First Episode of AMC's 'Talking Dead' to be Live
10.03.2016
It's nearly Halloween and that means one important thing in TV land: AMC's The Walking Dead is coming back.
Fans have been eagerly anticipating the premiere of season 7 after season 6 ended on a giant cliffhanger: Who did latest villain Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) kill with his barbed baseball bat, affectionately named Lucille?
RELATED: 'The Walking Dead' Cast Portraits Set Tone for Season 7
Season 7 also promises the arrival of a new character, King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) and his pet tiger, Shiva. Shiva is named after the Hindu god of destruction and that can't augur well.
The Walking Dead premieres Sunday, Oct. 23, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, with popular aftershow The Talking Dead airing a 90-minute version immediately after featuring host Chris Hardwick and 12 cast members.
The live edition of The Talking Dead has an added bonus for hardcore fans: more than 2,000 have the opportunity to win free tickets to the premiere screening and to the Talking Dead, hosted at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Besides Hardwick, series creator Robert Kirkman and fellow executive producer Scott M. Gimple will be on hand as well as series stars Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, Danai Gurira, Michael Cudlitz, Sonequa Martin-Green, Chandler Riggs, Josh McDermitt, Christian Serratos, Ross Marquand and Morgan.
Starting today, fans can go to www.TalkingDeadSweeps.com to enter for tickets.
"As The Walking Dead returns with one of the most powerful and highly anticipated episodes in series history, it feels fitting to literally share this night with the fans whose support have made this show what it is today," said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios, in a statement. "As a fan myself, even I crave a supersized Talking Dead to do what it does best - serve as a focal point for fans - along with Chris, the producers and the largest cast the show has ever assembled - to experience, discuss and process together this emotional episode."
While it's oft-repeated that The Walking Dead is the highest-rated scripted series on television among adults 18-49, Talking Dead holds its own. The second half of last season averaged 6.4 million viewers, including 3.8 million adults 18-49 and 4.1 million adults 25-54 in Nielsen's live-plus-three-day ratings.
Talking Dead is executive produced by Michael Davies, Jen Patton and Brandon Monk.
[Cube image courtesy of AMC via Variety]