:You Know, For Kids

"They're coming for you, Barbara!" And you too, Eddie. And Sally and all the other fans of flesh-eating zombies and the survivors they attack. "The Walking Dead" will be shambling onto My Network TV this fall. The same place you find your "Family Ties" reruns and old episodes of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." I'm a big fan of old television shows, and I'm happy when they find new life (if you'll pardon the pun), but I'm not sure how this is going to work. 
AMC, the once and future "American Movie Classics" channel, is happy to spread their wealth around, especially if it is in exchange for some wealth that they can keep. Ever since they got out of the classic movie business and started making cutting edge (sorry for the spoiler) entertainment for the discerning adult, that eighteen to forty-nine demographic has flocked to their spot on the cable listing to see how an ad executive can survive in a world where corpses walk the streets. Or something like that. It was just a matter of time before some sort of gigantic syndication deal was struck.
My Network, in spite of its name, isn't a place I find myself frequently, but when I do it's for that nostalgia fix that only Mork and Mindy or Happy Days can bring. I'm sure the execs at "My" are hoping to bring in a more sophisticated or at least monied viewer by offering up companions to their lineup of Law &Order CI and SVU. But I can't help thinking about the unsuspecting viewer who happens upon an episode of "Walking Dead" while surfing through the channels hoping to find something a little more, shall we say, lively. It does make me wonder how Mary and Rhoda might deal with "the biters." Would they barricade themselves inside that big old Victorian in Minneapolis, or would they take to the highways and byways, looking to connect up with Lou and Ted and Murray? As for Alex Keaton, becoming a zombie might be the nicest thing that could happen to him.