The Walking Dead

CHICAGO – Before getting too deep into what the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences did wrong this year, they deserve a few moments of high praise. First-time Best Series nominations for “Boardwalk Empire,” “Game of Thrones,” “Friday Night Lights,” and “Parks and Recreation” — those were stellar choices to fill those slots.

CHICAGO – The Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, more popularly known as “C2E2,” took place last month, and featured TV series cast panels with “The Walking Dead,” “True Blood,” “The Vampire Diaries” and “Dollhouse.”

CHICAGO – With echoes of “Twin Peaks” and the film “Insomnia,” AMC’s “The Killing” joins the lineup of one of the more respected networks on cable.

CHICAGO – The series premiere of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” was the best horror movie of 2010 and the best single episode of television that year. Director Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption”) brilliantly distilled a lifetime of zombie fandom into one beautiful character-driven piece that not only provided the chills of the genre but proved that the series would be dramatically rich as well. The living were as interesting as the dead. And now the first season, only six episodes long, is available in a beautiful 2-disc Blu-ray set. Don’t miss one of the best shows of 2010.

CHICAGO – Television may no longer be in the golden age of the late ’90s and early ’00s, but the diversity of the current landscape has produced a few notable gems.

CHICAGO – “Black Swan,” “Inception” and “The Social Network” were among the big film nominees in 2010 for the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards. The nominees were announced this morning, December 14th, in Los Angeles. “Mad Men,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “30 Rock” and “Glee” were among the TV nominees.

CHICAGO – AMC has become a major player on the television scene thanks to the multiple awards won by “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad.” As they expanded this year with “Rubicon” and this weekend’s “The Walking Dead,” the question was whether or not the pool would be diluted as it got bigger.