A review of the trajectory of the long-lived fiction, which will say goodbye forever with season 11 that AMC plans to premiere in 2021.The Walking Dead may no longer be exactly the series we talk about in our video calls with family and friends, nor about which we count the days until the premiere of its new season. It has long since ceased to be. But if there is something that we have to recognize about zombie fiction par excellence -besides referring to it that way, which is not bad at all- it is that, for years, it had millions of viewers all over the world like crazy.
Its condition as a television phenomenon is undeniable, but while Game of Thrones -to give an example of one of its contemporaries- managed to maintain and increase its followers from its first to its last installment, the journey of The Walking Dead and its relationship with its legion of followers globally are full of ups and downs. If the fiction was a victim of its own success, if more seasons were produced than its own history could bear or if it simply ended up sharing the television stage with other more successful titles that relegated it to the background in the hearts of the viewers is, without a doubt, worth debating, although in the final result -that is, in the minds of each of his followers, whether or not they continue to be- there is a little bit of everything.
It is also interesting to talk about The Walking Dead's journey, its ups and downs and how it has gone from being a true obsession to a simple title for which many of us feel fond but which others reject, now that zombie fiction has just ended. to fulfill no less than a decade, since it was released on Halloween night in 2010. Likewise, the series based on the -already finished- Robert Kirkman comics saga The Walking Dead, is approaching its final end. Of course, with a legacy in the form of a television franchise that already includes four spin-offs and a film trilogy.
A successful series in its origins that turned zombies into a trend in the midst of a series explosion
When AMC confirmed that it would premiere a television adaptation of Robert Kirkman's famous comic series, fans of the adventures of Rick Grimes and company already began to rub their hands. Knowing that the American chain and its creative team, then led by the director of The Fog Frank Darabont, had a story with a lot of potential on their hands that went far beyond presenting the adventures of a group of humans surviving hordes of the dead. living, comic book fans eagerly awaited her from the get-go and welcomed her with open arms upon her debut.
However, for those who weren't as familiar with Kirkman's work, The Walking Dead didn't go unnoticed either. That this was not the case was well taken care of by the American pay channel, which not only organized a world debut by Fox International Channels allowing the series to be released in 120 countries in the same week, but both companies carried out a strong advertising campaign in the form of a zombie apocalypse. In addition, the most serial-loving public had said goodbye to Lost just a few months before and was already eager to introduce a new obsession into their lives.
Most of the series' cast members weren't particularly well known at the time, but to play charismatic sheriff Rick Grimes, the team had cast Andrew Lincoln, a British actor most recognizable for his role as a hopeless romantic in the series. romantic comedy Love Actually (2003). The performer would quickly endear himself to viewers with his portrayal of a police officer who woke up from a coma in a hospital overrun with the undead and completely oblivious to the end of the world, but so would other of his co-stars, such as Steven Yeun in the shoes of Glenn -one of the favorites of the comic- or, of course, Norman Reedus as Daryl, a character created specifically for the series that would soon be the most beloved by the followers of the then new fiction.
The story that the first season of The Walking Dead addressed in the six episodes of which it consisted also quickly caught on with the audience. Rick's awakening, the reunion with his family with a love triangle included and the first 'cliffhanger' in the form of a visit to the famous Center for Disease Control that at that moment seemed key to a happy ending hooked us from the first moment and made us learn a lesson we would later hear ad nauseam: that no one was safe on The Walking Dead. The first season of the AMC fiction was the subject of good reviews from the specialized press in general, which They gave it all sorts of good adjectives like "intense" or "exciting" and even credited it with bringing a "clever twist" to the zombie subgenre. It also obtained good audience data despite its broadcast on a cable network, with an average of 5.24 million viewers. Of course, at that time nobody imagined the explosion of success that would follow his debut.
And then came the bombshell
The first person who perhaps did not know that he had a then unusual television phenomenon on his hands was Frank Darabont himself, who starred in the first backstage encounter of the series to abandon his work after the first season. The legal consequences of the lack of understanding at that time continue to grab headlines ten years later and, in fact, most of the conflict between the director and AMC has to do precisely with the success that The Walking Dead would bring after its first season. .
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