Video: Episode 7 - The Walking Dead and Westworld

Episode 7 in here! The mid-season finale of The Walking Dead and season 1 of Westworld have Sean and Kelly talking it up for half an hour!

Plus a new podcast review from Nate Morse! The Bright Sessions.

Video: Episode 6 - The Walking Dead 603 and Westworld 106

Sean Scott and Kelly Neal discuss The Walking Dead S06E03 and Westworld S01E06.

Video: Episode 5 - The Walking Dead episode 701, Plus TOP 5 Horror Movies!

Sean Scott and Kelly Neal discuss the season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead, plus their TOP 5 horror movies! They also discuss Wonder Woman, Deadpool and female directors in Bulletpoints.

Nathanial Morse is back with more Thoughts from a Podcast Geek talking about The Bridge.

Video: Episode 4 - Westworld, The Walking Dead, The Exorcist & more

Episode 4 is up! Sorry, for the technical problems! 

In episode 4 of Thoughts from a TV Geek Sean Scott and Kelly Neal (@kellyeneal) talk about both Fear TWD and The Walking Dead, Doctor Who, The Exorcist, Westworld, Star Wars Holiday Special and more.

Plus a NEW segment: Thoughts from a Podcast Geek with Nathanial Morse.




 

When is a 23 episode TV season simply too much? Does a shorter season equal better programming?

 
One of the problems with some of the main network shows (ABC, NBC, CBS) is that they run their shows for upwards of 23 episodes a season. That may have been prudent back in the day - you know, the ancient times with only three channels and no remote control - but today it may be to their detriment. At the very least to the detriment of good quality programming .

An example is Once Upon a Time. An average season is about 23 episodes. Most seasons have an amazing beginning, fantastic ending, and filler in the middle. When I watch Once Upon a Time, after about episode four or five I realize it's already dragging, and there's a ton of excess story-lines that quite obviously is to fill up the season. I find myself fast forwarding through a good 70% of almost every episode until about episode eighteen-ish. That's when the main arc of the season picks up steam again and we're on our way to that fantastic season ender. My point being that if Once Upon a Time had ten episode seasons it would be an outstanding show. 

Now you could argue that this is more true with fantasy genre shows, especially when you look at some of the most popular fantasy shows on television today - The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Doctor Who - it does seem to be true that less is more. However, even some of the more critically acclaimed dramas like Downton Abbey and Boardwalk Empire, along with top streaming shows House of Cards, Transparent and Orange is the New Black have formats of 10-13 episodes a season. It makes for better programming because writers aren't worried about a story arc lasting twice as long as it probably should. This is nothing new. Arguably, one of the best HBO series there's ever been, The Sopranos, had short seasons (except the last one) back when American television had never heard of such a thing.

Needing a short season isn't the case with every show out there. There are shows that can handle 23 episode storytelling. Most of them are procedural style shows or sitcoms that aren't focused on one main story arc.

Fear the Walking Dead update and SPOILERS

The Walking Dead spinoff has a name - Fear the Walking Dead. AMC ordered 2 seasons - 6 episodes for the first season, not known for the second.

Who's looking forward to this? I'm excited to see what happened in other parts of the country. Fear the Walking Dead will take place in Los Angeles and will follow a family in the early days of the apocalypse. The spin-off will have nothing to do with the comic books.



Filming continues in April and season one will air this summer.


SPOILER

The new series will begin before the epidemic takes hold. We'll meet the family in their normal lives, rather than post apocalyptic as in The Walking Dead, and only we (the audience) will know that the end is coming very soon.

From bleedingcool.com:
Teachers Madison and Travis, and their older teenage children, Alicia and Ian, Travis’ ex Liza and their teenage son Christopher, in a family about to break apart. Drugs, illness, self-harm, set in Los Angeles, this is not so much a nuclear family as a dirty bomb. Rick’s family were torn apart, this family are there from the beginning.

IT'S OFFICIAL! The walking dead companion show on AMC is called FEAR THE WALKING DEAD! Expect more news very soon! #FearTheWalkingDead
— Robert Kirkman (@RobertKirkman) March 27, 2015

Norman Reedus Interview, March 27, 2015

Sound quality is not great. (Okay, it sucks.) But you can hear it if you turn it up.

(Large file, may take a moment to load.)

The Walking Dead: Trivia About the Voice on the Radio, What He's Actually Saying and more

This weeks The Walking Dead “What Happened and What’s Going On,” was one of the saddest of the show. Beautifully crafted, delving into the mind of a dying man.

Among the sadness was some interesting trivia. The first being the voice on the radio broadcasts. That was actually the voice of Andrew Lincoln (Rick), in his normal accent. 

A disturbing note to what he was actually saying: It was all from real radio reports about the Rwandan genocide. How sad.

“At least 68 citizens of the republic have been killed in four deadly attacks along the main coastal district. The group has continued their campaign of random violence, moving across the countryside unfettered with the republic’s military forces in disarray … There have been troubling reports of cannibalism having broken out in refugee camps along the republic’s transportation corridor. And despite the string of victories by rebel forces, there are disturbing reports of increasing the brutality of their tactics including the wholesale destruction of villages, burning down local prisons, targeting of civilians, and even the widespread mutilation of children and young mothers.”

Also, what was with all the wolf/dog references? There was the graffiti behind Michonne, dog pictures in Noah's little brother's room and someone pointed out that the barb wire fence they had to climb through is a good way to deter wolfs.

All I could think of was Bad Wolf. (Doctor Who reference.)

Now a days getting 15 million viewers is not the norm. The average cable show grabs about 7. The Walking Dead back half of season five began with a 15.6.

.@WalkingDead_AMC Pulls 15.6 Million Viewers As Biggest Regularly-Scheduled Program Of 2015. http://t.co/RLQRiunrJx pic.twitter.com/1QR2YY8hGl
— Comicbook.com (@ComicBookdotcom) February 9, 2015

Week in review: Walking Dead, Sons Of Anarchy, OUAT, Gotham

Reviewing several shows from Nov. 16-23rd. The Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy, Once Upon a Time, & Gotham.

The Walking Dead - Consumed - Emotionally delves deep but some contrived...

There's good and bad for me in this episode of The Walking Dead, "Consumed." Love Carol & Daryl but had a couple of issues with plot points.

The Walking Dead - Self Help Review - Who was shocked? SPOILERS

On this episode of Thoughts from a TV Geek: The Walking Dead episode Self Help! Do you read the comics? Did you have any clue about Eugene?

More reviews at Thoughts from a TV Geek Videos

The Walking Dead - Slabtown Review - A Beth ep? Really? SPOILERS

On this episode of Thoughts from a TV Geek, let's discuss the Walking Dead episode Slabtown! Can the character of Beth carry a complete episode? What happened to Carol? So, now who do you think was with Daryl last episode? I give my thoughts on these questions and more. Join the discussion in the comments!







More reviews at Thoughts from a TV Geek Videos.