Somehow, it's been 15 years since The Walking Dead first made its presence felt on TV screens. That's right; it's been a decade and a half since Rick Grimes awoke from his coma to find that the world had gone to hell and zombies had overrun just about everything. It was a day that changed television forever, as one of the greatest TV franchises had just been born.
As the TWD Universe celebrates its 15th anniversary, there are still two spinoffs within the franchise on the air (Daryl Dixon and Dead City), with the promise of more in the future. It makes celebrating such a major milestone feel all the more current as the story of the TWD saga lives on, even after the original series concluded three years ago.
And The Walking Dead story truly does live, as amassing over 100 episodes, six spinoffs, and years of entertainment showcases just how timeless it all really is. As we celebrate the anniversary, let's reflect on its beginnings - because the show and the franchise could have looked very, very different.
The Walking Dead could have aired on NBC or HBO (but it would have been very different)
Looking back on the legacy that The Walking Dead has crafted is really an interesting experience because the show became a huge phenomenon for AMC - and it still is to this day. But it could have been a part of a different network's line-up. According to The Huffington Post, other networks showed interest in the series as series creators Frank Darabont and Gale Anne Hurd were pitching it, with NBC and HBO particularly interested in picking it up. However, there was one catch.
Neither of these networks wanted the show to be as violent as the series creators were pitching it to be, with both of them asking to tone down the excessive violence and gore that the graphic novels were renowned for. But Hurd had no intention of backing down in her bid to bring the vividly violent comics of Robert Kirkman to the screen, and thus she turned down their offers and sought to develop The Walking Dead elsewhere. When AMC showed interest, there was no looking back.
15 years later, there is still no looking back. The Walking Dead has developed into one of the most recognizable brands on television and its first few seasons in particular are considered some of the best television of the 21st century. Its reliance on gore and violence became a staple of those early seasons too, with its viewers praising its unapologetic approach to bringing a truly terrifying zombie apocalypse to the small screen in a believable fashion. And considering that there are so many zombie movies out there that didn't shy away from the bloody nature of a situation like this, fans were particularly receptive to the idea that this TV show didn't have to either.
Although it was an odd request to reduce the violence in a TV series like TWD, there are some extenuating circumstances to take into account when considering the TV landscape back then. For starters, TV was a very different place in 2010, with broadcast and cable being the primary formats of watching television, With the rise of streaming leading to an increase in big-budget cinematic shows, that line between what was acceptable in movies vs. TV became much more blurred. And thus, without the restrictions of broadcast to worry about, TV shows could break more rules. The Walking Dead was one of the shows responsible for this movement too, as it ultimately showcased what cable could accomplish, which allowed cable itself to hold its own against streamers better than network TV could.
Taking all of that into account, it's understandable that NBC requested less violence as broadcast TV has limitations. While some of those have loosened somewhat (depending on the show, network TV episodes can be somewhat more violent than they were in the '80s, '90s, and 2000s), broadcast shows still can't go too far when it comes to excessive violence and gore. And for what The Walking Dead was, that would have been unfeasible for NBC.
The really odd request was HBO's, as it has always been known for mature, adult programming that pushed the boundaries of television. As Screen Rant points out, HBO shows like The Sopranos and The Wire are renowned for their adult nature and violent subject matter (even if the type of violence is different). Furthermore, Game of Thrones - one of the most violent programs in TV history - premiered on HBO in 2011, the year after The Walking Dead arrived on screens. So what was it about the gore in TWD that was the deal-breaker?
It's even more interesting of a request in hindsight considering HBO is home to The Last of Us - the most high-profile zombie apocalypse drama since The Walking Dead, and one that also isn't afraid to highlight the violence of the world that it has created. If it had commissioned TWD as part of its line-up in 2010, it likely would have been very different to how it ultimately turned out, with shorter seasons and more of a focus on drama. Although AMC kicked things off with a tight, drama-focused first season, it eventually evolved into a long-running drama that spanned 16 episodes per season, with plenty of episodic action along the way.
While there is certainly a case to be made for The Walking Dead lasting too long, the series - and the franchise - has stood the test of time, proving that Frank Darabont, Gale Anne Hurd, and AMC made all the right choices with this partnership. Robert Kirkman's acclaimed comic books came to life in a way that honored the source material and the fans of it, and a legacy unlike any other was started with that pilot episode all the way back in 2010. We're all the better off for it. And, as the TWD Universe continues to entertain us with Dead City and Daryl Dixon all these years later, it's safe to say that it has turned out to be one of the biggest success stories in TV history.