AMC Commits To The Walking Dead Spin-Off

AMC Takes A Page From The CW

Story by David Clark

Warning, in shocking news The Walking Dead is a wildly successful television show. In other news AMC is taking a page out of the superhero playbook with a spin-off. With the intention of building upon the popularity of The Walking Dead original series AMC has inked a deal for not one but two seasons of the spin-off show.

For years The Walking Dead has followed a scrappy group of individuals as they fought, scraped, and hacked their way through one mind bogglingly impossible situation to the next. The show always has branching plot lines but for the most part it has been very focused on the immediate surroundings of the main characters. As that universe has grown in scope, curiosity has sprung up about what is taking place in the rest of the world during the zombie apocalypse.

"From the beginning of The Walking Dead on AMC, we've been asked questions about what was going on in other parts of the zombie apocalypse and what it looked like as the world really did turn. Through this new series, we're going to find out," - Charlie Collier, network president.

The original television series upon which the spin-off is based takes place primarily in the eastern areas of the United States. The new show will moving across the country to the west coast city of Los Angeles. This opens the show up to a fresh new landscape with different cultural possibilities to explore.

Collier mentioned a desire to better explore and flesh out the state of the world as the zombie infestation occurred. It seems like a show taking place in Los Angeles would be held to the same narrative limitations on the west coast as the original show faced in Georgia. Perhaps the show will share relevant information early on about the state of the world before focusing in on the west coast survivors. Another possibility is that the survivors will have access to communications with, or news from, other parts of the country in a fashion the original shows survivors do not. It would be interesting to see the impact of the zombie apocalypse on various areas of the world; however, how far the show will go to explore that unknown aspect of the narrative is unclear.

The show will star Cliff Curtis, Kim Dickens, Frank Dillane and Alycia Debnam Carey. With 6 episodes scheduled for one hour each in the first season and details pending for the second, fans of the original series can expect the spin-off later this year.

Sources: Rolling Stone; Aceshowbiz