The Walking Dead (TV Series)



On August 12, 2009, it was announced that the cable station AMC had picked up the rights to produce a television series based on the comic The Walking Dead. Frank Darabont wrote, directed and served as an executive producer for the new series.

The show in itself is hardly about the thrills associated with slaying zombies (although that is interspersed amongst major events), but rather the emotional upheaval and changes that an apocalypse of this kind can have on a person, their mind and their actions. This is explored deeply, making The Walking Dead one of the most successful shows on television today.

On March 2010, it was announced that AMC ordered six episodes for the first season. The pilot began filming on the fifteenth of May, 2010. The series debuted on AMC on October 31, 2010.



Executive Producer Frank Darabont said that the TV Series was not intended to be a miniseries. AMC ordered 13 episodes for the second season. The second season debuted on October 16, 2011 at 9 p.m. with a 90 minute premiere episode "What Lies Ahead".

Frank Darabont was released from being the showrunner and replaced by Glen Mazzara (writer of the  episode "Wildfire" in the first season). Darabont's departure has been surrounded in controversy, with magazine articles claiming that it was due to either a strained relationship with AMC, his failure to conform to the schedule of a TV series, or most likely due to the show's budget reduction despite commercial success.

Glen Mazzara, the Season 3 showrunner, will be replaced by executive producer, Scott M. Gimple. Mazzara had cited creative differences with the drama and departed the series in late December. He will remain on board as showrunner through the second half of season three, but Gimple will take over when Walking Dead resumes production for Season 4 later this year.

Season 1

 * 1) "Days Gone Bye"
 * 2) "Guts"
 * 3) "Tell It to the Frogs"
 * 4) "Vatos"
 * 5) "Wildfire"
 * 6) "TS-19"

Webisodes

 * 1) "A New Day"
 * 2) "Family Matters"
 * 3) "Domestic Violence"
 * 4) "Neighborly Advice"
 * 5) "Step Mother"
 * 6) "Everything Dies"

Season 2

 * 1) "What Lies Ahead"
 * 2) "Bloodletting"
 * 3) "Save The Last One"
 * 4) "Cherokee Rose"
 * 5) "Chupacabra"
 * 6) "Secrets"
 * 7) "Pretty Much Dead Already"
 * 8) "Nebraska"
 * 9) "Triggerfinger"
 * 10) "18 Miles Out"
 * 11) "Judge, Jury, Executioner"
 * 12) "Better Angels"
 * 13) "Beside the Dying Fire"

Webisodes

 * 1) "Hide and Seek"
 * 2) "Keys to the Kingdom"
 * 3) "The Chosen Ones"
 * 4) "Parting Shots"

Season 3

 * 1) "Seed"
 * 2) "Sick"
 * 3) "Walk With Me"
 * 4) "Killer Within"
 * 5) "Say the Word"
 * 6) "Hounded"
 * 7) "When the Dead Come Knocking"
 * 8) "Made to Suffer"
 * 9) "The Suicide King"
 * 10) "Home"
 * 11) "I Ain't A Judas"
 * 12) "Clear"
 * 13) "Arrow on the Doorpost"
 * 14) "Prey"
 * 15) "This Sorrowful Life"
 * 16) "Welcome to the Tombs"

Main Cast
This is a list of the Main characters in The Walking Dead. In order of number of starring seasons, recurring seasons, and episode appearances.

Supporting Cast
This is a list of the Supporting cast in The Walking Dead. In order of number of season and episode appearances.

Co-Stars
This is a list of Co-stars in The Walking Dead. In order of first appearance.

Uncredited
This is a list of the notable Uncredited cast in The Walking Dead. In order of first appearance.

Webisodes Cast
This is a list of the Cast in The Walking Dead Webisodes: Torn Apart and Cold Storage. In order of webisode appearances.

Development
Calls went out for zombie extras for the Fairlie-Poplar District, Atlanta, for at least two weekends: June 11–13 and July 2–4, 2010. All extras must be trained in "zombie school." Classes include "How To Speak Without Vowels" and "Shambling 101."

Reception
The show currently scores 85 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 25 reviews, indicating Universal acclaim. In a cover article Entertainment Weekly called The Walking Dead "The Best New Show on TV". Nancy deWolf Smith from The Wall Street Journal said that the "pilot episode [is] so good that it has hooked even a zombie hater like me." She said that what made the show so good was that it feels real and looks cinematic. Heather Havrilesky of Salon.com included the show on their list of 9 new TV shows to not miss, giving it a grade of "A", with the author saying "A film-quality drama series about zombies? Somebody pinch me!"

The pilot received 5.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched premiere episode of any AMC television series.

The season 2 premiere and encore received a total of 11 million viewers, the rest of the season continues to break records around the world.

The season 3 premiere garnered a record-breaking 10.9 million viewers, and together with its encore, the premiere was watched by 15.2 million viewers, making this the most-watched episode of The Walking Dead, to date.