Hot on the heels of their announcement that Breaking Bad’s Saul Goodman character will be getting his own spinoff series, Better Call Saul, producers of The Walking Dead are now readying a spinoff for their other megahit show, The Walking Dead. The show will be executive produced by creator Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, and David Alpert for AMC Studios with a target air date of 2015.
“Building on the success of the most popular show on television for adults 18-49 is literally a no-brainer,” said Charlie Collier, AMC president and general manager. He also stated that the series will feature “an entirely new story and cast of characters. It’s a big world and we can’t wait to give fans another unforgettable view of the zombie apocalypse.”
Robert Kirkman, creator of the comic series and producer on the series stated:
“After 10 years of writing the comic book series and being so close to the debut of our fourth, and in my opinion, best season of the TV series, I couldn’t be more thrilled about getting the chance to create a new corner of The Walking Dead universe. The opportunity to make a show that isn’t tethered by the events of the comic book, and is truly a blank page, has set my creativity racing.”
Sounds interesting, but I’ve got mixed emotions. I’m sure some will cry “cash grab” as is to be expected in any spinoff, but what I like about this idea is that it’s not tethered to the comics, which has been a source of disdain for me and many fans of the source material. The show has gone almost completely off the rails in terms of adapting the comics, so perhaps developing a new story with new characters is exactly what’s needed to alleviate the pressure to pay homage and live up to source material expectations.
What do you think? Good idea? Bad idea? Meh idea?
Season 3 of The Walking Dead kicks off October 13, 2013 on AMC.