The Walking Dead producers miss TCA panel for funeral

The cast and crew of The Walking Dead cancelled an appearance at this year’s TCA to attend John Bernecker’s funeral.

The Walking Dead cast has had a rough month after the tragic loss of stuntman John Bernecker, who passed away following an on-set accident on July 12. After making a shortened appearance at San Diego Comic Con on July 21, AMC announced that several of The Walking Dead producers would skip their scheduled appearance at the Television Critics Association panel on July 29 in order to attend Bernecker’s funeral over the weekend in Georgia.

Needless to say, there is a lot to talk about as The Walking Dead approaches its eighth season and 100th episode when the show returns on October 22. The cast was due to make more appearances to promote the show at San Diego Comic Con but instead opted to scale things back to the panel presentation in Hall H along with their scheduled autograph signings at the AMC booth. All other appearances, including the press conference Friday afternoon, were cancelled the Wednesday before the convention started.

Bernecker’s death is the first loss the cast and crew have experienced as a group, and it’s no wonder that the incident has had such a profound impact on the cast and crew, who are very much one giant family.

More from Undead Walking

• Walking Dead alum Jayson Warner Smith promotes new film, Chipper, watch it now
• Walking Dead actor Chandler Riggs filming new movie in Tampa Bay
• Why is there no season 12 of The Walking Dead?
• Will Morgan Jones find Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live spinoff?
• Watch Tales of TWD actress Jillian Bell in Prime Video’s Candy Cane Lane

While the producers missed the TCA panel, there will be more opportunities to hear the production crew discuss the upcoming season and what fans can expect when All Out War begins.

The Walking Dead returns October 22 on AMC.