This show deserves every bit of its success. This show is a mega-hit for AMC and I hope they throw the full weight of the network behind the show next season, including a bigger budget. I would love to see what Frank Darabont and Greg Nicotero could do with better resources.
HOLY CRAP!!! 5.6 million viewers last night for the walking dead thats amazing. If that was only for the second last episode just imagine what the ratings are going to be for the season finale.
Wow, That's great. The show is awesome, I have never seen a zombie show before and when this came out i was so happy. I'm a fan of the supernatural stuff. I hope this has even more viewers.
No doubt that good source amterial makes for a good or great series! I thnk the best thing about this show is that even non-zombie fans can appreciate it, because of the survival aspect of the series. It is a disaster series, it's a very HUMAN series despite having a zombie apocolypse as its backdrop. I hope it remains a show about the humans in a zombie world, rather than zombie FX and gore. Despite hoe awesome it is, I think it would lose veiwers if it turrned more to the zombie side of things.
For any fans of the comics/ graphic novels: Does Morgan Jones (played by the incredible Lennie James) come back into the series? Was he a creation of the show writers? Was he in the comics , but just a guest player? Please let me know!
I think it is fairing much better according to critics and its fans loving it more than most network shows. However, as far as ratings are concerened it is only a "hit" by cable TV standards. New shows have almost twice the veiwerships like Hawaii Five-0, Mike & Molly, Shit My Dad Says, The Defenders and Blue Bloods all between 10 & 12 million a night). Other shows that may or may not even be renewed like No Ordinary family & Detroit 187 have higher ratings (7 or 8 million). Even shows likely to be cancelled or already cancelled like The Event & Undercovers have similar ratings (5 or 6 million). Really interesting to me to see one of the HIGHEST fan rated and critically acclaimed shows of the new season has "midling" ratings as far as networks go. Shows how cable TV can make a more well-made niche genre TV show that may have a lesser appeal to the masses, but is exponentially better overall. Maybe trying to make a show have mass appeal waters it down in the process? If only networks would take the hint and make well-honed shows that may not have the braod demographic appeal, but excited their fans more than the typical middle of the road shows on network TV. shows with rabid fans can last more seasons, sell cross-promotional items and be a locked in show on their yearly schedule they do not need to worry about. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, networks..... take the hint!!!!!
darq, I can relate to your post. I am what you called a non-zombie fan. I almost didn't watch tv for several years, until Lost came. Since Lost, I've tried to fill the void (if you know what I mean) with a couple of other shows (namely Fringe and The Event) without success - my problem, I admit it, those shows are good but I was trying too hard to find a replacement to Lost.
By pure chance, as my wife was watching Fox (here in Portugal The Walking Dead is broadcast by Fox) I entered the room and saw good acting; ok, that made me watch it. Didn't even know what show was, and when I found out it was about zombies I must confess it was a bit disapointing, but still kept watching it. I'm glad I did.
A zombie show having just 1 minute with zombies an entire episode is something different. Last episode had Amy (less than a minute) and about 5 seconds at the door of the CDC (Daryl shot one zombie and we saw a couple of walkers on that area). The rest was purely about human emotions, confrontations, the strugle for survival, the strugle for leadership, etc, etc, etc.
So now that I accepted that Lost is unique and that there is no substitute for it, I'm enjoying good old adventure, some neat heros (human ones, no super powers here) with everyday-life situations in the middle of an apocalypse of epic proportions AND good story telling and acting (just look for the inside video here at spoilerTV - hear the true accent the lead actor has and then admire his accent in the series: amazing).
I think The Walking Dead is faring better than you think. Having just learned a little bit about ratings numbers in advertising class I think I can put that number into perspective. The 2.8 (Gross Rating Points) in the 18-49 demo is calculated by multiplying reach times frequency. So if you multiply 2.8 by 5.6 you get 15.68, which would account for 15.68% of all people in that age group watching The Walking Dead. I would say that's pretty good for a basic cable show.
Cable shows will always get less ratings, it's just matter of facts. You have to pay to get those TV stations whereas network TV is free. But I really have come to appreciate cable shows, most of the time they are just so much better than anything that airs on network stations. Ever since Lost ended there are just 2 network shows I really like - Community & Big Bang Theory. I also watch Fringe, which is good, but I don't get very excited about it. On the other hand I absolutely love The Walking Dead & Breaking Bad which are the 2 best shows on the air right now for me. Also watch True Blood, Mad Men, Dexter & It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia and I'm looking forward to Game Of Thrones. It's just quality writing with top notch acting and on the other hand I'm getting pretty sick and tired of procedural shows which are dominating the network stations.
Better than you think? You do realize that the Walking Dead is breaking all kinds of ratings records, don't you? Many cable television shows struggle to crack one million weekly viewers yet still get renewed on cable television. Nice math, but I think everyone knows how well the Walking Dead has been doing.
NOTE: Name-calling, personal attacks, spamming, excessive self-promotion, condescending pomposity, general assiness, racism, sexism, any-other-ism, homophobia, acrophobia, and destructive (versus constructive) criticism will get you BANNED from the party.
This show deserves every bit of its success. This show is a mega-hit for AMC and I hope they throw the full weight of the network behind the show next season, including a bigger budget. I would love to see what Frank Darabont and Greg Nicotero could do with better resources.
ReplyDeleteHOLY CRAP!!! 5.6 million viewers last night for the walking dead thats amazing. If that was only for the second last episode just imagine what the ratings are going to be for the season finale.
ReplyDeleteWow, That's great. The show is awesome, I have never seen a zombie show before and when this came out i was so happy. I'm a fan of the supernatural stuff. I hope this has even more viewers.
ReplyDeleteThis TV show is perfect, 'cause is based in the comic book which is perfect too!!!
ReplyDeleteThis Show deserve to be the best Show ever (after LOST...)!!!!!!
No doubt that good source amterial makes for a good or great series! I thnk the best thing about this show is that even non-zombie fans can appreciate it, because of the survival aspect of the series. It is a disaster series, it's a very HUMAN series despite having a zombie apocolypse as its backdrop. I hope it remains a show about the humans in a zombie world, rather than zombie FX and gore. Despite hoe awesome it is, I think it would lose veiwers if it turrned more to the zombie side of things.
ReplyDeleteFor any fans of the comics/ graphic novels: Does Morgan Jones (played by the incredible Lennie James) come back into the series? Was he a creation of the show writers? Was he in the comics , but just a guest player? Please let me know!
I'm so proud of this show :)
ReplyDeleteIf they are gonna follow the comics he will return, but very late:)
ReplyDeleteAwesome news, top show! Still have to catch the second half, but loved the first half of last night's show!
ReplyDeleteAmazing how this show is doing far better than most Broadcast network shows!!
ReplyDeleteI think it is fairing much better according to critics and its fans loving it more than most network shows. However, as far as ratings are concerened it is only a "hit" by cable TV standards. New shows have almost twice the veiwerships like Hawaii Five-0, Mike & Molly, Shit My Dad Says, The Defenders and Blue Bloods all between 10 & 12 million a night). Other shows that may or may not even be renewed like No Ordinary family & Detroit 187 have higher ratings (7 or 8 million). Even shows likely to be cancelled or already cancelled like The Event & Undercovers have similar ratings (5 or 6 million).
ReplyDeleteReally interesting to me to see one of the HIGHEST fan rated and critically acclaimed shows of the new season has "midling" ratings as far as networks go. Shows how cable TV can make a more well-made niche genre TV show that may have a lesser appeal to the masses, but is exponentially better overall. Maybe trying to make a show have mass appeal waters it down in the process? If only networks would take the hint and make well-honed shows that may not have the braod demographic appeal, but excited their fans more than the typical middle of the road shows on network TV. shows with rabid fans can last more seasons, sell cross-promotional items and be a locked in show on their yearly schedule they do not need to worry about. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, networks..... take the hint!!!!!
darq, I can relate to your post. I am what you called a non-zombie fan. I almost didn't watch tv for several years, until Lost came. Since Lost, I've tried to fill the void (if you know what I mean) with a couple of other shows (namely Fringe and The Event) without success - my problem, I admit it, those shows are good but I was trying too hard to find a replacement to Lost.
ReplyDeleteBy pure chance, as my wife was watching Fox (here in Portugal The Walking Dead is broadcast by Fox) I entered the room and saw good acting; ok, that made me watch it. Didn't even know what show was, and when I found out it was about zombies I must confess it was a bit disapointing, but still kept watching it. I'm glad I did.
A zombie show having just 1 minute with zombies an entire episode is something different. Last episode had Amy (less than a minute) and about 5 seconds at the door of the CDC (Daryl shot one zombie and we saw a couple of walkers on that area).
The rest was purely about human emotions, confrontations, the strugle for survival, the strugle for leadership, etc, etc, etc.
So now that I accepted that Lost is unique and that there is no substitute for it, I'm enjoying good old adventure, some neat heros (human ones, no super powers here) with everyday-life situations in the middle of an apocalypse of epic proportions AND good story telling and acting (just look for the inside video here at spoilerTV - hear the true accent the lead actor has and then admire his accent in the series: amazing).
I think The Walking Dead is faring better than you think. Having just learned a little bit about ratings numbers in advertising class I think I can put that number into perspective. The 2.8 (Gross Rating Points) in the 18-49 demo is calculated by multiplying reach times frequency. So if you multiply 2.8 by 5.6 you get 15.68, which would account for 15.68% of all people in that age group watching The Walking Dead. I would say that's pretty good for a basic cable show.
ReplyDeleteCable shows will always get less ratings, it's just matter of facts. You have to pay to get those TV stations whereas network TV is free. But I really have come to appreciate cable shows, most of the time they are just so much better than anything that airs on network stations. Ever since Lost ended there are just 2 network shows I really like - Community & Big Bang Theory. I also watch Fringe, which is good, but I don't get very excited about it. On the other hand I absolutely love The Walking Dead & Breaking Bad which are the 2 best shows on the air right now for me. Also watch True Blood, Mad Men, Dexter & It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia and I'm looking forward to Game Of Thrones. It's just quality writing with top notch acting and on the other hand I'm getting pretty sick and tired of procedural shows which are dominating the network stations.
ReplyDeleteBetter than you think? You do realize that the Walking Dead is breaking all kinds of ratings records, don't you? Many cable television shows struggle to crack one million weekly viewers yet still get renewed on cable television. Nice math, but I think everyone knows how well the Walking Dead has been doing.
ReplyDeleteI think it was a stupid decision to fire the entire writing staff of this show. I hope they realize they gave away some amazing talent.
ReplyDeleteWhat?! Where did you get that info? Very bad news...
ReplyDeleteOk, got it:
ReplyDeletehttp://warmingglow.uproxx.com/2010/12/the-entire-walking-dead-writing-staff-got-fired