Chris Hardwick will host ‘Talking Dead’ tonight following father’s death

As you may have heard earlier today on CarterMatt, there was some sad news from the Chris Hardwick camp, as his father and famed bowler Billy Hardwick died suddenly on Saturday morning. He was 72 years old. Obviously, are thoughts are with the whole family; as a pretty devoted Nerdist podcast listener, you start to over time become invested in the people you are so frequently entertained by.

But what we are here today to report is an answer to a much-asked question over the past 24 hours: Whether or not Chris is going to still host tonight’s edition of “Talking Dead” following the news. Fan-driven speculation suggested that there could be a fill-in host for the show featuring David Morrissey and Ike Barinholtz of “The Mindy Project,” but in a post on Twitter, Hardwick confirmed that he will be a part of the show tonight. As for the reason why, he suggests that this is a way to get a little bit of relief from all of the other stress and sadness in his life:

“Thank you, everyone! Your kind words are so wonderful & [girlfriend Chloe Dykstra] has been amazing. I’m doing Talking Dead tonight. It’s a nice distraction.”

Hardwick’s TV career has exploded in many ways since landing the hosting job for AMC’s “Walking Dead” aftershow. He originally was known for the MTV show “Singled Out,” but has since transformed his career into a geek empire. He’s also the host of Comedy Central’s “@Midnight,” which was renewed for an extensive season 2 order of 40 weeks’ work of episodes airing from Monday-Thursday.

“The Walking Dead” remains AMC’s most-watched series, and also the most-watched drama on television. “Talking Dead” has already inspired the Hardwick-hosted “Talking Bad” (which is now of course over since “Breaking Bad” is), and also a few aftershows for other programs (though they mostly air online).

Photo: AMC