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.

AMC has released both a trailer for the second half of the second season of “The Walking Dead” and the first three-and-a-half minutes of the first episode back. If there’s one thing that both clips have going for them it’s that zombies are front-and-center, and really, that’s why most of us watch. Not to see Rick walk through the forest or Shane complain. If the story and the characters were stronger, I’d be more interested in the way the plot unfolds. But it’s not, so for me, it’s mostly about the kills. This is one show where the heavy hand of a showrunner like Ryan Murphy might actually benefit the series: He’d throw everything and everyone at the screen, and they’d all get axes in their heads in quick succession.

The zombies are not the problem with “The Walking Dead.” It’s everything else. But as long as there are others to commiserate with, I”ll watch until the bitter end.

Here’s the trailer.

Here’s the first three and a half minutes.

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.

If, however, Bernthal takes the role, Darabont would be spoiling his former show twice. First, if Bernthal — who plays Shane on “The Walking Dead” — signs on to “LA Noir,” we can then assume that his character will be killed off (or, at least, his role will diminish). Second, if Bernthal takes the role and is killed off, “The Walking Dead” will lose one of its best non-zombie villains, which will also probably mean more screen time for Bernthal’s co-lead, Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes). And no one wants more Rick. It would, however, be a fitting revenge for DarAbont to be able to screw over the show that screwed him over.

Also, here’s this. You’re welcome.

(Source: Variety)

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.

And then the finale came, and we were like, FINALLY. And then it aired. And then the killer was not revealed. And then the Internet exploded with anger and bile and hatred and frustration. And Veena Sud, the showrunner, was all like, “We never promised you the killer’s identity by the end of the season,” and then she stuck out her tongue and went, “Na na na na.”

The Internet was all like, “F**k you, lady. You strung us along, and then you screwed us over.” And then Sud was all like, “OK. Fine. We’ll reveal the killer early in the second season, and then we’ll start on a new case.” And 60 percent of the viewers were like, “Screw that. I’m out.” And the other 40 percent were like, “OK. Fine. We’ll stick it out for three or four more episodes, because WE HAVE TO KNOW, and then we’re out, too.”

Cut to nine months later, and now Veena Sud is all like, “Remember when I said we’d solve the case early on in the second season? Well, I was kind of talking out of my ass. What I meant to say was: We’ll solve the case by the end of season two. Because we need to take a few more detours and go off in a few more tangents because that’s like life, man.”

And then the Internet was like, “You can go straight to hell, lady. Shove Rosie Larsen’s murder investigation right up your ass.”

Then AMC was all like, “Ummm. No comment. But look over here, Christina Hendricks’ boobs will be back in March! You still love us, right?”

(Source: EW)

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.”

(Source: Comic Book News)

Despite losing roughly one half of its audience over the course of its first season so far, AMC has renewed their Western, “Hell on Wheels,” for a second season. Thanks to a lead-in from “The Walking Dead,” as well as AMC’s (diminishing) reputation for quality dramas, “Hell on Wheels” had the second biggest debut for an AMC original series back in October. However, since opening with 4.4 million viewers, the show’s most recent episode was down to 2.2 million. Still, that’s twice as good as “Rubicon,” and roughly the same ratings that “Mad Men” receives, so it wasn’t a tough choice for the network.

Whatever. I gave “Hell on Wheels” a shot. I watched the first few episodes, but I bailed because I couldn’t stay awake. I hear the show has improved, just as I heard that “Rubicon” improved near the end of its only season. But you know what? Unlike “Rubicon” and “Hell on Wheels,” I’m still watching two other AMC shows, “The Walking Dead” and (reluctantly) “The Killing,” because they showed their potential in the opening episodes before crapping the bed. I guess if you’re going to suck, at least suck from the beginning that way I don’t invest in 12 episodes before I find out THAT THEY DON’T EVEN SOLVE THE MURDER IN THE END. Outside of “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men,” I’m starting to lose my faith in AMC. Seriously, their formula now is: 1) Come up with a cool concept; 2) Hook viewers on the concept; 3) ignore the concept and film people walking solemnly through the woods or standing in the rain; and 4) Profit.

(Source: EW)

‘HELL ON WHEELS’ DEBUTS STRONG. Sunday night’s series premiere drew 4.4 million viewers for AMC, the network’s second-best debut after “The Walking Dead.” I thought the pilot was okay, but I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that series star Anson Mount played Britney Spears’s love interest in Crossroads.

‘SONS OF ANARCHY’ GETS A BONUS EPISODE. Showrunner Kurt Sutter has worried publicly that Season 4 had too much story to fit into 13 episodes, so FX has given the green light for a 14th episode. The season finale will now air December 6th.

‘EBERT PRESENTS’ HAS RUN OUT OF MONEY. The intellectual successor to “Siskel & Ebert” will go off the air unless it gets more funding. Sucks to be on public television.

AUDIENCES AGREE: ‘CHUCK’ SUCKS. The hokey NBC crapfest is the lowest-rated show on primetime for any of the big four networks, drawing a .9 rating on Friday nights. The most recent episode was beaten by a repeat of “NCIS” on USA.

Rough times for January Jones. Everyone got sick of her as Betty Draper, then everyone hated her acting X-Men: First Class, and then she had a bastard baby with someone from that set. And this video from Jest (formerly Today’s Big Thing) isn’t going to help her out any, since these “Mad Men” scenes are much more enjoyable without her pouting and complaining and generally being a shrill harpy. Although, to Jones’s credit, she does a VERY good job of making Betty Draper unlikable.

Only way this could be improved: instead of merely erasing Betty, they should try replacing her with Joan.

It just makes everyone happier.

See?

(video via Vulture & Uproxx)

They weren't kidding about taking the TV show in a different direction than the comic.

In a move that should come as no surprise, AMC has renewed “The Walking Dead” for a third season — and they managed to do it without engaging in a prolonged dispute or firing the showrunner. Good for them!

More than 7 million people watched the season 2 premiere, and nearly 5 million of those were in the adults 18-49 demographic, both enormous numbers for a scripted basic cable drama. The second episode averaged 6.7 million viewers for its first airing, with more than 4.5 million 18-49 viewers. [HitFix]

When I went to the “Walking Dead” panel with comic creator Robert Kirkman last Friday, he was coy about the possibility of a third season, but everyone in the audience was like, “Yeah right, like it won’t happen.” This is just the smart, obvious thing to do. Like adding dinosaurs to the show.

Last night’s episode of “The Walking Dead” (S2E2, “Bloodletting”) had a subtle but notable nod to its fellow AMC hit “Breaking Bad”: when white-power survivalist Darryl pulled out his bag of illicit drugs — both street and scrip — he mentions that meth in his collection, and the telltale crystals are blue, just as if they were made in Walter White’s laboratory.

AMC didn’t immediately respond to queries on Monday morning about whether this was a deliberate shout-out from the “Walking Dead” producers or just a manifestation of our own desire for new installments of “Breaking Bad.” And it’s not immediately clear how crystal meth that is cooked in Albuquerque would make it all the way to Atlanta (carried over by an industrious zombie, no doubt). But it wouldn’t be the first time the two shows have collaborated: KNB EFX, the special effects company of the “Walking Dead” co-executive producer Greg Nicotero, helped design a memorable scene for the “Breaking Bad” finale, featuring a character who can make return appearances only in flashbacks or as a member of the undead. [NYT ArtsBeat]

Okay, thanks for WAY too many words about that, New York Times. Here’s the only conversation we need to have about this: ”Oh hey! Blue meth on ‘The Walking Dead’!” … ”Neat.”