Talking Dead: Where Chris Hardwick Got His Groove Back

[TrininisaScorp]

Tom and Alanna were silly together.  I liked it. 

I rolled my eyes at Gimple bitching about budget and comparing GoT.  Do you job well, and it isn't going to matter all that much...be a douche to your audience, and you are going to get bitched at.

Today's guest was fun and seemed to be into the show.  I do miss the larger time devotion to the panel having discussions vs. all the segment pieces.  I do like hearing from the actors, though.

[Nashville]

Hardwick's Best Worse Line of the Night:

"Like Dwight, we've all been burned."

Sorry, Chris.  Judging from the audience reaction, that joke fell a little flat.

[ghoulina]

This was a lame aftershow. Twitchy Richard Dreyfuss and no cast member from the show on the couch? I played on my phone for 40 minutes and then just shut it off and went to bed. 

[iMonrey]

It's really disheartening to hear Gimple talk about the show as though it makes sense to him. Rick is hoping to starve out the Saviors so they'll surrender Negan? WTF? It makes sense to this guy that they didn't just shoot him when they had the chance? Ugh. We really need someone else in charge of running this show.

[nodorothyparker]

That's what we were supposed to get out of these past two episodes?  Because I certainly would never have gotten that on my own.

Just because you say it doesn't make it so.  Also, what's in your head isn't necessarily what's actually being shown on screen.

[SimoneS]

On 10/25/2017 at 11:02 PM, chick binewski said:

This may not be completely fair but I put some of the blame for Hardwick's attitude on FTWD. During the earlier seasons of TTD Hardwick would bust on the actors for their characters' actions and it was a lot of fun to watch. Whether the character was good and did something stupid or bad and did something hateful you felt that he loved the show as much as we did but wasn't a complete shill for AMC. With Fear I think everything became a bit more forced and a bit less authentic, based on the fact that Fear kind of sucked and didn't offer anything we were hoping for.

I'm also going to blame JDM because I can. The actor is doing a job but a) his character is the worst b) after six seasons AMC now features him as the lead character - a character that has no backstory or evolution and c) JDM is irritating during the appearances and I always get the feeling he's being sold to us and Hardwick has been one of his designated PR people. 

I think that it is fair and if I could, I would give your comment one thousand likes. I think that both FTWD and the poorly conceived Negan have put Chris in a tough spot. I always get the sense that he has similar reservations as fans, but has to repress them as he never had to before. I remember when he would funnily critique some of the characters' affectations. Anything that he says about the annoying Negan and Jadis would be close to the brutal critique that the characters and the writers receive online so he tries not to go there.

 

8 hours ago, iMonrey said:

It's really disheartening to hear Gimple talk about the show as though it makes sense to him. Rick is hoping to starve out the Saviors so they'll surrender Negan? WTF? It makes sense to this guy that they didn't just shoot him when they had the chance? Ugh. We really need someone else in charge of running this show.

I am not blaming Gimple. It would be same no matter who was the showrunner. The real problem is Kirkman who has the power to fire the showrunner. Rumor is that he was mainly responsible for Darabont and Mazzara being fired. So Gimple has to negotiate with Kirkman who refuses to accept that some aspects of the comics, particularly Negan, doesn't work on tv.

Edited October 31, 2017 by SimoneS

[deemac]

Has Gimple always been so evasive about meeting peoples' eyes?  Just comes off as shifty or aware that a lot of the audience think things are screwed up even though he doesn't agree.

[raven]

ooh, Norman dissing Rick's plans, hee hee.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Can you stop kissing Norman's ass for five minutes Hardwick?

[Rosiejuliemom]

I'm rolling about people asking Josh if Norman showers. Almost snorted coffee out of my nose.

[festivus]

Um now they are talking about what Norman smells like. Stinky would be the answer to that. And I wish they'd give him a mullet now.Anything would be better than that mop on his head. Also first time for three gay characters on the couch. Move on out of the way, poor dead Eric!

Edited November 6, 2017 by festivus

[SimoneS]

Everyone has been asking about Morales? Really, Chris? I have never heard anyone in fandom ask about Morales. It isn't like when everyone was wondering about Morgan and Dwayne.

[nodorothyparker]

11 hours ago, SimoneS said:

Everyone has been asking about Morales? Really, Chris? I have never heard anyone in fandom ask about Morales. It isn't like when everyone was wondering about Morgan and Dwayne.

I've seen it asked in more general "whatever happened to ..." discussions you have where posters are obsessing about random details and loose ends anyway.  But clamoring for answers or a return the way so many did with Morgan?  Uh, no, Chris, no.

[Nashville]

10 minutes ago, nodorothyparker said:

I've seen it asked in more general "whatever happened to ..." discussions you have where posters are obsessing about random details and loose ends anyway.  But clamoring for answers or a return the way so many did with Morgan?  Uh, no, Chris, no.

On the plus side - if anybody was clamoring for answers to the Mystery of the Missing Morales Family, then they can sure the hell shut the fuck up about it now.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I hope this show doesn't go there, but it really could use a narrator, or a description in print at the bottom of the TV screen where each of these battles are taking place and why.  Right now it is just a mess.

Yeah - this episode started with a dumb cut back and forth between Ezekial speechifying and his group going to battle with the Saviors. You know what would have been far more helpful? If those cuts were between the battle and Ezekial's team planning out their strategy so we understood what they hell they were doing. I realize it wouldn't be nearly as "artsy" (or what the show apparently considers "artsy" more and more lately) but it would have made a stronger narrative and clarified the story.

[HighMaintenance]

3 hours ago, Nashville said:

On the plus side - if anybody was clamoring for answers to the Mystery of the Missing Morales Family, then they can sure the hell shut the fuck up about it now.

The only time I remember anyone clamoring for information on Los Morales was back on the Television Without Pity boards and that was during seasons 2 & 3.

[Nashville]

1 hour ago, HighMaintenance said:

The only time I remember anyone clamoring for information on Los Morales was back on the Television Without Pity boards and that was during seasons 2 & 3.

Hardly a hot topic, then.  In fact, I’d venture to say we can classify such clamor as - clammy?

I’ll see myself out now....

[iMonrey]

I'd wager roughly 50% of the audience didn't remember who he was. I sure didn't until I looked him up. I'd almost like to go back and re-watch Season 1 just to see how much screen time he got. I remember the goodbye scene but not much else about him.

[Nashville]

55 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I'd wager roughly 50% of the audience didn't remember who he was. I sure didn't until I looked him up. I'd almost like to go back and re-watch Season 1 just to see how much screen time he got. I remember the goodbye scene but not much else about him.

The Morales family departure was treated as a Kinda Big Deal at the time - if for no other reason than it was the very first time in the TWD mythos where a subgroup of people willingly split off from the main group unit.  

Up until then the only suggestions of breaking the “safer in numbers” credo had been solo individuals - Merle (unwillingly) and Daryl (willingly, out of anger for what was done to Merle).  And Daryl didn’t follow through.

[weightyghost]

I was happy to see Ross back on the show, plus with Jordan and was left so infuriated by how little respect Chris could give them. Who thought it would be a good idea to go from "how is Aaron going to deal with losing the love of his life" to "lols lets ask your costar how often he's bombarded with questions about Norman!". Then "how will you miss being on the show" "what do you smell like? also here's an entire segment about your stupid show no one is watching. Also a clip from the guy no one cares about talking about your show. Also how will Daryl be affected by Eric dying?" 

Just have the show be Norman on a bike and be done with it. Stop wasting everyone's time 

[rmontro]

Anyone find it odd that Chris kept referring to Eric as "Sweet Eric"?

[Madding crowd]

I admit I never understand the intense Norman squealing that goes on. To me he is an OK character, and Norman seems like a good guy, but Daryl is greasy and unattractive and has little personality. I think Daryl has more fans than Rick, and I just don't get it. I used to like Chris Hardwick and he has a hard job to do, but he acts very teenage sometimes, and he is a forty something year old man. I think there used to me more intelligent discussion of the show, and more questions that were interesting. Now, it about silly props, quizzes, and Chris attempting to create buzz for minor characters or events. I also think many of non show actor guests, have little to say, so Chris resorts to asking what is your opinion on-and they never have a strong opinion, and possibly haven't even watched the episode. Someone like Yvette is exempt from this critique. 

[HighMaintenance]

16 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

I admit I never understand the intense Norman squealing that goes on. To me he is an OK character, and Norman seems like a good guy, but Daryl is greasy and unattractive and has little personality. I think Daryl has more fans than Rick, and I just don't get it. I used to like Chris Hardwick and he has a hard job to do, but he acts very teenage sometimes, and he is a forty something year old man. I think there used to me more intelligent discussion of the show, and more questions that were interesting. Now, it about silly props, quizzes, and Chris attempting to create buzz for minor characters or events. I also think many of non show actor guests, have little to say, so Chris resorts to asking what is your opinion on-and they never have a strong opinion, and possibly haven't even watched the episode. Someone like Yvette is exempt from this critique. 

I really used to be interested in the show discussion up to about season 4.  I like Chris Hardwick as a host overall, but at this point in time - what is there to talk about (or rather NOT talk about lest we let plot spoilers slip)?  I rarely make it past the 1st commercial break - regardless of who is on the couch.  Seemed like the Reedus love was in full squeeeee on Talking Dead - mostly to promote NR's motorcycle reality show (which previews reveal center around deep philosophical discussions of boobs, vagina, clits, numb assholes, boobs, butts and boobs).  Fascinating!

Not sure what Hardick's (typo and it stays) point was asking how Darryl felt about Eric's death.  They had 1 scene together 3 seasons ago - while Darryl ate 'sketti.   If you're going to have characters who had little to no impact on the series' story....Why not have the actor that played Francine on the couch? Or Tobin, or "Todd".  I want to know what his character's story was! Not.

[Irishmaple]

I tried to watch an episode of Norman Reedus’ travel show. I thought it would be good geography porn, and my Dad had a bike when I was a kid so I have good memories of rides along various Irish backroads. Couldn’t get through the episode. He was travelling with Balthazar Getty, and they were both so vacuous and uninteresting. It threatened to ruin Darryl for me (and I’m not a big fan anyway) so I stopped watching. Overall I prefer not to know the actor behind my favourite characters.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I admit I never understand the intense Norman squealing that goes on. To me he is an OK character, and Norman seems like a good guy, but Daryl is greasy and unattractive and has little personality.

Same here. And if he truly does wash that hair then why does it still look so greasy and awful? Does he just think that's a cool look? I'm not talking about on the show . . . his hair looks that way in real life too!

[ljenkins782]

3 hours ago, Irishmaple said:

I tried to watch an episode of Norman Reedus’ travel show. I thought it would be good geography porn, and my Dad had a bike when I was a kid so I have good memories of rides along various Irish backroads. Couldn’t get through the episode. He was travelling with Balthazar Getty, and they were both so vacuous and uninteresting. It threatened to ruin Darryl for me (and I’m not a big fan anyway) so I stopped watching. Overall I prefer not to know the actor behind my favourite characters.

Oof, I watched about 15 minutes of the episode that aired right after TTD because I actually thought the preview clips with Jeffrey Dean Morgan looked cute (them meeting with fans, etc), but it was so, so bad. So stilted and awkward with the rehearsed sounding "conversations" between the 2 of them and the worst part by far were Norman's dreamy voice-overs that sounded straight out of a TLC or a home improvement show. 

Going back to the 100th episode, which I really enjoyed (far better than the pouring-rain-in-a-graveyard episode):

Quote

During Father Gabriel's talk, I was distracted by Tara and Rosita (sorry, I have no time for actor names) basically realizing that when the camera's on them, their boobs are basically the entire background and laughing. They were in giggles.

That made me laugh too because I noticed Rosita's boob a split second before those 2 did and it was hilarious to see them clock it in real time. 

Khary Payton was the highlight of the episode for me though, no one on that stage was having a better time. 

And this:

Quote

Well, hello Sonequa! I've missed you!

Khary's rapt expression while Sonequa talked was adorable, he was grinning from ear to ear and hanging on every word. 

Quote

This may not be completely fair but I put some of the blame for Hardwick's attitude on FTWD. During the earlier seasons of TTD Hardwick would bust on the actors for their characters' actions and it was a lot of fun to watch. Whether the character was good and did something stupid or bad and did something hateful you felt that he loved the show as much as we did but wasn't a complete shill for AMC. With Fear I think everything became a bit more forced and a bit less authentic, based on the fact that Fear kind of sucked and didn't offer anything we were hoping for.

I do think that's fair and I noticed the same. If nothing else, Hardwick is almost TOO in touch with the pulse of the audience and often seems to share the frustrations or nitpicks of the viewers, which he used to be able to articulate in subtle ways. 

But with FWTD, his desperation to find positive things to say about the show even though it was clearly tanking (and I doubt he was any more interested in it than most) gave the after show an obsequious quality that wasn't fun to watch. 

I also think a turning point was the massive backlash to the cliffhanger when he went on that tirade about stories playing out and blah blah blah and how the audience should be happy about it or some crap like that. It seemed less like someone interacting with fans and more like someone trying to protect his cash cow. 

[chick binewski]

I need that t-shirt.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Khary  and Cooper should've been the in studio guests.

Edited November 13, 2017 by MrsRafaelBarba

[ghoulina]

Little John and Kirkman on the couch basically meant an hour of Kirkman. 'Cause all LJ is going to give you is - "that was dope". Good thing they did a lot of interviews with other members of the cast. I love Khary and Cooper together. 

I have to admit - don't ostracize me now - Kirkman DID make me laugh at one point. When LJ called the show out on zombies not even being able to walk up a hill, Kirkman's protestations of "it was a STEEP hill" almost felt like he was poking fun at himself. Almost? 

[ljenkins782]

12 hours ago, MrsRafaelBarba said:

Khary  and Cooper should've been the in studio guests.

Seriously. Thank God they gave them an extended interview because that was the lamest couch yet. 

Between the terrible guests, Hardwick being sick, and the really muted audience response, that was a really awkward episode. Andy and Norman's segment was painfully unfunny and none of the Twitter responses were even worth reading out loud.

Khary and Cooper were the highlights by far and Khary's t-shirt was awesome. 

[Nashville]

2 hours ago, ghoulina said:

I have to admit - don't ostracize me now - Kirkman DID make me laugh at one point. When LJ called the show out on zombies not even being able to walk up a hill, Kirkman's protestations of "it was a STEEP hill" almost felt like he was poking fun at himself. Almost? 

No poking fun here, because I was right there with you - particularly when LJ was pantomiming a stiff-legged zombie repeatedly trying to walk up a slight incline and falling over, while Kirkman was still going on “ but it was a steep hill - a very steep hill - a very very steep hill....”  I thought Hardwick was going to pis his pants.  :D

One thing, though: sorry, CH, but brickbats to you for not knowing the difference between “Air Force” and “Airborne”.  :P

[festivus]

I didn't watch. What was Khary's t-shirt?

[Nashville]

4 minutes ago, festivus said:

I didn't watch. What was Khary's t-shirt?

Picture of Shiva breaking Lucille in its mouth, with the wraparound caption: “Never bring a bat to a cat fight”.

 

ETA: Available at represent.com .

Edited November 13, 2017 by Nashville
Here linky linky linky....

[iMonrey]

Quote

Little John and Kirkman on the couch basically meant an hour of Kirkman. 'Cause all LJ is going to give you is - "that was dope".

No kidding. What is the point of having these randos I never heard of before on the couch?

So Kirkman basically admitted he put a tiger in the story knowing full well it made no sense whatsoever, but he wanted to prove to himself he wasn't limiting his comic to what the TV show could do. OK then, whatever.

[SimoneS]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

So Kirkman basically admitted he put a tiger in the story knowing full well it made no sense whatsoever, but he wanted to prove to himself he wasn't limiting his comic to what the TV show could do. OK then, whatever.

Idiot!

Edited November 13, 2017 by SimoneS

[ghoulina]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

So Kirkman basically admitted he put a tiger in the story knowing full well it made no sense whatsoever, but he wanted to prove to himself he wasn't limiting his comic to what the TV show could do. OK then, whatever.

Yea, I found that answer stupid. No, the fact that his comic was turned into a show doesn't mean that he should write the comic JUST for the show, since that wasn't how he started. But, at the same time, not everything that is in the comic HAS to make it to the show. 

[Nashville]

6 hours ago, iMonrey said:

So Kirkman basically admitted he put a tiger in the story knowing full well it made no sense whatsoever, but he wanted to prove to himself he wasn't limiting his comic to what the TV show could do. OK then, whatever.

 

2 hours ago, ghoulina said:

Yea, I found that answer stupid. No, the fact that his comic was turned into a show doesn't mean that he should write the comic JUST for the show, since that wasn't how he started. But, at the same time, not everything that is in the comic HAS to make it to the show. 

Zero fanboyism (is that even a word?) in my heart for Kirkman, but that wasn’t exactly what he said.  More accurately put: RK developed the King Ezekiel/Kingdom storylines while writing the graphic novel post-TWD-TV-introduction.  In his initial inception RK immediately conceived of Zeke having a companion tiger, but almost as immediately found himself poo-pooing the notion - which led RK to do some self-examination as to why he should be mentally rejecting the notion out-of-hand.  RK found he was internally rejecting the Shiva Proposition not because of conflicts with the story arc, but because he couldn’t immediately comprehend how his vision of Shiva could be realistically translated to the TV show - in effect, letting the TV show constraints subconsciously control what was going into the GN.  Upon realizing this, RK made the conscious choice not to let the one dictate the other - and Shiva went in as originally envisioned. 

As as I said before, IANAFB - but I can respect RK having at least a modicum of artistic integrity with regards to his original brainchild, the GN.

[ghoulina]

Nashville, that is exactly how I interpreted Kirkman's story about Shiva's inception. That's what I meant. I agreed with him that he should not let the fact that TWD is now a popular TV show dictate how he writes a comic that he has been writing for years. Give Zeke a tiger, I don't care! All I meant was that he still needs to realize that not everything in the comic has to make it to the show. They have added and left stuff out before. Comics don't always translate well to the TV medium. 

[chick binewski]

OK I'm rethinking Lisa Edelstein. She's bored by Negan and the penile reference index too!

[SoSueMe]

6 minutes ago, chick binewski said:

OK I'm rethinking Lisa Edelstein. She's bored by Negan and the penile reference index too!

Also a pretty good theory about Simon's evolution (devolution?) as Negan's second in command.

[chick binewski]

2 minutes ago, SoSueMe said:

Also a pretty good theory about Simon's evolution (devolution?) as Negan's second in command.

Yeah I thought that was pretty great. Maybe I didn't like her on TTD last time b/c it was FTWD. And I tend to dislike anything to do with FTWD except for Coleman & Ruben.

[SoSueMe]

Wow, Josh (Eugene ) has a really nice real life voice.

[chick binewski]

I'm not a Jarryl shipper but I'm loving the artwork.

Also, what's left of Steven Ogg's hair has tremendous volume. 

[SnarkyTart]

Okay, I'm not overly-sensitive about such things, but I felt uncomfortable with the way Steven Ogg was leering at Lisa Edelstein during this show.  By the mid-point of the show, she seemed uncomfortable with it too, and was literally turning her body away from him and towards the other guy, whose name I don't really remember, was it really Jesus?  Anyway, Ogg kept leering at her over the top of his mug and whenever she talked.  It was like eww. 

[meep.meep]

His name was Desus.

[peach]

On 11/7/2017 at 11:05 AM, Madding crowd said:

I admit I never understand the intense Norman squealing that goes on. To me he is an OK character, and Norman seems like a good guy, but Daryl is greasy and unattractive and has little personality. I think Daryl has more fans than Rick, and I just don't get it.

I think it's because Norman really enjoys his fans, and the whole Walking Dead "phenomenon" and promotes the show on social media, etc.  He does some of the cons.  In fact, before he became Daryl, he was at the cons sometimes for Boondock Saints!  lol.  In the early days of TWD, my friend snapped a surreptitious shot of him at a con, and he was just a $40 signature guy, mostly known for Boondock Saints.  A couple years later and he's the $125 VIP headliner, sometimes appearing with Merle.  Norman knows and loves promotion.   As we see with this motorcycle show being shoved down our gullet.

Andy Lincoln, meanwhile, heads straight back to England when he's not filming, I believe, and is pretty much a family guy.  He's not social media savvy, and he only appears at THE official San Diego Comic Con with the whole cast, probably because it's required.  I think he's only physically appeared on TTD once, maybe?  I remember him being asked at a panel how he felt about being the subject of internet memes, esp the famous "Stuff and Thangs" ones.  Poor guy looked totally bewildered.  He didn't even know what a meme was, much less that people were joking about Stuff & Thangs.  Norman probably made those memes.  lol. 

I think Rick would have a lot more emphatic fans if he hustled for it like Daryl.

On 11/7/2017 at 0:00 PM, Irishmaple said:

I tried to watch an episode of Norman Reedus’ travel show. I thought it would be good geography porn, and my Dad had a bike when I was a kid so I have good memories of rides along various Irish backroads. Couldn’t get through the episode. He was travelling with Balthazar Getty, and they were both so vacuous and uninteresting. It threatened to ruin Darryl for me (and I’m not a big fan anyway) so I stopped watching. Overall I prefer not to know the actor behind my favourite characters.

I watched part of one that happened to come on while I was puttering around, and he talked more in the first five minutes than I've ever heard him say in 8 years on TWD.  It was kind of odd!  He was in LA, so it was kind of interesting to have on in the background. But definitely not Must See TV.

[nachomama]

I saw Andrew Lincoln at WalkerStalker Con a couple of years ago, and maybe he only did that one because it was in Atlanta, thus very close to where he has to be for filming anyway... yes, he let Norman do a lot of the "crowd" work but they had really good chemistry.

I'm kinda digging the "skype-in" duo's like Ezekiel and Jerry couple weeks ago, Jesus and what's her name, Andrew Lincoln could certainly do that and we could maybe see some of the cast that doesn't show up on Talking Dead quite as often.

[iMonrey]

So they said in this episode the choke hold Daryl gave Rick was a throwback to season one when Shane gave Daryl a choke hold. Anyone remember that? I don't.

[nodorothyparker]

The first episode Daryl was ever in, Tell It to the Frogs, the first thing he hears upon Rick's introduction to the camp is that the scavenging group that's just returned from Atlanta bringing Rick has left Merle behind.  Daryl angrily throws a brace of squirrels at Rick (seriously) and Rick and Shane immediately tag team him with Shane putting him in a choke hold.  Daryl's line in that scene?  "Choke hold's illegal."

[raven]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

So they said in this episode the choke hold Daryl gave Rick was a throwback to season one when Shane gave Daryl a choke hold. Anyone remember that? I don't.

I do! It's one of my favorite moments from the early seasons because of NR's delivery.  It was played kind of fun.  The show used to do things like that.

Quote

I'm kinda digging the "skype-in" duo's like Ezekiel and Jerry couple weeks ago, Jesus and what's her name, Andrew Lincoln could certainly do that and we could maybe see some of the cast that doesn't show up on Talking Dead quite as often.

I like them too - AL and NR have fun together and seem to like each other, it would be a way to get them on TD some time.

TWD attraction at Universal Studios does look like fun.