Best Drama: Friday Night Lights (Direct TV/NBC)

There was a lot of great drama on television this year (“Southland” was exceptional, “Lost” went out in glorious fashion, “Men of a Certain Age” was moving and effective), but I would be remiss if I didn’t place “FNL” at the top of my list, just where it has been since the show premiered in 2006. It’s hard to believe that this will be its last season. No other show has me cheering and laughing and crying week in and week out. Even during the cringe worthy moments (Julie’s affair with the TA) I can’t bring myself to raise the remote and fast forward through them. I’ve stated time and again on Popdose that this show is the most realistic portrayal of small town life I’ve ever seen on television, with beautifully written and acted characters, smart direction, and perfect music selections to create the mood of each scene (not to mention W.G. Snuffy’s poignant score). I love the Taylors; I love the community of Dillon, Texas; and I love Friday Night Lights.

Best Comedy: Modern Family (ABC)

A tough category. There are so many strong comedies on television right now, including NBC’s Thursday night lineup and ABC’s Wednesday shows. Of all of them, “Modern Family” makes me laugh the hardest; so hard that my wife and I have to rewind to hear the second and third jokes of each scene. With a great cast and insightful writing, “Modern Family” is a modern classic.

Best Reality: The Biggest Loser (NBC)

I generally hate reality shows on network television, however there is something truly inspiring about “The Biggest Loser” that grabs me every week. Here is a series about people seriously having to take back their lives otherwise they could die. The money at the end never seems to be as important as the health benefits they receive. Unlike most of the reality competitions shows, the inspiration that comes from watching “The Biggest Loser” occurs from watching every contestant, not just a select few. Obesity has overtaken our country and the men and women of “The Biggest Loser” prove that you can take back your life and that you are in control of it.

Best Supernatural/Sci-Fi: The Vampire Diaries (The CW)

Each week I think that the new episode of “The Vampire Diaries” is going to be just like every other teen soap; and each week I’m surprised that an hour has passed so quickly. “The Vampire Diaries” isn’t just about pale skinned heart throbs and the women they love; it wouldn’t work if it was just about some dude who pines for the human chick (like a certain book/movie series). With consistently written and well drawn characters, cinematic visuals and terrific acting, “The Vampire Diaries” is romantic, yes, but it’s also true to life with the way it handles human emotions. Most impressive is the pacing. Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, the co-creators,take their time developing their story arcs (something “The Walking Dead” should learn) allowing the details of their supernatural/small town world to filter out as needed.

Best New Show: Raising Hope (Fox)

This blue collar comedy may have had a high concept premise, but it quickly settled into one of the most delightful (and wacky) comedies on television. The way it handles parenthood and family with an abundance of laughs and heart have not only made Greg Garcia’s comedy my favorite new show, but easily one of my favorites of the year (the Halloween episode is already a classic). Newcomer Lucas Neff is a true comic discovery; Garret Dillahunt finally receives a chance in the spotlight after years on strong supporting roles, and Martha Plimpton reminds us that she’s one of the funniest actresses of her generation. All this, plus Cloris Leachman!

Best Animated series: The Regular Show (Cartoon Network)

Subtle and funny, creator J.G. Quintel’s show about a blue jay and a raccoon who work at a park, managed by a gumball machine and a yeti, uses animation like it should: with no boundaries. This isn’t some animated sitcom; “The Regular Show” is what I’d imagine “The Mighty Boosh” would be if the guys on that show were cartoons. Subversive and surreal, it’s a series that kids and their parents (and those stoners in college dorm rooms) can all enjoy for different reasons.

Best Comeback: the ladies of Hot in Cleveland (TV Land)

Viewers may have tuned in to TV Land’s throwback sitcom (taped before a live studio audience!) because of 2010’s “it” girl, Betty White, but they returned (making it a surprise summer hit) because of the chemistry and comic timing of the three leading ladies. We haven’t heard from Jane Leeves since “Frasier”; Wendie Malick has been relegated to thankless small roles on sitcoms and bad comedy movies ever since “Just Shoot Me” ended, and Valerie Bertinelli was known more for her Jenny Craig ads and her divorce from Eddie Van Halen. How great that all three shine in this sturdy, but very funny sitcom and that they don’t have to rely only Betty White zeitgeist to succeed.

Best Canceled Show: Rubicon (AMC)

At least AMC let this low-rated conspiracy series play out all of its episodes before they pulled the plug. “Mad Men” was good this year, but I was more excited to find out what happens next on “Rubicon” when Sundays rolled around this summer. James Dale Badge deserves another shot at being a star; it was great to see Arliss Howard again, and Michael Cristofer gave a scene stealing performance worthy of an Emmy.

Best Cast: Community (NBC)

The success of “Community” as a comedy series and a cult hit stems from the superior acting from their eclectic cast. It would be easy to credit the writing and direction, but without the right combination of actors to gel as a team and pull off whatever is thrown at them, the show wouldn’t work. Moreover, as the producers saw what they had in their cast of Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Donald Glover and Chevy Chase, the stories got more outlandish as their trust in their cast grew. Season 2 has been even more insane and the actors haven’t missed a beat.

Worst TV moment of the year: Fred: The Movie (Nickelodeon)

As a parent, I was subjected to this monstrosity when my children wanted to watch it. You may say, “Dude, all you had to do was leave the room.” Nope, not possible. Fred’s voice carried throughout the house and drove me to the point of insanity. It would’ve have been nearly acceptable if the movie was even remotely funny. It was not. It sucked. It made me wish that Fred was at the tail end of the human centipede. Am I just being a grumpy old man out of tune with the youth culture? Well, my kids didn’t laugh either, if that tells you anything.

(NOTE: These musings can also be found at Popdose.com.)

Like so many first-class English actors of her generation, Miranda Richardson is known for her ability to play all ends of the dramatic spectrum. In England, and certain geekier quarters of the U.S., she’s still extremely well known known for her work alongside Rowan Atkinson and Stephen Fry as “Queenie” (i.e. Queen Elizabeth I) and assorted other characters on Richard Curtis and Ben Elton’s historical cult-com, “Black Adder.” Younger geeks, however, might know her better as magical tabloid journalist Rita Skeeter in the Harry Potter films. On the more realistic end of the spectrum, she has also done magnificent work playing a ruthless IRA operative in “The Crying Game,” a maltreated housewife in an Oscar-nominated role in Louis Malle’s “Damage,” a widely praised turn in the Oscar-winning “The Hours,” and a widow investigating her husband’s death on AMC’s recently canceled suspense drama, “Rubicon.” On the other hand, she’s also portrayed the character of Mrs. Santa Claus opposite Paul Giamatti‘s Santa in “Fred Claus.” Despite some resemblance, both physically and in terms of talent, she is not part of the famed Redgrave acting dynasty and no relation to the late Natasha Richardson. She is, in fact, the only actor in her family, which perhaps makes her all the more impressive.

Although Sally Hawkins has appeared in some 34 movie and TV productions since 1999, she broke into the consciousness of most of her fans with her Golden Globe winning performance in Mike Leigh’s 2008 “Happy-Go-Lucky,” in which she dominated the film as a relentlessly happy and, strangely enough, rather bright, elementary school teacher. It was probably an ideal role for a woman who really does come across as cheerful in person, with an approachable demeanor that certainly seems to fit the child of two children’s books authors. Currently starring on Broadway in a new production of George Bernard Shaw’s “Mrs. Warren’s Profession,” Hawkins has continued to mix starring roles with a number of smaller supporting appearances, including a turn in Cary Fukunaga’s highly-anticipated new version of “Jane Eyre.” Her next leading role is as Irish radical politician and activist Bernadette Devlin in “The Roaring Girl” — assuming the real Devlin is not successful in her efforts to prevent the film from being made.

After some very brief talk about Sally Hawkins recently healed broken collar bone, a film set injury, the first question was about how the two actresses researched their roles. Hawkins plays Rita O’Grady, a Ford seamstress who is selected by her shop steward (Bob Hoskins) to spearhead a job action which eventually leads to Great Britain’s first law requiring equal pay for equal work. While Hawkins’ character is a fictional creation, inspired by a number of real women, Richardson plays real-life English Labour Party legend Barbara Castle. The first woman to sit on the English cabinet became a major player in the long and contentious strike.

“I did meet three of the women, very early on in my preparation period,” Sally Hawkins said. “I went on a couple of trips to Dagenham to, first of all, see the factory. It’s still there, this monolith, this old skeleton. It was quite sad because that’s what Dagenham is built around. In recent history, when it closed down, it had a not good effect on the community there. They are just very normal women who all still live in Dagenham and are still friends. Very funny, bright women who went back to their lives. Rita was one of many and it was important to get that sort of voice right, that they weren’t political animals. They didn’t have any experience in being on a political stage or holding their own amongst the men, the management in the trade union. They were sort of learning on the hop, as it were.”

“Real-life character, so: duty, responsibility. I was aware that [Barbara Castle] meant so much to many people,” Miranda Richardson said. “You just have to get on with it. I read a biography, looked at photographs, newsreel footage. I worked with the wonderful Penny Dyer, a dialect coach, to try and just ground her speech rhythms. Of course, hair and make-up and costume is all part of that deal. She had a very particular look. You have to honor that and make it work for you. So, that was it, really. In the silence of reading about her, and looking at photographs, staring at them, trying to make them sink in, I just thought she was the most wonderful woman. I would have liked to have met her and gone out on the town with her. I think she would have been enormous fun.”

“Unlike these ladies, she was politicized from a very early age,” Richardson continued. “Debate was encouraged ’round the dinner table. She went with her father to rallies and she understood where people were coming from, and what they wanted and how they expressed themselves. She was a passionate, humane woman who brung herself up, as they say, out of her class, [who] achieved above and beyond what was expected. [Castle] never lost touch with her roots and was a force of nature as far as I’m concerned. She’s fantastic. She was somebody who could drink and smoke and hang out and debate. She just wanted to engage and expected people to engage with her.”

“Thank God she was around,” added Sally Hawkins.

“Thank God she was around,” agreed Miranda Richardson. “She loved women and men equally, it seems to me.”

“You got that?” Sally Hawkins asked. The question was left hanging as another query was posed about what it was like being on the set with the female-dominated cast assembled by director Nigel Cole, whose best known prior film is the similarly female-centric comedy, 2003’s “Calendar Girls” with Helen Mirren.

“Lovely, lovely atmosphere” said Richardson.

“Yeah, it was,” Hawkins agreed.

“Quite a few women on the crew as well,” Richardson continued. “Which makes my heart leap when you see women doing jobs which have been heretofore mostly the guys, and there’s no reason why they don’t do them. It’s just they’re letting more women do those jobs and more women want to take those jobs in the industry.”

Hawkins expanded. “I did sort of stop and think, ‘Isn’t it wonderful that there are all these incredible female [actors].’ It’s a female-led production, and it’s so rare. There was so much passion behind it and I was so incredibly proud to be a part of that. Like Miranda said, for a long time it has been a male-dominated industry, but I think it is changing and we have got a long way to go. I think that’s probably the case in many industries. We all have experience of that.”

What about working directly with Nigel Cole?

“He truly is a feminist,” said Hawkins.

“He’s very cuddly,” Richardson elaborated. “He’s very cozy. It’s not difficult to be on set with him. He’s not deeply frightening. He really isn’t.”

“He cares,” Hawkins said.

Richardson made a pantomime hugging gesture. “I think of him as doing that. He does that on set.”

“He’s got very long arms, he embraces you.” Hawkins said.

The next question included some news for those of us who might have assumed that equal-pay-for-equal-work is a 40-years settled issue. It might be agreed upon in theory, but in reality there are significant disparities overall that are higher in certain industries. Did Hawkins and Richardson expect the film to help reopen the issue?

“That would be phenomenal. That would be great,” Hawkins said. “We can always learn from history, whether it’s recent history or far back in history. This is history we can touch, still. Yes, there has been a lot that’s been done and a lot has been put in place. Thank God that these women were around doing what they did because there would have been no equal pay up to 1970. Thank you, Barbara.”

But haven’t things actually regressed somewhat, perhaps?

Hawkins continued. “Yes. It does go like that if we stop talking. We don’t talk about money. Definitely in the U.K. we’re guilty of that, probably more than in the U.S., just because [Americans are] more vocal about things generally. There’s certain things being pushed through congress now and… we’re having to look at the issues and readdress certain loopholes that have kept women in a certain place and kept that pay gap wide. That’s frightening. Do we have to keep looking at these issues and make sure that we’re talking about them all the time to make sure that we get what we’re owed? Well, yes we do.”

“I think it’s quite interesting, the self-esteem aspect of it,” Richardson added. “I haven’t got historical facts at my fingertips and, I’m sorry, I’m just not operating like that,” the actress added, getting some chuckles from the table. “But just what the ramifications are of allowing that to happen, if I can use those terms, where at any given workplace somebody knows that that is going on and they keep quiet about it, rather than saying ‘This isn’t right’ for fear that they will be opposed, for fear that nobody will be on their side. Or it’s just like ‘I’m not quite worth what the guys are worth.'”

“It’s even something that I used to grumble about,” Richardson continued. “When I was working with a predominantly Oxbridge team on ‘Black Adder.’ There’s the famous thing where guys don’t feel that women can be as funny, certainly in stand-up routines. [Also], even though they’ve been colleges for women, Oxford and Cambridge, for a long long time now, there’s a kind of twisted awe. ‘Yes, they’re marvelous. The girls have done absolutely marvelous, but just not quite as good as the boys.'”

“You proved them wrong in that show, I would say,” Hawkins said, correctly.

“Listen,” Richardson responded to the compliment. “They chose me, for whatever reason, and I wasn’t looking particularly good that day.”

“It was one of the reasons why I wanted to act, seeing you on that show,” Hawkins added.

Shrugging off the flattery, Richardson returned to the topic of workplace sexism. “It’s always there; it’s always lurking. If somebody thinks it’s the way things are and is not told differently, then things go on the way they are for a long, long time. It takes a whole load of individuals to keep saying ‘no.’ It’s a difficult thing to do because you’re unpopular. It’s horrible.”

“It’s scary, but like you say, you have a responsibility to speak up in those situations and not accept [injustice]. But their strength is in their numbers and the fact that they were together. As soon as one and then a few of them started to [get involved], then it went like wildfire, across the country, across the U.K. and then ended up having an knock-on effect on the big boys in the U.S.,” Richardson said.

Then I asked about the mostly seamless blend of comedy and pathos in “Made in Dagenham,” asking the two performers about how they approached the funny parts and the not-so-funny parts.

“I guess it’s in the writing, isn’t’ it? For my part, I just thought Barbara’s speeches were very authentic. I wasn’t thinking ‘funny,’ on the day,” Richardson said, adding that, isolated with just a few less than sensitive subordinates, Minister Castle was akin to a “Queen Bee with no hive apparent to look after. [The humor] just comes out of it. Situation comedy, really is what it is, so you don’t have to act funny.”

“People are funny, whether they’re aware of it or not” Hawkins added. “Like Miranda says, you sort of focus in on the character. When you’re objective about people, their situations, what they get sort of worked up about, and how they deal with life, people together and different characters together, that creates comedy. It’s on a level that is tragic. Life is both funny and tragic at the same time. It’s only when you’re sort of at the back-end of something that sort of stumped you momentarily, or not, is when you realize how funny it was.”

The next question addressed the highly diverse nature of Sally Hawkins’ work after her widely beloved breakthrough in “Happy-Go-Lucky,” which includes smaller roles in more somber films like “Never Let Me Go.” The upshot being that acting is a very feast-or-famine kind of a business and, even though Hawkins is in her feast phase right now, it’s not like all of her movies are being made back-to-back.

“I’m drawn to good writing. But it is the people that surround it, or wanting to work with that director or that actress or that actor. Having people that you admire just inspires you. I love delving into different characters. Keep challenging yourself and keep learning.” And then, showing a bit of her “Happy-Go-Lucky” joyful self-deprecation, she made fun of the fact that what she was saying was a bit of an actor’s cliche, though Miranda Richardson was quick to remind us that often cliches are cliches because they are true.

“No, it is how it is. They don’t come along one a minute, the stonking on every page thing. Sometimes it’s good to do, ‘Alright, well it doesn’t look like much.’ But it is. It’s juicy.”

“You want it to be something you sink your teeth into,” Hawkins added.

The next question asked if Hawkins felt any pressure to win an Oscar for her performance in “Happy-Go-Lucky.” The answer, alas, is that there wasn’t one — not even a nomination, just a bunch of critics group Best Actress awards, not to mention a Golden Globe. The questioner expressed shock, which is actually understandable. Given the caliber and acclaim of the performance, it actually is hard to believe Hawkins was not at least nominated for an Oscar. Still, winning the Golden Globe isn’t nothing and it was framed as an upset over the favorite for the “Comedy or Musical” Golden Globe, Meryl Streep for “Mamma Mia!.”

“It was like the Oscars for me. I didn’t think it could get much better than that,” Hawkins said. “Comparatively, it’s a small, low budget film in North London, for no money. Suddenly you’re on this huge scale. Of course you have your own expectations of yourself and then you think, ‘Oh, God.’ But then you have to take it all with a pinch of salt. After it, you come back home a little shell-shocked by the whole thing. As long as you just know it will all die down again, it will calm down. I’ve been quite lucky that I’m not chased by paparazzi. Thank God. I’m not that type of actor. I’m not, God forbid, a celebrity in that way. You just have to make sure you focus on the work. It’s not about you, really. If people love what you do and love the films that you’re in, that’s all you want as an actor.”

Then, finally, came the inevitable “Harry Potter” question for Miranda Richardson, despite the fact that her character doesn’t really appear in the novel. Would the deeply dishonest magical yellow journalist Rita Skeeter again be seen, perhaps wielding a wand as well as her poisoned pen, in the final two installments of the film series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows“?

“Very, very briefly. But pithily. I hope I’ll leave my mark,” Richardson concluded.

There aren’t many producers around these days whose name can help sell a movie or TV show, but Gale Anne Hurd is the rare exception. Probably best known as one of the co-creators of “The Terminator” franchise, Hurd has been an important player in numerous mega- or merely major productions, including both “Hulk” and “The Incredible Hulk,” “The Abyss,” “Armageddon,” “The Punisher,” and the underrated 1999 comedy “Dick,” which starred Dan Hedaya as Richard Milhous Nixon and a young Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams as a couple of teenagers who wind up bringing down a presidency.

Clearly one of the more hands-on producers around, Hurd is pleasant and businesslike when talking to a member of the show-biz press, but clearly has the gumption to deal with the biggest and most difficult of personalities, which is how I segue into the obligatory mention of the fact that she spent the part of the late eighties and early nineties being married to first James Cameron and then Brian De Palma. Moreover, she began her career working for one the most fascinating and effective producers in the history of the medium, Roger Corman, but more of that in the interview.

Still, nothing she’s done is quite like her current project, the zombie horror drama and comic book adaptation, “The Walking Dead.” The AMC television series, adapted from a series of acclaimed comics by Robert Kirkman primarily by writer-director Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Green Mile,” “The Mist”) is currently receiving maximum exposure on the web. The publicity train was only just getting started when I spoke to Ms. Hurd at a mammoth new San Diego hotel adjacent to the Comic-Con festivities last summer.

I had typed my questions on my laptop, which I was afraid might be a little off-putting. So, after a quick greeting, I tried to explain why.

Premium Hollywood: I’m using this because I couldn’t find paper.

Gale Anne Hurd: No worries. You know, it’s much greener.

PH: Is it really? I guess so. Anyhow, you’re one of the people I requested, because I’m a kind of a big movie geek.

GAH: Good!

PH: You’re kind of an important person in recent film history — let’s go back to the beginning. You were a P.A. [production assistant] on movies like “Humanoids from the Deep”…

GAH: I was a PA on “Humanoids from the Deep”….

PH: …”Rock and Roll High School,” “Alligator”…

GAH: I actually worked up to Second A.D. [assistant director] on “Alligator.” I got a promotion.

PH: You were a fast rising person, but you were part of the Golden Age of Roger Corman films, actually the second golden age, I guess.

GAH: I wasn’t there with the Scorseses, Demmes, Coppolas.

PH: That would actually be the third golden age, then, because if you count the movies Corman made mostly himself [in the 50s and 60s], and then there was the 70s group and the 80s.

GAH: [Laughs.] I fell in love with, I saw his films at the drive-in when I was growing up, especially the Edgar Allen Poe adaptations that I loved.

PH: Those were wonderful. So, what do you think that experience with Corman taught you about the kind of sort of high-class [by which I meant “big budget] producing you do now?

GAH: If you look at the films that he made, the tent-pole summer films of now are versions of what he was doing, with bigger stars, although when you consider that Jack Nicholson started his career with Roger Corman…I’ve got a bigger sandbox to play in, but I’m just as much a fan now as I was then. I come to Comic-Con even when I don’t have a panel or a project to promote.

PH: Really.

GAH: This is so much fun for me. I’ve already been over, checked out the hall, [been] comic book girl and checked out my friends at the various booths.

PH: What are your favorite comics right now?

GAH: Well, obviously, I love “The Walking Dead.” I’ve got one, actually, that I’ve launched, “The Scourge” written by Scott Lobdell and artwork by Eric Battle, which is from Aspen Comics, I’m very excited about that. There’s also the new adaptation of Phillip K. Dick, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” [the novel that was the extremely loose basis/inspiration for Ridley Scott‘s “Blade Runner”]

PH: I didn’t know they were doing that — you probably know more about comics these days than me. That sounds interesting.

GAH: Very cool.

PH: Maybe they’ll decide to make a movie of it again. [Laughing]

GAH: It’s interesting when you think about it.

PH: Maybe they’ll do the actual book. Now, I’m famously squeamish. The most popular blog post I ever wrote was me getting myself drunk to watch the original “Dawn of the Dead” after putting it off for over 20 years. Approximately how many drinks will it take me to get through a typical episode of “The Walking Dead”?

GAH: It depends on what makes you squeamish. We should probably have some sort of alert so that when the character drama is interrupted by something a bit gory, you can avert your eyes. AMC has not given us the kind of restrictions that I think that the fans were afraid of.

PH: The gorehounds are going to be happy.

GAH: I think you’ve actually got some of the stills that are out there [in the hall]

PH: I actually don’t think I’ve seen anything.

GAH: I’ll take you next door and there’s something I want to show you that will give you an idea. You know, it is the zombie genre.

PH: No, I understand. You’ve got to have a little bit of that.

GAH: You don’t want to make it seem like it’s got the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for all ages, but it’s not what we’re focusing on. Because this is on AMC. It’s story. It’s character. But it is a zombie apocalypse. Although we call them “walkers,” people will know them as zombies and we have to be true to the genre.

PH: And with zombies comes zombie apocalypse. You’ve actually worked on a number of movies with apocalyptic themes.

GAH: I have.

PH: Even in the title, “Armageddon,” “Judgment Day.” Why do you think that’s obviously such an appealing concept? I was watching “The Mist” [written and directed by Frank Darabont] last night. The end of the world seems to be such a popular sub-sub genre. Why do you think that is?

GAH: Regardless of your religious or ethnic origin, all traditions of the human experience deal with some sort of end of time, end of days. What people disagree on is what happens after that or what’s causing it. With [“The Walking Dead”] it enables us to not have a natural disaster but the aftereffects are such that you’ve got a small band of humans dealing with the exigencies of survival.

PH: I’m not too familiar with the comic book — actually I’m not familiar at all with it — but I imagine there’s the usual group dynamics in these things where sometimes the people are the bigger threat than the monsters.

GAH: You can predict what the zombies are after; you can’t always predict human behavior.

PH: Was “The Mist” — like I said, I just watched it last night — was that directly related to how Frank Darabont ended up on this project?

GAH: No. You know Frank is also an enormous genre fan. I think this may be his twentieth Comic-Con. He’s been a fan of Robert Kirkman’s work since the very first issue. It’s issue 75 at this point. In fact, it was at last year’s Comic-Con that Frank and I sat down with Robert and said, “We want to take this to AMC.” Who would’ve thought that a year later we’d be here, in the middle of shooting episode 4?

PH: I understand Mr. Kirkman’s very excited about it and wants it to last 27 seasons. [Laughing.]

GAH: At least! He told us he’s got 250 issues mapped out.

PH: So how closely are you following the [story] of the comic?

GAH: We’re not slavishly following it. It’s a different medium to begin with. We have the opportunity to explore characters in a way that a comic book is limited. It’s limited in the number of panels that you’ve got. The amount of dialogue. So, we’re able to dig deeper there. And Robert was very, very upfront saying “I don’t want all of the fans of the comic book to be able to predict exactly where it’s going.” So, we change it up. In fact, the episode we’re shooting right now…which is the fourth episode, Robert Kirkman wrote.

PH: How was he in handling that transition [from comic book to film writing]? Had he done any screenwriting before?

GAH: No. First of all, he was involved from the very beginning as an executive producer. In the meetings, talking about where the arc of the six episodes would take us by the end of the season. He worked very closely with Frank and the writer’s room. In fact, he was in the writer’s room and he’s been on set.

PH: AMC is really developing an interesting, very eclectic pattern. They started with “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad“…

GAH: And “Rubicon.” But the interesting thing is they’re going to have a block of programming in October called “Fear Fest” which is a collection of the best of the genre and we’ll be premiering during that block, so it’s actually perfect.

PH: So, they’ll schedule you right after showing “Night of the Living Dead”?

GAH: I don’t know. That’s up to them. But we’re in good hands. [Note: The movie preceding “The Walking Dead” premiere turns out to be Zack Snyder’s 2004 remake of “Dawn of the Dead”]

PH: I understand that, in terms of the rules of your zombie universe, you’re following the ones set up in [George Romero’s] original “Night of the Living Dead.”

GAH: Our zombies are not Usain Bolt. They’re not world record sprinters. They’re dead, they’re not moving as fast as when they were alive.

PH: “They’re dead. They’re all messed up.” Right. So, looking at the history of all these zombie movies, what do you think is going to be the contribution of “The Walking Dead” to the genre?

GAH: The great news is we have at least six hours starting out to explore the characters and this world. If we continue we’ll have 13 hours next years [Note: AMC has already renewed the show, so they will.] No one’s ever gone as in-depth as we’re able to in any kind of zombie series in the United States. We want it to be great television as well as something where the fans of Robert Kirkman’s comic book will say that it’s also a great adaptation.

“The Walking Dead” tells the story of the months and years that follow after a zombie apocalypse, following a group of survivors who travel in search of a safe and secure home; the series…well, the comic book series, anyway…explores the challenges of life in a world overrun by zombies who take a toll on the survivors, where the interpersonal conflicts sometimes present a greater danger to their continuing survival than the zombies that roam the country. Kirkman has signed on to serve as an executive producer on the series, and Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Green Mile,” “The Mist”) has signed on to write, direct and executive-produce. Other EPs on the project include Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert.

“The Killing,” meanwhile, ties together three distinct stories by a single murder and as the detectives assigned to the case disagree about the best course of action, they chase down a variety of leads and suspects; along the way, there are major repercussions for the victim’s family, the detectives, the suspects, and the local politicians connected to the case. The series is to be written and executive-produced by Veena Sud (“Cold Case”), along with Mikkel Bondesen (“Burn Notice”) and Kristen Campo.

“’The Walking Dead’ and ‘The Killing’ are alone in their class in terms of the quality of the storytelling,” said Joel Stillerman, AMC’s senior vice president of original programming, production and digital content, in a press release issued by the network. “Both have remarkable talent behind them, and present that rare opportunity to raise the bar significantly within a genre. It is a very exciting next step in our continuing commitment to presenting smart, sophisticated storytelling with broad appeal.”

For one thing, there’s the announcement that Kurt Ellis, the screenwriter behind HBO’s “John Adams,” is setting his sights on Warren Harding and developing the miniseries “Black Gold: The Teapot Dome Scandal.” Then, of course, there’s the fact that we’ve been chomping at the bit for Season 4 of “Mad Men” ever since the dissolution of Sterling-Cooper back in November, which means that we’ll pretty much forgive the network anything when the series returns later this year. Joel Stillerman, AMC’s Senior Vice President of Original Programming, Production, and Digital Content, gave us this one-liner: “Betty is off to Reno, Don is shacked up in the village, Sterling Cooper is held up in a hotel room, but maybe most importantly, Joan is back, and it should be another great season of one of the best shows ever.” Sounds good to me. More details are also emerging about the latest addition to AMC’s slate of original series, “Rubicon,” which Stillerman describes as “an incredibly compelling mystery that pays homage to the great conspiracy thrillers of the ’70s like ‘The Parallax View’ and ‘Three Days of the Condor,’” adding, “We thought, if we could find a way to take that style of storytelling that has stood the test of time so well and spin it off into a serialized drama, we would have something really great.” Let’s hope they do.

But enough about the new kid on the block. Let’s talk about the network’s other high-profile series: “Breaking Bad,” which will kick off its third season on March 21st.

It will, I’m sure, not surprise you that there will be little in the way of revelations in this piece, what with the season premiere still more than two months away as of this writing, but I can tell you that, within the first five minutes of the panel, the discussion had already veered between a religion called Santa Muerte and a teddy bear’s eyeball, so, y’know, make of that what you will.

Like many dramas on TV, the cast members of “Breaking Bad” have almost as little idea what’s going to happen next as the viewers do, rarely knowing how things are going to unfold until they get the script for the next episode.

“That’s what makes it exciting,” explained Bryan Cranston, who plays the show’s cancer-ridden meth dealer, Walter White. “Just like you watching it, we are reading it, and the feeling has the same impact, as much surprise as you have. We often comment to each other, ‘Did you read it yet? Did you read it?’ ‘Yeah, don’t tell me. Don’t tell me. Don’t tell me.’ ‘I’m only halfway through it.’ ‘Oh, yeah. Oh, my goodness. You are not going to believe it. You are not going to believe it.’ So you have that kind of anxiety and anticipation of what’s about to happen, so it’s never boring and always a surprise and a turn here and there.”

As expected, Cranston wouldn’t offer specifics about what Walt would be going through in Season 3, but he was willing to speak in general terms, at least. “There are actually a couple turns that happen emotionally, some physically,” he said. “I’m starting to completely accept the metamorphosis of my character. I’m breaking out of the cocoon and ready to become a different person, and that transition over time is one of the things that was the most compelling for me about wanting to do this show is that (creator) Vince Gilligan said he wanted to do something that he’s never seen before, and that’s, as he famously puts it, turn Mr. Chips into Scarface. And it hasn’t been done on television before unless someone can cite an occasion where you actually see a person completely change who he is by the end of the series or near the end of the series. I will be a completely different person from the milquetoast person you saw in the pilot.”

(You may recall that Cranston spoke to this issue when he chatted with Bullz-Eye in conjunction with the most recent TV Power Rankings.)

Those who enjoyed his introduction in Season 2 will be pleased to learn that sleazy lawyer Saul Goodman will be back on the attack in Season 3. Saul was never intended to play such a substantial part in the show, but as Gilligan freely acknowledged, the part got beefed up because Bob Odenkirk was just so damned good in the role.

“I think the idea started the impetus was just watching ‘The Godfather’ over and over again, which I’m wont to do pretty much every other weekend,” said Gilligan. “We’re just ripping it off shamelessly at every turn. We figured Michael Corleone has a consigliere, so Walter White needs one too, but perhaps Saul Goodman is the type of consigliere that Walt and Jesse would get.”

“It’s a blast to play this character,” said Odenkirk. “People tell me it’s funny, and it’s certainly there’s a lot of funny lines, and he’s a funny guy, funny, slippery character to play. But I think, too, in a show where so many of the characters are they have such high stakes all the time, and my character is a little bit removed. It’s a little bit of a game to him to move these pieces around and see if he can make some money off them.”

“You’re sort of like the hooker with the heart of gold, though,” said Gilligan.

“Does he have a heart of gold?” asked Odenkirk.

Gilligan hesitated. “Well…”

“He had it removed,” decided Odenkirk. “So he can sell it and see how much he can get for it.”

Probably the most telling responses during the course of the panel came when the group was asked en masse if they could nail down a theme for Season 3 of “Breaking Bad.” Gilligan immediately passed the buck, claiming, “I can’t see the forest for the trees.”

“Well, its very different this year in the sense that, in Season 2, we were all leading toward that final midair collision, and everything led up to that,” said Cranston. “This changed all that. I know, Anna, you were talking to me about the whole conceit of Walter feeling like he had to keep this secret to himself.”

“Yeah,” agreed Anna Gunn, who plays Walter’s long-suffering wife, Skyler. “At the end of last season, he had to balance that he decided to go down this road, but the whole time it was essential, obviously, to not let Skyler find out. And then what we’re left with is that she knows something. She doesn’t want to know what it is, but she knows something. And he knows therefore that he doesn’t know exactly you don’t know exactly what I know at the end of last season.”

“I know what you think you know,” said Cranston, smirking, “but I don’t know what you really know.”

Gunn laughed, but she pressed on, explaining, “I think that the actions that he took are starting to have consequences. That’s what it seems to me. The chickens are coming home to roost.”

“That’s well put,” agreed Gilligan. “Perhaps this season is, ‘The best laid plans of mice and men…’ I don’t want to get too much into detail, because it would ruin a lot of fun things that are coming up, but I see Walt this season a little bit like Dr. Frankenstein, in the sense that Dr. Frankenstein, with good intentions, creates a monster. And maybe we’ll see a little of that with Jesse.”

“I think this season is really a season of change for all the characters involved in this show,” said Aaron Paul, who plays the aforementioned monster in Gilligan’s comparison. “With Jesse, it ends off with him feeling completely 100 percent guilty for the death of Jane, his first real, true love. I mean, maybe it was just like a chemical romance, but he lost her, and he completely blames himself. So he is thrown into rehab, and this first season starts with him kind of trying to make an executive decision on staying focused. he kind of accepts who he is…and it’s kind of a sad reality.”