AMC ORDERS NEW LATE-NIGHT TALK SHOW, “GEEKING OUT” (Working Title)
HOSTED BY KEVIN SMITH AND GREG GRUNBERG, SHOW WILL TAKE TIMELY LOOK AT POP CULTURE THROUGH A FANBOY LENS
NEW YORK, NY, February 11, 2016 – AMC today announced that it has ordered a new late-night talk show, “Geeking Out” (Working Title). Hosted by Kevin Smith (“Comic Book Men,” “Clerks”) and Greg Grunberg (“Heroes, “Heroes Reborn” “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens”), the 30-minute show will take a timely look at pop culture through a fanboy lens and feature talk, clips, celebrity interviews and out-of-the-studio segments. The series is produced by Matador Content and The Weinstein Company in association with Bandwagon Media with Jay Peterson, Patrick Reardon, Smith and Grunberg serving as executive producers.
The show is expected to premiere with a special episode covering Comic-Con International: San Diego in late July, with eight more episodes to run weekly starting in late summer.
“Kevin and Greg are both true fans of this content, and share a deep passion for talking about it, and engaging other fans about it. But it is their natural chemistry as hosts that really brings this idea together,” said Joel Stillerman, president of original programming and development for AMC and SundanceTV. “As part of our growing non-fiction slate, we wanted to create a broadly entertaining venue for hardcore fans and general viewers where we can break down all things fanboy on a weekly basis; and we wanted to bring those fans great interviews and exclusive looks into the world of fanboy culture. We look forward to sharing this highly entertaining duo with our viewers.”
“AMC has been my TV family for five seasons of ‘Comic Book Men’ now, so I know that ‘Geeking Out’ is in the perfect, fan-friendly network hands,” said Smith. “I can’t wait to lose fluids on the airwaves of my favorite channel over the genre gems we’re gonna get insider access to due to gregarious Greg’s bonafides! And to make it even more of a family affair, ‘Geeking Out’ lets me work with the Weinsteins again – the two guys who started my career 22 years ago! I’m lucky to be working at all, let alone working with friends and family on a dream show where all we do is talk about all the media that makes us moist!”
“I get all my work from my friends. Now it’s time for me to take advantage of those relationships even more,” said Grunberg. “I am going to get every single genre-based writer, director and actor I know to come on our show and geek out with us. And they’re going to thank me for it. I love how Kevin Smith smells and we fit together like two hibernating fan-bears. Thanks to AMC and the Weinsteins, the rest of the world is going to get to see what’s inside our dark, dank geek cave. It’s going to be a fun 30 minutes, if I can just get Kevin to stop talking and smoking.”
AMC’s opportunistic approach to non-fiction has allowed the network to identify and bring to air a unique mix of shows that complement its scripted originals and movies. The network’s growing non-fiction slate includes “Talking Dead,” the #1 talk show on television, “Comic Book Men” and new originals including “The Making of the Mob,” “The American West,” special events like the recent “Lennon 75” concert and the forthcoming “Ride With Norman Reedus.”
Overseeing “Geeking Out” from AMC are Eliot Goldberg, senior vice president of non-fiction and alternative programming, Marco Bresaz, vice president of non-fiction and alternative programming and Kelly Nash, director of non-fiction and alternative programming.
