AMC said it has renewed its top-rated zombie drama The Walking Dead for an eighth season.
The renewal was announced on air with an on-screen message during a two-hour retrospective aired on AMC Sunday night.
The seventh season of The Walking Dead premieres next Sunday. The eighth season will premiere in 2017, with its first episode being the 100th in the show’s history. All 16 episodes of season 8 will be followed by Talking Dead, the live aftershow hosted by Chris Hardwick.
The Walking Dead has been the highest rated show on TV, but its ratings have been down this season, prompting some concern about the show and AMC’s ability to sustain its audience and revenues. AMC’s other show in the zombie franchise, Fear the Walking Dead, is down even more. But AMC has insisted the Dead will have a long life.
“Eeny, meeny, miny, more,” said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios. “What a joy to partner with Robert Kirkman, Scott M. Gimple and some of the hardest-working people in television to bring The Walking Dead to the fans. And, most important, thanks to those fans for breathing life into this remarkable series right along with us.”
AMC not only airs The Walking Dead, but it produces it as well. The show is executive produced by Gimple, Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Greg Nicotero, and Tom Luse.
