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AMC today released the first trailer for the new original series Hell on Wheels, which begins production May 16 in Calgary. Created, written and executive produced by Joe and Tony Gaytons, the series is described as a contemporary Western that centers on former confederate soldier Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount), whose quest for vengeance has led him to the Union Pacific Railroad’s westward construction of the first Transcontinental Railroad. If, like me, you’re wondering why the trailer says: “The network that brings you Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead” with no mention of flagship Mad Men, which, like Hell on Wheels is a period piece, here is the explanation. No, it is not bad blood following the contentions renegotiations with creator Matt Weiner. AMC’s marketing team was simply going for series that are male-skewing like Hell on Wheels. The promos for the current mystery series The Killing do feature references to Mad Men.
rtmp://streaming.deadline.com/ondemand/video/HOW_Trailer_900.flvTV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
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That looks amazing. Isn’t NBC making the same show?
Kind of. NBC’s is “Reconstruction”–about Missouri after the Civil War. Similar themes–bad blood between former North and South loyalties, frontier justice, gunslinging, etc. The difference is Hell on Wheels is definitely a series whereas Reconstruction seems like a long shot to make it out of pilot territory. A dark Civil War period drama definitely feels more like AMC’s territory, but, that said, I hope they both take off.
Both also have mysterious strangers as protagonists traveling west and arriving in seething frontier towns. If this isn’t airing until the 4th quarter as the article says, then NBC could have theirs up and running by then, maybe even beating this one to air.
I’m sure both camps are sweating this one out right about now.
Although amc does a great job with period pieces, I feel nbc really has a winner with recostruction. The initial pilot is great and really has more to it than what its stated. Although I can not comment on the contents, it will be worth checking out and will leave you wanting to see what’s next week.
When will this air? Assuming it goes in the Sunday 10pm rotation like all of AMC’s other programming, The Killing is currently there and Breaking Bad is slated for July; then of course Walking Dead is back in October.
AMC paired Rubicon and Mad Men last summer, I see them pairing it with The Walking Dead this fall. There is only a ten episode order for Hell on Wheels so I would see a 2 hour premiere for The Walking Dead and then have Hell on Wheels premiere the next week after the 3rd episode of The Walking Dead.
They’ve got my attention and will tune in.
This looks fantastic, terrific picture quality, great cast, very much looking forward to this series. AMC is doing quality work at that network. Kudos to all involved!
Wow, AMC is knocking it out of the park.
WILL WATCH
This does not look good. Looks like Zack Snyder brought his green screen in to redo a far inferior version of Deadwood.
Agreed — looks like Beautiful bullshit with bad dialogue sufficiently chewed by actors trying really hard to impress.
Agreed! Looks really cheap with cheap effects. They obviously skimped on extras and had a director who didn’t know how to pull actors back from hamminess. This is not a good addition to the AMC line-up — a rare misfire for them.
Looks impressive.
Hopefully this show is of the high quality we expect from Mad Men and Breaking Bad. AMC’s track record as of late has been spotty. Rubicon and The Killing have been big steps down, IMO. (All the praise The Killing got for it’s pilot seems to be waning in a big way as of late)
Love it and can’t wait. AMC rocks.
No wonder there was no mention of Mad Men. This show actually features people of color, unlike that other period piece on AMC.
You obviously haven’t watched Mad Men! There’s the beat guy’s girlfriend, there’s the guy who works in the elevator, there’s … there’s…. ah sheeeeeeeeit
Looking forward to it, but have reservations about a Confederate hero. There’s gonna have to be a compelling reason to root for him.
The idea that all confederate soldiers were evil, bad racist men is is elementary school thinking
The thing that was nice about Walking Dead is you never seen any of the actors before except for that guy from Cliffhanger and that wasn’t for long. You got 2 actors you’ve seen a dozen times before that Irish guy and that black guy. no thanks.
best pilot i’ve read in a few years…
Why are white people obsessed with the Civil War?
Jesus, let it go.
Gawd…
The lead (Anson Mount?) sounds like Clint Eastwood (as Dirty Harry) saying, “Go ahead – make my day”, in everyfuckingscene. Wasn’t there supposed to be acting/directing here?
Does this woman not know the meaning of the word “contemporary?”
Yet another series from AMC that looks intriguing. Looking at the last 3 series AMC has put out, I applaud the network for taking risks and trying new things instead of just more of the same. Say what you will about Rubicon, that show was a gem and I miss it. The Killing isn’t perfect, but it is better than 90% of what’s currently on TV. The Walking Dead also is not perfect, but it’s very entertaining, which is what it comes down to. The network needs to make money off shows like The Walking Dead in order to fund other experimental projects. And Breaking Bad is one of the greatest series created; season 3 was easily the best of 2010. Definitely excited about this series.
Word is the pilot is exceptional-cinematography tops, Anson Mount at his best,actresses mesmerizing, and supporting cast all interesting and great. question is can they continue to pull off top shelf talent and prod at low shelf budget.
I am sure AMC will produce another flawless period piece, whatever their budget. I wonder if they will get into the Chinese workers with the building of the railroad…
First and foremost, “Hell On Wheels” has some mighty big shoes to fill! “Deadwood” raised the bar for westerns so high, I am doubtful any series, and even movies, will come to equal, let alone surpass the quality of that amazing HBO show. Having said that, “Hell On Wheels” looks intersting, not to mention beautiful to look at. AMC has become a force to be reckoned with on the TV landscape. The folks overthere are doing some fine, fine work. I mean any network that can boast a line-up comprising of “Mad Men”, “Rubicon” (even though it was prematurely cancelled), “Breaking Bad”, “The Killing” and what is perhaps one of the finest shows on television, “The Walking Dead”, can really be proud! I for one will definitely give this show a try and hope that it will succeed! As for the whole competition bit with NBC, I doubt NBC can keep up with AMC, NBC’s shows and general line-up is simply put awful, with the exception of “Chuck”, they have nothing worth watching, personally I have given up on network TV years ago (with a few exceptions here and there). Not only can’t NBC hold a candle to AMC in terms of quality, just in terms of content, NBC would loose out. While AMC is on basic cable, and like F/X has some limitations on content, i.e. they can’t go as far as Starz, Showtime and HBO which are pay TV channels and therefore have little or no restrictions on their content, still even with all that AMC has a lot less restrictions in terms of language, sexuality and violence in their series…if you doubt that I would once again refer you to “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead”. There is NOTHING on network TV that comes even close to either of those series. If these are to be gritty and realistic depictions of life in the Wild West, I get the feeling that AMC would win hands down over NBC, just in terms of what they would be able to show on-screen. Then there is the question of budget…normally one would think that NBC would have the deeper pockets seeing that its parent company is a multi-billion dollar business, but from what I have seen so far, it seems that AMC (nevermind the other channels) outspends pretty much every mainstream network outhere. AMC shows, besides the teriffic cast, acting and stories, can claim some of the best looking shows on TV. Some are just magnificent to look at, with for example “The Walking Dead” surpassing many big budget movies I have seen over the years in terms of cinematography, speciall effects and production values in general. Not tu put a to finner point on it, but I have yet to see a network come up with anything in the ballpark.
If one needs a further example of something similar hapenning, think back a few years ago when HBO was coming out with its epic series “ROME”, while ABC was set to put out its version “Empire”…boy what an embarassment that was, there was no competition whatsoever…”ROME” set new standards for television, while “Empire” became quickly destined for the discount bin in some dust ridden store…