Watch The Walking Dead
- Sunday 9:00 PM et/pt on AMC
- 8 Seasons, 117 Episodes
- October 31, 2010
- Drama, Horror & Suspense
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/10 - Cast: Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Lauren Cohan
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Watch Full Episodes of The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead Full Episode Guide
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The communities join forces in the last stand against the Saviors as all-out war unfolds.
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With the threat of the Saviors still looming, Aaron continues searching for allies; Daryl and Rosita take action and confront an old friend.
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A Heaps prisoner makes a discovery; Carol searches for someone in the nearby forest; Rick and Morgan find themselves in the company of strangers.
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Trouble arises when unexpected visitors arrive at the Hilltop and the community is thrust into action; heartbreaking discoveries are made.
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Hilltop's leadership faces a difficult dilemma after the arrival of unexpected visitors; Rick comes face to face with an adversary.
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Daryl finds himself in bad company as his group heads to the Hilltop; Gabriel's faith gets tested.
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Groups unite their forces and converge on the Hilltop; Aaron and Enid search for allies.
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Rick faces new difficulties after a battle. Meanwhile, the fight continues in other communities as core members face hard decisions.
- Episode 8 - How It's Gotta Be
Every story and battle from the first half of the season comes crashing together in this action-packed, emotional mid-season finale.
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Negan has to enlist the help of his lieutenants in solving a huge issue facing the Sanctuary; Rick and the group continue to enact the plan.
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With things looking up for Rick and the group, an argument breaks out at the Hilltop; the consequences of the decision are life versus death.
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A close look at Negan and the lives of the Saviors during the conflict through a familiar set of eyes.
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A new weapon in the Savior arsenal proves to be a giant hurdle as fighting continues between Rick's forces and those of the Saviors.
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Conflict with the Saviors leads to unintended consequences for the Hilltop, the Kingdom, and Alexandria; morality proves tricky in wartime.
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The plan involving Alexandrians, Kingdommers and Hilltoppers unfolds; as Rick continues to fight, he encounters a familiar face.
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Rick and his group, along with the Kingdom and Hilltop, have banded together to bring the fight to Negan and the Saviors.
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In the season closer, the stakes keep building higher and higher as various tales from the season clash while the group executes an intricate plan.
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A group of Alexandrians sets out on a quest to a distant community and one member is faced with a heartbreaking decision.
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The Saviors visit the Hilltop unexpectedly, surprising everyone, with plans of taking more than supplies.
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The crew scavenges for supplies; back in Alexandria, someone has to make a morally complicated decision.
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An Alexandrian realizes they have to navigate the mysterious, confusing and horrifying sphere within the Saviors' compound.
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While looking for a missing Alexandrian, Rick and his team confront a mysterious collective, its dwellers unlike any they have come across.
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Rick and the team are led to a new community where they meet its inhabitants and leader. A familiar face shows up.
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Negan's unwelcome journey to Alexandria carries on as other members rummage for supplies; things quickly spiral out of control.
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A closer view of the Sanctuary and the world of the Saviors; members of Alexandria search for supplies.
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Someone stumbles upon a new society different from anything known before.
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Saddled with grief and surrounded by foes, members of the crew attempt to find safety at the Hilltop before it's too late.
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The remaining members of the gang try to keep it together in Alexandria; they get a sobering visit.
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A new crew of survivors seem to have everything in their impressive community; but, there is a price.
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For many familiar faces, a new, well-established neighborhood appears too good to be true.
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The seventh season opens with Rick and the group kneeling powerless before Negan and his crew. Negan's actions will terrorize those who survive.
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The Walking Dead News
There had been significant doubt about whether Lauren Cohan, who plays Maggie on The Walking Dead, would return to the series next season. Cohan has a lead role in a new pilot on ABC, and she had reportedly been stuck in contract negotiations with TWD's producers. But now we know that Cohan will return to TWD next season, although she might not be a series regular.
Via The Hollywood Reporter.
Lauren Cohan's days as Maggie on AMC's The Walking Dead are not over.
The actress has confirmed that she is returning for the AMC zombie drama's upcoming ninth season, though it still remains to be determined if she will be a series regular or have a lesser role. Cohan put herself up for broadcast pilot season — booking the lead on ABC's Whiskey Cavalier — as she battled AMC over a better salary for season nine.
"I'm going back," Cohan told EW late Tuesday at CinemaCon, where she appeared to support her upcoming feature, Mile 22 with Mark Wahlberg. "There's a lot more Maggie story to tell."
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to AMC for comment and will update this story if more information becomes immediately available.
Cohan recently signed on as the female lead in the ABC action drama pilot Whiskey Cavalier, starring opposite Scandal's Scott Foley. Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the network and Whiskey producers ABC Studios were amenable to allowing the actress to return to The Walking Dead in a limited capacity to potentially close out Maggie's storyline. Cohan's comments on Tuesday help solidify her return — in some capacity. Cohan's deal for Whiskey Cavalier does leave the door open for her to return to the series on a more limited basis should she and AMC close the gap and agree to a new deal. Walking Dead typically begins production on new seasons in the spring, when most broadcast shows have already wrapped.
Of course, things could change if Whiskey does not go to series and should Cohan and AMC come to terms on a deal for the actress to return. But given the months-long negotiation that promoted Cohan to make herself available for pilots, that seems unlikely at this point.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
Are you happy that Lauren is returning to TWD? Let us know in the comments below.
Optimists keep pointing out that The Walking Dead is still one of the most-watched series on TV (at least among younger viewers), despite its dramatic ratings decline in recent years. But it's hard to ignore the fact that TWD's audience, including that for this week's season-eight finale, is now about half what it was at the series' peak, and the ratings trend line continues to head downward. It makes AMC's grand plan of creating a multi-series TWD franchise seem more than a little fanciful.
Via Vulture.
The Walking Dead closed out its eighth season on Sunday with its second-least-watched finale ever. Per Nielsen, around 7.9 million viewers watched the AMC zombie drama the night it aired, roughly a million fewer than watched the conclusion of season two in March 2012 and about 3.3 million less than the audience for last April’s finale. Among adults under 50, the show drew 4.4 million viewers (a 3.4 rating), also the lowest in six years. While these numbers will grow substantially once delayed digital and on-demand viewing is tallied, there’s no getting around it: The Walking Dead suffered serious ratings erosion this season, losing about a third of its young-adult audience. This isn’t good news for AMC, but it’s also far from a crisis.
What’s most important to keep in mind about TWD is that, even in its somewhat diminished state, the series remains one of the biggest hits on television. While final DVR-adjusted data won’t be in until the end of the month, through episode 14, the current season of TWD was averaging roughly 12 million viewers and 6.9 million adults under 50, down 27 and 33 percent, respectively, compared to the same timeframe last season. Yes, that’s a significant decline — even in this, the era of perpetual ratings erosion. But until Roseanne burst back on to the scene a few weeks ago, TWD was on track to finish the season — yet again — as the No. 1 show on all of TV among adults under 50. It’s now possible ABC’s short-run sitcom revival (which will air eight weeks this season, versus 16 for TWD) will end up with that No. 1 slot, assuming it doesn’t start to fall off in coming weeks. But that will still leave TWD as TV’s No. 1 drama in the key demo, ahead of even NBC’s Super Bowl–boosted and red-hot This Is Us. This is no small feat for an eight-year-old cable show.
AMC also continues to leverage the still-massive fan TWD fan base to boost its schedule year-round. The Fear the Walking Dead spinoff isn’t a blockbuster hit, but it’s still a very real success, with Sunday’s season four premiere attracting just over 4 million viewers behind the TWD finale. Weekly post-show Talking Dead also continues to pull strong ratings while costing the network next to nothing to produce. AMC also used its zombie pals to recruit an audience for new historical drama The Terror, premiering the show behind a TWD episode last month before moving it to Monday night. While many who sampled the premiere didn’t return, The Terror has landed among the top five cable shows (including delayed viewing) every week this month.
Meanwhile, even though TWD’s linear ratings decline will surely cost AMC some revenue as advertisers seek to cut better deals in the light of the ratings declines, the network will still reap plenty of profit from international and streaming rights to the show. Licensing deals for products tied to the show are also a very big business for the network – and perhaps most importantly over the past few years, AMC was able to cut very lucrative long-term distribution deals with various cable providers thanks to the halo effect of TWD. Those subscription fee gains won’t be going away any time soon.
Get the rest of the story at Vulture.
Do you still watch TWD? Tell us why or why not in the comments below.
The good news for The Walking Dead is that the series didn't see a hge ratings drop from its mid-season premiere to this week's episode. That's significant because there usually is a sizable drop after each premiere. The bad news is that the mid-season premiere had already turned in historically low ratings for the series, and there was a another drop, albeit a relatively small one, for this week's episode.
Via Variety.
This week’s episode of “The Walking Dead” held up well in the ratings from the previous week.
Episode 11 of the AMC show’s eighth season averaged a 2.8 rating in adults 18-49 and 6.6 million viewers in the Nielsen Live+Same Day numbers, down a scant few percentage points from the 2.9 and 6.8 million viewers the show drew last week.
This week’s ratings are something of a mixed bag for the cable zombie apocalypse drama. On the one hand, the meager losses the show posted this week are the smallest such declines the show has seen episode-to-episode this season in Live+Same Day. They are also a far cry from the approximately 20% declines it saw between the midseason premiere and last week’s episode. The show was also still the top-rated and most-watched cable show of the night, with its nearest competition being “Talking Dead” and NBA basketball on ESPN.
On the other hand, the ratings juggernaut is still putting up numbers it has not seen since its first two seasons. The last time “The Walking Dead” drew a 2.8 or less in the key demo was in Season 1. The last time it drew 6.6 million viewers or less was the midseason finale of Season 2. As Variety previously reported, the Season 8 midseason premiere was the lowest-rated midseason premiere in series history, putting up a 3.6 rating in adults 18-49 and 8.3 million viewers.
Get the rest of the story at Variety.
Are you still watching TWD? Let us know why in the comments below.
Lauren Cohan, who plays Maggie on The Walking Dead, is still negotiating with the show's producers for her return next season. Given that ratings for the once must-see TV show are in a steady decline, the producers might not be in a very good bargaining position. This week's episode turned in ratings that are not only the lowest for any episode so far this season, they're lower than the average ratings for season two (which was, itself, the second lowest rated season, behind the short first season). This comes a week after the series' mid-season premiere drew ratings that were the lowest ever for a mid-season-return episode.
In short, TWD is in trouble, and if Cohan decides not to come back for next season, she might be the first of an exodus of main cast members.
Via Entertainment Weekly.
Amid ongoing contract negotiations for season 9 of The Walking Dead, one star has publicly come out in support of actress Lauren Cohan.
Although Cohan’s character Maggie is still alive and well on the show, the star has not yet signed on for another season. On Sunday, Khary Payton (who plays Ezekiel, leader of The Kingdom) posted a photo of her to his Instagram with the caption, “pay the woman” — perhaps adding to speculation that Cohan has been seeking equal pay with costars like Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus.
Cohan has signed on for an ABC drama pilot called Whiskey Cavalier, where she plays a CIA agent working with an FBI agent (played by Scott Foley) in an inter-agency drama. That could signal the end for Maggie, but as EW’s The Walking Dead expert Dalton Ross wrote in February, “What this means for Cohan’s Walking Dead future remains unclear. Season 8 could mark the end for both Cohan and Maggie, or the actress could return in a limited capacity for season 9, or even as a series regular should Whiskey Cavalier become a midseason entry for 2019.”
Get the rest of the story at Entertainment Weekly.
Do you think TWD's days are numbered? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
This week's mid-season premiere of The Walking Dead was the least-watched ever for the series among younger viewers, continuing a downward ratings trend that has been consistent through this season. That's particularly troubling since the episode was well-publicized as the final appearance of one of the series' original characters. If that event couldn't draw viewers back to TWD, can anything end its slump?
Via Deadline.
There were a number of goodbyes uttered on Sunday night as the XXIII Winter Games came to an end and so did the life of Carl Grimes on The Walking Dead. However, unlike the near lows of NBC’s Closing Ceremony out of PyeongChang, the AMC zombie apocalypse series based on Robert Kirkman’s comics has some celebrating to do.
With a 3.6 rating among adults 18-49, the often-heartbreaking winter return episode of TWD’s eighth season topped the fireworks and K-Pop extravaganza of the Olympics ender by 20% in the key demo.
That is a 20% victory overall against the 8 – 10:31 PM ET tape delayed Closing Ceremony and it’s a 20% victory over the Olympics in the 9 – 10:30 PM ET slot where the TWD winter return went head-to-head with the NBC broadcast.
Adding to those sweet smell of victory is the fact that this is the second time in a row that the Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira led TWD has taken the gold over the Closing Ceremony of a Winter Olympics. Back in late February 2014, the Season 4 winter return of Dead also buried the Closing Ceremony of the Sochi Games.
In a season that not only has seen the loss of the Chandler Riggs portrayed core character but ratings as well, the still blockbuster TWD additionally snagged an uptick of 8% in the 18-49s over its “How It’s Gotta Be” winter finale of December 10 last year.
Overall, the February 25 “Honor” episode of TWD delivered 8.3 million viewers with 4.7 million in the 18-49 demo and 5.2 million in the 25-54 demo. For comparison, the XXIII Winter Games Closing Ceremony pulled in 14.8 million viewers on NBC overall.
Having said that, the ninth episode of Dead’s eighth season was down 37% from the Season 7 winter return of February 12, 2017, which was up against the Grammys. That’s a hard drop in a Season 8 of a number of hard ratings hits and lows from once dizzy and record breaking heights for TWD.
Get the rest of the story at Deadline.
Did you watch this week's episode of TWD? Tell us what you thought of it in the comments below.
This week's mid-season premiere of The Walking Dead dished up some expected death and the possibility of some unexpected death to come. It's possible that Rick, the series' main protagonist, might be the next cast member to leave the series. Read on if you're not afraid of spoilers.
Via The Hollywood Reporter
[This story contains spoilers from the season eight midseason premiere of AMC's The Walking Dead.]
Viewers just said farewell to one member of the Grimes family. Are we about to say goodbye to another?
That's certainly the fear AMC's The Walking Dead instills in its viewers at the end of Sunday's midseason premiere, titled "Honor." During the course of the supersized episode, viewers are given one last chance to bid adieu to Carl (Chandler Riggs), who dies after succumbing to the infection from a zombie bite. In his final moments, Carl tries to convince his father, series lead Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), that he needs to start considering a future without so much bloodshed, and to find a way forward. With that in mind, Carl shares his own vision of the future with Rick — a vision that turns out to be the same one viewers witnessed in the season eight premiere, featuring Rick as a bearded old man with a cane.
Many viewers, especially the comic book reading crowd, expected this was a tease of a massive time jump that exists within Robert Kirkman's Walking Dead comics. Instead, it's Carl's vision of how the future should play out, and by the time of his death, it seems his father is on board with honoring his son's wishes.
There's just one problem: it looks like Rick might not be around to see this future after all.
In the final moments of Sunday's episode, we see a bleary-eyed Rick Grimes leaning against a tree in the middle of a field, bleeding out from a wound. We have seen Rick injured in the past, but have we ever seen him this injured, series-opening coma aside? As if there's any confusion, Lincoln confirms to The Hollywood Reporter that the image of Rick bleeding against a tree isn't a vision or a trick of the imagination; it's very much grounded in reality, much to viewers and Lincoln's own chagrin.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
Did you watch the mid-season premiere of TWD? Tell us what you thought of it in the comments below.
Via The Hollywood Reporter.
Lauren Cohan is mulling walking away from The Walking Dead.
The actress, who has starred as Maggie since season two of the AMC zombie drama, has booked a lead role in ABC drama pilot Whiskey Cavalier.
Cohan has emerged as one of the most in-demand actresses this pilot season. Sources tell THR that she has been actively looking for her next role as she battles AMC over her season nine salary. With Walking Dead already renewed for a ninth season, Cohan does not have a deal in place to return to the show. Sources say the actress and her agents are not happy with the offers that have been on the table from AMC. Although Cohan is not seeking salary parity with male leads Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus, her camp and AMC have been engaged in a months-long negotiation that remains far apart. Insiders suggest that she is actively looking for her next job and not trying to use the pilot casting process to force AMC's hand as the actress's camp remains frustrated by AMC's lowball offers. Other sources note AMC has made "aggressive offers" to re-sign Cohan for season nine.
The situation could play out in several ways: Cohan leaves The Walking Dead after season eight; she re-signs to return for season nine as a regular; Whiskey Cavalier moves forward and Cohan either returns for a handful of TWD episodes or walks away from the zombie franchise entirely; or the pilot doesn't go to series and the actress opts to leave or return in either a full-time or limited capacity.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
Will you stop watching TWD if Maggie dies? Let us know in the comments below.
The Walking Dead just got renewed for a ninth season at AMC. That's not surprise, nor is the news that showrunner Scott GImple is leaving his position to oversee the whole TWD franchise, including Fear the Walking Dead. It looks like a promotion for Gimple, but considering that TWD saw a major ratings slide through the first half of this season, and that there has been consistent criticism about the quality of the series, there might be other reasons to take TWD out of Gimple's direct control.
Via The Hollywood Reporter.
The dead shall rise again for AMC.
The cable network has renewed The Walking Dead for a ninth season and signed now-former showrunner Scott M. Gimple to an overall deal in which he will now serve as chief content officer of the franchise.
In his new role, Gimple will oversee The Walking Dead's vast TV universe, including both the flagship and spinoff Fear the Walking Dead, as well as gaming and future brand extensions on a variety of platforms, among other areas. Writer/co-exec producer Angela Kang (pictured below) has been promoted to executive producer and showrunner, replacing Gimple in the latter role, of The Walking Dead. Kang has been with The Walking Dead since 2011, writing some 20 episodes of the show, including critically praised hours including "Coda" and "Still." Kang will take over as showrunner starting with season nine, which will premiere in late 2018.
"This is an enormously important day for the entire The Walking Dead television universe. We are proud to acknowledge Angela’s significant contribution to the series and to set a clear path forward for a ninth season under her direction. Further, with gratitude and admiration, we also recognize Scott’s broad impact on, and leadership of, the content that fuels our TWD universe. Together, we will dream bigger and more broadly than ever before,” said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios. "I know I speak for Angela, Scott and everyone at AMC when I say thanks most of all to the fans and the many talented people who have helped AMC play Dead.”
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
Do you think The Walking Dead is on the right track? Let us know in the comments below.
On the bright side, ratings for this week's mid-season finale of The Walking Dead were just about the same as they were last week. On the darker side, those ratings represent a giant decline from the series' peak popularity and are holding steadyat levels last seen in the second season.
Eric Kain at Forbes has an idea of what's causing the decline, and his recommendation for fixing the problem is drastic. Be warned: there are major spoilers for the latest episode below.
Via Forbes.
Last night, The Walking Dead gave us one of the worst midseason finales the show has ever aired. It was terrible in almost every conceivable way.
The story, which sees a Savior counter-attack against Rick's people, was riddled with plot holes and inconsistencies, capping off the first half to a truly terrible eighth season.
And to make matters worse, we learn at the end that they've killed off Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs) one of the most important characters in both the show and the comics. It's bizarre. Everything about the show these days is bizarre. It's certainly not the show we used to watch and love.
If You Love Something...
I'm told quite often by angry fans that I should just stop watching if I don't like it. That's a peculiar response for two reasons.
First, I do this as part of my job. I'm a professional critic who writes reviews of TV shows, movies and video games. Sometimes I love the things I review and sometimes I don't. I'd be a pretty lousy critic if I only wrote uncritically about stuff I liked!
The second reason I find this kind of thinking bizarre is that ratings matter. If enough people take this advice, The Walking Dead's ratings will fall. They've been falling already. Now it seems the show's most diehard fans would like people to stop watching the show so that they can fall even further! This makes no sense to me.
I, on the other hand, want the show's ratings to improve. As a critic, one of my goals is to point out the flaws in something like The Walking Dead in the hopes that its creators will listen and adapt. Criticism is far more useful and beneficial than blind fandom. Sure, the critics aren't always right (and I'm not always right, either) but certainly listening to both positive and negative voices is part of a big creative endeavor like making a major TV show. Critical voices can help showrunners, producers and writers improve. In some ways, we're like the canary in the coal mine: We can help creative people avoid disaster.
And disaster is coming to The Walking Dead. Ratings continue to slide. The show's Rotten Tomatoes score is slipping precariously closer to Rotten. Reading through the show's Reddit discussions illustrates just how many fans are angry.
It All Comes Down To Gimple
Time and again I try to understand just what it is about this show that's making it go downhill so rapidly. Partly it's just where the show has gone and its bizarre change of tone. You can attribute that to the cartoonish villain, Negan, and to the rest of the cartoonish, unbelievable characters like King Ezekiel, the Trash People and Eugene. None of these characters talk like real people and it's grating and annoying.
Partly, too, is the substandard production values lately. Bad choreography, inconsistent plot details, shoddy lighting and sound, and utterly atrocious editing all combine with sloppy dialogue and...well, you get the point. Across every corner of The Walking Dead, there are problems both great and small.
So what's the one thing tying all this together? What's at the center of this mess? Better yet, who?
The answer is simple: Scott Gimple.
Get the rest of the story at Forbes.
Do you agree that Scott GImple is to blame for most of TWD's troubles? Let us know in the comments below.
We expected that something big would happen as The Walking Dead cruised toward its mid-season hiatus, but we suspected the twist would be the departure of Morgan, who is set to take up residence in the prequel series, Fear the Walking Dead. TWD's big mid-season twist this week, though, involved a totally different character, and it's perhaps the biggest surprise that the series has delivered to date.
If you don't want big spoilers, stop reading right now.
Via The Hollywood Reporter.
[Warning: This story contains major spoilers from episode 808, "How It's Gotta Be," of AMC's The Walking Dead as well as the comic book series on which the show is based.]
AMC's The Walking Dead just delivered the biggest shocker in its 100-episode-plus history when, during Sunday's season eight midseason finale, the zombie drama set the stage for the unimaginable death one of one of its most untouchable characters.
Oh no #TWD pic.twitter.com/wc9lv1bGvL
— The Walking Dead AMC (@WalkingDead_AMC) December 11, 2017
Revealing that he had been bitten on the ribs a few episodes prior, Carl Grimes — Rick's teenage son, who has been played by Chandler Riggs since the show's pilot — is on death's door. "Yes, Carl is going to die," Riggs tells The Hollywood Reporter in an exclusive interview. "There's no way he can get back from that. His story is definitely coming to an end."
To put the events of the episode in context, Riggs — who was cast at age 11 and is now 18 and taking a gap year before starting college — and Andrew Lincoln (Rick) are the only original series regulars who have been with The Walking Dead since the pilot. Carl was widely seen as the future of the post-apocalyptic world as Rick, a former sheriff, has been grooming him to take over as the leader of the survivors. The version of Carl in creator Robert Kirkman's comic series continues to be a force to be reckoned with and the future of the new world as the source material is roughly 75 issues beyond where the AMC adaptation sits. Outside of killing off leading man Lincoln, this is the biggest departure from the source material ever.
But before viewers scream for Carl, it's worth noting that Riggs still has one episode left — episode 809, the 2018 midseason premiere (airing Feb. 25) when Rick, Michonne (Danai Gurira) and the rest of the core Alexandrians will watch as the young man dies before them in what can only be described as their biggest loss to date. (Sorry, Steven Yeun, we knew Glenn's death was coming since issue 100 of the comics.)
Below, Riggs talks exclusively with The Hollywood Reporter about getting the dreaded death call from showrunner Scott M. Gimple, how Carl's heroic death will be used to service the story and if Rick could be next.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
Will you be sorry to see Carl go? Tell us in the comments below.
If you were hoping that last week's small gain in the ratings for The Walking Dead was a sign that the series' disastrous eighth season was turning around, you were in for a disappointment this week. The seventh episode of the season was, by far, the lowest-rated episode of the season so far, and it took the series back to the season-two-level ratings it's been posting all season.
As an illustration of how far and how fast the series has fallen, consider that the audience for this week's episode was smaller than that of last season's premiere by nearly 10 million viewers, a drop of 56 percent. Next week is the series' mid-season finale, which typically sees a big ratings jump from previous episodes, but it may be already too late to salvage the season.
Via Comicbook.com.
After finally seeing a gain following a six-year low, The Walking Dead's ratings have hit a new low for Season 8.
Sunday's Episode 8x07, the penultimate episode of 2017, had 7.47 million people watching live, earning a 3.3 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. It's the lowest number since November of 2011 and March of 2012 but, unsurprisingly, remains atop the chart for Sunday night programming.
In second place was Talking Dead, which hauled in over 2.7 million viewers and a 1.2 rating as a packed couch of guests joined Chris Hardwick to recap the episode.
"We listen to what they have to say, and we're in touch with them in lots of ways," The Walking Dead's Jadis actress Pollyanna McIntosh said of the ratings on ComicBook.com's After the Dead. "I think season seven knocked a lot of people sideways with the gore, you know? And we took that into account, but it also set up... the truth of it, this is a show from a comic book, you know? And people will be dying in hideous ways. I mean, that's part of the personality of the comic book. And as long as we keep the great character development and the great threads of morality and the human condition within there, I think we have some room to have a bit of fun with that blood and gore."
Get the rest of the story at Comicbook.com.
Are you still watching The Walking Dead? Tell us why or why not in the comments below.
The last time The Walking Dead generated much excitement, it was at the end of season 6, when we all wondered who Neegan was going to kill at the beginning of season 7. Now that season 8 is almost half finished, and excitement has been in short supply, the series is trying to evoke that kind of anticipation once again. A new teaser seems to indicate that Neegan and the Saviors might be about to exact another heavy toll on Rick's group.
Via The Hollywood Reporter.
[Warning: this story contains spoilers through season eight, episode seven of AMC's The Walking Dead, "Time For After," as well as preview material from the upcoming midseason finale.]
It wasn't long ago that Walking Dead fans spent an entire summer wondering which one of the show's many main characters was about to meet their demise at the business end of a barbed-wired baseball bat named Lucille.
Sure, they could have read up on what happens in the comics, which would have provided an answer of sorts, but not the whole picture — not the full impact of losing both Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun) and Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz) in what would be best described as "one fell swoop," if that phrase didn't clean up the messy effort involved in caving both of their brains in.
Given the nightmarish memories involved with both of those characters' cruel fates at the hands of Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), it's forgivable if fans forgot how Glenn and Abraham reached their horrible fates. The double homicide only occurred after a painstaking season six finale, in which Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his allies attempted to bring an ailing Maggie Greene (Lauren Cohan) to the Hilltop, in order to visit the good Doctor Harlan Carson (R. Keith Harris) about problems with her pregnancy. Along the way, Rick's RV was stopped at multiple points by blockades on the way, created by the menacing Simon (Steven Ogg) and the rest of the Saviors. Turn after turn, road after road, it was the same story: barricades and Saviors at every turn, a grim end to the last day on earth for two of the most fan-favorite characters on the show.
Well, to borrow a phrase from another nightmarish show that had a resurgence of its own this past year: "It is happening again." Watch the sneak peek of the upcoming Walking Dead midseason finale below to see for yourself.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
Are you still watching The Walking Dead? Tell us what you think of season 8 in the comments below.
The Walking Dead was in the news last week after the announcement that Lennie James' character Morgan would lead a crossover between TWD and Fear the Walking Dead. That buzz may have been reponsible for a slight bump in TWD's ratings this week, which turned around after a weeks'-long slide. Ratings for this week's episode were up about 5 percent from the previous week, but the episode's total viewership was still only about 8.9 million, a level the series hasn't seen since 2011.
Via Deadline.
Ever since executive producer Robert Kirkman announced at New York Comic Con last month that there would finally be a crossover between The Walking Dead and spinoff Fear The Walking Dead, fans of the zombie apocalypse franchise have been figuratively dying to get specifics.
Well, the big reveal of who would the bridge between the two AMC series was unveiled live on Talking Dead on Sunday and the result was a double digit ratings bloom for the Chris Hardwick series.
With TWD cast members Melissa McBride and Avi Nash on the TD couch along with super fan Kevin Smith, it was made clear Lennie James’ Morgan will being the character making the shift from the mother show to the companion series’ fourth season.
An original TWD cast member, James will stay on the mother show for more of its eighth season but has already started filming on FearTWD in Austin, TX this week.
Coming off a TWD that itself was up 5% in total viewers and 4% in the key demo over last week, the November 26 TD scored an audience of 3.2 million. In the key demo, the sixth episode of the seventh season of the TWD aftershow delivered a 1.3 rating among adults 18-49 with 1.7 million watching in that metric.
Or to put it another way: Talking Dead was up 23% in viewership and 21% among the 18-49s from its November 19 show. That is the third best TD has done this season so far, with the two-hour TWD cast past and present filled opener of October 22 holding the top spot in both total audience and demo.
Read the rest of the story at Deadline.
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One of the most-liked characters from The Walking Dead will be leaving that series and moving to the spinoff series, Fear the Walking Dead. Morgan, who is played by Lennie James, will exit the parent series in an as-yet-unknown way and reappear on the prequel series next season. The move comes as both TWD and FTWD are struggling with their ratings; TWD is currently drawing ratings on a par with its second season in 2011, and FTWD saw steadily declining ratings through its most recent season. The crossover gamibt, which is no doubt intended to shore up audiences of both series, is risky, given that Morgan is one of the most popular characters on TWD, and the audience for FTWD is far smaller than that of the parent series.
Via The Hollywood Reporter.
AMC's The Walking Dead is set to see one series regular jump to spinoff series Fear the Walking Dead.
Fan favorite Lennie James is officially moving from the flagship to the prequel, in which he will continue to play Morgan Jones. The announcement was made Sunday when James was a surprise guest on Talking Dead.
"Morgan's arc in The Walking Dead season eight positioned him for the story on Fear the Walking Dead," Walking Dead showrunner Scott M. Gimple said via a statement read by Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick. "It was also important to see Fear's world and characters through new, yet familiar eyes."
For his part, James said he begins filming Fear on Monday, with his scenes to be streamed live via the show's social media accounts.
The actor, who was the first person Rick (Andrew Lincoln) encountered after waking up from his coma in the show's pilot, wrapped production on the Atlanta-set Walking Dead days ago and appeared on Talking Dead via satellite from Austin, Texas, where the show is moving its production.
"From the very first moment the whole suggestion of Morgan going over to Fear the Walking dead, the hardest part of that, from beginning to now, has been leaving The Walking Dead," James said. "Leaving that cast, leaving that crew. I've said my goodbyes to the cast and I've said my goodbyes to the crew... That show stands or falls on the back of that crew. And I'm going to miss them very much."
James move to Fear the Walking Dead also confirms news that THR previously reported — that the prequel series is moving its filming location to Texas — a shift that was set up in the finale's narrative as a new villain (Ray McKinnon) set sail for "what's left of Houston" with Alicia (co-star Alycia Debnam-Carey).
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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The Walking Dead can still claim to be the "highest rated" scripted series on TV, but only counting its audience of younger viewers, the most coveted demographic group for advertisers. If you count total viewership, however, TWD is no longer in the stratosphere in terms of ratings. Even more concerning, the series is in the middle of a prolonged ratings slide, and even its young viewership is eroding.
The series' ratings slide began in season six, picked up speed through season seven, and has become dramatic so far in season eight. This season's premiere episode was the lowest-rated since season three in 2012 and each episode of the current season except one has posted further ratings drops. This week's episode was the lowest rated, both in total viewership and among young viewers, since the middle of season two in 2011.
Via Variety.
“The Walking Dead” saw another drop off in the Nielsen ratings for this Sunday’s episode.
Episode 5 of Season 8 drew a 3.4 rating in adults 18-49 and 7.8 million viewers. That is a drop off approximately 10 percent in both measures from Episode 4.The last time “The Walking Dead” drew a 3.4 rating was Episode 4 of Season 2. The most comparable episode in terms of total viewers is also in Season 2, in which Episode 8 drew 8.1 million viewers. The drop comes despite the fact that this week’s episode was one of the better-reviewed of the season thus far, currently holding an 83 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
This is the latest instance this season of the number one show on television drawing Season 2 numbers.
The Season 8 premiere–also the show’s 100th episode–pulled in the show’s lowest numbers for a season premiere since Season 3.
Episode 2 saw a drop off of approximately 20 percent in both measures from the premiere, falling to a 4.0 and 8.9 million viewers. Episode 3 then dropped to a 3.8 and 8.5 million, with Episode 4 improving slightly to a 3.9 and 8.7 million.
Read the rest of the story at Variety.
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