Mention Daryl Dixon to a fan of The Walking Dead and two things come to mind -- his crossbow and his chopper.
Daryl is the strong, silent survivalist with the stringy hair who always looks badly in need of a shower (see the photo). He's portrayed by 47-year-old Norman Reedus, who was little known outside the indie film circuit before landing the role of Dixon in 2010.
Reedus has since become a cult favorite (I even have his action figure) and is filling his time while The Walking Dead is on hiatus by indulging in one of his passions -- riding motorcycles.
Ride With Norman Reedus debuts at 9 p.m. today on AMC following a new episode of the wildly bizarre, but fascinating new series Preacher. If you haven't checked that out, please do.
Reedus will take viewers along for six episodes as he "explores local biker culture and celebrates the best and brightest collectors, mechanics and craftsmen around the country."
This includes trips to custom bike shops, tattoo parlors, bike warehouses and a roadside smokehouse.
On tonight's premiere, "California: Pacific Coast Highway," Reedus and his friend, Imogen Lehtonen, head up the highway to Santa Cruz to check out some beach dune buggies, ride what is being billed as "the bike of the future," visit with master bike builder Roland Sands (who builds one-of-a-kind motorcycles), and drop in on a podcast.
Who is Imogen Lehtonen? I had to look her up. She's a London-born, New Zealand-raised, California-based member of the family that founded the "legendary" jewelry company Great Frog London.
I know. I've never heard of Great Frog London either. But rockers Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Metallica, Slash and Aerosmith evidently love Great Frog London pieces. And so does Reedus.
Lehtonen is a cycle enthusiast as well as a silversmith and jewelry designer/model.
Each hourlong episode of Ride With Norman Reedus will feature Reedus with a cycling companion. In addition to Lehtonen, guests will include Peter Fonda, famous for his role as Wyatt ("Captain America") in 1969's biker road trip film Easy Rider; filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, who gave us the Spy Kids trilogy; and Balthazar Getty (Brothers & Sisters).
After California, the series will visit North Carolina, Florida, Nevada, Texas and Louisiana.
• The Last Ship. All hands on deck. The TNT hit summer drama returns with a two-hour Season 3 premiere at 8 p.m. today. Thirteen episodes are scheduled.
To jog your memory, this is the post-apocalyptic adventure (TNT labels it a "high-impact" series) that stars Eric Dane from Grey's Anatomy and Adam Baldwin from Firefly and Chuck.
Others in the crew are Bridget Regan (Agent Carter), Travis Van Winkle (Hart of Dixie), Marissa Neitling (Leverage) and Jocko Sims (Masters of Sex).
As a refresher, Dane plays Tom Chandler, commander of the (fictional) U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Nathan James. In Season 3, he's promoted to captain and made chief of naval operations.
Baldwin portrays the Nathan James' executive officer Mike Slattery. In Season 3, he's promoted to captain and is the new commander of the destroyer.
The premise: There was a global viral pandemic that wiped out 80 percent of the world's population, but in the Arctic, the Nathan James was unaffected and had on board scientists working on a cure. The fate of humankind depended on the crew.
Adventures happened and bad guys pursued them through two seasons. Then there was a big cliffhanger when last we saw our heroes.
The Nathan James had headed up the Mississippi River, but small factions of those who are immune were still fighting to keep the cure from being distributed.
In St. Louis, the ship was met by a large crowd; the leader of the Immunes agreed to stop fighting the effort to spread the cure; and the Nathan James was put into drydock for repairs.
Ah, but paleomicrobiologist Dr. Rachel Scott (Rhona Mitra), who created the cure, was gunned down in a hotel hallway. Did she die? I won't spoil it here, but it certainly didn't look good. Not good at all.
Tonight's first episode is "The Scott Effect." Make of that what you will. In it, the crew of the Nathan James heads to Asia after President Michener (Mark Moses) learns that the Chinese are hoarding the cure.
Chandler sets out to investigate, but there are rumors that there's a new virus mutation hitting Japan.
In "Rising Sun," the second hour at 9, Chandler must find a way to get back to his old crew.
The series is rated TV-14 for language and violence.
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Style on 06/12/2016