a lot bigger than me, and in a real fight, he’d win in seconds,” Lincoln said to laughs.

3. Getting the call to go see makeup artist/co-producer Nicotero is the kiss of death. Bernthal and Wilson both recalled getting the word that they needed to pay a visit to the effects whiz to be outfitted with makeup as their characters were being killed off. “When actors get a call from me it’s, ‘Oh shit!’ ” Nicotero said with a laugh. The cast members, meanwhile, have a “death dinner” to bid farewell their onscreen family members after shooting the episode.

4. Producers reaffirmed that they opted not to kill off Hershel as they’d originally intended because it didn’t move the story forward. “We were just stepping over a body; it felt too violent, too gratuitous,” Mazzara said. But nobody told Wilson as much as he’d already had the conversation with Nicotero that he was being axed and the actor just continued to get scripts. “I said, ‘It’s been fun,’” Wilson said, to which Bernthal immediately joked: “That’s how you stay on? You say, ‘It’s been fun’?” As for whether Hershel will continue to be a “badass with a rifle” in Season 3, Mazzara was less than forthcoming. “We’ll see what happens in October,” he deadpanned.

To read the entire interview click here!

Robert Kirkman and Image Comics have revealed the cover for The Walking Dead Issue #100.  The cover features characters from the past and present (even if their still alive in the comic) lying dead as Rick stands in the background. So I guess it really isn’t spoiler-ish considering the fact that if you haven’t read the comics you wouldn’t know who’s alive or dead anyway because the cover depicts all of the characters except for Rick laying dead.  But for those who really don’t want to be spoiled I will put the image of the cover at the bottom of this post. Issue #100 is due out on July 11th 2012.

In other Robert Kirkman related news, AMC is working with Kirkman to produce another TV show based on his newest comic Thief of Thieves. Thief of Thieves revolves around a master thief with a dual personality who, while struggling to quit the business, opts to steal only what has already been stolen.

The project will reunite Kirkman and Walking Dead Producer Dave Alpert with Chic Eglee who worked on the first season of The Walking Dead. Robert Kirkman commented recently on his most recent comic to T.V. show adaptation saying:

“Much like The Walking Dead brought horror to television in a unique and groundbreaking way, I feel Thief of Thieves can do the same thing for heist stories, showing the humanity of all the characters, including the criminals, AMC recognizes the limitless ideas generated by the comic industry, their dedication to bringing The Walking Dead to life as a TV show has been key to its success and I’m excited about the potential of Thief of Thieves to reach similar levels of success. Working with AMC has been a tremendously positive experience, and I’m looking forward to continuing and strengthening our relationships there, and I can’t neglect to mention I’ve been dying to work with Chic again since we wrapped on The Walking Dead season one.”

“Senoia will be a major set for next season, this (third season) is long-term. We’ll be here until November.”

Speaking in general and non spoiler terms Riley went on to say that:

“The town is walled off, inside the wall is a safe zone and a benevolent dictator runs the town.”

Finally, Riley goes on to talk about how if the show maintains it’s success, the Senoia set location could become one that is recurring in future seasons. He also goes on to talk about traffic conditions while their filming, noise pollution, and how the citizen’s of Senoia could be affected and closes things with the importance of the city and the people.

“It is important that Senoia not just be a backdrop. We’ll come up with some ways to make the city feel like they’re a part of it. We couldn’t do this without the city, I think fans will show up during and after (the production) and again next year for that season if the ratings are good.”

Season 3 is scheduled to start shooting on May 31 in Senoia, Georgia

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