Talking Dead: Where Chris Hardwick Got His Groove Back

[Iguana]

Okay, party at Willowy's.  Sounds like WalnutQueen may have access to the good stuff, so maybe s/he (?) can bring the party favours.  I'll bring the beer, chips and cat treats.  Maybe we can Skype in Chris Hardwick.  I'm guessing he would be up for it.

 

Kiki'smom, Mrs Raphael, you're in, too, I hope.  Anyone else care to join in?

Edited July 4, 2014 by Iguana

[walnutqueen]

I was probably one of the few people who didn't hate Julie Bowen on TTD.  Stone the crows, not me.  :-)

 

ETA - Stone the crows is an old Aussie expression that bears no resemblance to the actual act of animal cruelty n my world

Edited July 4, 2014 by walnutqueen

[Wilowy]

Suck it up and throw the fucking party anyways, Willowy (just close your eyes & pretend it's Deadwood or the BAU).  :-)

 

I SO love this. My ownage of the series (excepting season 6 and 7 of CM which I refuse to buy) means I don't have to pretend, though. I think it WILL be a Deadwood Fourth! Thanks, @walnutqueen!

[walnutqueen]

@Willowy:

 

You only hurt, the one you love, the one - you shouldn't hurt at all ....

 

You KNOW me, and I know you!  Scary, eh!!!

 

 

ETA - yes, I have the good medicinal marijuana grown cheaply by my cancer neighbor ... it doesn't stone me, but the rest of you lightweights might have a good time.  :-)  I'll supply Cheetos & Vodka (the TWoP breakfast of champions, back in the day).

Edited July 4, 2014 by walnutqueen

[eejm]

I really like Scott Gimple as a guest.  He has a very dry sense of humor, and obviously delights in dangling his knowledge of the upcoming season over the viewers' heads without seeming dickish about it.  And what did Aisha Tyler call him?  A "corpse tease"?

[SimoneS]

The preview was okay. They could have done better. Gimple gave next to nothing away although it seems like we will learn Beth's fate sooner than later. 

 

Alisha stupidly pining after murderous attempted rapist Shane totally made me lose a lot of respect for her a TD guest.

Edited July 7, 2014 by SimoneS

[ottoDbusdriver]

Gimple gave next to nothing away although it seems like we will learn Beth's fate sooner than later.

 

I liked Scott Gimple as well, I like his dry sense of humor, but I'm more surprised he doesn't give more spoilery stuff away.  He has to watch EVERYTHING he says.

 

And that's my bigger issue with having production people on the show before episodes air -- they are much better for post-episode analysis.  I really enjoy when they have Greg Nicotero on and he explains how they constructed the shots and did the SFX.

 

No disrespect to Scott Gimple, but I would rather they have more celebrity superfans on during the preview with theories galore and there's no chance that they 'accidentally' give something away. 

 

I like Aisha Tyler because she has read all the graphic novels, and she's dead-on about the fact that the books and tv series have diverged sufficiently that both can be enjoyed separately, but both contain common elements not always occurring at the same time or with the same individuals.  I also like how they have incorporated small parts of the 4 Woodbury-centric novels into the tv series. Someone who would have been great for the preview would be Chris Jericho -- he was on last season and I was blown away by his theories and analysis for both individual episodes and season-long arcs. Yvette Nicole Brown is always a great guest too -- she has some great ideas and theories as well.

Edited July 7, 2014 by ottoDbusdriver

[kikismom]

walnutqueen: Cheetos-n-Vodka! That reminds me...is cheetosandchoc here (maybe under a different moniker)?

[Madding crowd]

I thought it would be more fun than it was, although I think Aisha is great as is Chris. I would like to have heard more theories and discussions. They really didn't give anything away and even the preview was of a very generic scene which shows nothing of Terminus. I was a bit surprised at the actor who plays Gareth saying his character is much more like Rick than the governor. 

 

At this point, Terminus has to be about cannibals, anything else would just be boring. I can't imagine them suddenly making up some benign reason for keeping people in train cars. 

 

I also liked Shane and thought he was basically a good guy who got screwed up by the ZA and by Lori and by his dedication to Rick, so I agree with Aisha. 

[LJonEarth]

I also liked Shane and thought he was basically a good guy who got screwed up by the ZA and by Lori and by his dedication to Rick, so I agree with Aisha. 

 

I watching the marathon with my family. Seeing it through their fresh eyes, they had the same opinion, and I can see it now too. So, I don't have much of a problem with Aisha on this.

[SimoneS]

On rewatch, it become even clearer to  me  that Shane was a monster from the very beginning and his mask started to fall away when Rick showed up. Really, good guys do not attempt to murder their supposed best friend and rape his wife because she rejects him. He really was a sick loser.

 

I did like how after Gimple and Harwick rejected Alisha's attempt to spin crazy Shane as a good guy, she just admitted that she found him sexy and wanted to sleep with him. 

 

I always wondered if part Kirkman's issue with Darabont was Darabont's reluctance to kill off Shane because Jon Bernthal was his friend and Shane had his vocal fans who threatened to stop watching if he was killed off.

Edited July 7, 2014 by SimoneS

[ottoDbusdriver]

I always wondered if part Kirkman's issue with Darabont was Darabont's reluctance to kill off Shane because Jon Bernthal was his friend and Shane had his vocal fans who threatened to stop watching if he was killed off.

 

 

I doubt that was the issue because

the Shane character was killed off pretty early in the graphic novels (TWD #006).  Shane never even made it to Herschel's farm, so he lasted longer on the tv show than in the graphic novels), and to boot Carl shot Shane while Shane was still human.

Edited July 7, 2014 by ottoDbusdriver

[SometimesBites]

I doubt that was the issue because

the Shane character was killed off pretty early in the graphic novels (TWD #006).  Shane never even made it to Herschel's farm, so he lasted longer on the tv show than in the graphic novels), and to boot Carl shot Shane while Shane was still human.

Huh? Carl shot Shane after Rick killed Shane with a knife. Shane was a walker when Carl shot him.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Huh? Carl shot Shane after Rick killed Shane with a knife. Shane was a walker when Carl shot him.

 

 

That's how it happened on the tv show, but not how it happened in the graphic novels (as I spoiler tagged above).

[biakbiak]

It seemed weird to have this random episode when the show doesn't premiere until October. My theory is Hardwick couldn't handle having a two week @Midnight break so begged to do this special.

[ParadoxLost]

I thought the most interesting thing that Gimple said was the point he made about Star Wars; that if you think about it Luke Skywalker's goal was to be a storm trooper because that is what he knew until he met Obi Wan and the droids.

 

I think that sums up Terminus vs. Rick's group as well as Woodbury and the Governor.   Its not pure good vs. evil.  The majority of the people in TWD are products of their environment and the environment is shaped by,large part by a few strong personalities.

[ghoulina]

I adore Scott Gimple. He is so nerdy and hilarious to me. I didn't mind that he couldn't give a lot away, because I felt like they had some great conversations about last season and provided some interesting insight on the season as a whole, which can't really be done when you discuss week to week. I also really enjoyed Aisha Tyler. I thought she had the perfect blend of crazy fan obsession and astute observation. 

 

That being said, I'm mad that the only actual preview showed my darling LAK in peril in the woods! We need a spec w/o spoilers thread like at TWOP to discuss the fate of her and other characters, because I'm a nervous wreck over here.

[mandolin]

I love that he always wears a tie; I think he does even on set.

 

I thought the preview was kind of weak, but other than showing the rest of the group plotting in the train car, I guess they couldn't show much else.

[ParadoxLost]

I thought the preview was kind of weak, but other than showing the rest of the group plotting in the train car, I guess they couldn't show much else.

 

I thought that was an odd choice because the online on the set feature gave more away than the preview clip.  Maybe they are trying to help the spoiler-phobes.  TV has less than on line and online has less the Comic Con (a guess).

[crimsongrl]

Season 5 Bump!

Apparently Morgan is back...

[AimingforYoko]

Best line: (From Conan, natch) "Gareth is like a frustrated Starbucks manager."

[fliptopbox]

I just have to say that Conan is looking mighty odd these days. Plastic surgery has done him no favors.

 

As far as the show, I enjoyed Greg Nicotero and Scott Gimple trying to talk about the season without giving much away. I am looking forward to these new environments Scott mentioned. Maybe they do make it to DC later on?

I also am curious to see who has been carving those symbols into the trees. Maybe Beth;s captors?

[ghoulina]

Good episode. I always love when Gimple or Nicotero are on; to have them together is wonderul. Conan is looking very unsettling, I agree, but he still cracks me up. 

[lulee]

I love Scott M. Gimple on this show. I'm glad he's on rarely though. I feel like he's so clever and so in tune, and if we were on more often, maybe the effect wouldn't be as good.

 

ETA: I think Conan's look is the product of age (and redheads looking like they're drained of their orange-ness as they age) and eyelid surgery for saggy baggy eyes.

Edited October 13, 2014 by lulee

[candall]

I would be happier if the host and the guests on TTD would stop getting so excited that they jabber over one another and leave me clueless.  It took me forever to figure out exactly what it was that was supposed to be making my head explode, Scanners-style.  (That trough victim No. 1 was part of the peach eater couple from the episode when Rick told Carol she couldn't come back to the prison.  The girl had a twisted leg and got munched, but the guy just disappeared and Rick and Carol finally left without him.)

 

Conan was funny, didn't take over the whole conversation and his hair was a treat--good guest. 

[Wilowy]

I've missed Hardwick in this. Glad they're back.

[kj4ever]

Is it just me or did Gimple seem like he thought the audience would be a little more compassionate towards the termites?

[Bruinsfan]

Bad call if he was. Cannibalism is pretty much a dealbreaker for audience sympathy unless you're a rugby team crashed in the Andes.

[lulee]

I don't recall any of Gimple's exact words, but I don't know if he was expecting/hoping for compassion or insight from the audience. Maybe just insight like "they started out as normal people but became monsters -- they didn't intend that all along". I lean toward insight rather than compassion as the expectation and I think the "Then" flashbacks being so economical is evidence of that, in contrast to the tortuous (IMO) amount of time we spent on Guv-centric scenes -- that much time implied we were to have an emotional stake of some sort in ol' Patchy.

Edited October 13, 2014 by lulee

[kj4ever]

He just seemed so shocked that 97% of the polling audience wanted all he termites dead.

[lulee]

He just seemed so shocked that 97% of the polling audience wanted all he termites dead.

hmm. I'd forgotten that... Maybe he was just letting his inner Glenn out.

[beedub]

I don't recall any of Gimple's exact words, but I don't know if he was expecting/hoping for compassion or insight from the audience. Maybe just insight like "they started out as normal people but became monsters -- they didn't intend that all along".

 

That's exactly what his point was, to the end that we should consider our protagonists in the same light - that they're just not as far down that road to completely losing their humanity, but have already gone some of the distance. Not so subtle foreshadowing about the rest of the season, it would seem.

[Wilowy]

I gave up the show after the whole Patchy debacle, banishment of Carol, and the final straw was killing Hershel. Now though, with the promise of more wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff and even more flashbacks to come, there isn't any reason Hershel can't make an appearance now and again. Plus I do love that everyone is back together and the Caryl reunion solidified any lingering doubts. That and the fact that baby Judith is a better actor than some of the adults, and I'm back on board. ;)

 

Leave it to Chris to come out and ask about Beth (not that I care if she shows up again, I really don't), and I love how he couched it in his mother's guilt trip! Haha! Oh Hardwick, just marry me already!

[nachomama]

I hadn't picked up on the fact that it was Alex on the table aka Gareth's brother and when Scott Gimple explained the whole "it's not personal" thing I wasn't sure we were supposed to have gotten that. (Usually I end up re watching like 3 times before next week and maybe those things would come to me) I was like a fat kid on cake last night, tripping. I do learn things from Talking Dead. 

 

And I used to think conans cartoon with the super swoopty hairdo was exaggerated, wasn't really a regular conan viewer, but his hair really is that poofy.

[Pete Martell]

The polls were just odd and I wouldn't be too sorry if they stopped using them. I'm not one of the fans who believes Carol should be leader, but I doubt that such a huge supermajority are opposed to the idea.

 

I think Scott is a terrific producer and writer, and I enjoy his droll humor. He still doesn't seem entirely comfortable on some of these shows, I guess depending on the guest. He kept having to stumble over explanations last night, perhaps because of Conan O'Brien being so vocal.

 

Conan made me laugh several times and I'm glad he's such a fan of the show, but he seemed to take over the show at times. He and Hardwick also seemed to be in competition at times. 

I gave up the show after the whole Patchy debacle, banishment of Carol, and the final straw was killing Hershel. Now though, with the promise of more wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff and even more flashbacks to come, there isn't any reason Hershel can't make an appearance now and again. 

 

He did in last season's finale.

[Wilowy]

I did see that clip, thanks to tumblr, and I loved it. :)

[ParadoxLost]

I find it implausible that the comic book characters started talking about Washington fast enough to spare that group from eating people for dinner.

[lulee]

I find it implausible that the comic book characters started talking about Washington fast enough to spare that group from eating people for dinner.

That's what Abraham thought happened, but really the Termites were just unnerved by the unnatural orangeness of Abraham's hair and were afraid that he had contaminated the others.

[ghoulina]

My guess is that the way Rick and Daryl entered Terminus, all stealth-like....made the the Termites want to get rid of them quicker. They knew they'd be trouble. But I'm not sure why Bob and Glenn were also picked. Why not Michonne, the weapon-with-a-weapon, as well? Why 8 men? Do they have a rule against mixing male meat and female meat?

[nachomama]

They are orthodox cannibal kosher.

 

[Iguessnot]

 

The polls were just odd and I wouldn't be too sorry if they stopped using them. I'm not one of the fans who believes Carol should be leader, but I doubt that such a huge supermajority are opposed to the idea.

 

That poll annoyed me because it was some Real Housewives petty drama. I love that Carol has the balls (so to speak) to take care of business but I never felt any of this was about challenging Rick for his position. 

[Disraeli Ears]

I thought Conan O'Brien was funny on TTD last week (even if he did talk a bit too much). I usually can't stand him.

I also thought the Carol leadership poll was dumb; I don't see Carol as wanting to be the leader at all. She was just doing what she had to do.

[raven]

OK so Matt Jones just said what we are all thinking about everyone going into the water at the food bank - "aren't any of these people worried about a staph infection" LOL.

 

Chad Coleman is a good looking guy.

[ghoulina]

Badger!!!! Where the hell was Skinny Pete???

 

Chad Coleman was adorable, but he lost me with his excuses for not making sure he really took out Martin. 

[Mya Stone]

Special guest star next week...who's number one in the death pool? Bye Bob? :(

[Irishmaple]

Damn, why did I bother watching the midseason finale of Outlander last week?  Did I forget how much I liked this show?  I have my issues with Tyreese's stance on not killing unnecessarily but Chad Coleman is charming.  Personally I think killing zombies is a public service and killing Termites is reaching that level, but I'm not holding Tyreese against his actor.  I will have issues if he influences others though.  It's a ZA, Tyreese, turning the other cheek will just get you bitten on both sides. 

 

Slash next week?  My teenage self just imploded.

[Pete Martell]

As one of the three people in the country who has never seen Breaking Bad, I had no real idea who this guy was and no real interest in a long discussion on Walter White in the ZA. The guy just seemed too busy listening to himself talk and those moments where people need to harp on realism in a fantasy show always lose me. 

 

Chad Coleman was terrific - my favorite part was when he essentially told people to eat his ass. 

 

I need to banish those insta-polls. I never agree with any of the answers. I don't understand why people insist Carol tell Daryl about Lizzie and Mika. I hope that isn't a shipper thing.

[Bruinsfan]

Matt Jones' voice is like nails on a chalkboard to me, and I'm not speaking figuratively  - did he damage his voicebox somehow?

[Madding crowd]

I miss the past seasons where the audience, guests and Chris actually talked about theories and questions the viewers want to know about. Obviously Chad couldn't give spoilers, but in the past the other guests and Chris and callers/audience would venture opinions. No one asked whether Bob was bit or why else he could be crying or spent any time on wondering who/what Father Gabriel was. Instead we get a lot of useful polls and questions about who would be eaten first, Walter White etc.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Chloe from 24 and Slash next week, lookin forward to that.