One of the great things about the Internet is its ability to give readers, bloggers, critics, commenters, Facebookers and Tweeters alike a place to complain. Most of our real worlds are vastly different from our Internet worlds: The guy who sits in the cubicle next to you probably goes on about “Jersey Shore” while the woman who lives across the hall won’t shut up about “Real Housewives.” Your family members probably have never heard of “Community” or “Shameless” or “Game of Thrones” or “Justified,” so we turn to the Internet to vent. It’s harmless b*tchery, but it’s nice to be around others who have at least seen the same television shows, if not share similar opinions.

“The Walking Dead” is one of those shows many of us LOVE to complain about and for good reason: It’s slow, the acting is wooden, and the character development is poor. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop watching it. What would we have to complain about otherwise?

Our frustrations with “The Walking Dead” unite us.

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There is some major casting news in this post that may spoil upcoming episodes of “The Walking Dead,” so if you’re not keen on being spoilered, skedaddle.

Frank Darabont, who has long had a reputation for working with the same set of actors, is currently developing a series for TNT called “LA Noir,” which takes place in 1940′s L.A. and will chronicle the battle between the LAPD and mobster Mickey Cohen. While the show itself sound compelling, the more interesting development here is that Darabont is wooing Jon Bernthal for the lead role of a gumshoe detective, and Jon Bernthal likewise is interested in that role.

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First the you-have-to-be-kidding-me news: AMC announced this weekend that “The Killing,” the show that made it possible for Denmark to bomb us with reasonable cause, will return on April 1. They’re fu*king with us? There’s no other reason why season two of the “best show on TV” would start on April Fool’s Day, which is also the same night the (maybe) ACTUAL answer for the best show on TV, “Game of Thrones,” returns to HBO.

But more importantly:

-AMC also officially confirmed the March 25 premiere date for season five of “Mad Men.” But also added that the premiere will be two hours.

-The previously announced third season of “The Walking Dead” will be 16 episodes — three episodes longer than season two.

– While there’s no official date for “Breaking Bad” season five, AMC says the show will return sometime in the third quarter of this year. (EW.com)

So, yeah, “Breaking Bad,” “Mad Men,” “Game of Thrones,” “Homeland,” “Justified,” “Sherlock,” “The Walking Dead,” “Boardwalk Empire” — I’m liking 2012, and those are just the returning dramas. Also, we all agree to ignore “The Killing” on April 1 and watch “Game of Thrones” instead, right? Right.

“The Killing” debuted on AMC last spring with one of the better pilot episodes in recent memory: It introduced a investigation, gave us a grisly murder, and provided plenty of potential suspects. Then the police officers — played deftly by Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman — began slowly, meticulously developing the case. It was exciting. Critics began mentioning it in the same sentence as “The Wire,” even if it was to say, “It’s not as good as ‘The Wire,’ but … ”

It was the anti-procedural. One case. 12 episodes. Multiple dead ends. Lots and lots of rain. We had no idea where it would take us, but the one thing we knew for certain was that, by the end of the season, we’d know who killed Rosie Larsen. And we were thankful, because by the 7th episode, we were exhausted: The dead ends were growing tiresome. The glacial pacing began to test our patience. By the 10th episode, watching “The Killing” became a chore, something we endured to get to the prize in the end. We’d invested so much already, what’s two or three more episodes, right? We’d find out who the killer was, and we’d quit.

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What’s the consensus on Kevin Smith in these parts? I was once an unabashed fanboy. However, his rambling, pot-fueled Twitter rants began to take their toll after he lashed out at critics who dared suggest that Cop Out blew the very donkey dicks featured heavily in Clerks 2. I am nevertheless one of the few film critics who openly admits to digging the hell out of Red State, but like a lot of folks, I think Mr. Smith is better on the lecture circuit than as a director, at least since Dogma.

Still, when you think of AMC, you think of quality, slow-burn dramas like “Breaking Bad,” “Mad Men,” and “The Walking Dead.” You don’t think of a Kevin Smith reality show about a comic book shop, which will debut next month after the return of “The Walking Dead.” Recent misfires, including “The Killing,” “Rubicon,” and “Hell on Wheels,” were at least in keeping with the network’s tone, but this? I don’t care how much nerd cred it has, it’s a reality show. And it looks like a bad reality show, which moves AMC one step closer to Bravo! for nerds.

Here are a couple of short previews of “Comic-Book Men,” formerly “Secret Stash.”

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