As if there were any doubt, even before the Season Five premiere, the most popular show in cable history ‘The Walking Dead‘ has already been renewed for a sixth season. The popular zombie apocalypse drama is based on Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard’s best-selling black and white Image Comic book series, which defied convention by not starring super heroes and also not being in color. Nevertheless, the book became a smash hit and, like the TV series, is the best selling independent comic on shelves.
The fact that a companion series pretty much ensured that cable network AMC has no plans to cut ‘The Walking Dead’ short in the foreseeable future. I mean, ‘Supernatural‘ is going into its tenth season and there’s no end in sight and it doesn’t perform even remotely as well as ‘TWD.’ Plus the show moves at a crawl compared to the comic book. If they continue to adapt comic book stories while also adding new elements, even if the comic ended today, they could still go on for at least ten more years, just based on the existing source material.
The TV series is the highest rated on TV in the commercially desirable 18-49 demographic. AMC president Charlie Collier made an announcement, stating:
“We could not be more excited for Oct. 12 as we share new episodes of ‘The Walking Dead’ with fans around the globe. In advance of Sunday’s season five premiere, AMC proudly confirms a sixth season order of this extraordinary series. Thank you to Robert Kirkman, Scott Gimple, the terrific executive producers, and the entire team who bring this compelling world and these rich characters to life. There’s plenty more ‘Dead’ ahead thanks to their impressive, collective effort.”
AMC creates quality programming, but doesn’t always attract viewers. With the end of ‘Breaking Bad’ and the upcoming ending of ‘Mad Men,’ the network needs to cling to its biggest hit and making a spin-off certainly isn’t a terrible idea. I can’t imagine ‘Low Winter Sun,’ ‘Turn’ or ‘Halt And Catch Fire’ coming back.
In fact, another Kirkman comic series, the breakout hit ‘Thief of Thieves’ is currently in development at AMC as a possible new TV series. It worked once!
How many years do you think ‘The Walking Dead’ will run? What storylines or characters would you like to see adapted? Comment below!
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
