News just broke that AMC has green-lit a talk show series starring Kevin Smith and Greg Grunberg. The late night show’s working title is “Geek Out,” and the show is currently set to follow Fear The Walking Dead when it returns. It will run for 30 minutes and will cover all the latest in geek culture, movie news and celebrity interviews. The series is expected to premiere in July, with the first episode revolving around this year’s Comic-Con. So far, 9 episodes total have been ordered for the first run that air throughout the summer. What is interesting about this news, is that it was not long ago that Kevin Smith was shopping another geek talk show to AMC, which would have been co-hosted by Ralph Garman.
Kevin and Ralph have hosted a live podcast called Hollywood Babble-On for the past 15 years. Unlike most comedy shows, Kevin and Ralph do a more tradition talk show format where they talk about the latest headlines and the hottest news in geek entertainment. The show is recorded live at the Hollywood Improv on Friday nights, but in recent years, they have been able to take the show across the country, permitted that Ralph’s daytime job at the Kevin and Bean morning radio show can give him the time off.
In 2012, news came out that an unnamed network was interested in adapting the show into TV version, but was ultimately turned down because the network wanted Kevin and Ralph to stop doing the podcast if they signed on. Then in 2014, AMC ordered a pilot of the show but that show was also not picked up. Many fans wonder how this will affect Hollywood Babble-On given that the format seems is very similar to what Kevin and Ralph did for the last 6 years.
After being bombarded by fan messages, Ralph Garman responded to the news on his official twitter.
Congrats to @ThatKevinSmith and @greggrunberg! I know you guys will crush this! https://t.co/fUrjjpOECP
— Ralph Garman (@RalphGarman) February 11, 2016
Just for clarification's sake, I wish @thatkevinsmith & @greggrunberg nothing but the best with their show, but I'm not involved in any way.
— Ralph Garman (@RalphGarman) February 12, 2016
I love you, too! But, @ThatKevinSmith got a great opportunity to do a cool show w/ @greggrunberg and I support it! https://t.co/ooFZQ5PAx6
— Ralph Garman (@RalphGarman) February 12, 2016
Recently, Kevin has posted on his official facebook that he hopes that he can bring in Ralph Garman and his Fatman on Batman co-host Marc Bernardin in some form or capacity in the new show. It is worth noting that the next Hollywood Babble-On is scheduled for next Friday, which where I’m sure they will address it. I hope Kevin and Greg’s new show is good, but I doubt it will ever be “Ralph Garman singing ‘Sweet Caroline’ at my 29th Birthday” good.