AMC
Yesterday was a set-visit day for the writers at the Television Critics Association press tour in Los Angeles; today begins the first full day of sessions from cable networks. (I expect full reports from that Weather Channel panel, folks!) But there’s already some news emerging out of the TV-meets-journalism confab at the Beverly Hilton. For instance:
* In advance of AMC’s presentation tomorrow came the announcement that director Frank Darabont is stepping down as the showrunner of The Walking Dead. I’m surprised but not heartbroken. For starters, while Darabont (who just appeared for the show at Comic-Con) was clearly deeply invested in the project last season, running a TV show is a hard slog, and it’s rare for a movie director to commit to it over years. Second, I feel like much of what I enjoyed about the short first season owed a lot to the basic story and source material; the writing of individual episodes was less impressive. It may be that the transition to a full staff of writers and (I would assume) a more experienced showrunner might help the show. I’m sure we’ll hear more after AMC presents tomorrow.
* Anderson Cooper, aspiring Next Oprah, said that he can run his syndicated daytime talk show (called Anderson) and do the news in primetime for CNN at the same time. If necessary, he says, he can produce the daytime show while overseas on assignment for CNN. (“Should your eight-year-old have a Twitter account? Join us as we explore the pitfalls of kids and social media—from Benghazi, Libya!”)
* And Tim Goodman has updated his perennially useful explainer of what the TCA press tour is, in which he name-checks me, so I’ll continue the logrolling and link him here.