In 2010, post-apocalyptic horror show, The Walking Dead made its debut on AMC. The series – based on the comic book of the same name by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore – followed the story of a group of survivors who attempt to stay alive following a zombie uprising.
The show was conceived as an ensemble piece, made up of a collection of different characters, but the lead star of the series was Rick Grimes – a former sheriff played by Andrew Lincoln. Other notable characters who became key players in the series, included Daryl Dixon, Carol Peletier, Maggie Greene, Glenn Rhee, and Michonne.
Initially The Walking Dead followed the comics fairly closely, ticking off specific storylines, but over time the show began to forge its own path. Characters came and went, different ideas and concepts were thrown into the mix, and audiences followed along with keen interest.
What was perhaps most surprising, was just how popular the show became with mainstream audiences. The Walking Dead is a horror series, the sort of thing which usually attracts a niche following, yet viewers of all ages and from all different walks of life connected with it.
And because The Walking Dead was so popular, it was soon accompanied by a collection of spin-off shows. The first of these shows was Fear the Walking Dead, which debuted in 2015.
More spin-offs followed, and over time The Walking Dead amassed a sizeable collection of shows. Eventually, this turned The Walking Dead into its own universe, with shared characters and plotlines.
Did you follow along? Nope? Well don’t worry – there’s still time.
In this post, I am taking a look at The Walking Dead franchise, with a run-through of all the different shows. This way, if you’re new to The Walking Dead, but are keen to dive in, you’ll know what shows to watch and in what order they first appeared.
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The Walking Dead universe
As noted above, the first show to appear in The Walking Dead universe was The Walking Dead, which aired its very first episode on Halloween night back in 2010. This initial instalment was one episode of a six-part series, which concluded in December of the same year.
With the first season being a big hit with viewers, a second season of 13 episodes was quickly put into production, airing from October 2011 onward. This then led to a third season in 2012, which expanded the episode count up to 16, with a fourth and fifth season following in 2013 and 2014 respectively.
With The Walking Dead continuing to grow in popularity, and it becoming clear that audiences were invested in the premise, AMC were keen to expand the universe via a spin-off show called Fear the Walking Dead. The show would initially start off as a prequel series, which would focus on a family who experience the horror of the zombie apocalypse from the very beginning.
The first season of Fear the Walking Dead aired in 2015, a few months before season six of The Walking Dead hit screens. For the next couple of years, the shows would then alternate, as Fear the Walking Dead continued for seasons two and three, and The Walking Dead progressed through seasons seven and eight.
With its fourth season in 2018, Fear the Walking Dead went through a soft reboot. Instead of being a prequel series, focusing on the early days of the apocalypse, the show jumped forward in time to catch up with the events of The Walking Dead.
The two shows then ran concurrently moving forward as they aired through seasons four and five of Fear the Walking Dead, and nine and ten of The Walking Dead.
In 2020, AMC released another spin-off series called The Walking Dead: World Beyond. The series was set ten years after the apocalypse, and focused on a group of teenagers growing up in a world ravaged by zombies.
The Walking Dead: World Beyond was not a big hit with viewers and the show concluded in 2021 after two seasons. Meanwhile, in the same year, The Walking Dead began airing its eleventh and final season, bringing the original show to an end after an impressive run of 177 episodes.
However, this was far from the end of the road for The Walking Dead universe. Fear the Walking Dead remained on air and further spin-offs soon followed.
One of these spin-offs was the anthology series, Tales of the Walking Dead. This show was centred around a mix of new and existing characters, telling standalone tales about their fight for survival.
The next spin-off to arrive was The Walking Dead: Dead City, which hit screens in 2023. The Walking Dead: Dead City was conceived as a direct follow-up to The Walking Dead, focusing on two key characters from the original series: Maggie Greene and Negan.
Later in 2023, the next spin-off show began airing, under the title: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. As the title suggested, the show focused on fan-favourite character, Daryl Dixon (as played by Norman Reedus), with the series also picking up after the events of The Walking Dead.
Although The Walking Dead had covered a lot of ground since its debut in 2010, and some of the initial interest from viewers had dropped off over time, the universe continued producing spin-off shows. The next spin-off show would be The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, which hits screens in 2024, and focuses on the continuing journey of legacy characters, Rick Grimes and Michonne.
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Series breakdown
To date, the shows/seasons within The Walking Dead universe are as follows:
- The Walking Dead – Eleven seasons/177 episodes
- Fear the Walking Dead – Eight seasons/109 episodes
- The Walking Dead: World Beyond – Two seasons/20 episodes
- Tales of the Walking Dead – One season/6 episodes
- The Walking Dead: Dead City – One season/6 episodes
- The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – Two seasons/12 episodes
- The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live – One season/6 episodes
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The Walking Dead shows in order
If you have never watched any of The Walking Dead shows before, and you are only now just finding your way into this little universe, hopefully the following show/season list will ease you in nicely. This list of The Walking Dead shows is presented in original airing order.
- The Walking Dead: Season One (2010)
- The Walking Dead: Season Two (2011 – 2012)
- The Walking Dead: Season Three (2012 – 2013)
- The Walking Dead: Season Four (2013 – 2014)
- The Walking Dead: Season Five (2014 – 2015)
- Fear the Walking Dead: Season One (2015)
- The Walking Dead: Season Six (2015 – 2016)
- Fear the Walking Dead: Season Two (2016)
- The Walking Dead: Season Seven (2016 – 2017)
- Fear the Walking Dead: Season Three (2017)
- The Walking Dead: Season Eight (2017 – 2018)
- Fear the Walking Dead: Season Four (2018)
- The Walking Dead: Season Nine (2018 – 2019)
- Fear the Walking Dead: Season Five (2019)
- The Walking Dead: Season Ten (2019 – 2021)
- The Walking Dead: World Beyond: Season One (2020)
- Fear the Walking Dead: Season Six (2020 – 2021)
- The Walking Dead: Season Eleven (2021 – 2022)
- The Walking Dead: World Beyond: Season Two (2021)
- Fear the Walking Dead: Season Seven (2021 – 2022)
- Tales of the Walking Dead: Season One (2022)
- Fear the Walking Dead: Season Eight (2023)
- The Walking Dead: Dead City: Season One (2023)
- The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon: Season One (2023)
- The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live: Season One (2024)
- The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon: Season Two – The Book of Carol (2024)
Please note: I’ve listed the shows and seasons of The Walking Dead franchise in the best order possible, taking into account their original air dates. However, please bear in mind as some shows are linked, a couple of crossovers may take place within the seasons that don’t match up 100%.
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Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this post about The Walking Dead – I hope it has proved useful. For more posts, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.
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