The Walking Dead (AJ Bin Jadeed)

## **Introduction**

The Walking Dead is a zombie apocalypse television show that started back in 2010. Ever since the show has started, the fan-base has been expanding. With time, the show quickly made it to the number one show on Television. The main character is a police officer named Rick Grimes who is played by British actor Andrew Lincoln (*pictured right*). In the beginning of the show, Rick is seen looking for his family but cannot find them in the city. He then finally meets a group that takes him out of the city and eventually meet his family. From there, the characters start their way out of the city and learn how to survive. At first, they learn how to survive against the zombies which is what forced them out of their homes. As the show progresses, they must fight for their lives and safety against other people.

   The show started from a comic-book that was released in October of 2003. So far it has nine seasons and we can safely say that a tenth season will be made. This is because the comic book is not done yet, also because the fans keep wanting to see more of their favorite show. The latest comic-book issue is numbered 183 and it was released this year. The show keeps getting more interesting and intense. But at the same time, the fans are starting to dislike the changes and cliffhangers that the show keeps bringing. The creators of the show just made a massive move in the show which is to kill the

most important character in the show. This led the fans to be in a huge shock and also put them in a sad mood for losing their favorite person in the show. There are more to come of the show, so the fans will have to wait and see what happens in the future with the death of that character.

There are so many different television shows out there and most of them have a huge fan base. One of the shows that really gained a huge audience is The Walking Dead. It became so popular that people actually feel connected to the characters. The fans are so attached to the people in the show to the point where they cry and feel sad for days when a character dies or leaves the show. Of course, every show has its
ups and downs as well as critics that wish they could change everything about it to fit their liking. On the other hand, fans have created communities and even came up with theories and ideas on how the show should go. Every show out there will always have those things and sometimes the authors and producers would take what fans say and make it happen. The changes could even make the show better and gain more fans.

## **Interpretative Dispute**

The show has its fans and also its
critics. When the show first started back in 2010, it earned a lot of credits and fans. It became one of the most popular shows of our time. As the years went by, it became the number one show on television. Of course with this success, the show started changing some of the story line that came from the comic-book, where it originally came from. Some fans liked the changes but others on the other hand, did not like them. The show faced so many critics but it did not give in to what people said because they saw that the changes had to be made in order for the show to be able to keep going.

The critics that the show faced were coming from fans and also from people who do like the show. According to those ***reviews***from the show’s fans who are so attached to both the show and the comic book that they did not like the changes “But TWD’s premiere last night pushed the limits of
good taste and storytelling far beyond its capacity“ (Statt, N. TWD Fan). Since the changes were not going along with the comic book. Also, fans took some of the
deaths of their favorite characters way too seriously due to the fact that they were so attached to them. Warning, spoilers ahead if you have not watched the
show yet. As we can see in this ***video***, the two deaths of the characters took a big hit on the fans to the point where they even cried.

This is also one of the changes the authors made to the show in order to make it more interesting. Of course, no one saw some changes coming “the manipulation and contempt for viewers is TWD’s biggest sin” (Statt, N. TWD Fan). The first thing they changed was the killing in the first scene which took everyone by surprise since it was not in the book. Just when they thought it was over, the
producers hit the fans with the second killing that left some fans speechless. Authors made it clear that the changes were good for the story-line. Some fans
disagree with that opinion but all they can do now is keep watching the show because they love it so much. They know that they are going to have to move on and live with the new changes.

It is not just one change that was made, some characters were killed off either too early or too late. Some scenes
were created to keep the show going and new characters were added to the show that were made up by the producers to create threats and challenges to the existing characters and keep the fans on the edge of their seats. ***Here***are some of the major changes that were made throughout the show. It faced good and bad reviews from the fans, but the show is still getting high rates since it started so that means the changes are good for the show. We just have to keep in mind that the fans are the ones who actually control how
successful the show is. The changes the producers made or thinking about making all depend on how the show is going and what needs to be done to keep the fans wanting more. The show has been going since 2010 so it is hard for the fans to just give up on it every time something they don’t like happens. The producers know that so they make sure that they don’t make too many changes that would make the fans lost interest in the show. As long as everyone works together for the sake of the success of the show, I would say the show will keep going and will still be the number one show on television.

## **Knowledge Communities**

The fan base of The Walking Dead is huge. For the last eight years, since the show has started, the fans came together to discuss, critic and love the walking dead. Some fans go beyond their way to spoil the show for some people. Others just try to
enjoy the show as it goes on episode by episode and season by season. On the other hand, hardcore fans find this place as a community that creates people they refer to as “family”. The fans of The Walking Dead tend to share ideas, give opinions on what is going to happen next and what they wish would happen. This ***Facebook*** page is one example of the
communities of The Walking Dead. Spoilers also come together and go beyond the lines to know what happens in the show. This ***site*** is one website that shows how much the fans go through to get those spoilers.

Some fans even take it to the extreme of following the actors, producers, and even extras of the show just to find out what
happens next. Even though the show was created from of the original comic-book, fans do not always trust the producers to follows it since they have so many changes. With that being said, some fans are not patient enough to wait for the episodes to be aired. Another website for spoiling the show is ***Spoil The Dead******.*** Not only it has spoilers for the show, but it also has
spoilers of the game, comic book and the other TV show which is called ***Fear the Walking Dead** (pictured right).* Not everyone likes those spoilers, some fans just prefer waiting for the shows to be aired
because that makes them look forward for the show. In case they hear a spoiler, that will just ruin the episode for them, or even the whole show.

Most of these fans already know too much about the show and it is not easy to overlook their actions and what they say about it. Some of those spoilers are people who
just gave up on the show so they decided to spoil for every fan out there. Spoilers even got to a point where they try to use their spoilers on hopes that the show would get canceled. The more spoils they spread, the more fans would know what happens and therefore not wait for the episode to air. If this keeps going on, then the show will end up losing fans and might even get canceled. Once this happens, the fan-base would drop and it would not be able to get enough views to keep it going.

The producers started making unexpected changes to throw off those spoilers. They made characters die in order to make the fans think that a death of a character would make them rethink their knowledge. Just like what happened in season seven when **Negan** first ***showed up***, who is someone all The Walking Dead fans have been waiting during the whole sixth season. The first episode started off with the cliff hanger that

was left on the previous season and carried on to where the killing scene. In the comic book, there was only one character that died and that was Glenn. The producers figured that this scene is the best time to make a major change and a twist to the show. They decided to start the killing with a character that no fan ever expected due to the fact that he still had a major role in the comic-book. Once that was done, the actual character that was supposed to be killed off met his
fate and got killed off. This made the fans even more emotional and hooked to the show. Others, on the other hand, did not agree with that change and decided
to quit the show because it was too much.

## **Remediation**

Ever wanted to make your own version of what happens in a show? Well, now you can with the new technologies and with your fellow fans that share the same ideas you have. When it comes to The Walking Dead, so many fans don’t like it when characters get killed in the show. Some fans even want other actors to be in the show so all they can do is make their own version of the show with effects and pictures using technology. All these fans gather around in their Walking Dead communities and come up with their fan-made version of the show. Some of these ideas could be used to even
make the show better. Following the show, The Walking Dead game was made and then the other TV show **Fear the Walking Dead** was also made for the fans.

Fans all over the world really love The Walking Dead so some fans gathered together to create a game named ***The Walking Dead Ultimate Fan Game***. In the game there were quizzes, prizes and you can challenge your friends. Unfortunately, the game was removed from the AMC website a couple of years ago. We are not quite sure why that happened but hopefully the website would relaunch it again. Another game that fans made was not actually released was ***this one***. The creators made a short game-play test video on YouTube which we can see ***here******.*** The game has not been released yet though for unknown reasons.

The Walking Dead fans use another
way to express their love for the show. They make is videos that shows the changes they want to make and the actors they want to appear. ***This video*** posted on YouTube was made by a fan and we can clearly see that those fans would like to bring more characters to the show. Another fans shared their ***own version***of the stuff they want to happen in the show. As we can see in both of the
fan-made videos, most fans want other actors to be added to the show. The
creators saw how much the fans love the show so they created an app called ***The Walking Dead: Dead Yourself***. You can basically make yourself or anyone else you know look like a zombie. The game received a lot of credit from the fans because it brought the fans closer to the show.

Along with the fan-made things we can see online, here is another website that brings The Walking Dead fans together to come up with their own version of each episode. ***This fan*** rewrote a whole episode to go as what they wanted. They actually have some good ideas that can be used in the show to make it better. Unfortunately, the episode we see here is an old episode so it is too late to use it and apply it on the new episodes. If the producers took what some fans have to say about the show seriously, more and better episodes can be produced. The show will also gain more fans as time goes by. It might also help bring back the fans that decided to leave the show because of the changes they did not like.

Fear The Walking Dead was created after the producers saw how many fans they gained for the original show. Fear The Walking Dead also gained fans and made the original show even more interesting because the producers are explaining how everything started. Fans are into both of the shows because they are waiting for the moment that characters from both shows meet up. This already happened with one character, ***Morgan***, but fans would love to see more characters coming across characters because that will create more action to the show. Fans all over the world found that very interesting and the impact it had on both shows was great. In the future that also might happen with more characters, which is something I would love to see. It is going to be intense due to the fact that we have favorite characters from both shows and we want to see what they do when they meet their matches.

## **References**

1. ↑ The Walking Dead Original Soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cymqAVPWuo
2. ↑ The Walking Dead Quitter’s Club: goodbye for real: https://www.theverge.com/2016/10/24/13378876/the-walking-dead-season-7-premiere-recap-review-end-of-quitters-club
3. ↑ The Walking Dead Season 7, Episode 1 - Death Reaction Compilation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp6EE9K7lOc
4. ↑ 15 More Big Differences Between *The Walking Dead* TV Show and Comics: https://amp.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/04/10-more-big-differences-between-the-walking-dead-t.html
5. ↑ AMC The Walking Dead - Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TheWalkingDeadAMC/
6. ↑ Spoiling Dead Fans - Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/SpoilingDeadFans/
7. ↑ Spoiling The Dead: https://spoilthedead.com/forum/
8. ↑ Negan's Major Entrance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHI4tu5WCWE
9. ↑ TWD Fan Game: https://www.amc.com/shows/the-walking-dead/talk/2011/10/the-walking-dead-ultimate-fan-game
10. ↑ TWD Fan-made game: http://youtu.be/QwQpLmnvLuM
11. ↑ Fan-made Game short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q0s7qrcnCs
12. ↑ TWD Fan-made video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_O6LhZ7kQoQ
13. ↑ TWD Fan-made video - 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V\_pPM1kBuNA
14. ↑ TWD - Dead Yourself Application: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-walking-dead-dead-yourself/id587842308?mt=8
15. ↑ The Walking Dead - Possible Intro for Season 10 (Fan Made): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU1Amp3He3g
16. ↑ TWD - Fan-Made episode: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/11740236/1/We-Are-Not-Things
17. ↑ TWD - Morgan's Cross-path: https://youtu.be/aP5LYiOTSxo