Chris Hardwick Expanding His Late-Night Talk Franchise on AMC

03.01.2017

AMC is expanding its original after-show franchise, Talking Dead, into a weekly late-night talk show also hosted by Chris Hardwick.

Talking Dead airs after every new episode of The Walking Dead and spin-off Fear the Walking Dead. Both series air in split seasons through the year so one or the other is often in season.Â

When they are not, however, AMC will air Talking with Chris Hardwick on Sundays at 11 p.m. ET/PT.Â

"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 number-one 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, in a statementÂ

"Talking will have the skin of Talking Dead, the soul of the Nerdist podcast and the guts of a Comic-Con panel," said Hardwick. "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."

Hardwick is a multi-talented performer who has done everything from being a radio deejay on Los Angeles' KROQ, to starring as Stacie Jaxx in the original production of Rock of Ages to launching his own media company, Nerdist Industries, which included his podcast, The Nerdist. He's also written for such publications as Wired and performed as a stand-up comedian. In December, he hosted primetime game show The Wall on NBC.

He started hosting Talking Dead on AMC right after each new episode of The Walking Dead in 2011 and that continues today. In 2013, he hosted Talking Bad after the each of the final eight episodes of Breaking Bad, and last year, he hosted Talking Saul after Better Call Saul. He also hosts a weeknight late-night game show on Comedy Central, @midnight.

Hardwick will serve as an executive producer on Talking with Chris Hardwick, along with Michael Davies, Brandon Monk, Jen Patton, and Brillstein Entertainment Partners' Alex Murray. Embassy Row will produce.Â

Talking with Chris Hardwick will premiere on AMC at 11 p.m. on Sunday, April 9, a week after the season-seven finale of The Walking Dead.