With the popularity of ‘The Walking Dead’ from last season, and all of the anticipation (and controversy) in the buildup for Season 2, AMC has officially ordered a new companion program to air after the encore of the premiere episode on October 16th.

‘Talking Dead’ will be a half hour talk show hosted by Chris Hardwick. He will be discussing the show with the actors, producers and fans of the zombie drama. He will also be taking viewer questions during the discussion. AMC typically airs new episodes of a show twice in a row, so while ‘The Walking Dead’ starts at 9pm, ‘Talking Dead’ will air at 11pm. It will begin following the much anticipated season premiere, and then return after the encore presentations starting on Friday, November 4th.

Hardwick is a perfect choice to host this program. He moderated the ‘Walking Dead’ panel at Comic Con this year, and he has also had series creator Robert Kirkman on his Nerdist podcast. He is a fan who knows what he’s talking about, and I’m hoping that he will bring a deeper element to the discussions than just simple boilerplate questions. While I doubt much will be discussed regarding Frank Darabont’s departure (I could be wrong, we’ll see), there are still many aspects that can be delved into. This program will likely serve as an excellent companion to ‘The Walking Dead,’ and I’m personally looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

‘The Walking Dead’ starts up again on October 16th at 9pm on AMC.