With 'The Walking Dead' breaking records all over the place, it's no surprise that many networks are snatching up comic book properties left and right in an attempt to capture similar success. One of the more promising comic-to-TV adaptations was Showtime's take on the critically acclaimed 'Chew,' the story of a FDA investigator who gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats. However, after a year and a half of development, the show is dead. For now.


talking up the "shockingly loyal" pilot script just a few weeks ago. We don't know what went so horribly wrong (or if Layman and Guillory just had different perspectives on the situation), but that Tweet seems pretty definitive: 'Chew' is dead at Showtime.

Truthfully, that may be for the best. The world of 'Chew' blends comedy, action, horror, fantasy and science fiction into such a delirious concoction that it's hard to imagine it translating easily to the screen. It's one of the best comics being published right now, but it's also a story that feels designed specifically for the comic medium -- even a slight mishandling of 'Chew's delicate tone could result in something awful. It's a fine line even on the page.

However, that doesn't mean that there will never be a 'Chew' TV series. Layman's choice of words ("on Showtime") suggest that he may take it somewhere else. Would AMC be interested in a comic companion to 'The Walking Dead'? Would FX (who have been trying to make series based off of Brian Michael Bendis 'Powers' for years) want another envelope-pushing series? We shall wait and see.

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