The Top 25 Shows of 2015, No. 6: AMC’s “Walking Dead” Franchise

What a year it has been for this fearsome franchise especially this fall then the first half of its sixth season had fans in a prolonged frenzy over the fate of one of their favorite characters After a few episodes featuring set pieces that were positively cinematic in their scope and scary splendor amp8211 from Rick and his ragtag group of survivors attempting to control a horde of thousands of walkers to that utterly terrifying ultraviolent attack on the Alexandria compound by a pack of murderous humans known as Wolves amp8211 the show threw its galvanized viewers into a full social media boil when it toyed with the fate of their beloved Glenn a legacy character from the start of the series by suggesting quite convincingly that he had become zombie foodAs it happens Glenn improbably survived without so much as an itty bitty bite but fans werenamp8217t let on for several weeks and during that time AMC milked the ishedeadornot cliffhanger for everything it was worth The week after Glenn appeared to meet his fate amp8211 when the fan frenzy was in maximum overdrive amp8211 AMC infuriatingly delivered an extended standalone episode that delved into the backstory of another character altogether the similarly wellliked Morgan who would become one of the least appealing characters on the showamp8217s canvas by seasonamp8217s end The network for several episodes even removed from the showamp8217s credits the name of the actor who plays Glenn Steven YeunAMC also utilized its live postamp8220Walking Deadamp8221 talk show amp8220Talking Deadamp8221 to further manipulate the distraught masses At least there was no dishonesty involved Yeun did not appear on the amp8220Talking Deadamp8221 hour immediately following the episode in which it seemed that he had died as all actors on the show do when their characters buy the farmThese were a series of canny moves by a network that isnamp8217t afraid to work with television and all connected media the way they are today In other words via live television and understanding the power of the Internet AMC wasted no time in stirring up a social media frenzy over Glennamp8217s fate The result may have been the biggest TV cliffhanger since the Who Shot JR mystery on amp8220Dallasamp8221 back in 1980 That took nine months to be resolved The whole Glenn thing lasted only one but it got the job doneMeanwhile AMC this year launched a amp8220Walking Deadamp8221 new series amp8220Fear the Walking Deadamp8221 that is neither a prequel to nor a spinoff from the story of the amp8220Walking Deadamp8221 characters Call it a companion series an entirely detached and distanced drama depicting the very beginning of the zombie apocalypse on the other side of the countryamp8220Fearamp8221 was an unexpected surprise not in its continuation of the sprawling zombie saga but in its depiction of modern family life in a way it is rarely portrayed on television messy and barely intact How interesting that its primary character is a brave and bold single mom Her name is Madison Clark played by Kim Dickens pictured above and sheamp8217s already as gutsy on this show as kickass former wife and mother Carol Peletier the invaluable Melissa McBride is on amp8220TWDamp8221amp8220Fearamp8221 had a companion piece of its own too amp8211 a Web series titled amp8220Fear the Walking Dead Flight 462amp8221 pictured above episodes of which were shown during commercial breaks of amp8220Fearamp8221 That was another brilliant move on the part of AMC making it all but impossible to ignore the commercial pods in each quotFearquot telecast for fear of missing something Set in a crowded commercial airliner at the dawn of the zombie apocalypse it was a compact and compelling thriller that should herald a new trend The production of narratively connected Webisodes designed to run not only online but during commercial breaks on television showsThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageMyersBizNet management or associated bloggersamp160amp160amp160amp160

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The Top 25 Shows of 2015, No. 6: AMC’s “Walking Dead” Franchise

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Ed Martin

Empowering Women in Media: Insights from Industry Leaders (Video) - By E.B. Moss

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The Top 25 Shows of 2015, No. 6: AMC’s “Walking Dead” Franchise

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