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“Stan Against Evil” – That Other “Ash vs Evil Dead” Series – is Getting a Second Season
We already have “Ash vs Evil Dead”, which makes IFC’s god awful “Stan Against Evil” even worse. I was pretty damn excited for the show, which looked inspired by Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead saga with the hilarious John C. McGinley front and center. Only, “Stan Against Evil” carried a few chuckles, played more like a bad webseries, and boasted way too much CG effects. I’m sort of in shock that there’s going to be a second season, we just learned, but I guess I’m happy for those who enjoyed the inaugural season.
Created by Dana Gould (The Simpsons, Parks and Recreation) and starring John C. McGinley (Scrubs) and Janet Varney (You’re The Worst), “Stan Against Evil” follows Stan Miller (McGinley), a perpetually disgruntled former sheriff of a small New England town who was forced into retirement. Stan has trouble relinquishing his authority to Evie Barret (Varney), the tough and beautiful new sheriff in town, but they form an unlikely alliance when both begin to realize things are not quite right in their quaint New England town. Together, they valiantly fight a plague of unleashed demons that have been haunting the town, which just happens to be built on the site of a massive 17th century witch burning.
“Stan Against Evil” debuted Halloween week to strong numbers and critical acclaim. Season 1 concluded in November with Sheriff Evie Barret (Varney) stranded in the past and about to be burned at the stake, accused of being a witch.
“Stan Against Evil” is surprisingly one of IFC’s most successful original series launches to date. The show demonstrated steady weekly audience growth across its first season and also saw significant time-shifted viewing, with total viewers and adults 18-49 more than doubling within seven days of each new episode premiere, notable for a new series.
“Stan Against Evil instantly connected with IFC viewers, making it one of the network’s most popular original series launches to date,” said Jennifer Caserta, President of IFC. “IFC is thrilled for another season of keeping Willard’s Mill safe from demons, monsters and succubuses, and we are enormously grateful for the talented John C. McGinley and Janet Varney, along with master storyteller Dana Gould, for bringing this oddly wonderful world to life.”
“It was so great to see Stan connect with its fans. Thanks to DVRs, the audience more than doubled each week. That amazed me,” said creator Dana Gould. “I love the characters and I love the world, and I’m very grateful we all get to go back to Willard’s Mill and blow up more stuff.”
Maybe the second season will be better? Did any of you guys keep up with the show?
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
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