Stay Tuned

The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, October 9, 2015 2 By Kyla Brewer TV Media N ot long ago, vampires were all the rage on television and the big screen. Now, zombies have taken over and they seem to be unstoppable. Hailed as an "honest-to- god phenomenon" by Variety, few television shows have sparked the same sort of "fandemonium" as AMC's "The Walking Dead," which returns Sunday, Oct. 11. The show is based on the comic book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard. Season 6 of the series will once again follow the survi- vors of a zombie apocalypse as they battle the undead and each other. After last year's cliffhanger season fi- nale, fans have been champ- ing at the bit for the show's return. With nearly 16 million viewers, the season 5 finale broke ratings records for the series. Rick (Andrew Lincoln, "This Life") and his group had been taken in by the peo- ple of Alexandria, a "safe" community fenced off from zombies, near Washington, D.C. However, they remained skeptical of the Alexandria residents and it appeared that a major power shift was about to take place at the end of the last season. AMC's official trailer for the new season alludes to such a power shift, with tense scenes between Rick and the other residents, hordes of zombies — or "walkers," as they're known in the series — and banter between new arrival Morgan (Lennie James, "Jericho") and Alexandria leader Dean- na (Tovah Feldshuh, "Law & Order"). However, according to ex- ecutive producer and show- runner Scott M. Gimple, fans may not want to put too much stock in what they think might happen. During a panel for "The Walking Dead" at this year's San Di- ego Comic-Con, he hinted: "We sometimes play with the truth in trailers ... just to maintain the experience for everybody." Interesting ... Gimple went on to say that Rick faces challenges in sea- son 6 because of what went down in the season finale (don't worry, you won't find any spoilers here). "Things might not be as they seem, but Rick absolutely has to deal with the fact that things went down with Reg [Steve Coulter] and with Pete [Corey Brill] and all of these people who might have been follow- ing him into the bowels of hell are maybe looking at him a little differently." Those willing to follow Rick into zombie-populated hell include fan favorites Nor- man Reedus ("The Boondock Saints," 1999) as Daryl, Ste- ven Yeun ("I Origins," 2014) as Glenn, Lauren Cohan ("Su- pernatural") as Maggie, Dan- ai Gurira ("Treme") as Michonne, Melissa McBride ("Living Proof," 2008) as Car- ol, Chandler Riggs ("The Wronged Man," 2010) as Carl, Sonequa Martin-Green ("Toe to Toe," 2009) as Sasha, and Michael Cudlitz ("Southland") as Abraham. These characters have formed the core of the series so far, and fans are no doubt hoping all of them will make it through another season, though you never can be too sure with "TWD." Since the season 5 finale, people have been buzzing about season 6, especially the addition of James, whose character has been tracking Rick since saving him from a walker at the very beginning of season 1. The actor has been acclaimed for his por- trayal, even though he's only appeared in a few episodes in seasons 1, 3 and 5. Robynwood Home 2 x 2 coverstory Melissa McBride as seen in "The Walking Dead" 'Dead' ahead Fans rejoice as season 6 of 'The Walking Dead' premieres on AMC By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: What happened with "The Whispers"? Did it really end that way, never to return, or will it be coming back? A: There are a couple of reasons why the renewal or can- celation of ABC's summer thriller, "The Whispers," has been tricky — one of which is the reason why your question is tricky as well. The network hasn't made a decision on the series. It wasn't an outright hit in the ratings, though its "plus-three" numbers — that is, the people who watch the show within three days on their DVRs (digital video recorders) — were reportedly a lot better. That's a problem for the show, since networks don't value those ratings as highly as live ratings. It's also a problem for this column, because it suggests a lot of people may still have the show sitting around in their DVRs, so I can't talk about what happened in the finale. It suffices to say that, since this is a suspense-based show with a serialized plot, things were not totally resolved. Q: I remember a sitcom, I think it was called "The Good Life," that took place in a lock-manufacturing company. In my opinion, it was one of the funniest shows ever. For some strange reason, it just disap- peared. I would love to know the names of the funny guys and girls who were in it. A: "The Good Life" lasted just one season in 1994 on NBC, which is a surprise since it introduced sitcom fans to Drew Carey. Carey, who is of course now better known for hosting "The Price Is Right," played a sidekick to the show's actual star, fel- low stand-up comedian John Caponera. By the following year, however, Carey was on his own sitcom, "The Drew Carey Show," which was significantly more successful. Aside from Carey, the next-biggest star to come out of "The Good Life" was Justin Berfield, who played Caponera's son, and would go on to a similar role in seven hit seasons of "Malcolm in the Middle," playing Malcolm's older brother, Reese. "The Good Life" also featured Eve Gordon, who's gone on to short arcs in such shows as "Don't Trust the B—— in Apartment 23" and "Hart of Dixie," and Shay Astar, whose best known other role was a long-running arc as August in "3rd Rock from the Sun." Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town. Personal replies will not be provided. hollywoodQ&A Fly Creek General Store 1 x 6 Brandon's Feed & Seed 2 x 2 307219 Hours: Mon-Sat6am-9pm;Sun7am-7pm 607-547-7274 303677 •BROWNEGGS •MAPLESYRUP •GRANOLA OMMEGANG Game of Thrones ADIRONDACK CHEESE X-Sharp,Spreads ORGANICVALLEY MILK $ 4. 99 Whole,2% 1/2Gal. MILK SMOKEDHAM $ 4. 99 lb. SMOKED HAM Celebrating 125 th Anniversary ~ 1890-2015 Daily Star The

• Cover