In mid-September it was officially announced that there is a Walking Dead Spinoff in the works for 2015. Oh, pardon me, it's being called a "Companion Series".
http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/09/16/walking-dead-spin-off/
"AMC has announced that it is developing a companion series for The Walking Dead that is targeted to make it on air in 2015. Current Walking Dead executive producers Robert Kirkman (who also created the comic book on which the show is based), Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert will also work on the new series."
The very thought of a spinoff Companion Series has made a lot of die hard fans of the original a little queasy. Could this be an indication that AMC already has the original's end date penciled in? Would they be so bold as to end their flagship show before the bloom is off the rose? The short answer is, yes, they could be, and they've done it before. The tragedy would be in doing so possibly years before the content goes stale.
BREAK OUT THE FREEZER BAGS, PEOPLE!
WON'T YOU THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!?!
What would be worse than an untimely end to the original series, by far, would be to cause overexposure, dilute the fan base, out-shine the original while both are running concurrently or just plain not do it justice. There's little worse for a television program than tripping yourself before you ever even get near the shark tank let alone jump it. Thoughts of woeful spinoff attempts come to mind and while I know there are success stories I'm not sure I care to tempt the TV Gods on this one.
There is even some speculation among fans that the spi- (KIRKMHHAAAAN! You came up with that label, didn't you?) Companion Series will focus on Daryl Dixon, since he (and more notably Norman Reedus, the actor) has emerged as the fan favorite of the show. Well let me just go up on the hill in the high afternoon sun and start digging graves right now. Most opinions I've seen of this idea both in our Chat Room and social media are that it is a turd looking for TWD's swimming pool and I tend to agree even though I love Daryl and/or Norman as much as the next fangirl. It's just that Daryl's charm was bred within the group he's with now and I'd hate to see anything the producers do tarnish the work Norman's done so far to endear Daryl to the masses, even if a spinoff @#$! Companion Series means we get to see more of him... besides which all I can hear is Reedus singing that Daryl and Carol song. http://on.mtv.com/13t0lh2
I, as well as many others, have not fangirled over a television program this much since I was a preteen... we'll not say how long ago that was but it may or may not have involved Debbie Allen and a foreboding warning about sweat. I am not looking forward to the end of The Walking Dead and hope that it's legacy has staying power long after it's over. Whatever they're cooking up, I just hope it's got the cojones to truly back up the original and not destroy it. Remember, whatever mistakes are made in the original will inevitably be amplified when it is compared to a knock off of itself.
Carry on, #TWDFamily:
EDIT:
I have just read that Kirkman has confirmed that the spinoff... dammit, "Companion Series" is not currently planned to have any of the cast of #TWD in it and will be set in a totally different place during the same zombie apocalypse.
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