The Walking Dead

CHICAGO – It’s promoted as “for fans, by fans” and the Walker Stalker Con delivers the goods for those admirers of all things zombie, horror and cult based. The celebrities – including Chandler Riggs of AMC Network’s “The Walking Dead” – the exclusive talks/panels, the photo ops and the floor “walkers” themselves, will create an atmosphere of fun and dread at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill., on Saturday and Sunday, May 28th and 29th, 2016.

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Drea de Matteo, Emmy Award winner for ‘The Sopranos.’

CHICAGO – One of Chicago’s most popular pop culture gatherings is the Wizard World Comic Con, and the 2015 edition is building anticipation for the weekend of Thursday, August 20th through Sunday the 23rd. Besides the fan costumes, vendor booths and comic book legends, Wizard World has appearances from TV and movie celebrities, highlighted by Burt Reynolds (“Deliverance,” “Smokey and the Bandit”) and Jeremy Renner (The Avengers film series).

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Eve Myles of TV’s ‘Torchwood.’

CHICAGO – The Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, popularly known as “C2E2,” is coming back to the Windy City next month, Friday, April 24th through Sunday, April 26th. The three day event draws many celebrities, comic book artists and memorabilia vendors. HollywoodChicago.com was at last year’s event, and got 33 Exclusive Portraits of the TV and film personalities.

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Cassandra Peterson AKA ‘Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.’

CHICAGO – Last August, the 2014 Wizard World Comic Con came to Chicago, and featured cast members from “The Walking Dead,” among other film and television celebrities. Another edition of the popular convention, called “Fan Fest,” is taking place next month in Chicagoland, March 7th and 8th, 2015, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill.

CHICAGO – “Guardians of the Galaxy” returned to the top of the box office this weekend, and Michael Rooker – as Yondu Undonta – was a vital part of the film. Rooker also was in Chicago recently, to promote the Illinois Department of Transportation video campaign, “The Driving Dead,” which refers to TV’s “The Walking Dead.”

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Steven Yuen portrays Glenn in ‘The Walking Dead.’

CHICAGO – There was a meeting of the undead last month as Walker Stalker Con invaded Chicago on March 14th and 15th at the Donald A. Stephens Center in Rosemont, Ill. This convention is a gathering point for zombie lovers, also known as “Walker Stalkers,” to gather and meet their favorite performers from AMC’s “The Walking Dead” and other movies and TV shows.

I’ve avoided saying it outright for a few years as it seems like an overwritten headline but one thing is too clear to ignore when looking back at this past year in television — we are currently in the most creatively vital time in the history of the form.

CHICAGO – Brutal. That’s the word for the third season of “The Walking Dead.” It’s just brutal. Like the second season of the mega-hit show, the third sagged a bit in the middle (although not as deeply as the neverending Shane-Dale debates of chapter 2) and the finale was a bit disappointing, but the unpredictability of the season kept viewers on their toes and ratings high.

CHICAGO - This past February, wading through a few inches of snow late at night on a quarter-mile jaunt to buy Black and Milds from a convenience store, subconsciously a mite terrified about what exactly was lurking in the woods and shadows, I realized there was no going back to how it was. The binary concepts of good and evil, right and wrong, black and white, felt light-years away. In their place a million shades of gray. It was…bittersweet.

CHICAGO – Zombies. Dragons. Gangsters. Meth dealers. David Lynch. It was a weird year for television. Was it a good year? Sorta. It was nowhere near the landmark year of 2011 but there was still a lot to like and it was easy to get to 30 shows worth mentioning.