• 'The Walking Dead' finale: Most memorable scenes

    Gene Page / AMC

    Andrea (Laurie Holden) in the season three finale of "The Walking Dead."

    By Drusilla Moorhouse, TODAY contributor

    "The Walking Dead's" third-season finale delivered plenty of shockers to keep us talking until the zombie apocalypse hit returns in October.

    The biggest surprise? Probably that the Governor survived after gunning down most of the Woodbury forces. Or how about Carl's coldblooded killing of a (supposedly) surrendering soldier?

    Andrea's death was almost a given -- most fans had expected her to be one of the major characters we'd lose this year. Her farewell was a touching tribute to the woman who tried so hard to broker peace between Woodbury and her former comrades.

    "Carl ... the rest of them?" she asked Rick, who insisted she was always part of their original group.

    "The rest of us," he corrected, as he, Daryl and Michonne discovered that the wounds inflicted by Milton-turned-walker were fatal.

    (If they hadn't spent so much time chatting she probably could have escaped with her pretty pedicure, but there's no point in quibbling now.)

    Like peacenik Dale before her, Andrea begged to die on her own terms -- except she wanted to pull the trigger herself.

    "I know how the safety works," she joked to Rick, a lovely throwback to her dubious firearm skills in season one.

    Only her partner Michonne witnessed Andrea's final act; the men stepped outside and we heard the gunshot from their perspective.

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  • 'Walking Dead' finale exclusives: See Rick and others prepare for battle

    By Drusilla Moorhouse, TODAY contributor

    We know "The Walking Dead's" third-season finale will be a bloodbath. The only question is how many main characters will be lost in the battle between The Governor's Woodbury forces and Rick Grimes' new democracy.

    Gene Page / AMC

    Will Michonne embrace the prison gang's all-for-one-and-one-for-all fightin' spirit? In one of several shots from "Welcome to the Tombs," exclusive to The Clicker, the sword fighter has returned to the prison, and clearly she and Rick have a lot to chat about. Although we bet he'll do most of the talking -- Ricky has some 'splainin' to do after nearly sacrificing her to the gubernatorial torture chamber. 

    Gene Page / AMC

    And even as the Walkers roam the prison yard, Carl draws strength from the family picture he fought so desperately to retrieve from the Grimes' old house (with help from Michonne).

    Gene Page / AMC

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  • 'Walking Dead' bloodbath: 27 will die in 'crazy' finale

    Gene Page/AMC

    By David Peisner, Rolling Stone

    Last October, as Glen Mazzara was readying himself for the premiere of the third season of AMC's hit drama "The Walking Dead" – his first full season at the helm of the show that chronicles the tribulations of the survivors of a zombie apocalypse – he was feeling pretty invincible. "I'm very happy," Mazzara told RS, after taking over for the series' creator, Frank Darabont, the year before. "Everybody is on the same page. I feel like a kid in a candy store." Two months later, Mazzara was out as showrunner, replaced by one of the lead writers, Scott Gimple. The parting wasn't particularly bitter, but surely, the midseason shuffling suggests a floundering show that has lost its way, right?

    'The Walking Dead': Rolling Stone's complete coverage

    Not exactly. "The Walking Dead" continues to be a ratings juggernaut. It's the most watched basic-cable drama in history, and currently draws more 18-to-49-year-olds than any show on TV. Mazzara chalks up his departure to "creative differences," but it didn't seem to impact the series any more than his predecessor's considerably less amicable parting did the season before. It's as if "The Walking Dead" is much like the shambling undead hordes it documents: Sure, you can pick a few off, but as a whole, this is a relentless, unstoppable force.

    As the show closes in on the season three finale, two camps of survivors – one in a prison led by Rick Grimes, a small-town cop; the other in a walled town ruled over by a sly sociopath known as the Governor – are seemingly on a path toward all-out war. "We have two ghettoized communities fighting for their lives," says David Morrissey, the actor who plays the Governor. "If only they could join forces, but egos are not allowing them to."

    Grimes, who is played by the show's star, Andrew Lincoln, has spent the better part of the season going bat@!$%# crazy, chasing visions of his dead, adulterous wife. In recent weeks, though, he has emerged from his PTSD haze to guide a band of misfits through the challenges of end-times survival, a not entirely unwelcome development for Lincoln himself. "It's nice to be ass-kicking again," he says. "Rick is a leader. He needs to be in action, saving people."

    The grossest moments of 'The Walking Dead' season three

    According to Robert Kirkman, a writer and executive producer on the show, who also writes the graphic novels upon which it is based, the remainder of the season will continue at the breathless pace that it has built to so far. "The episodes are all about ramping up the conflict between the Governor and Rick," he says. "It's about finding out where allegiances lie. There are a few surprises in store as to who is going to be doing what on which side. Those reveals are going to be startling."


    For the season finale, Lincoln promises, there will be blood. "Twenty-seven people die," he says. "It's safe to say it is all hands to pumps. It's a crazy season finale." It's a good bet that among those 27 casualties will be some central figures in the cast. Part of "The Walking Dead's" mojo is its willingness to dispatch even its most beloved characters. "The reality is nobody is safe," says Morrissey. "But that's the ticket we bought." Next season, Kirkman says, viewers should expect changes. "We're not going to slow things down, but if I had a criticism of season three, it would be that we didn't focus on character development," he says. "We're going to try to step it up a notch in that department." He points to "Clear," one of the most well-received episodes this year, which focused on a road trip by Grimes, his son, Carl, and the samurai-sword-wielding warrior Micchone, as a template for the coming shifts in tone: 'We're going to focus on fewer characters per episode." Not coincidentally, "Clear" was written by new showrunner Gimple. Lincoln has had some discussions about where his character will go from here, but as he puts it, "I can't disclose any of them because they will kill me."

    "Nobody is safe," says Morrissey. "But that's the ticket we bought."

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  • 'Walking Dead' star Michael Rooker says 'expect the unexpected of Merle'

    By Jolie Lash , Access Hollywood

    Things haven’t been going so well for Rick Grimes and his gang since taking over the prison at the start of “The Walking Dead’s” Season 3.

    There have been dozens of walkers to take out, issues with devious prisoners, major losses for the group and a zombie-bomb attack, courtesy of The Governor and his Woodbury crew. Most recently though, the prison has taken on a new challenge -- letting Michael Rooker’s Merle Dixon back into the group.

    Gene Page / AMC

    Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker) on "The Walking Dead."

    VIEW THE PHOTOS: The Walking Dead: Scenes From Season 3

    An unpredictable character with a foul mouth, Merle is, “sort of like your drunk uncle ... You can’t take him to a Christmas party or anything,” Norman Reedus, who plays younger Dixon sibling, Daryl, previously told Access Hollywood.

    But, whether Merle will be able to fit in with Rick’s group at the prison remains to be seen. His concern for his brother, combined with his firsthand knowledge of The Governor’s dirty dealing style, already prompted him into a physical with Glenn (Steven Yeun) last week.

    VIEW THE PHOTOS: Norman Reedus: The Walking Dead’s Daryl Dixon

    So what’s next? AccessHollywood.com spoke to Rooker to find out. We also chatted about his scenes with Reedus earlier in the season, and Rooker shared his thoughts on how Merle should be judged not by today’s standards, but by zombie apocalypse rules.

    AccessHollywood.com: One of the things that’s been so fun this second half of Season 3 is you and Norman finally have some proper screen time together. You didn’t share the screen in Season 1, and you technically weren’t a character in Season 2 -- you were a vision of Daryl’s delusions.

    VIEW THE PHOTOS: The Walking Dead’s Sexy Sheriff Andrew Lincoln

    Rooker: My character was still there and because of the way they wrote it, they have my bike, they have my stash, they keep bringing back and mentioning Merle. So, in a subliminal way, the audience is still sensing Merle’s presence. [It was very] interesting, very cool how that was sort of folded into what was going on in the show without my actual physical presence.

    VIEW THE PHOTOS: The Walking Dead Stars At PaleyFest 2013

    Access: When the second half of Season 3 rolled around, how excited you were to have interactions with Norman on screen?

    Rooker: It’s about time, don’t ya’ think? Holy s---! I was like, ‘Oh my God; finally we get to actually have words together!’

    Access: You two have an incredible chemistry ... Are you friends on set, do you do stuff together?

    Rooker: When we work together, the scenes that we are together on screen doing are electrifying and the audience knows it, AMC must see it, it’s obvious and yet, there’s still not a lot of stuff that we do. It’s sort of like you bring it out there and then you take it away, probably making the audience want it even more and that’s what they did with Merle. And it’s kind of a cool way of putting it out there and then sort of hiding it [so] you’re constantly looking for Merle, you’re constantly wondering, ‘Did Merle shoot the deer with the gun that went through and shot the kid?’ You’re constantly wondering, ‘Is Merle doing this stuff?’ ... So I became for a while [there], the boogeyman, right?

    Access: It’s true.

    Rooker: It’s true, isn’t it (laughs). I mean, I sort of became the boogeyman and everything bad that happened, ‘Merle must have done that!’ ‘Oh, I bet you Merle did that!’ It was very interesting how the audience would sort of speculate [over] what happened to Merle and so by not telling it, was way more exciting to have this Merle that is sort of like omnipresent somewhere out there seeking his vengeful acts.

    Access: We got to see Merle’s heroic side when the second half of Season 3 returned in February -- he worked to save his brother in the ring at Woodbury. Do you think that opened the door for your character to make some great changes or do you think Merle is always going to be a not great guy?

    Rooker: Merle is not a not great guy. I think Merle is actually a survivor. His thinking is quite linear. A lot of the decisions being made, like for example, unfortunately there’s a child involved and unfortunately there’s a mother and a father and a son, think about it now -- you can’t keep judging Merle or any of these other characters by the way we live today in regular society. This is not regular society anymore. Society no longer exists. This is self-preservation. This is plain and simple survival of the fittest and if, in fact, you go around saving everybody or try to save everybody every time ... you risk your own life.

    Access: And you waste energy.


    Rooker: You’re expending energy fighting the zombies. Look, we just finished trying to find food to eat in the woods, we couldn’t, there was no food, we did not eat. We gotta be hungry, we gotta be weakened by this and Merle’s attitude is, you’re gonna go up there, pretty much risk your life, waste your energy, and you’re gonna save these people that in probably two days, three days’ time, on down the road, they’re gonna end up being zombie meat anyway. This is the kind of thinking process that Merle goes through ... You want to live to see next week; don’t waste your time and your energy ... But, it’s interesting that his connection to his brother and his family is intense, there’s no one that he cares about more, no one that he cares about period, I think, but his brother and that’s just it, that’s the way it is. And he’ll do anything for his brother.

    Access: What are we going to see of Merle ahead? He knows The Governor, he’s got some special inside knowledge, Rick’s facing some big decisions and then there’s the Daryl factor.

    Michael: Yeah, I think that’s what motivated Merle in regards to going for his brother [and attempting to leave the prison last week] because he knows The Governor and he knows what a lying, basically piece of s--- the guy is and Merle’s thinking is, ‘If I don’t’ get there, my brother’s not gonna come back.’ It was very interesting what went down and I think Merle -- the way I’ve been playing it -- even though he’s been in prison before and in the stockade while he was in the military and stuff, it’s not a good place for him. He doesn’t fare well behind closed, [locked] doors.

    Access: Since your character knows him so well, what can you hint at about how dangerous The Governor truly is?

    Rooker: It’s obvious how dangerous The Governor is. We just saw it ... It becomes quite clear that he’s not going to play the game by the rules, by most civil rules. He’s going to invite them in to bring in Michonne and then he’s going to slaughter them all.

    Access: Can we expect Merle to help out Rick in the coming weeks? He certainly could use the manpower, let’s face it!

    Rooker: Rick could use probably a good doctor at this point.

    Access: It’s true, but he’s got Hershel.

    Rooker: I mean a different kind of doctor. A doctor that can help him sort out his issues (laughs).

    Access: I don’t think Dr. Phil survived the apocalypse, I’m gonna be honest.

    Rooker: I don’t think so either (laughs).

    Access: Can we expect Merle and Michonne to get along at all?

    Rooker: You know what you can expect of Merle? You can expect the unexpected of Merle ... and I think that’s what the audiences like ... Merle is one of these guys that -- he is extremely unpredictable, you’re not sure where’s he’s coming from most of the time and we make it fairly clear in the show his commitment to his brother and his blood and from then on, whatever you get from Merle is hopefully gonna be a surprise and the less you know about Merle, as far as I’m concerned, the better. The more questions you have in regards to my motivations and all this kind of stuff, the better I like it. When you walk away from an episode that I’ve been in and you have more questions than answers -- I’ve done my job.

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  • 'Walking Dead' exclusive photos: Is Andrea targeting the Governor?


    By Drusilla Moorhouse, TODAY contributor

    With only three episodes remaining of "The Walking Dead's" third season, it looks like Team Rick and the Woodbury militia are about to wage a bloody battle.

    Despite their sitdown, the Governor has no intention of brokering peace with the prison gang. And he's about to lose an ally in Andrea, who -- after Milton reveals her lover's dastardly plans for the survivors --  might be finally ready to kill her lover.  

    Gene Page / AMC

    According to the tagline for Sunday's "Prey" (co-written by outgoing showrunner Glen Mazzara), while the Governor is chasing down a dissenter who fled Woodbury, "a traitor tries to sabotage his upcoming plans."

    Get a better idea of the action to come by watching the clip below and taking a closer look at these exclusive photos from the episode.

    Gene Page / AMC

    Will Andrea save her old friends -- and Michonne? Do you recognize the trussed-up zombie shown here? Could it be Allen, who's joined forces with the Governor along with Tyreese and Sasha? Share your predictions on our Facebook page!

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  • 'The Walking Dead' season 3 finale spoilers: 'It's not gonna really end that well'

    Gene Page/AMC

    By Drusilla Moorhouse, TODAY contributor

    Just four episodes remain of "The Walking Dead's" thrilling third season, and as executive producer Gale Anne Hurd told The Clicker, "Fasten your seatbelts -- it's going to be a bumpy ride."

    (Unless you happen to be a hitchhiker. Then you're not riding anywhere.)

    "Be prepared for a few gasps along the way," Hurd warned when we caught up with the cast and crew at this weekend's PaleyFest. "There are not a lot of happy endings."

    "Our show's not a happy, 'Yay, we got rescued off the island' kind of show," added Greg Nicotero, "Dead's" executive producer, director and special-effects wizard. "You have to give your audience somewhere to land where they feel they want to come back and watch the show again next season, but we're pretty amped up in regards to this confrontation between Rick and The Governor. It's not gonna really end that well."

    So no chance for peace between Woodbury and the prison gang?

    "I don't think anybody wants to have a peace treaty with anybody," insisted Norman Reedus, who has transformed Daryl Dixon from a hate-mongering squirrel assassin to one of the most richly complex and beloved characters on the show.

    "I think it's us versus them," he added. "I don't think there's any 'Let's wave a white flag' at this point."

    "We're in the middle of a conflict," agreed star Andrew Lincoln, who plays Rick. "That's why we went to Morgan's -- to get guns. It just so happened we bumped into a friend. It was all about getting ready and gearing up for war."

    His surprise reunion with Morgan -- whom we haven't seen since the series premiere -- found Rick "definitely at his lowest ebb," pointed out Lincoln. "Seeing (Morgan's psychosis) is like a mirror held up to Rick of where he can potentially go -- and he realizes at that point, 'I'm coming back.' "

    For use on external sites w/exclusive video premieres.

    (Morgan might be back, too: Lennie James has an IMDb credit in the season finale, and creator Robert Kirkman told us, "He's a tremendous actor, and every time he appears on this show they end up being our best episodes. If he were to show up in the finale that would be pretty awesome in my book!" High praise from the dude who literally did write the book.)  

    So what if Andrea ends up falling on the wrong side of the impending conflict?

    "We're just gonna shoot her," joked Lincoln.

    Really, Laurie Holden told The Clicker, "Andrea just wants peace and no bloodshed and for all these beautiful people in Woodbury and at the prison to be OK ... I think she sees the best in people and like Dale, she believes in humanity in a world that's fallen apart. Call it idealism, but it's how she's built."

    And for those who suspect the fierce blonde won't survive the season, producer David Alpert warns, "What happens to Andrea is not what anybody expects."

    "Yeah, the finale's a wedding," cackled Kirkman. "The finale's going to be a picnic. It's a giant peace treaty and everybody sits around having hot dogs."

    In all seriousness, Kirkman revealed, the end of the season is "going to be really unexpected, there's more or less going to be a war, and this war's going to have casualties. So be on the lookout for that."


    "We're going to some dark places before this season ends," added Alpert, "but there's a very unlikely ray of hope and a note of optimism that comes there that doesn't make it too dark or too bleak."

    One of the bright spots this season has been watching what actress Danai Giuria calls "the becoming" of Michonne, who was finally "welcomed" into the group by Carl and Rick in this week's "Clear."

    "I think it's a really powerful moment for her actually," Giuria told us, "because she's not letting go of her abilities -- her very formidable abilities as a warrior -- but she's also connecting to that part of herself that can actually be vulnerable to people. It's her at her strongest in my opinion where she gets to at the end of this episode."

    As for the end of the season, Scott Wilson, who plays Hershel, told The Clicker, "I think the fans are going to be totally satiated and happy and pleased with all the things that are going to take place."

    How do you think season three will end? Will Andrea survive? Share your predictions on our Facebook page!

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  • 'Saturday Night Live' spoofs 'The Walking Dead'

    By Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter

    NBC

    "Saturday Night Live" spoofs "The Walking Dead."

    "Saturday Night Live" host Kevin Hart was at his best when attempting to join the crew of "The Walking Dead," all while playing the race card to disguise the fact he’d been bitten by a zombie.

    In the sketch, Hart plays a man who comes across Rick (Taran Killam) and other characters from the AMC hit. When the group turns its back to decide if they’ll let him into their camp, Hart is bitten by a zombie unbeknownst to them.

    When Hart starts displaying some decidedly zombie characteristics (walking with a bum leg, moaning), Rick charges Hart with being "one of them."

    Photos from THR: 12 'SNL' sketches made into movies

    What did he mean by “one of them?” Hart demands.

    “When someone comes from a different cultural background, they’re automatically a zombie,” Hart says, which prompts Rick and the rest of the group to apologize and insist they’re not racists.

    Hart eventually bites and kills Maggie (Kate McKinnon), and when the group protests, he says “Would you rather I eat some fried chicken or watermelon?”

    Again, they feel bad, until Carl (Nasim Pedrad) ends Hart’s zombie ways with a bullet.

    During Hart's opening monologue, he recounted auditioning for "SNL" more than a decade ago. He showed the audience three impressions he did back then, and two of them were pretty terrible (as Hart seemed to know). 

    More from THR: Complete guide to 2013 TV pilots

    His take on NBA legend Avery Johnson didn't work because "white people don't know" who that is. Hart's Denzel Washington consisted of him saying "it's Training Day, bitch," and his Robert De Niro was good, though it just consisted of him looking skeptical.


    When invited to host "SNL," Hart was asked if he did impressions.

    “You bet your ass I do impressions,” he said.

    Speaking of which, Quvenzhane Wallis probably wasn’t on anyone’s radar for whom Hart might impersonate , but the comedian donned a little girl's dress for a sketch in which the Oscar nominee is made Pope.

    More from THR: Ricky Schroder reunites with 'Silver Spoons' cast at comedy roast

    As Wolf Blitzer (Jason Sudeikis) points out, she’s "the first African-American, the first female, and the first child Pope.” Wallis, a media darling since her "Beasts of the Southern Wild Oscar nom, does her trademark muscle flexing and other adorable things, all of which assures Blitzer she’ll make a great Pope.

    In its cold open, "SNL" tackled the big talk this week in Washington, the $85 million sequester.

    President Barack Obama (Jay Pharoah), admitting to knowing nothing about budgets, brings some public sector workers onstage to talk about what the cuts would mean for their services. Among them is an astronaut who says space helmets would no longer have glass, and an air traffic controller who says she would have to watch Doritos ads before being able to access her screen. (Read a more detailed description of the cold open here.)

    Hart lost his way in a few places, most notably during a Weekend Update segment where he and Seth Meyers dismissed talk in the Supreme Court this week that the Voting Rights Act was no longer needed.

    During “Really with Seth and Kevin,” Hart repeatedly stumbled over his lines, at one point chiding himself by saying “God damn it Kevin."

    He got back on track to slam the argument that the act is unconstitutional, saying “Black people don’t like saying something is unconstitutional.  The Constitution used to say I’m three fifths of a person. I’m short. But not that short.”

    It’s unclear why, but the episode went past its usual ending time, wrapping at 1:04 a.m. ET. After a commercial break, Hart returned to say a brief thank you to the cast and musical guest Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, then NBC New York went to commercial without the traditional play out from the band and shots of the cast embracing.

    "SNL" is new next week with host and musical guest Justin Timberlake. It will mark his fifth time hosting the show.

    Which skit was your favorite this week? Tell us on our Facebook page!

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  • 'Walking Dead' exclusive photos: Maggie takes aim


    By Anna Chan, TODAY

    The prison on "The Walking Dead" provided a safe haven from zombies and bad guys for Rick's gang of survivors this season, but thanks to a breach and The Governor's special delivery of walkers last week, their sanctuary is not quite so ideal anymore.

    Sure, Carol, Carl, Daryl, Rick and the rest of the gang knocked off some of the rotting bunch that had invaded their new home last week, but it seems the pests are still around for Sunday's new episode. AMC shared a few exclusive photos with us from the latest hour of action, titled "I Ain't a Judas," and it's clear there are still zombies to take down.

    AMC

    Maggie takes aim.

    Maggie (Lauren Cohan), proving herself to be a survivor after being held captive by The Gov, bounces back from her ordeal to help keep everyone safe.

    AMC

    Fortunately, there's a (seemingly mostly unbusted) fence surrounding the compound keeping walkers away for the time being.

    Whether this attack by The Governor snaps Rick back into shape in the new episode remains to be seen. But in a sneak peek, son Carl thinks what his poor dad really needs is to step down, and flat out tells him so, advising him to let Daryl and Hershel be the new leaders. (More Daryl? Yes, please!)

    "The Walking Dead" airs at 9 p.m. Sundays on AMC.

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  • 'Walking Dead' goes black and white on Valentine's Day

    Frank Ockenfels / AMC

    Michael Rooker as Merle Dixon on "The Walking Dead."

    By Anna Chan, TODAY

    Blood racing through the veins of a pounding heart. Clutching your lover (or dog, cat, beer, pillow -- take your pick) close as you snuggle on the couch. It's all very Valentine-y, no? "The Walking Dead" will be helping to set the mood on Thursday when AMC begins airing season one of the survival drama in romantic black and white.

    Yes, yes, we know "Walking Dead" overflows with the guts and gore of zombies (and an unfortunate horse or two), but don't forget about the sweet reunion for Rick and Lori in season one, back when viewers still liked her. A then-saner Shane even stepped back -- albeit with a broken heart -- as he watched husband and wife reunite. Besides the clearly lovey-dovey scene, the scary bits can also drive viewers into one another's arms. (Guilty!) So romantic!

    To celebrate the airing of season one in black and white, AMC shared an exclusive photo of Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker) in the same color scheme. Sure, Merle didn't have any romantic scenes back then (or at all, for that matter), but enjoy anyway.


    AMC will air the pilot and second episode beginning at 6:30 p.m. Episode three will kick off at the regular time of 8 p.m. Thursdays next week.

    Valentine's Day also marks the kickoff of the network's Real Original Thursdays, a block of unscripted programs -- "Comic Book Men," "Freakshow" and "Immortalized" -- beginning at 9 p.m.

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  • 'Walking Dead' named TV's deadliest show

    By Lesley Goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter

    Blake Tyers / AMC

    Daryl's weapon of choice on "Walking Dead"? His trusty crossbow.

    Not surprisingly, AMC's "The Walking Dead" has been named the deadliest show on TV, according to funeral resource guide Funeralwise.com.

    In its second annual "TV Body Count Study" examining the death toll on 40 TV series during the fall 2012 season, the zombie drama topped the list with an average of 38 dead bodies an episode -- 91 percent of them zombies. Coming in second was Cinemax's "Strike Back," with 26 dead bodies an hour, followed by NBC's freshman breakout "Revolution" with 11. All the deceased on "Strike Back" and "Revolution," however, were human.

    Photos from THR: 'Walking Dead's' most shocking deaths

    Elsewhere, the study revealed guns were the weapon of choice, with gunshot victims comprising 44 percent of all the fatalities observed in the study, followed by knives, which accounted for 19 percent of the deceased.

    Men also represented 86 percent of the dead, while women were most likely to be killed by means other than a gun.

    Overall, the study found that death on TV continues to be on the rise, with the 40 shows examined averaging nearly five hits an episode, up 12 percent year-over-year.

    More from THR: 'American Horror Story: Asylum': The spookiest set on TV


    In slightly better news for the online funeral guide, the number of onscreen funerals ticked up from last year's eight to 11.

    Worth noting: Of the 40 shows examined in 2012, last year's two deadliest series -- Starz's "Spartacus" and HBO's "Game of Thrones" -- were not included. A full list of the 40 shows examined can be found by clicking here.

    What's your favorite show with a high body count? Tell us on our Facebook page!

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  • 'Walking Dead' poll: What should the group do about ranting, raving Rick?

    Gene Page / AMC

    By Ree Hines, TODAY contributor

    AMC's zombie hit "The Walking Dead" is back! And if you thought the long midseason break was tough on faithful fans, that's nothing compared to how hard it was on Rick.

    Of course, Rick's been on the decline ever since he started taking phone calls from the great beyond. The problem is that dearly departed wife of his -- or rather his belief that she hasn't really departed.

    On Sunday night's episode, things went from bad to worse. Newcomers Tyrese and his group wanted to stick around the prison. Rick, with his well-founded trust issues, was against the idea. But turning them away would have been a death sentence, a point that wasn't lost on Hershel -- the voice of reason.


    But just as it seemed Hershel had managed to convince Rick to take a chance, the leader of the living stopped listening to the voice of reason and started listening to the voice in his head, aka Lori.

    As Lori's apparition looked on, Rick freaked out. He ranted, he raved, and he pulled his gun. Tyrese and Co. took that as a "no." Everyone else took it as one bad sign.

    But what should the survivors do now? Is it time to leave their leader or change the group dynamic? Take our poll below and then go to our Facebook page and tell us what you thought of the episode.

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  • 'Walking Dead' star joins 'MythBusters' for zombie episode

    Gene Page / AMC

    Michael Rooker plays Merle Dixon on "The Walking Dead."

    By Ree Hines, TODAY contributor

    Just what is the best way to kill a legion of undead baddies? Flamethrower? Shotgun? Machete? Of course, on "The Walking Dead," Daryl Dixon is pretty fond of the crossbow method.

    Well, fans of the zombie genre may soon have the definitive answer thanks to the fact-finding crew from "MythBusters."

    According to Entertainment Weekly, the best way to kill the (presumably fictitious) creeps will be one of the challenges Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman (or their Build Team) put to the test in an upcoming zombie-themed episode.

    The gang will even get some expert help with their zombie-sleuthing. EW also confirms that Michael Rooker, who plays Daryl's mono-handed big brother, Merle, on "The Walking Dead," will make an appearance.


    Joining Rooker and the "MythBusters" regulars will be a whole lot of extras. On Jan. 18, the show's official Twitter account posted a call for hundreds of zombie wannabes over the age of 18 to film some time in "late Jan/Feb" in the San Francisco Bay area.

    No word yet on exactly when the episode will air, but it will be part of the next season of the "MythBusters" -- along with the highly-anticipated "Breaking Bad" episode -- which returns in the spring.

    What other shows or TV themes would you like to see the "MythBusters" gang put to the test? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

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