People have been waiting for the debut of Fear the Walking Dead all summer. It’s not every day that the hottest show on television expands its universe and heads in a different direction from the companion show, but here we are, there’s AMC footing the bill, and there’s more zombie action for the television screen. Lots of people were eagerly awaiting the new show, and it shows. Fear the Walking Dead shattered the record for cable premier audience last night. The show drew 10.1 million people in its debut bow; a pre-Fear special episode of Talking Dead drew 4.2 million viewers, once again lifting the night for AMC.
“Thank you and congratulations to Robert Kirkman, Dave Erickson, the brilliant executive producers, and the entire cast and crew of Fear the Walking Dead,” reads a statement from AMC president Charlie Collier. “It is increasingly difficult to evaluate a show’s success on night one. However, we are releasing these live/same day ratings because Fear the Walking Dead delivered record-breaking numbers that are all the more special in this era of time-shifted viewing and audience fragmentation. To have a companion series to the No. 1 show on television driving communal, urgent viewing, social activity, and pop cultural relevance of this magnitude is truly differentiating.”
Robert Kirkman is the creator of The Walking Dead, and he co-created Fear with Dave Erickson. Above you can see Frank Dillane as Nick and Kim Dickens as his mother Madison. The show takes place in Los Angeles prior to the familiar zombie world of The Walking Dead prime and will detail just how society falls apart after the dead begin rising and attacking the living.
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