Can The Walking Dead Survive?
The Walking Dead television series, which is set to premiere at the end of this month on AMC, is one of the first major events to push zombies into mainstream media, but I worry its longevity may be marred by incorrect expectations by the public.
Zombies have always been on the fringe of mainstream media and were usually “eclipsed” by the more genre favorites vampires and werewolves. The Walking Dead has received a lot of publicity and has a decent chance of making it as a series as long as the tide of zombie popularity doesn’t slow.
True Blood paved the way for more harder core horror series to be created, but unlike vampires, zombies can’t be the main characters. They become the equivalent of the flood or the fire. Zombies are an obstacle that must be overcome.
The main characters are the humans that must survive in a world overrun by the undead. Humans aren’t special. They don’t have superpowers or the ability to turn someone’s head around during a rousing bout of coitus. The survival of “The Walking Dead” is not going to hinge on the zombies, but how well the human characters are written. The stories are going to be mundane. Lets face it, there is no magic like Lost, there’s no supernatural main characters like True Blood.
If the writer’s stick to stereotypes like the stalwart leader, the rebellious teenager, etc. the series is going to die before it even gets off the undead ground.
As much as I love zombies, as a plot device they are pretty one dimensional unless you give them something special. If you can somehow make the zombies part of the character structure and not just a force of nature, then the series has some legs to stand on.
Don’t get me wrong I have been anticipating this show for months, but it can end up like another Flashforward. A highly publicized flop that couldn’t hold on to an audience.
For those of you thinking, the comics were awesome so the series should be too, I am sad to say that there will be many differences between the two.
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“Zombies can’t be the main characters” – this is definitely what limits the mainstream appeal of zombie stories, IMO. I’m a writer working on a zombie novel, and this dilemma was one of the main things I wanted to solve via a new spin on the viral zombie infection concept.
A recent YA zombie book, DUST by Joan Frances Turner, also deals with the concept of zombies as main characters. Her main character is your standard undead, decaying, maggot-ridden walking corpse, but she’s also an intelligent zombie with vestiges of her human personality remaining.
You make a good point about zombies being a one-dimensional antagonistic force, too. They work well for movies, but how will they translate to a series? How will the show producers keep the anxiety and fear level high without sliding into monotony? I hope the series is successful and opens doors for more zombie movies, books, and shows, but I’m staying cautiously optimistic about it.
How many tv shows are on right now that are about people, ordinary people? Breaking Bad, Mad Men to name 2 amazing shows that are character-driven dramas. Need more examples? How about Deadwood and Rome. The Sopranos. Dexter. Do I have to go on? These are amazing dramas about people — not superheroes, with no magic or supernatural elements at all.
To say that TWD’s success will depend on zombie popularity isn’t entirely true because TWD has never been about the zombies. It’s always been about the people and how they’re surviving in a terrifying new world. Zombies are the backdrop, they are the setting, they are the force of nature that the real characters have to live through. They don’t need to be more than that b/c zombies are NOT the focus of TWD at all.
The success of TWD will hinge on the living characters — on the script and the acting and how the average non-horror-fan relates to the characters. In the comics those characters have depth, they evolve, they act in wholly realistic ways. You have heroes, you have cowards and you have everything in between. You don’t have to be a horror fan to love TWD — that will be the show’s biggest obstacle, I think — getting the average non-horror-fan to tune in and become emotionally invested in the characters.
What people don’t realize is that “The Walking Dead” refers to the LIVING HUMANS as much (or more) than it refers to the zombies. How do you survive when everything you were living for is taken from you? I think that’s a pretty universal question.
5.3 million viewers on premiere night? It might be able to survive
How about reading the original graphic novel or the synopsis on wikipedia. There will be very interesting thing to come. Even if they trim the graphic novel material there’s plenty of subjects and characters for the writer to explore. As long as AMC gives the creative staff and produce team their support by letting the series build upon the fan base. This is a subject that can have a great potential for growth. being that there are two movie in the future based of of best seller on the zombie subject. ” World War Z ” and ” Pride and Prejudice and Zombies “. Zombies have there nich in the movie which now seg-ways to the small screen in a series format; now we can explore that universe both for character development and empathy.
Seeing as how the show was a critical hit, and quickly became a fan favorite, maybe you should update the site sometime. They got signed for a second season after the second episode. Just a heads up.