It’s SWAT officer John Griffin’s final stand! He’s New York City’s only hope in avoiding complete annihilation. All he has to do is get past countless bloodthirsty gargoyle-like creatures in an attempt to kill his best friends and save his son in the process!

I’m a big fan of the season so far. I’ve really, really liked all of the existential crises, and things like that. One thing that I really thought was interesting about it is, it seems like—we do get glimpses of last season, but for the most part it seems fairly easy for a new fan to step in from the season premiere. Was that intentional? Do you think that the series is built that way?
We wanted to be able to have someone join this season. Also, we took into account the fact that it has been a year since last season. We only had six episodes. The conflicts and the drama, you can pick up on them…they’re not subtle, let’s put it that way. You can pick up on them fairly easily. You’ve got a love triangle, you understand that they’ve left the city of Atlanta behind, and they’re trying to find a safe haven.

When you were going into the preliminary steps of working on the second season, was there a specific goal you had of the feel that needed to happen in the sophomore season? What was the thought process when you were brainstorming all of that?
The most important thing, really, is that we only had six episodes last year, last season, to set up the world and the characters. We have an ensemble cast, and we wanted to make sure that this season, we were really able to focus on the terrific cast of characters so that we feel we get to know each one of them much better.

It definitely seems like we are getting to know them better. Especially Daryl, we got a greater look at. Shane as well—who, in the books, is offed very early, Lori calls him a bastard. It’s very quick and he’s done. But this season, he’s a little more complex.
Yes. It made a lot of sense, and Robert Kirkman agreed that keeping Shane around allowed us to really see how the three central characters—Rick, Lori and Shane—grapple with what happened when Shane assumed Rick was dead, and Lori was told by Shane that Rick was dead. Their revelations come, and how do they deal with that? Especially when it’s such a small group.

And with the recent developments with Otis, I’ve been seeing a lot of chatter online. Fans are kind of turning against Shane. He’s maybe being a little alienated. Do you think that he’s gone “full-bastard,” or does he still have a lot more to offer? Is his character still growing?
I think that Shane has…there are two characters to me that have adapted, or were already adapted to this new world order. Daryl, because he has the survival skills to make it. He’s essentially a pre-digital guy anyway; he can exist on his own in the woods. And Shane, who sees everything in shades of grey, and not black-and-white, in terms of his morality. He looks at everything in terms of, “Is this going to help me and the ones that I love survive? What will this decision lead to?” And he doesn’t think that there is room for someone to be, as he would put it, soft.

And that sort of internal, emotional, existential struggle is such a huge part of this season. I’ve personally been a fan of all the talking that everyone is doing, and all the inner turmoil. But that’s been a polarizing concept with a lot of fans. Some people are like, “Why are they talking so much?” What would you say to those naysayers?
I think unless you care for the characters, the tension and jeopardy won’t resonate quite the same. Even though we love killing zombies, and I think we find unique and unexpected ways to do that, it doesn’t mean the same if you are not seeing those circumstances through the eyes of the characters. Whether it’s Glenn in the well with the zombie, or Sophia being chased and Rick having to decide what to do to try to save her and himself.

This season, even though we just discussed that it’s a lot about that internal struggle, it really seems to have that element that it seems to have no boundaries. Is there a certain aspect working on this season that you are particularly proud of being involved in?
I think that what this new world will be and how each character comes to terms with their place in it is what I’m most proud of. Because everyone responds a little bit differently. Even though it seems like there are camps within the camp, each character has a different version of what is right and who should be in charge. And there’s a lot of nuance, I think.

Do you think that is a risk when you’re drawing people in with the zombie premise? Obviously people are sticking around…
I think two things. First of all, we are on AMC. Their tagline is, “Story matters here.” That’s first and foremost: making sure the stories and the characters are complex and interesting. And then, it is about a world full of zombies, so there is going to be violence. Some might say gratuitous violence, and some might cheer the fact that the violence is over the top. But we try to create a world and stay within that world. And that world is one that is populated, we think, by really interesting characters, and portrayed by terrific actors.

It’s fantastic so far! I’m excited to see what else is coming down. Something that I gravitated to when I first started watching the series—I’ve always been a fan of zombie movies and that genre—but the series pays particular attention to a very specific woman’s experience in this new world. Not as a victim or as someone who needs to be protected, but as a very robust character within this landscape. Do you think that that element is strong enough to support a viewership that maybe isn’t coming for the gore?
Some of our most vocal fans are women. Some of them are fans of the Dixons. Daryl and Merle fans. There is a family at the center of the show. Raising a child at any time is difficult. It is much more so in this new world. That’s another thing that I think is interesting this season. People continue to tune in to see what changes are in store for Carl, and how Rick and Lori deal with parenting. And obviously the complexity there is, Shane thinks he’d be a better surrogate father than Rick is.

That’s definitely been an interesting element this whole season. We’re getting so close to that halfway point where it’s going to cut off until February—
I know!

Which is so sad! I’m not ready!
Darn those football playoffs!

So how painful are these couple of months going to be? How much of a finale is this last episode going to be?
I think people will have quite a bit to talk about, from the beginning of December until January.

That’s a good positive spin.
Go big or go home!

And you guys are already renewed for Season 3—I think it was after the second episode—and I don’t think any of us doubted that there was going to be a third season. But did you guys think it was going to be that quickly that you would get that order?
Well, by the time we got it, we were already shooting episode 2.10 or 2.11. We’re already on our final episode of the season, 2.13, right now. It was important to know. It helps with respect to the crew and the cast, so they can plan their lives. That was really positive. We are very happy to be able to celebrate that. When you’re working with people from—essentially, we started shooting at the beginning of June, and we’ll be finishing right before Thanksgiving—it’s a family. It’s a surrogate family. And it’s nice to share the good news with that family.

As far as the creative planning stages, I believe I read yesterday that the planning stages for Season 3 are already underway as well.
Oh yeah.

Do you think that knowing that early on that you definitely do have a third season helps the creative process? Maybe the continuity of the story?
Absolutely. Before the writers’ room closed for the season, the writers were able to discuss it, were able to talk with the cast and our crewmembers about it. I think it’s really important not only for morale, but creatively. Before everyone goes back to real life, we’re able to focus on the fact that we will be back next year.

Beyond the influence on your own fans, it seems that the popularity of the show is influencing other networks even. There’s talk about the Zombieland show, and CW and NBC are looking at zombie shows. Now, you guys have your own post-show, The Talking Dead. How does it feel that something that you brought to television is now creating a trend in the genre?
Well, it’s certainly not necessarily what we set out to do…but they say it’s nice to have an homage [laughs]. And I think that there are a lot of fans out there, genre fans, who enjoy really good storytelling, who couldn’t be more delighted. And I’m one of them.

Me too! And would you ever do a zombie cameo on the show?
No. My daughter already did one, though. I feel like I’ve already gotten my family pride.

By Kelsea Stahler , Hollywood.com Staff

Hurd – who is responsible for big screen fare like Tremors, The Terminator and, more recently, The Hulk – is developing a new film called Hellfest for CBS Films.

“It’s really, really cool,” Hurd told Shock last night at the premiere of Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel. “The writers [William Penick and Chris Sey] turned in a draft to CBS Films and they seemed to like it, hopefully we’ll be announcing a director soon. It takes place at – one of the places that scares me the most – one of those Halloween theme parks, like what Universal does, or Knott’s Scary Farm. That inspired the story: What if one of those people running around wasn’t acting?”

The film presents the opportunity for a new costumed horror icon and poses plenty of scare potential given the strides the haunted attraction business has made in technology.

“We hope to start [production] in the Spring,” Hurd said.

We’ll have more as it comes in!

Having worked with James Cameron on his most famous thrillers, as well as numerous other genre films, Gale Anne Hurd is no stranger to difficult shooting conditions. But the veteran producer is tested like never before on the Walking Dead‘s hot-and-humid Georgia location shoot, where I join a group of other journos in speaking with her about the hit show’s expanded sophomore season. Find out what Hurd had to say after the jump.

On how faithful the second season remains to the original comic:

Robert Kirkman, who created the comic book, has always been really clear that he doesn’t want the fans to be that far ahead of the show, so that they can predict everything that’s going to happen. Just like in the first season, there are sequences and shots that look like they have come out of the panels of the comic, but there are quite a few detours along the way, in addition to which that would be the case anyway, because we have new characters that were created for the TV series, like Daryl, played by Norman Reedus. Because of that there are always going to be detours following his character, and T-Dog and the others.

On bringing the horror traditionally found in films to TV:

Well the first thing is that we shoot on film. We shoot on Super 16. I know most shows now are on digital, but we found that that was the perfect medium for us, and I think that gives us that filmic quality. The other thing is we’re primarily an exterior location show. We don’t shoot on sets. We don’t have necessarily standing sets the way most shows do, and sometimes you feel that when a show is on a set it feels like a set. We shoot on existing locations rather than within sets, even when we’re interior. But most of our shooting is exterior. That has a big impact. In addition, we don’t follow some of the traditional rules of how a scene is covered, where you do establishing and master shots.

On the most important thing in creating horror:

The most important thing is hiring Greg Nicotero, who is now, for our show, the Emmy-winning Greg Nicotero. The other thing that’s key is AMC basically said, “Go for it. We don’t want this to seem like it’s always a cheat, that the minute something’s about to happen we cugt away” – we have that because that’s a technique that Hitchcock certainly proved in Psycho, but there are times with you absolutely do want to see what’s going on onscreen. And they’ve embraced it, and our Standards and Practices are such that we have never gotten a note where we had to cut away from what we submitted to them.

On the divide between the survivors this year:

We set up some tension last year, the principal one of course is the triangle between Lori, Rick and Shane. And that’s gonna be a central conflict of course this season. That’s something that’s growing… Then we have something that began at the end of last season. Andrea’s not really too thrilled that Dale saved her from the CDC, because she had chosen to stay with Jenner and with Jackie. Then there are other tensions that you won’t see coming that I can’t divulge right now. [Laughs.]

On whether the show contains metaphors:

There are a lot of overarching things, because people keep asking why we feel that the show is resonating. One of the reasons is that we live in a world of dread, whether it’s continuing wars that are going on, the global financial collapse, natural disasters that seem to be picking up pace – maybe that’s always the case, but we’re more aware of it now. We’re aware of it because of social media. There are times when it would be hours or days before you heard about something, now if anything happens you hear about it immediately. Now I think there’s that sense of impending doom – “When’s it going to happen to me?” We’re bombarded with those images. They’re frightening, and there’s a desire that we have – some of us – when you see a car wreck on the freeway to slow down and think, “Thank God that wasn’t me.” We’re fascinated, but at the same time exploring that through the post-apocalyptic zombie world is much safer. I think that’s one of the reasons why it connects with people. We understand that as a context, we’re not specifically talking about how we can insert metaphors along the way.

On the other big challenges besides the heat:

We had a couple of new challenges this year, including ticks. We’re now a cornucopia of information on how to remain tick free. There are also really nasty creatures here called chiggers. Chiggers make ticks look like… If you want to find out any more about chiggers, you can ask Jon Bernthal. He was… chiggered. The other challenges… Because now we’re really out in rural Georgia, you have to watch out for the wildlife. One of our crewmembers was injured because a dear jumped out, and I think a couple of people actually hit dear. Because we’re always driving, we’re driving just at sunrise or we’re driving at sunset, which is when they’re most active. So who would have thought – watch out for the chiggers, watch out for the ticks, and watch out for the dear.

On the changes made between comic and TV show:

You have an opportunity in the TV series where – as you can see from the scene we’re shooting – you can have a lot of dialogue. In a comic book, you’re pretty much limited by the little bubbles. So you have a lot more opportunity to explore character, to do things that a comic book is not the perfect medium for. And to explore tangents. Last season it was Frank’s idea to do the detour to the CDC. One of the thrusts of the comic book is maybe getting to Baltimore and finding out something from the National Institute of Health or some government facility. So Frank said, “Wait a minute, if you’re in Atlanta, wouldn’t you at least try there, because that’s where any global pandemic would be analyzed?” Robert said, “You’re absolutely right. That would be silly. I don’t want fans who aren’t familiar with the comic book going, ‘If they’re in Atlanta, why didn’t they try the CDC?’” With the years under its belt as a comic, you try to see it has an opportunity as a TV series to live and breathe and not as a panel by panel adaptation.

Thu., Nov. 17, 2011 9:00 AM PST , by Joseph McCabe

BY Susan KarlinFri Nov 11, 2011

Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker) and Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) face off on “The Walking Dead.” (AMC)

At the recent Aliens to Zombie convention in Hollywood, fanboy-favorite actor Michael Rooker turned up carrying a large box of life-sized polyurethane severed hands that he planned to dole out as souvenirs.

“Thirty years honing my craft, and it’s come to this,” he joked.

The unusual keepsakes were designed as a homage to Merle Dixon, the character Rooker plays on the hit AMC zombie series “The Walking Dead.” A despicable drug-addled racist and the nastier of two Southern brothers, Dixon sawed off his own hand to escape becoming zombie food midway through the show’s first season. He’s been missing ever since, though a sizable portion of the show’s audience has been clamoring for his return. Now, it appears the character is poised to come back on the scene this coming Sunday — if Internet buzz and teasers for the next episode are to be believed.

Michael Rooker as Merle Dixon on “The Walking Dead” (AMC)

Rooker won’t confirm that he’s about to be reunited with Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes and the other survivors of the zombie apocalypse, but he’s the first to express surprise at the following the character has come to enjoy: the girls-who-love-bad-boys came out of the woodwork with Dixon’s Vixens, Rookerholics and the Mo’ Merle Monday Tumblr feed.

“Nobody expected this level of Merle worship,” said Rooker with a laugh. “He’s such an out-there, crazy, anything goes kind of guy. There’s an uncertainty about Merle – like he’ll come back when you least expect it. He’s the boogeyman, and viewers love that suspense. The number one question I’m asked is, `When is your character coming back?’ I can’t say when, but I promise it’ll be a wild ride.

“The comic, zombie and gaming fans are a hoot – and they’re really into the plot twists,” he added. “They’re constantly throwing out these theories about Merle secretly stalking the group in the woods or luring zombies to their original camp.”

Rooker has enjoyed a decades-long career in genre fare and in mainstream Hollywood feature films — from “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer” and “Cliffhanger” to “Days of Thunder” and “Slither” — and he’s recently been able to parlay his “Walking Dead” popularity to open up new professional avenues, he said. Specifically, Rooker’s new undead cred enticed Santa Monica gaming company Activision/Treyarch to tap him to appear in their zombie shooter game Call of the Dead, part of the Call of Duty: Black Ops Rezurrection map pack.

“I’ve gotten more heat from the anticipation of my coming back to the show than any other thing I’ve done,” Rooker said. “Because of that, I found a whole new group of fans, and the gaming company would never have contacted me if it wasn’t for that.”

Appropriately, perhaps, Rooker unwinds by spending time at the gun range. He’s a shareholder in the Angeles Shooting Range in Lake View Terrace — and he happens to be a pretty decent shot.

“Every time I was cast in a role, the director put a gun in my hand, so I figured I’d better learn how to use one. Then I found out I really liked it,” Rooker said with a laugh. “I was 16 when I first realized I intimidated people. Maybe it was growing up in a rough Chicago neighborhood, I don’t know. But I remember heading to school one day, and watching people lock their cars as I walked by. I was really [upset] about it when I got to school until I looked in a mirror and was like, ‘Whoa! I really do look scary.’ “

– Susan Karlin