14 DAY TRIAL // There is no denying that “The Walking Dead” series has a huge cult following among its viewers, even if the latest seasons have been driving some of those large numbers away. If you were scared that the show was getting near its end, fret not, the producers claim they have plenty of story left to tell, 12 seasons' worth actually.
Showrunner Scott Gimple and producer David Alpert made the announcement, with Gimple giving out the number 10 for the seasons, but Alpert overbid him and pushed up all the way to 12. Contactmusic quotes the producer as saying, “I happen to love working from source material, specifically because we have a pretty good idea of what season 10 is gonna be.” He also speaks about the extra two seasons, “We know where Season 11 and 12...we have benchmarks and milestones for those seasons if we're lucky enough to get there.”
Speaking about the end of the series, the creator of the comic book which serves as the source material, Robert Kirkman, has also said that he has a pretty clear idea on how he wants to end things. He foretold that he would go all the way to issue number 200. He is currently at issue 128, in case you were wondering.
For viewers, this scenario is still pretty far in the future, so it doesn't really affect them on a short-term basis. They are more preoccupied with how things were left off in the last season finale and which characters actually make it in the coming season.
Meanwhile, hosting network AMC doesn't look like it plans to cancel the show anytime soon, so the producers might very well see out their 12 seasons. “The Walking Dead” is enjoying healthy numbers in terms of ratings. For example, the recent season 4 drew in almost 28 million viewers in front of the TV screen on average per episode.
As a further testament to its growing popularity, “The Walking Dead” was second only to “Breaking Bad” in terms of people speaking about it on Twitter, according to Nielsen's list. So, at the moment, there is absolutely no chance for the producers or the network to pull the plug on the show.
Fans also appreciate the fact that the TV show is sticking to the general plot outlines in the comic book. The only issue then would be the fact that, in a couple of years' time, the zombie fad might be coming to an end.
In fact, many think that the zombie craze is on its way out and it will be replaced by something else very soon.