Warning: There are major spoilers ahead.

"The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman was right. The show stuck closely to a popular storyline from the comics.

Sunday night's episode of the AMC hit brought a fast close to a subplot about a group of cannibals, known as the hunters, after only three episodes into season five.

Last chance to head back before spoilers.

A showdown between the "hunters" led by Gareth (Andrew J. West) and Rick's (Andrew Lincoln) group erupted into an unexpected bloodbath in a church. (For the record, the scene doesn’t take place in a real church. The small, white chapel in the woods was constructed for the series.)

In the episode, viewers watch as Rick, Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), and Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) hack away at the Termites for threatening their loved ones.  

A lot of the blood in the scene isn't CGI. 

When it looks like Rick is hacking away at Gareth ...

... he’s actually hacking into a block filled with fake blood to make it splatter most of the time.

West tells The Hollywood Reporter he was also hit with a rubber machete by Lincoln.

"They had to get shots of Andy actually hitting me with the machete because they didn't know exactly how they'd cut it together," says West. "So they wrapped me up with padding around my torso and they gave Andy a rubber machete and just had him beat me with that thing. It doesn't hurt at all because I got the padding and it's rubber, but you feel that pressure and you feel how intensely he's swinging. It creates a pretty remarkable atmosphere. It's scary."

Similar to Lincoln, Cudlitz smashed his gun into a block to splash blood around.

Look close and you’ll notice the camera team actually covered themselves and the cameras in clear bags to film the bloody scenes.

CG is used in the scene when Gareth's two fingers get blasted off by gunfire. The actor is wearing CG fingers covered in blood.

"We put some blood on the fingers so that we had some remnant blood," says VFX supervisor Victor Scalise in a featurette on the episode. "The two pieces [of finger] that fly toward the camera are actually computer-generated and a little blood and gore and then as he pulls his hand down you see the little stubs." 

If you're wondering why Gareth and the cannibals didn't stick around longer, executive producer Greg Nicotero tells The Hollywood Reporter the show has spent a lot of time with Terminus already and that the crew didn't want to drag it out.

"It's very important that the show continue its momentum," Nicotero told THR. "We feel like we had teased arrival of Terminus for almost the entire second half of the season last year. We want to keep our story moving forward. That story line — the Hunters and cannibals — we want to be able to pay tribute to it from the comic but we also want to keep moving forward. As we get into episodes four, five and six, in true Walking Dead tradition, we're going to step off and explore some other characters we may not have explored as in depth in previous episodes."

That certainly seems to be the consensus this season. Showrunner Scott Gimple and the crew aren't messing around.

You can watch Sunday's talked about scene here.

Watch the making of the scene below:

SEE ALSO: "The Walking Dead" creator debunks the show's biggest fan theory

AND: The most terrifying scene in "The Walking Dead" premiere was inspired by 1979's "Alien"

Join the conversation about this story »

The folks at the American Chemical Society want us to be prepared for a zombie apocalypse. Since zombies — like those in "The Walking Dead"— are attracted to the smell of live humans, chemist Raychelle Burks suggests using chemicals to mimic the smells of rotting flesh, which should ward off living corpses in the event of a siege.

It sounds like it would really work for certain zombie futures. For example, characters in AMC's "The Walking Dead" use jaw-less and armless zombies on leashes to camouflage their scent from other zombies. 

The so-called "death cologne" would be made from a combination of three stinky molecules found in rotting flesh: putrescine, cadaverine, and methanethiol.

Dead human bodies naturally produce putrescine and cadaverine early in the decomposition process, Burks says in the video. Methanethiol provides the rotting-egg, cabbage smell.

By modifying the bacteria e.coli and growing them in large colonies in the lab, scientists can isolate the nasty-smelling compounds. All you need it a little genetically engineered bacteria and a petri dish!

You can learn more about the smelly solution in the video below, from the American Chemical Society's Reactions series:

SEE ALSO: 10 Foods That Will Survive In A Post-Apocalyptic World

You might also be interested in: 19 Scientists Tell Us Their Favorite Element

Join the conversation about this story »

We interviewed Robert Kirkman – the creator of "The Walking Dead"– at New York Comic Con 2014.

Produced by Matthew Stuart and Alana Kakoyiannis. Special thanks to Kirsten Acuna.

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Warning: There are some spoilers ahead for season 5 and from the comic book.

"The Walking Dead" fans may have been surprised this season when the new big villains this season, a group of cannibals, were quickly and brutally killed off in episode three.

It seemed like we were in for the long haul (or at least a little while) with this storyline. The leader of the cannibals, Andrew J. West's Gareth, seemed like the successor to the show's previous popular villain, The Governor (David Morrissey). 

The Governor was on the series for two seasons. The cannibal crew lasted about a total of five episodes after heavily being teased over the course of season 4.

Now that they're gone, the group doesn't have any main antagonist. Sure, Beth (Emily Kinney) was taken by a group of mysterious survivors, but they don't seem like any real threat Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and his group of survivors can't handle by the close of season 5.

What's next?

Any one who reads the comic knows there's a huge fan favorite villain coming eventually to the series named Negan.

Who's Negan?

If you thought the one-eyed, prison slaughtering Governor was awful, Negan's at least 10 times worse. The character is the leader of a large group of survivors coined "The Saviors" made up of mostly violent men. Negan delivers his own brand of justice with the swing of a bat wrapped in barbed wire he calls Lucille.

"The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman confirmed to MTV News in April he's coming eventually.

There's just one problem. 

The character isn't the easiest to bring to life on screen. Negan is known for throwing around the "f-bomb" in nearly every panel of the comic.

While at New York Comic Con last month, we caught up with "The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman and asked him when we could expect to see Negan on the series and how the character would be adapted to screen.

It doesn't sound like we should be gearing up to see Negan in the rest of season 5.

"Negan says a word that you can't say on television. I understand that. I think that there are ways around that," Kirkman tells Business Insider. "Luckily, we're not going to have to work that out for some time. I'm not going to say when Negan will possibly show up on the show, but it's not any time soon."

How do you adapt a character who appears virtually unadaptable?

It's not even clear Kirkman's sure yet.

"We'll figure that out along the way," Kirkman added. "Maybe AMC can change the rules on TV."

NOW WATCH: There's A Good Reason 'The Walking Dead' Creator Doesn't Use The Word Zombie

SEE ALSO: Why "The Walking Dead" casts so many actors from HBO's hit show "The Wire"

AND: "The Walking Dead" actress tells us the hardest part about season 4

Join the conversation about this story »

Sunday night’s episode of “The Walking Dead” revolved around two fan favorites, Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride).

The two headed out on a rescue mission to save a kidnapped group member, Beth (Emily Kinney), from another unidentified group of strangers.

Along the way, the two come across a van hanging off a bridge which leads to one of the episode’s huge practical effects.

Last chance to head back before spoilers.

To avoid an oncoming group of zombies, the two jump inside the unstable van, strap on seat belts, and decide to dive headfirst off the bridge while hoping for the best. 

Here’s how the scene plays out in the episode.

You can clearly see the van starts to flip in this first GIF.

However, the scene cuts and in the next shot, viewers see the van crash right side up on all four wheels. 

What happened? The van was clearly ready to flip over, right?

Yes, it was. 

According to “The Walking Dead” after show “The Talking Dead,” the series used a total of four identical vans to complete the scene, two of which made the 50 foot drop.

In a behind-the-scenes featurette on the episode, “The Walking Dead” crew shows how they faked the van crash to make it look like the duo landed pretty safely.

The first time they dropped the van from the bridge, the team attempted to just roll it off after loading the vehicle with a lot of extra weight on the rear end.

That didn’t go as planned. 

The van flipped 180 degrees onto its top.

“The drop itself was a bit of a challenge,” explained co-executive producer Denise Huth in the featurette. “The first drop we did the van landed upside down which we did not want it to do.” 

The team tried it out again a second time in order to get the look they wanted. During a second drop, another van was dropped from a cable.

The second drop gave the crew the shot they needed for Carol and Daryl to survive the crash.

Here's what you end up seeing on the show. 

In case you were wondering, while Carol and Daryl did do some filming in the van, the actors had their own stunt dummies on board for the actual crash to show their point of view.

You can watch the entire featurette below.

SEE ALSO: Here's when the next big villain will appear on "The Walking Dead"

AND: Why "The Walking Dead" casts so many actors from "The Wire"

Join the conversation about this story »

Warning: Minor spoilers follow if you're not caught up with "The Walking Dead."

"The Walking Dead" finished up its season 5 mid-season finale Sunday night.

At the end of the episode, Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Daryl (Norman Reedus), group were reunited with the rest of their crew. With no shelter and a firetruck at their disposal, it's uncertain where the gang is heading from here. 

"The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman hinted on Sunday's aftershow "The Talking Dead" that if you read the comics you shouldn't be surprised by where they're heading next on their journey. 

In the comics, the group head to a safe-zone located in Alexandria, Virginia. 

The Alexandria storyline comes pretty far in the comics (issue #69). Now that the monthly comic series is at issue #134, a common question among fans is whether the show will catch up with the comic series, and, what would happen if that does eventually occur.

We recently caught up with Kirkman at New York Comic Con where the creator assured us fans have nothing to worry about. There's plenty of material for the AMC series for seasons to come. 

"We have a huge head start," Kirkman tells Business Insider. "We’re many many years ahead of them [the comics] and Charlie Adlard and I continue to crank issues out every month. So if we continue and the show continues, the material we’re working on right now would be season 11 or 12."

"And by the time we get to season 11 or 12, we’ll be like five or six years ahead of that," he adds. "Really at the pace that the show is going and the comic is going, they’ll never really catch up."

Not many series make it to 10 seasons and beyond. If its run does last that long, "The Walking Dead" would be in a select group with shows including "M*A*S*H" (11 seasons), "Frasier" (11 seasons) and "Two and a Half Men" (12 seasons). "The Simpsons" is now in its 26th season.

Kirkman's aware of that and the possibility that at any point zombie fatigue could in, but he says they're well prepared.

"The show could fade in popularity and end at some point," says Kirkman. "We’re certainly aware of that and we have game plans in place for that if it were to happen." 

"I would argue that our show isn’t solely a zombie show. It’s a survival show," Kirkman adds. "If you’ve been paying attention to the comics the zombies certainly fluctuate from being very in the forefront to being very far into the background and not being a very big part of the comic at all. And I think the show will follow a similar trajectory. So, I think as long as we can kind of be more than just a zombie show, we’ll hopefully be okay if there’s ever a big backlash to zombies but who knows what the future holds as far as the show’s popularity goes. We’ll see."

SEE ALSO: Here's when the next big villain is coming to "The Walking Dead"

AND: "The Walking Dead" creator debunks the show's biggest fan theory

Join the conversation about this story »

We are a couple of days out from The Walking Dead airing its midseason finale, but if you still haven’t caught the episode, please note that we do get into spoilers in this article. 

If you’ve been paying any attention to The Walking Dead, there’s a good chance you’ve heard many of the complaints from fans who were spoiled about a big moment from Sunday’s midseason finale. Unfortunately, many of those people who were spoiled actually found out through The Walking Dead’s own official Facebook page before the episode aired on the West Coast and elsewhere across the world. Fittingly, The Walking Dead took to the social media site to apologize this week, and you can take a look at what the page has to say, below.  

On Sunday night, just a short while after The Walking Dead finished airing on the East Coast, the Official Walking Dead page jumped the gun, posting a picture of a dead Beth being carried by Daryl. Pushing the spoiler even further was the caption "RIP Beth," which confirmed to a slew of Walking Dead fans on the west coast and elsewhere that poor sweet Beth was dead even before the episode had a chance to begin airing. While the Facebook page did eventually pull the post for a short time before re-posting the sentiment after the later airings, the damage was done.

Obviously, Beth’s death on Sunday’s episode offered a water cooler moment for fans of AMC’s hit zombie series. People wanted to talk about the shocking and tragic moment, and the Facebook page was likely wanting to produce a space where people could come together and talk about what just happened. As the apology post notes, the post was not a sneaky or cruel attempt to spoil people who hadn’t caught the episode. The Walking Dead's social media team is sorry, and is working to make sure it doesn’t happen again. As you’ll notice, though, the apology only specifically mentions those West Coast American viewers who were spoiled about Sunday’s big episode. So, if you live elsewhere in the world, you might still be up the creek without a paddle. Consider yourselves forewarned. 

AMC’s The Walking Dead is currently on hiatus, but new episodes are expected to premiere in February of 2015. 

SEE ALSO: "The Walking Dead" creator says the show could go on for 12 seasons

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The Walking Dead is not just one of cable's biggest series of all-time, it also dominates all TV ratings including that of broadcast television. So it should come as no surprise that AMC is planning a spinoff. The Walking Dead Companion Series is set to hit the network in 2015, and has just cast its first two leads. It has also gotten a tentative title, though it's not yet known if this particular title will remain in place until the series' debut.

Currently dubbed The Walking Dead Companion Series: Cobalt, this AMC spinoff has cast Frank Dillane and Alycia Debnam Carey as it's first two leads. The story will be set during the same zombie apocalypse that plays out on The Walking Dead, but in a different location. It has also been rumored that we will see events taking place in an earlier timeline, but that has not been confirmed.

The Walking Dead Companion Series: Cobalt will revolve around a male divorced teacher and a female guidance counselor. Frank Dillane, best known for his supporting role in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, will play the woman's teen son who is battling drug addiction. Alycia Debnam Carey is set to play the woman's ambitious daughter whose achievements are in direct relation to her older brother's failures. A previous report claims that the two characters are named Nick and Ashley Tompkins, but that is not included in this latest story.

The Walking Dead comic book and TV series creator Robert Kirkman is also the creator of the The Walking Dead Companion Series: Cobalt, and is working alongside Dave Erickson. Accomplished TV director Adam Davidsonwill helm the pilot. This is the second consecutive pilot after Galyntine in which AMC has cast Alycia Debnam Carey, who made her American debut with Into the Storm. Frank Dillane can next be seen in Ron Howard's In the Heart of the Sea alongside Chris Hemsworth.

SEE ALSO: 'The Walking Dead' creator says the show could go on for 12 seasons

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Earlier in the week, it was announced Frank Dillane and Alycia Debnam Carey had joined the The Walking Dead Companion Series, tentatively known as Cobalt. Now a third actor has been added to the main cast, with Cliff Curtis taking on the male lead.

The Walking Dead Companion Series: Cobalt pilot is being written by comic book and TV series creator Robert Kirkman and Dave Erickson, and will be directed by episodic television mainstay Adam Davidson. The story revolves around a divorced teacher, played by Cliff Curtis, who is trying to do right by everyone in his life. An early cast breakdown named the character as Sean Cabrera and described him as a Latino in his early 40s. That description is not included in the latest report from Deadline.

The spinoff also follows a female guidance counselor, a role that has not yet been cast. Originally named Nancy Tompkins, she is described as a thirty something single mom with two kids. She may look like the girl next door, but there is an edge to her. Frank Dillane will play her son, a troubled teen with a drug problem named Nick Tompkins. And Alycia Debnam Carey is playing the daughter, Ashley, a mostly level-headed teenager whose ambition is in direct proportion to her older brother's failures. While Ashley loves her mom, she feels it's time to get out of Dodge.

The Walking Dead Companion Series: Cobalt will take place during the same zombie apocalypse seen on The Walking Dead. Though, it has been rumored that this new series will be taking place at an earlier point in the timeline, possibly close to or leading into the start of the virus. Cliff Curtis is best known for his roles on the TV series Missing and Gang Related.

SEE ALSO: Everything we know about "The Walking Dead" spin-off series

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With so many new shows premiering in 2015, it's hard to remember when all of your favorites, like "House of Cards" and "The Walking Dead," are returning.

Below is a list of when the popular shows will be back from hiatus or will kick off their midseason premieres.  

Tues., Jan. 6
"Pretty Little Liars," season 6 premiere, 8 pm., ABC Family
"MasterChef Junior," season 3 premiere, 8 p.m., Fox
"Cougar Town," season 6 premiere, 10 p.m., TBS
"Switched at Birth," season 4 premiere, 10 p.m., NBC
"Chicago Fire," midseason return, 10 p.m., NBC

Wed., Jan. 7
"American Idol," season 15 premiere, 8 p.m., Fox
"American Horror Story," midseason return, 10 p.m., FX
"The Mysteries of Laura," midseason return, 8 pm.,  NBC
"Law & Order: SVU," midseason return, 9 p.m., NBC
"Chicago PD," season 3 premiere, 10 p.m., NBC 

Thursday, Jan. 8
"Portlandia," season 5 premiere, 10 p.m., IFC
"Archer," season 6 premiere, 10 p.m., 
"Parenthood," midseason return, 10 p.m, NBC

Friday, Jan. 9
"Glee," midseason premiere, 8 p.m., Fox
"Hart of Dixie," midseason return, 9 p.m., The CW
"Banshee," season 3 premiere, 10 p.m., Cinemax
"Comedy Bang! Bang!" season 4 premiere, 11 p.m., IFC

SEE ALSO: Here's What's New On Netflix In January

Join the conversation about this story »

With so many new shows premiering in 2015, it's hard to remember when all of your favorites, like "House of Cards" and "The Walking Dead," are returning.

Below is a list of when the popular shows will be back from hiatus or will kick off their midseason premieres.  

Tues., Jan. 6
"Pretty Little Liars," season 6 premiere, 8 pm., ABC Family
"MasterChef Junior," season 3 premiere, 8 p.m., Fox
"Cougar Town," season 6 premiere, 10 p.m., TBS
"Switched at Birth," season 4 premiere, 10 p.m., NBC
"Chicago Fire," midseason return, 10 p.m., NBC

Wed., Jan. 7
"American Idol," season 15 premiere, 8 p.m., Fox
"American Horror Story," midseason return, 10 p.m., FX
"The Mysteries of Laura," midseason return, 8 pm.,  NBC
"Law & Order: SVU," midseason return, 9 p.m., NBC
"Chicago PD," season 3 premiere, 10 p.m., NBC 

Thursday, Jan. 8
"Portlandia," season 5 premiere, 10 p.m., IFC
"Archer," season 6 premiere, 10 p.m., 
"Parenthood," midseason return, 10 p.m, NBC

Friday, Jan. 9
"Glee," midseason premiere, 8 p.m., Fox
"Hart of Dixie," midseason return, 9 p.m., The CW
"Banshee," season 3 premiere, 10 p.m., Cinemax
"Comedy Bang! Bang!" season 4 premiere, 11 p.m., IFC

SEE ALSO: Here's What's New On Netflix In January

Join the conversation about this story »

Veteran actress Kim Dickens has taken the female lead in the The Walking Dead Companion Series: Cobalt.

She is known for her turns on the HBO drama Treme and FX's hit biker drama Sons of Anarchy, which just came to a close with its seventh season. She recently attracted attention as the police detective in this past fall's thriller Gone Girl.

Kim Dickens will play a guidance counselor who is in a relationship with a divorced teacher. A previous report calls the character Nancy Tompkins, but it is not known if that name has changed. She will have a dark past that comes back to haunt her. She also has two children from a previous marriage. Frank Dillane will play her son, a troubled teen with a drug problem named Nick Tompkins. And Alycia Debnam Carey is playing the daughter, Ashley, a mostly level-headed teenager whose ambition is in direct proportion to her older brother's failures.

Cliff Curtis will play Kim Dickens' love interest, a person trying to do right by everyone he loves. The show will serve as a prequel of sorts to The Walking Dead, explaining what happened at the start of the zombie outbreak. It will take place in Los Angeles, as opposed to The Walking Dead, which take place near Atlanta, Georgia.

Kim Dickens will next be seen taking on a key role in House of Cards Season 3. Her feature film work includes The Blind Side and the Footloose remake. The Walking Dead co-creator Robert Kirkman is writing the The Walking Dead Companion Series: Cobalt pilot script alongside Dave Erickson, with Erickson serving as the showrunner. The premiere does not have a set date at this time, but we can expect to see the spinoff in late 2015.

SEE ALSO: Why 'The Walking Dead' Changed An Iconic Line From The Season 4 Finale

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Despite a growing level of scrutiny surrounding media piracy, it’s undoubtedly more popular now than it ever was, and 2014 was a haven for illegal downloading both from leaked studio films and for hugely popular TV series. The top ten pirated series of the year were recently announced, and while the big dog probably won’t surprise anyone, some of the other entries are quite shocking. 

This list was compiled by TorrentFreak, the resident professionals at pointing fingers at mass amounts of illegal activities, and it ranks things by single episode downloads, rather than each series as a whole. Oddly enough, Breaking Bad is still one of the top three pirated series, over a year after that series left the air. Would Walter White have downloaded any of these shows?

10. "South Park"The lowest-rated series on this list, South Park is still one of the most culturally relevant shows out there, even in its 18th season. And it looks like quite a few people are making show references illegally, as the number of people downloading South Park is estimated to be equal to its average number of viewers. 

9. "Suits"

Wait, what? Are there really 2.5 million people downloading episodes of USA’s Suits? 

8. "Vikings" The 2.7 million people downloading Vikings should be grateful that Travis Fimmel’s Ragnar Lothbrok isn’t the one doling out punishment. 

7. "Grey’s Anatomy"This was the year that Shonda Rhimes completely took over Thursday nights on ABC, and it’s her flagship medical drama Grey’s Anatomy that draws the most downloads. Maybe her next series should be called How to Get Away with Piracy. 

6. "Arrow" Another series with seemingly more people talking about it than actually watching it, The CW’s Arrow was serviced by a big year full of crossovers with The Flash, a series that I’m surprised didn’t also make this list. 

5. "Gotham"

If Gotham’s James Gordon was put on the case to figure out who the estimated 3.2 million people downloading his show were, you can bet that at least 4.2 million people would die before he solved anything. 

This long-standing CBS sitcom came to a close earlier this year with a pretty controversial final episode, and around 3.5 million people said goodbye to the show in an illegal fashion. 

3. "The Big Bang Theory"

I used to think that people pirating series were looking out mostly for series they might not have access to otherwise, like non-HBO subscribers wanting the premium cable network’s finest. Yet the top three is rounded out by a CBS series that I can probably catch on my washing machine if I used enough foil. 

2. "The Walking Dead"

One of the highest-rated shows on TV, The Walking Dead would be even more popular if only it could translate those 4.8 million pirates into live viewers. I’m pretty sure even dead people are downloading this show. 

1. "Game of Thrones"  The most talked about series of 2014 is also the most downloaded, with the Season 4 finale breaking piracy records. There’s nothing else to do on the Wall, I guess. 

Which of the series listed above surprised you the most?

SEE ALSO: The 10 Most Pirated Movies Of The Year

Join the conversation about this story »

Headed into 2015, China has decided to institute a new set of restrictions related to the TV content eligible to be viewed in homes.

The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television has already cracked down on what content Chinese citizens will be able to legally view in their homes, and starting on April 1, 2015 any foreign movies and TV programs need to be registered with the government organization or will need to be removed from legal streaming sites and other media services. The nation is looking to promote domestic and “healthy” content for its population, which is bad news for the likes of The Walking Dead. 

Just like in the US, there is a big fanbase related to The Walking Dead and certain other high-profile shows. When China’s new regulations go into effect in April of 2015, any shows that the government does not want to register will no longer be available on broadcast or streaming networks. This means that the Chinese government will now be aware and will have to look into all TV programs that want a Chinese audience.

While shows like The Walking Dead might be easy targets for a government that is looking to decrease violence and sex on television, this will likely also have ramifications for more middle of the road shows. For instance, CNN reports that while network drama Madam Secretary is currently available in China, audiences cannot find the fourth episode of the series, which brought up Tiananmen Square. Expect this to get worse when the government begins micromanaging even more. 

China has been dealing with increasingly strict censorship laws related to American TV fodder in Chinese homes in recent months. Fans of The Big Bang Theory and other popular US shows like The Good Wife and NCIS lost their ability to watch last spring when the government pulled those shows and others from widely used streaming services. The new registration process was brought up this fall and now we’re getting close to the date that it will be instituted. 

Technically, the Chinese Government has been removing content it doesn’t approve of for a long time. It’s not as if the nation is famous for its freedom of speech or its open journalism, but the new registration process will be a headache on multiple levels. Not only are Chinese citizens concerned about losing some of their favorite American shows, The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television has a lot of work cut out for it if it wants to issue permits for all foreign TV movies and shows. Not to mention programming that will eventually be approved will likely hit homes late. From shows that will no longer be available to China to shows that will appear months and months late, it seems like it is encouraging piracy. 

SEE ALSO: 'The Walking Dead' Creator Says The Show Could Go On For 12 Seasons

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Mark Cuban spoke with Henry Blodget at Business Insider's IGNITION 2014. He gave us his predictions on the future of television.

Edited by Devan Joseph. Special thanks to Justin Gmoser and Sam Rega.

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With so many new shows premiering in 2015, it's hard to remember when all of your favorites, like "House of Cards" and "The Walking Dead," are returning.

Below is a list of when the popular shows will be back from hiatus or will kick off their midseason premieres.  

Thurs., Jan. 1
"A to Z," first of remaining four episodes, 9:30 p.m., NBC
"Bad Judge," midseason return, 9 p.m., NBC
"Lucas Bros. Moving Co.," season 2 premiere, midnight, FXX

Fri., Jan. 2
"Blue Bloods," midseason return, 10 p.m., CBS
"Hawaii Five-0," midseason return, 9 p.m., CBS
"Say Yes To The Dress: Atlanta," season 8 premiere, 10 p.m, TLC
"Undercover Boss," season 6 premiere, 8 p.m., CBS

Sun., Jan. 4
"The Simpsons," midseason return, 8 p.m., Fox
"Brooklyn Nine-Nine," midseason return, 8:30 p.m., Fox
"Family Guy," midseason return, 9 p.m., Fox
"Bob's Burgers," midseason return, 9:30 p.m., Fox
"Celebrity Apprentice," season seven premiere, 9 p.m., NBC
"CSI," midseason return, 10 p.m., CBS
"Downton Abbey," season give premiere, 9 p.m, PBS
"The Good Wife," midseason return, 9 p.m., CBS
"Madam Secretary," midseason return, 8 p.m., CBS
"The Mentalist," midseason return, 9 p.m., CBS
"Resurrection," midseason return, 9 p.m., NBC
"Revenge," midseason return, 10 p.m., ABC
"Sister Wives," season six premiere, 9 p.m., TLC

Mon., Jan. 5
"2 Broke Girls," midseason return, 8 p.m., CBS
"Mike & Molly," midseason return, 8:30 p.m., CBS
"Scorpion," midseason return, 9 p.m., CBS
"NCIS: LA," midseason return, 10 p.m., CBS
"Gotham," midseason return, 8 p.m., Fox
"Sleepy Hollow," midseason return, 9 p.m., Fox
"The Bachelor," season 19 premiere, 8 p.m., ABC
"State of Affairs," midseason return, 10 p.m., NBC

Tues., Jan. 6
"Pretty Little Liars," season 6 premiere, 8 p.m., ABC Family
"Switched At Birth," season 4 premiere, 9 p.m., ABC Family
"MasterChef Junior," season 3 premiere, 8 p.m., Fox
"New Girl," midseason return, 9 p.m., Fox
"The Mindy Project," midseason return, 9:30 p.m., Fox
"Cougar Town," season 6 premiere, 10 p.m., TBS
"Marry Me," midseason return, 9 p.m., NBC
"About A Boy," midseason return, 9:30 p.m., NBC
"Switched at Birth," season 4 premiere, 10 p.m., NBC
"Chicago Fire," midseason return, 10 p.m., NBC
"Forever," midseason return, 10 p.m., ABC
"NCIS," midseason return, 8 p.m., CBS
"NCIS: New Orleans," midseason return, 9 p.m., CBS
"Person Of Interest," midseason return, 10 p.m., CBS

Wed., Jan. 7
"American Idol," season 14 premiere, 8 p.m., Fox
"American Horror Story," midseason return, 10 p.m., FX
"The Mysteries of Laura," midseason return, 8 pm.,  NBC
"Law & Order: SVU," midseason return, 9 p.m., NBC
"Chicago PD," season 3 premiere, 10 p.m., NBC 
"The Middle," midseason return 8 p.m., CBS
"The Goldbergs," midseason return, 8:30 p.m., ABC
"Modern Family," midseason return, 9 p.m., ABC
"Black-ish," midseason return, 9:30 p.m., ABC
"Duck Dynasty," midseason return, 9:30 p.m., A&E
"Wahlburgers," season 3 premiere, 10 p.m., A&E

Thursday, Jan. 8
"Big Bang Theory," midseason return, 8 p.m., CBS
"Mom," midseason return, 8:30 p.m., CBS
"Two And A Half Men," midseason return, 9 p.m., CBS
"The McCarthys," midseason return, 10 p.m., CBS
"Elementary," midseason return, 10 p.m., CBS
"Portlandia," season 5 premiere, 10 p.m., IFC
"Archer," season 6 premiere, 10 p.m., 
"Parenthood," midseason return, 10 p.m, NBC

Friday, Jan. 9
"Glee," season 6 premiere, 8 p.m., Fox
"Last Man Standing," midseason return, ABC
"Cristela," midseason return, 8:30 p.m., ABC
"Shark Tank," midseason return, 9 p.m., ABC
"Hart of Dixie," season 4 premiere, 9 p.m., The CW
"Banshee," season 3 premiere, 10 p.m., Cinemax
"Cold Justice," season 3 premiere, 8 p.m., TNT
"Real Time With Bill Maher," season 10 premiere, 10 p.m., HBO
"Comedy Bang! Bang!" season 4 premiere, 11 p.m., IFC

A version of this post originally ran Dec. 19, 2014. It has been updated with additional return dates.

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Since early 2013, Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg has been advocating for women to take on greater leadership roles at work.

In a recent New York Times op-ed cowritten with Wharton School professor Adam Grant, Sandberg explains that women tend not to speak up in meetings as frequently as men, in part because they are routinely interrupted or ignored.

Sandberg and Grant say it's the responsibility of leaders to make sure everyone is heard, and they highlight a simple but interesting tactic that Glen Mazzara, a former showrunner on "The Walking Dead" and "The Shield," used to make sure everyone got a chance to speak up:

At "The Shield," Mr. Mazzara, the showrunner, found a clever way to change the dynamics that were holding ... two female employees back. He announced to the writers that he was instituting a no-interruption rule while anyone — male or female — was pitching. It worked, and he later observed that it made the entire team more effective.

Mazzara explains his No. 1 rule for meetings, which is gender-neutral, in a 2009 interview with the blog Hollywood Writers' Office:

Do not knock something off the table unless you are going to replace it. Do not just piss on someone's idea without offering one better. That's not fair. That's not kind. That's not respectful and that's not your job. Your job is to generate ideas.

For bosses looking to maximize the potential of their employees, the takeaway is this: Don't let your people be jerks in meetings by interrupting, ignoring, or shooting each other down, and make sure everyone has a chance to speak.

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SEE ALSO: Why Barbara Corcoran Has A Framed Photo Of Every 'Shark Tank' Entrepreneur She Works With

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So it goes with highly anticipated projects whose details are shrouded in secrecy, AMC’s The Walking Dead spinoff is the eye of a rumor hurricane as of late, and it’s only in the pilot stages. Despite the official denial of any crossover events between the pilot and the flagship series, that’s what conversations keep swarming around, and this is the dooziest info yet, as The Nerdist claims a spinoff character will be on The Walking Dead before the spinoff even airs. 

According to Nerdist’s sources, at least one of the leads from the offshoot (which will almost definitely get a series order) will appear in The Walking Dead for a six-episode arc in Season 6. That’s some serious future-scoopage if it’s true, post-dating what will undoubtedly be a lot of creative team hemming and hawing over the subject. Because Nerdist mastermind Chris Hardwick is the host of AMC’s chat show Talking Dead, it just seems like these guys would get good intel. 

The pilot, which now has the working titles Cobalt and Fear the Walking Dead (gleaned from a leaked part of the script), is reportedly set soon after the walker apocalypse occurs, when things haven’t quite gone rotted bananas yet. So that would necessarily mean that whatever character we get to know in the pilot is living on his or her own by the time Rick and his crew make it past the rest of Season 5’s deadly dangers. Unless it’s some kind of a weird six-episode flashback, a tactic popular series have been known to get mired in. 
Right now, we’ve got Kim Dickens as school guidance counselor Nancy Tomkins, who’s dating teacher Sean Cabrera, played by Cliff Curtis. Will either of them show up? Or will it be Nancy’s kids Nick (Frank Dillane) or the ambitious Ashley (Alycia Debnam Carey)? Or perhaps one of the as yet uncast characters, like Sean’s son Cody or his ex-wife Andrea? Whoever it is would need to get from Los Angeles across the country in however long it is between the two series, although it would probably be easier to drive in the early days before there were just corpses and broken vehicles everywhere. 

You can watch the Nerdist News video in its entirety below:

Bleeding Cool recently got a hold of some alleged script pages – which is where the newish working title came from – and they were asked by a legal team to remove the excerpts from the script, though you can still find them elsewhere. That doesn’t make them completely legit, but it certainly strengthens the argument. Nothing too exciting was posted, but it gives one an idea of what’s possibly to come with this expansion of the Walking Dead universe. 

But before all that, The Walking Dead will debut the second half of Season 5 on Sunday, February 8 on AMC. We still have other characters to meet first. 

SEE ALSO: 'The Walking Dead' Spinoff Casts Kim Dickens As The Lead

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"The Walking Dead" returns to TV Sunday.

If you can't wait until then for the season 5 mid-season premiere, AMC has released the first two minutes from the next episode, and they're pretty somber. 

If you're not caught up, you probably won't want to watch.

Warning: Some mini spoilers ahead. 

When we last left off, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and his comrades were reunited. In the process, one of the show's main characters was unexpectedly killed off.

Season 5 episode 9 opens as the group copes with their loss and looks onward to finding a new place to call home for their growing numbers.

"The Walking Dead" mid-season premiere airs at 9 p.m. on AMC.

SEE ALSO: 'The Walking Dead' creator says the show could go on for 12 seasons

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Warning: There are major spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen the latest episode of “The Walking Dead.”

“The Walking Dead” returned from its winter hiatus with an unexpected surprise for fans. 

For the second time in two episodes, the AMC hit series has killed off a major character, showing that no one on “The Walking Dead’ is safe. 

Final chance to head back before spoilers.

On Sunday night’s episode, Chad Coleman’s character Tyreese gets caught off guard and is bit by a zombie walker in the arm. 

No big deal. As long as his arm is taken off in time, he should have a good chance at survival. After all, it’s something we’ve seen occur numerous times on the series in the past.  

However, things didn’t go so smoothly this time as Tyreese’s condition slowly deteriorated throughout the episode with callbacks to some of a few fan favorites returning from the grave briefly to welcome Tyreese into the light.

Tyreese’s death was a big surprise, considering “The Walking Dead” creator Robert Kirkman has said he always saw “The Wire” actor as someone he envisioned playing Tyreese. Kirkman told Business Insider back in October at New York Comic Con “The Walking Dead” team sought him out for the role. 

His death on the show comes one episode after Emily Kinney's Beth Greene was shocking killed off in the season 5 midseason finale last fall.

Coleman first joined “The Walking Dead” back in season three, and was one of many fellow actors from HBO’s “The Wire” to join the series. 

With a growing cast of characters on the series, and more newcomers expected in the latter half of season five, it shouldn’t be too much of a shock that we’ll have to lose some of the major cast members, but this certainly came out of left field for fans.

Executive producer Greg Nicotero explained to Variety why this was the right time to say goodbye to Coleman's character:

Why Tyreese and why now?
Tyreese has had a great story, he’s been on a great journey. Ever since the beginning of season four we’ve noticed that Tyreese was struggling. He’s standing at the fence talking to his girlfriend and he says, “Listen I don’t like killing (walkers) at the fence any more.” He goes out and the helicopter falls through the Big Spot roof and he comes back and says, “I don’t like killing them in here either.” He’s clearly having some issues. Then his girlfriend is murdered and her body’s burned up, and two little girls die. So Tyreese’s real reason for pushing so hard to survive was for the baby, for Judith. Now that he’s reunited with Rick… I think it’s a world where he’s having a hard time accepting that he would want to live there.

In addition, showrunner Scott M. Gimple told The Hollywood Reporter Tyreese's death "just seemed to be what the story dictated."

SEE ALSO: Why "The Walking Dead" casts so many actors from "The Wire"

SEE ALSO: Sunday's "The Walking Dead" was inspired by one of the earliest comics from 11 years ago

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