Here are some Game of Thrones updates that don’t include George W. Bush’s head – HBO has released a list of the writers, directors and shooting locations for the show’s third season.

Sadly, Alan Taylor will be out of the mix for directing the upcoming season (which will be based on the first half of the third and potentially best book so far of the novel series, A Storm of Swords). Taylor, who directed some of the most memorable episodes of Thrones so far (including the final two episodes of the first season and a slew of great episodes this past season) will be busy shooting Thor 2 (bless him), which means that showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will take the helm directing in his absence. For more on who is returning to Westeros next year, hit the jump.

AMC has begun development on a pilot entitled Hell on Wheels, which is not, as it may first sound, a play for the Sons of Anarchy audience.  Rather, THR reports that Joe and Tony Gayton (Faster) have created “a contemporary western that centers on the building of the Transcontinental Railroad.”  Of course, since the setting is post-Civil War America, I assume “contemporary” indicates a modern sensibility in depicting this particular historical fiction.  Notably, this isn’t AMC’s first time at the rodeo: before the dawn of Mad Men, the cable network cleaned up at the Emmys with the western Broken Trail, including a win for Outstanding Miniseries.

Hit the jump for details on the lady who may take the reins of the zombie series The Walking Dead when creator Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) needs a break.