TV In October? Creepy Is An Understatement

Scary movies don't scare me, but scary TV? That's a little different. Leave it to the powers that be to premiere two creepy, and sometimes, bloody shows in October. It's brilliant marketing with oh yeah Halloween just around the corner. Not only are these series chilling, but they are really good and really fascinating to watch.

First, let's look at the new kid on the block, FX's American Horror Story. Co-Creator Ryan Murphy returns to the network of his first big success (Nip/Tuck) with a warped tale of a haunted LA mansion and the lucky family who takes a chance on living in it. One of my first thoughts I tweeted, "this ain't Glee." In fact, it's the polar opposite of Murphy's Fox hit. I'm frankly excited to see Murphy get back to his upper-cable channel roots. Let's meet the family and the others.

The lucky family? The Harmons (far right in the portrait), who have moved to LA from Boston to try and start over. We have Ben (Dylan McDermott), a psychiatrist, his wife Vivien (Connie Britton), and their daughter Violet (Taissa Farmiga, no relation to actress Vera Farmiga). Next door is Constance played by Oscar-winner Jessica Lange in her first-ever regular TV role and Jamie Brewer as Addy, Constance's daughter who sees things others DON'T see. Lange is terrific and melodramatic as Constance. Farmiga is also perfect casting as the depressed Violet trying to reach out to Ben Harmon's first patient in LA, Tate played by Evan Peters. Tate has a twisted mind and/or sick sense of humor and Ben considers him a danger to himself. Tate is creepy and he scares Violet. Vivien Harmon is trying to get her place in the family back together after suffering "a violent miscarriage", hmm, I wonder if this traumatic event will play into future episodes? Rounding out the cast is a face familiar to True Blood fans, Denis O'Hare, who plays a former resident of the haunted house and he's already pleading with Ben to get himself and his family out before you know what hits the fan! Wait! I forgot one other important character, long-time haunted housekeeper Moira played by another familiar HBO series face, Frances Conroy. We also see a young Moira, but I won't give anything else away. And really, I can't write much about this show period; it's definitely NOT for kids, especially if you remember Nip/Tuck or if you get creeped out easily. If you do indulge, American Horror Story airs Wednesday nights at 9p C on FX.

Now, let's welcome back a show chocked full of zombies that debuted on Halloween last year, AMC's The Walking Dead. It begins its second season this coming Sunday night with a 90 minute season premiere at 8p C.

Zombies? What zombies? (Matthew Welch/AMC/amctv.com)

As you recall, season 1 ended with the survivors deciding to flee Atlanta. Back as their fearless leader, Deputy Rick Grimes is Andrew Lincoln. Grimes is the glue that tries to hold the group together. He may not always make the right decision, but he's tough and he's ready to kick as much zombie butt as possible. What makes The Walking Dead so good is, hello!, the zombies. They have to be the best-looking I've ever seen on TV or film. I hate to say it because I've always been a big fan of George Romero's original Night of the Living Dead and his even more gory sequel, Dawn of the Dead. I love to pop in my Dawn of the Dead DVD any time of the year and I am quite happy. The Walking Dead is actually based on a graphic novel (fancy word for comic book) series by Robert Kirkman who has written for the TV series. Little known fact, in the graphic novel, Deputy Grimes is from Cynthiana, KY. The TV series, for the most part, takes place in and around Atlanta. Also, the graphic novel is a continuing series and it's up to volume 15, which means we may or may not see the TV show continue for that long; if so, count me in!

Set those DVRs, if you dare!

Filed Under: AMC, american horror story, dawn of the dead, dvr, fx, graphic novel, Halloween, Jessica Lange, the walking dead

Categories: Photos, Television

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