The Walking Dead (TV Series)

The Walking Dead is an American horror television drama series developed by Frank Darabont. It is based on the Comic Series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard.

The series stars Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, a police officer who gets shot in the line of duty and awakens from a coma to find the world dominated by the literal walking dead (Walkers). He sets out to find his family and encounters some other survivors along the way. The title of the series refers to the survivors, and not the actual zombies, though it could equally be taken to mean both the survivors and the zombies.

In September 2013, a companion series was announced by AMC. Dave Erickson, writer and producer of AMC's Low Winter Sun, is confirmed to be the showrunner. In March 2014, Robert Kirkman has noted that the new series is not technically a spin-off, because none of the characters from the TV Series will be involved. Kirkman also said that the new series will be unrelated to the comics, different characters, different location. (The location has been revealed as Los Angeles, California.)

Development
Many networks were approached by producers Gale Anne Hurd, Frank Darabont, and Robert Kirkman, among them well-known ones like NBC and HBO, though all of them refused to accept the show due its extremely violent and gory story. Some even going as far as proposing a "story without zombies".

Eventually, AMC took the show. In March 2010, it was announced that it ordered 6 episodes to be filmed. The filming began on the fifteenth of May, 2010. The episodes 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 showrunner for Season 2 and Season 3, was replaced by executive producer Scott Gimple. Mazzara had cited creative differences with the drama and departed the series in late December 2012 after season 3 had wrapped production. Gimple took over as showrunner for Season 4.

In response to a question:
 * "says that the show will be deliberately pushed into a storyline that is nothing like the comics. Can you confirm or deny this?"


 * Kirkman - "BIG denial. We will never completely abandon the comic as source material on the TV show. There's already another 4 seasons of material at least, in the comics always doing new material."

Episodes
Season 1
 * -|Season 1=

Season 2
 * -|Season 2=

Season 3
 * -|Season 3=

Season 4
 * -|Season 4=

Season 5
 * -|Season 5=

Season 6
 * -|Season 6=

Season 7
 * -|Season 7=

{| class="article-table" style="width:100%; background:#c8ccb9;" border="0" ! ! style="text-align: center;" | Title ! style="text-align: center;" | Writer(s) ! style="text-align: center;" | Air Dates ! style="text-align: center;" | U.S. Viewers October 24, 2016 (UK) October 31, 2016 (UK) November 7, 2016 (UK) November 14, 2016 (UK) November 21, 2016 (UK) November 28, 2016 (UK) Corey Reed December 5, 2016 (UK) Channing Powell December 12, 2016 (UK) February 13, 2017 (UK) February 19, 2017 (UK) February 27, 2017 (UK) March 6, 2017 (UK) March 13, 2017 (UK) March 20, 2017 (UK) March 27, 2017 (UK) Angela Kang Matt Negrete April 3, 2017 (UK)
 * 1.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be"
 * style="text-align: center;" | Scott Gimple
 * style="text-align: center;" | October 23, 2016 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | October 23, 2016 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | 17.03 million
 * 2.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"The Well"
 * style="text-align: center;" | Matt Negrete
 * style="text-align: center;" | October 30, 2016 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | October 30, 2016 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | 12.46 million
 * 3.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"The Cell"
 * style="text-align: center;" | Angela Kang
 * style="text-align: center;" | November 6, 2016 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | November 6, 2016 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | 11.72 million
 * 4.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"Service"
 * style="text-align: center;" | Corey Reed
 * style="text-align: center;" | November 13, 2016 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | November 13, 2016 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | 11.40 million
 * 5.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"Go Getters"
 * style="text-align: center;" | Channing Powell
 * style="text-align: center;" | November 20, 2016 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | November 20, 2016 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | 11.00 million
 * 6.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"Swear"
 * style="text-align: center;" | David Leslie Johnson
 * style="text-align: center;" | November 27, 2016 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | November 27, 2016 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | 10.40 million
 * 7.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"Sing Me a Song"
 * style="text-align: center;" | Angela Kang
 * style="text-align: center;" | Angela Kang
 * style="text-align: center;" | December 4, 2016 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | 10.48 million
 * 8.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"Hearts Still Beating"
 * style="text-align: center;" | Matt Negrete
 * style="text-align: center;" | Matt Negrete
 * style="text-align: center;" | December 11, 2016 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | 10.58 million
 * 9.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"Rock in the Road"
 * style="text-align: center;" | Angela Kang
 * style="text-align: center;" | February 12, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | February 12, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | 12.00 million
 * 10.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"New Best Friends"
 * style="text-align: center;" | Channing Powell
 * style="text-align: center;" | February 19, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | February 19, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | 11.08 million
 * 11.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"Hostiles and Calamities"
 * style="text-align: center;" | David Leslie Johnson
 * style="text-align: center;" | February 26, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | February 26, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | 10.42 million
 * 12.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"Say Yes"
 * style="text-align: center;" | Matt Negrete
 * style="text-align: center;" | March 5, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | March 5, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | 10.16 million
 * 13.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"Bury Me Here"
 * style="text-align: center;" | Scott Gimple
 * style="text-align: center;" | March 12, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | March 12, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | 10.68 million
 * 14.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"The Other Side"
 * style="text-align: center;" | Angela Kang
 * style="text-align: center;" | March 19, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | March 19, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | 10.32 million
 * 15.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"Something They Need"
 * style="text-align: center;" | Corey Reed
 * style="text-align: center;" | March 26, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | March 26, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | 10.54 million
 * 16.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"The First Day of the Rest of Your Life"
 * style="text-align: center;" | Scott Gimple
 * style="text-align: center;" | Scott Gimple
 * style="text-align: center;" | April 2, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | 11.31 million

Season 8
 * -|Season 8=

{| border="0" class="article-table" style="width:100%; background:#c8ccb9;" ! ! style="text-align: center;" | Title ! style="text-align: center;" | Writer(s) ! style="text-align: center;" | Air Dates ! style="text-align: center;" | U.S. Viewers October 23, 2017 (UK) Channing Powell October 30, 2017 (UK) November 6, 2017 (UK) November 13, 2017 (UK) November 20, 2017 (UK) November 27, 2017 (UK)
 * 1.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"Mercy"
 * style="text-align: center;" | Scott Gimple
 * style="text-align: center;" | October 22, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | October 22, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | 11.44 million
 * 2.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"The Damned"
 * style="text-align: center;" | Matt Negrete
 * style="text-align: center;" | Matt Negrete
 * style="text-align: center;" | October 29, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | TBA
 * 3.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"Monsters"
 * style="text-align: center;" | TBA
 * style="text-align: center;" | November 5, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | November 5, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | TBA
 * 4.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"Some Guy"
 * style="text-align: center;" | TBA
 * style="text-align: center;" | November 12, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | November 12, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | TBA
 * 5.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"The Big Scary U"
 * style="text-align: center;" | TBA
 * style="text-align: center;" | November 19, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | November 19, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | TBA
 * 6.
 * style="text-align: center;" |"The King, The Widow, and Rick"
 * style="text-align: center;" | TBA
 * style="text-align: center;" | November 26, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center;" | November 26, 2017 (US)
 * style="text-align: center" | TBA

Webisodes
Torn Apart
 * -|Torn Apart=

Cold Storage
 * -|Cold Storage=

The Oath
 * -|The Oath=

Digital Distribution
Episodes are available on the AMC website and application after each episode airs. Six seasons are available on Netflix with new seasons arriving each September.

Cast and Characters
This is a list of the main characters in The Walking Dead, in order of living status.
 * -|Main Cast=

Supporting Cast= This is a list of the supporting cast in The Walking Dead, in order of living status.

This is a list of co-stars in The Walking Dead, not in order.
 * -|Co-Stars=

This is a list of the notable uncredited cast in The Walking Dead, in order of first appearance.
 * -|Uncredited=

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!"

Based on 24 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of The Walking Dead received an average 96% overall "Certified Fresh" approval rating; the website's consensus states, "Blood-spattered, emotionally resonant, and white-knuckle intense, The Walking Dead puts an intelligent spin on the overcrowded zombie sub genre".

Based on 21 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the second season of The Walking Dead received an average 90% overall "Certified Fresh" approval rating; the website's consensus states, "The second season of The Walking Dead fleshes out the characters while maintaining the grueling tension and gore that made the show a hit."

Based on 28 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the third season of The Walking Dead received an average 96% overall "Certified Fresh" approval rating; the website's consensus states, "The palpable terror and visceral thrills continue in the third season of The Walking Dead, along with a deeper sense of the people who inhabit its apocalyptic landscape."

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.

The season 4 premiere garnered cable record-breaking numbers, averaging 16.11 million U.S. viewers. This beats out the season three finale, "Welcome to the Tombs," which was viewed by 12.42 million, for the most viewed episode of The Walking Dead.

ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards

 * For information on music in The Walking Dead, please see Music Portal.