Does it matter that Talking Dead isn’t live for Fear TWD 4B?

Talking Dead is known to fans as the place to go after an episode of The Walking Dead for analysis and support, but does it need to be live?

For years Talking Dead has been filmed live for East Coast viewers (and tape delayed for viewers on the West Coast) every Sunday night following episodes of The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. Recently, Talking Dead has gone to a taped format and it will only air live once during the second half of Fear the Walking Dead season 4. With so many aspects of the show geared toward audience participation, does it matter if the show isn’t filmed live each week?

During Fear the Walking Dead season 4B only the season finale will air live. The mid-season premiere was filmed early Sunday afternoon, before Fear the Walking Dead aired on the East Coast. The middle six episodes will be taped over three days with two tapings each. For example, the August 19 and August 26 episodes of Talking Dead were filmed on Wednesday, August 15. There will be another double taping of the show later in August and another in September, leading up to the Fear the Walking Dead season 4 finale.

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You can tell that the show isn’t filmed live because host Chris Hardwick doesn’t announce the phone number for callers and the show is missing traditional features like polls, Dead Buzz and other interactive segments.

I was lucky enough to attend the August 15 taping of the show and the audience provided questions for the show to use. So even though Hardwick asks people to send messages via social media, the messages will not be used on air because the show is not live. (The people running the Talking Dead social media accounts were very good about interacting with fans during the August 12 mid-season premiere even though that episode was taped in advance as well)

Given that a portion of the show is dedicated to fan interactions, will the audience miss not being able to interact with Chris Hardwick and the Talking Dead guests on Sunday nights?

Fans enjoy Talking Dead because of the analysis and behind the scenes information doled out about each episode. Fans enjoy seeing cast members talking about the shows with Chris Hardwick. If anything, taping the show won’t be as detrimental as having the show air an hour after Preacher. That hour-long delay hasn’t done any favors for the show, which slipped in the ratings for the mid-season premiere.

Fortunately, as I witnessed on set with my own eyes, the Talking Dead cast and crew know how to make the show feel every bit as fun as it is when it airs live, so aside from not having your tweet shared on air there really shouldn’t be the much of a difference now that it’s predominantly taped. (Several crew members mentioned having to adjust to midweek tapings and not having the show live, suggesting that this is not something they have done in the past)

What do you think? Would you rather see Talking Dead airing live, or does it matter more that it airs immediately following Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead, even if it’s taped in advance? Let us know in the comments!