AMC announces Talking Dead spinoff to air all year long.

The Walking Dead fans favorite TV after show therapist Chris Hardwick will be taking on more than just the zombie apocalypse in a new year-round talk show. Talking with Chris Hardwick will air on AMC on Sunday nights all year long.

AMC is giving fans of The Walking Dead an early Christmas gift this year. In a press release today AMC announced that Chris Hardwick’s after show Talking Dead is going year-round . Talking Dead is consistently the second highest rated cable show. It’s second only to The Walking Dead.

When The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead are airing new episodes the show will focus on them the way it does now.  But during the rest of the year it will feature Hardwick talking to a guest or several guests from a show for the usual 60 minute time slot.

"Hardwick said that, “‘Talking’ will have the skin of ‘Talking Dead,’ the soul of the Nerdist podcast and the guts of a Comic Con panel,” I have loved learning how to do a talk show these last six years on ‘Talking Dead,’ but am eager to expand the format into other areas of pop culture.”"

When TWD and FTWD are on  hiatus the show will go in a different direction. Chris Hardwick will talk to actors and pop culture figures for 60 minute show. They will focus on current events, other shows, and other topics that fall under the pop culture and nerd culture umbrellas.

Connecting With Fans

AMC kicked off a trend when it first started Talking Dead. The idea of doing an after show seemed a little out there to executives.  They didn’t realize how passionate the fans of these shows are. Or how much fans would enjoy the chance to talk about the shows they love. And to explore episodes of their favorite shows on a deeper level.

Because Talking Dead is such a huge hit with fans other networks are now running after shows. Game of Thrones has one. So does Westworld. And now even the NBC drama This Is Us has one. But none of the other after shows are as successful as Talking Dead. And that’s because of Chris Hardwick.

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Using a mix of interactive social media and traditional talk show style  is something he has perfected.  Hardwick connects on a deep level with fans because he is one too. Fans recognize that passion. And they overwhelmingly respond to it. But fans aren’t the only one who noticed the Hardwick effect:

"Chris Hardwick is just the ultimate fan guide, advocate and conversationalist. He took our desire to serve the fans of ‘The Walking Dead’ with an hour of discussion and analysis following each new episode and turned it into the #1 talk show on television, and a model that has been widely emulated but never quite duplicated, because Chris is the key,” said Joel Stillerman, president of original programming and development for AMC and SundanceTV"

Talking With Chris Hardwick will have the same format as Talking Dead . There will be input from the fans through social media and phone calls so fans will still be a big part of the show. So get excited The Walking Dead fans. Year-round Chris Hardwick is definitely something to celebrate.