The Walking Dead What If: A Crime Drama?!

We all know other networks were approached to house The Walking Dead, but, do you realize what one of those networks wanted the show TO BE?

I’m sure we’re all aware of some of the backstory of the creation of The Walking Dead as a show; how it was brought to other networks and, for one reason or another was passed over, before eventually landing with AMC, and the rest, is history.

Well, one of those networks was NBC, and their idea for The Walking Dead is…a little different from the one we now know and love.

According to producer Gale Anne Hurd in an article by Entertainment Weekly, NBC had a wildly different vision of what the show should be, first wondering if there even needed to be zombies in the show (Umm, what?) and then, proposing it be a zombie crime-drama, with presumably Rick solving a “zombie crime of the week”.

I’ll repeat that: NBC wondered if The WALKING DEAD needed zombies. Then, they proposed it be a zombie crime-drama with a “zombie crime of the week”.

…Uhh…what?!

No, wait, WHAT?!?

This…is dumb. Like, wicked dumb.

Thankfully, the producers and NBC never reached a deal, because, if they had, this might have been the show we ended up with, which would be part of a sad and bleak world that I wouldn’t want to live in.

But, as awful as that would sound, it makes me wonder: What would an NBC version of The Walking Dead look like?

Well, let’s start with the whole “does it even need zombies?” thing.

Assuming they kept the whole idea of a crime-drama devoid of zombies, how would it be any different from any other crime drama?

My best guess would be a show following Rick and Shane as detectives, solving crimes in King County, with time devoted to showing Rick’s domestic life and his rather tumultuous relationship with Lori, with maybe the other members of The Group being other cops, lawyers, informants, or victims of crimes they have to solve (For example, a case where they have to prove Ed is abusing Sophia and having to get Carol to testify against him, or something).

Assuming it got this far, I could picture a lot of familiar subplots resurfacing: Dale, possibly as a veteran cop (Maybe their captain?) warning Rick about Shane, only, with Shane possibly being responsible for Dale’s death instead of a walker, Shane’s affair with Lori, his betrayal of Rick, etc.

I could even picture a callback to the comics, where The Governor is responsible for Lori’s death, except, in this scenario, he’d actually be the governor, and not just have that as his moniker, and Rick with maybe Daryl(?) as his partner (Presumably coming off a deep undercover assignment?), now have to bring him to justice.

…Crap, did I just make this sound cool?

Well, I suppose it would be…if it weren’t supposed to be The Walking Dead!!

I can only imagine what Kirkman, Darabont, and Gale Anne Hurd thought when the whole “no zombies” thing was tossed to them…

“Are…are they serious? They KNOW the comics are about a zombie apocalypse, right? They KNOW THAT, right?”

Taking that element from the show guts it entirely! Even as much as I was enjoying my hypothetical, the ONLY WAY that comes of even remotely cool is in a world where we can envision it as some weird alternate version of the show we already know!!

If it were the only version of a Walking Dead TV show, those of us who were fans of the comics would sit and look at the comics and lament at what might have been.

Of course, the real meat and potatoes is this idea of a “zombie crime-drama”. Could someone explain this to me, please?

Would it be about crimes done to zombies? Crimes committed by zombies?

Both of those sound as dumb as a box of hair. Seriously.

Now, one might argue that this is the premise of iZombie, which people really like. I won’t argue that it’s not popular or intriguing (Admittedly, though my friends have mentioned it to me, I haven’t gotten around to getting into it), because it’s both of those things!

That said, let me ask you this: If The Walking Dead, as we know it, didn’t exist, how well do you think iZombie would work? Do you think it would be as popular, without the much more serious (And, frankly, grounded) tone of The Walking Dead to serve as an alternative to?

Once you’ve thought through all that, try imaging it as the only zombie-related show on TV. Do you think you’d enjoy it, especially knowing it’s source material? Do you think it would be as successful?

I’m putting my money on “NO”.

So, in the end, what does all this tell us?

Well, first of all, it shows that major network executives may, in fact, have no idea what they’re doing.

Second, it shows just how badly network meddling can murder an otherwise good TV show.

And lastly, it shows us just how close we might have come to having the name The Walking Dead be mud to all but the most die-hard loyalists to the zombie apocalypse premise, as it would be carried by a flaming pile of crap, instead of being the compelling story we all know it could be and it’s present show proves.

I, for one, am grateful NBC passed on the show, because writing this article has given me a frightening glimpse of what could have been. I thank God I live in a world where The Walking Dead is the show we know it as, because, as I said earlier, I don’t want to live in the worlds where the other ideas for show came to fruition.

But, what do you guys think? Would either of these ideas been cool? Would they have been cool as The Walking Dead? Would you have even watched them? Or, do you think that they would have been absolute garbage? Let me know in the comments!

Next: The Best 'What If's' of The Walking Dead, Part 2

And, if you like this and want to read more of my writings, specifically about how to survive a zombie apocalypse, why not pick up a copy of my book, The Rules: A Guide To Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse! You can get it on Kindle here and on iTunes here!