Talk show host extraordinaire Chris Hardwick is returning to the format on AMC for the fifth time with a broader form than his previous ones. Whereas the likes of Hardwick’s previous shows such as “Talking Dead” and “Talking Saul” have been based specifically around AMC’s most popular TV drama series like “The Walking Dead” and “Better Call Saul,” respectively, the new show, “Talking with Chris Hardwick,” will expand to a wider focus on all of popular culture.
Hardwick will interview pop culture figures on the show
“Talking with Chris Hardwick” will feature Hardwick interviewing a new pop culture icon or a full cast of a recent TV show or movie in each episode.
This is the kind of show one has to expect that pop culture lover Hardwick has always wanted to make, but back on 2011 and since then, AMC just wanted “aftershows” to their popular series as companion series that could monopolise on their millions-wide fanbase.
Now, Hardwick gets to do what he wants because the talk shows the network wanted him to do have been hugely successful, and he says he’s used the last few years and last few shows to hone the skills necessary for this new and ambitious undertaking. He says that he has “loved learning how to do a talk show these last six years” whilst doing “Talking Dead” and says that he is “eager to expand the format into other areas of pop culture.”
Describing his new show’s format using an anatomical metaphor, Hardwick said it will have the “skin” of “Talking Dead,” the “soul” of the podcast he hosts called “Nerdist,” and “the guts of a Comic Con panel.” “Talking with Chris Hardwick” will air only when “The Walking Dead” is not currently airing a season so that Hardwick can continue his ultra-popular “Talking Dead” show.
AMC president clearly loves Hardwick
Joel Stillerman, the president of developing new programming and getting it on the air for AMC, describes Hardwick as “the ultimate fan guide, advocate, and conversationalist.” After expressing his love for what Hardwick has done with “Talking Dead,” mainly happy that he’s made it “the #1 talk show on Television,” Stillerman advocated Hardwick as a host of talk shows, happily letting him take the lead on another one.
“Talking with Chris Hardwick” premieres at 11pm on 9 April on AMC after this season of “The Walking Dead” has ended. In the meantime, Hardwick is still presenting “Talking Dead” after every “TWD” broadcast on Sunday nights on AMC and Monday nights on Fox UK.
