Talking Dead: Will the show return to its live format soon?

Talking Dead was taped for all of Fear TWD 4B and even The Walking Dead season premiere is taped. Will the popular aftershow return to its live format?

The Walking Dead Family counts on Chris Hardwick and AMC’s Talking Dead aftershow to help break down each episode of The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. The show’s live format allowed fans to connect with the show and the guests and ask questions about each episode. The entirety of Talking Dead episodes for Fear The Walking Dead 4B were taped, The Walking Dead season 9 premiere episode of Talking Dead was taped and there are no dates listed (as of this writing) for future tapings. Will Talking Dead return to its live format for The Walking Dead season 9?

It’s not unusual that the Fear the Walking Dead episodes of Talking Dead were pre-taped, often filmed two at a time and weeks in advance of airing. (I was there for the tapings of 410 and 411, which were filmed the week before 410 was set to air) The season finale was supposed to be live but at the last minute the taping moved from Sunday, September 30 (where it would have been live) to Friday, September 28.

The Walking Dead season premiere episode of Talking Dead was also taped on Friday, September 28. As of this writing 1iota, the company that provides audience members for Talking Dead, does not list dates for future Talking Dead tapings, nor does the TWD Fan Rewards website.

With the season premiere on October 7 there should be dates listed for future tapings by now so that audience members can be selected. This is how it has been done for previous seasons of The Walking Dead, and it’s not happening now. So what’s going on?

Talking Dead is incredibly popular among The Walking Dead fans as it provides a venue for discussion of each show as well as a chance to see members of the cast. It’s also known as the place where recently departed cast members go for their final goodbyes. The show is at its best when it’s live so that fans can interact by sending in questions about the episode, participate in polls and call into the show live.

Though we already know the guests for the season premiere episode of Talking Dead, the Talking Dead social media account is asking for questions for Katelyn Nacon, Tom Payne and Pollyanna McIntosh even though they won’t be on the season premiere episode of Talking Dead, suggesting that they might appear on the episode following 902. (It’s also possible that they’re collecting questions for the NYCC panel, but you’d expect to see that from the The Walking Dead account instead)

It’s important to note that this is the status as of Talking Dead as of this writing. It hasn’t been live since The Walking Dead season finale and so far that trend is continuing into season 9. For how long, we don’t know. But we have talked with our readers about it and it’s a fairly even split between those fans who enjoy the show live and those who are just happy to have it on at all.

This is a story we’ll continue to monitor so we can help fans sign up for tickets when they become available. We know there are fans out there who go to every taping who might have some insight into the situation, so please feel free to comment below. For everyone else, let’s keep the conversation going: Do you prefer that Talking Dead is live, or does it matter to you?