Buzz about the new season on cable

Cable occupies ever more time in TV critics' annual fall-season press tour, with some three dozen channels presenting this time alongside the five broadcast networks and PBS. Some of the tastiest bites among the buzz:

AMC"The Killing" will "definitively" reveal who killed Rosie Larsen in season 2, channel execs promise, after the first-season finale enraged fans by not solving the case. They also said "The Walking Dead" is on track to return Oct. 16 after writer-producer Glen Mazzara stepped up to show runner when first-season chief Frank Darabont bolted the TV grind. And AMC's next original series looks gorgeous: "Hell on Wheels," the not-quite cowboy saga premiering Nov. 6 as an "Eastern," about the westward laying of the transcontinental railroad amid racial, cultural and industrial tensions inflamed by the just-ended Civil War.

Starz Liam McIntyre is the new Spartacus (replacing cancer-battling original Andy Whitfield), and he seemed impressive both in early footage shown here and in person discussing the role. ("Spartacus: Vengeance" returns in 2012.) Also promising: Kelsey Grammer's Oct. 21 Starz series "Boss," where the sitcom star takes a dramatic turn as an intense Chicago mayor trying to hide a debilitating disease.

TLC, NatGeo and Nickelodeon Look who's into newsy issues. George W. Bush gives an exclusive interview about his 9/11 experience to NatGeo, airing as an hour special Aug. 28. Linda Ellerbee explains that fateful day to the kids who've grown up since, in a Sept. 1 "Nick News" special. And TLC, normally focused on fashion and tot-filled families, uses a larger cultural lens for "All-American Muslims," a November series chronicling the varied lifestyles of five Detroit-area households.