Preview: AMC's 'Hell on Wheels' Debuts Sunday Night (Video)

"The Walking Dead." "Mad Men." "Breaking Bad." While AMC has recently done a pretty lousy job as of late at keeping the cast and crews of it's highly rated and critically acclaimed shows happy, there's no denying the network's prowess at picking quality programming options.

That's just one of the reasons the network's latest original drama, "Hell on Wheels," sounds so promising.

Despite what it sounds like, the show has nothing to do with choppers, and AMC is not trying to follow in the footsteps of FX's "Sons of Anarchy." No, "Hell on Wheels" has more in common with HBO's classic series "Deadwood" int hat it's focused on a violent vision of the Wild West.

"Hell on Wheels" takes place during the Reconstruction. As the Transnational Railway (the "wheels") makes its way across the country, former Confederate soldier Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount) works his way through the rail camps in search of the Union soldiers who attacked and killed his wife. Solid Irish character actor Colm Meaney, Dominique McElligott, Ben Essler, Eddie Spears and rapper Common also star in the new show.

AMC has always done well with brutally realistic violence (see "The Walking Dead" and "Breaking Bad") and spot-on period pieces (see "Mad Men"), and by the looks of it they're playing to their strong suits on this one as well.

Watch a preview of the new AMC series "Hell on Wheels," premiering this Sunday at 10 p.m. EST.

Watch a "First Look" preview clip from"Hell on Wheels":