'The Walking Dead' return date set, AMC to rearrange Sunday nights

The Walking Dead

Wow. That sure was a hell of a "mid-season finale" huh? I'll try to keep this article as spoiler free as possible for those TWD viewers who watch days later on DVR, but let's just say that February can't get here soon enough. Will ____ and _____ escape The Governor's pit of death? I can't wait to find out.

Speaking of which, while it had been previously announced that TWD would return for the second half of season three in February, what hadn't been confirmed until last night is exactly what time of the month the show would come back. And the winning date is... :drumroll: Sunday, February 10th. I still think this whole "take two months off during a season" strategy is super annoying, but it seems to be working for AMC, so I can't blame them for continuing to do it.

Anyway, that won't be the only notable thing to happen to the AMC Sunday night schedule in early 2013, as the "normal" line-up of TWD at 9pm, TWD encores at 10pm, Talking Dead at 11pm, and Comic Book Men at 11:30pm is exiting stage left. Starting on the 10th, Talking Dead will move to 10pm, directly following the new Walking Dead episode. The Chris Hardwick hosted chat show will also be expanding from 30 minutes to a full hour, which should allow for more audience participation and lengthier discussions with guests. Personally, I'm all for this change, as it never really made sense to not have the talk show air immediately after the new episode.

AMC has yet to clarify whether the TWD encore presentation will now move to 11pm, but that would obviously be the natural fit. In addition, Comic Book Men will be leaving Sundays entirely. The Kevin Smith fronted reality series will resume its second season on Thursday, February 14th at 9pm.

Are you excited for more Walking Dead in February? Do you like the changes AMC is making to Sunday night's line-up?

Details

Show:
- Comic Book Men
- Talking Dead
- The Walking Dead
Network:
- amc

Written by: msd85
Dec 3rd, 2012, 7:14 am

diddyd

Message Posted On Feb 13th, 2013, 2:08 am

i needed to catch up, so this hieadus is very useful

Plan

Message Posted On Jan 15th, 2013, 4:55 pm

Splitting the season has nothing to do with allowing people to catch up, as if AMC were that altruistic. lol. It has everything to do with ratings, and waiting to air the remaining shows until after the holidays. There's at least a 4 to 6 week swing when different people are celebrating Christmas, New Years, Hannukah, shopping, attending parties, returning gifts, traveling, etc. Ratings take a massive dive during those weeks, and a network like AMC doesn't want to waste prime, original content on a Sunday night that'll draw millions less. And the only time AMC changes its scheduling in reaction to HBO is to avoid competing. TWD had to come back by Feb. 10, because if AMC waited any longer, the show would directly conflict with Game of Thrones. Even in the age of DVRs, that causes a ratings loss.

Fake Me Out

Message Posted On Dec 3rd, 2012, 11:31 pm

JungleJack's post makes perfect sense for people who can think logically and more importantly read. Whether the season is 16 o 66 doesn't matter, this break will allow those people who, for whatever reason(s), have fallen behind to catch-up with this series _AND_ as Jack notes other series (ie Homeland, Boardwalk, etc) that viewers may have fallen behind. Now whether that is a good marketing idea or not is another story. Personally I'd prefer all series to run straight through with no breaks or repeats. Revolution on NBC is on a 4 month hiatus until late March 2013 that will, I think, have a big negative impact on viewers. Then again I'm just a viewer and not an exec at the network. Time will tell which one was right. ymmv

saffronsghost

Level 1 (26%)
Since: 28/Oct/12

Message Posted On Dec 3rd, 2012, 8:22 pm

How does that "logic" make sense, Jack? If it WAS a long season THEN it would make some sort of sense to "let people catch up". But with 8 episodes? Uh, yeah....there's no sane logic in your post.

Anyway, sucks about Comic Book Men, that kinda sounds like a kiss of death. My feeling was it'd be canceled after the first season (it doesn't seem like the kind of thing most would like, at all). Then it came back, although changed, and I was happy. But I think it only performed "well enough" for being after the channels most popular show.... :(

Anonymous

Message Posted On Dec 3rd, 2012, 8:12 pm

JungleJack its not a full season its only 16 episodes for this season and they planning to do 22 for season 4.

Anonymous

Message Posted On Dec 3rd, 2012, 6:39 pm

it should come back a month earlier in january.. february too long but could be worse i suppose..

JungleJack

Message Posted On Dec 3rd, 2012, 7:22 am

I think its cool to return to the series in feb. Since it isnt a full season-series (22/24 episodes) its a nice time for folks to catch up if needed. And for other viewers to catch up with other series :)

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'The Walking Dead' return date set, AMC to rearrange Sunday nights

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