The undead are great and all, but haven't we had enough? Also today: some more ratings to help you understand where everything lies, and a what-to-watch suggestion for tonight.

  • So Walking Dead is coming back soon, which is mildly exciting. And filming for the World War Z movie is underway, so that could potentially be good. But after that, let's just take a damn break with zombie stuff, hm? I love a zombie. Totally my favorite genre of horror movie. They scare the pants off me (my pants are sniveling coward pants — I wear French pants). But it's just a bit much. I'm thinking this now because of the news that Lionsgate has purchased the rights to Dead Island, the zombie videogame that is known outside of the videogaming community as that one with the oddly beautiful trailer. Which, OK, maybe it will be good! But good grief, it's too much. There are zombies everywhere and there aren't even zombies everywhere, y'know? I'm tired of all these zombies! [Deadline]
  • We've heard a lot about ratings today, so let's just go ahead and hear more about ratings. HBO's big boring Boardwalk Empire premiered on Sunday night down almost ten percent from last year's ratings average. Not terribly encouraging for a premiere, but not the end of the world either. Not a success, but not quite failure. Just mildly disappointing. Sounds about right! [THR]
  • Meanwhile, ABC's horrendously titled food chat show The Chew, about chewing, premiered yesterdee and roped in 2.5 million viewers with a good showing in the key demo. (Ladies 18-49.) Those are good numbers! Better than the recent-ish premiere of The Talk, a show about talking. What is with these titles? Why is everything so dreadful? Chew. Talk. The Chewtalk. The Gab. The Sass. The Masticate. The Gunt. The Stab. "Hi I'm TV's Betsy Randle. And today on The Stab we're going to be talking about murder." I'd watch that. [Deadline]
  • This is just a little essay about why you should watch the season finale of MTV's Awkward. tonight, and I just think you should read it because you should watch the season finale of MTV's Awkward. tonight. I mean, actually, watch the rest of the season first. Because it's a good show! It's not a great show, I mean it's no Chicago Hope or The Single Guy, but it's a pretty good show that is charming and clever if you like such things. I like such things, being only 17 myself, so if you're like me, give it a watch. [The Wrap]
  • Acclaimed actress Susan Sarandon will join alleged actor The "Dwayne Johnson" Rock in a thrillah called Snitch, about a father (Rock) who tries to win Quidditch the quick way take down a drug kingpin after his son gets a harsh sentence for taking the fall in a drugs bust. Sarandon will play a lawyer who helps him make the drug bust. Or she's the lawyer who did the original drug bust, so she's kinda bad. I don't know. She's a lawyer interested in a drug bust. Also, presumably, she plays pingpong. I mean, these days. [THR]