Tales Of The Walking Dead Adds Terry Crews, Parker Posey, And Many More To The Cast
Despite the flagship show coming to an end after the 11th wraps up, "The Walking Dead" will continue to walk among us. This world created by Robert Kirkman and his many collaborators will live on thanks to a number of spin-offs. "Fear The Walking Dead," the first spin-off of the popular AMC zombie franchise, has been renewed for an eighth season. Spin-off number two, "The Walking Dead: World Beyond," wrapped up its story after two seasons. Another spin-off following fan favorite characters Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) and Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) is currently in the works.
And now "Tales of the Walking Dead" emerges from that void between life and death that is "TV development," as a number of stars and directors have just been announced for the upcoming anthology series.
Rising From The Dead
After the formal announcement of the show's pick-up in October 2021, The Hollywood Reporter revealed the first five cast members of "Tales of the Walking Dead." Arguably topping the list is "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" star and prolific jacked dude Terry Crews, who has a bit of experience with post-apocalyptic worlds thanks to his presidency in "Idiocracy." Actually topping the list is film and television veteran Parker Posey. Following small roles in cult classics like "Coneheads" and "Dazed and Confused," she went on to star in a number of prominent independent films throughout the 1990s and early 2000s while racking up credits on shows like "The Simpsons," "Will & Grace," "Boston Legal," "Parks and Recreation," "New Girl," and the reboot of "Lost In Space." However, I'm probably not the only one that most fondly remembers Posey for her totally jerkin role as Fiona in the best movie ever "Josie and the Pussycats."
Crews and Posey will be joined by Anthony Edwards of "ER," "Top Gun," and "Revenge of the Nerds" fame, "Workaholics" breakout and hilarious rising star Jillian Bell, and Poppy Liu from "Hacks," "Better Call Saul," and Kal Penn's short-lived NBC series "Sunnyside." It's currently unclear who these performers will play or if they'll appear in the same episodes, but judging by the range of these stars, it really sounds like "The Walking Dead" will be venturing into some previously unexplored territory for the franchise in terms of tone. In other words, I expect to see some big zombie-related laughs somewhere in this show. Maybe not "Zombieland" or "Shaun of the Dead" big, but whatever this world's version of that is.
"Tales of the Walking Dead" will also tout some impressive talent behind the camera as well. Series producer Michael Satrazemis, who has plenty of experience in this universe thanks to his work on "The Walking Dead" and "Fear The Walking Dead," will direct three episodes. The remaining three will be helmed by Haifaa al-Mansour of the miniseries "Good Lord Bird", Deborah Kampmeier from "Star Trek: Picard," and Tara Nicole Weyr, who's credits include "Desperate Housewives," "Wu-Tang: An American Saga," "Lucifer," and "The Flash."
As someone who jumped the "Walking Dead" ship when Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) flew away on that helicopter, this all sounds so interesting. Chief Content Officer for the entire "Walking Dead" franchise Scott M. Gimple said in the announcement that this new show would venture "into harrowing, hilarious, heartfelt, and horrifying new realms." Considering that each of the six episodes is meant to stand alone, it should be pretty easy to jump in and back out again if that what you want to do. "Tales of the Walking Dead" could be the TV watching equivalent of checking in on an old friend's Facebook or Instagram just to see how they're doing. I mean, this cast list by itself is enough to intrigue anybody, especially comedy fans. I don't see my fandom for the series rising from the dead completely, but we'll see what happens when it all comes together supposedly later this year.