FEAR THE WALKING DEAD Makes Cable Ratings History, But...

Well, we all tuned in to see the beginning of the zombie apocalypse on the series premiere of Fear The Walking Dead. Or what AMC calls "The companion series to The Walking Dead." What we got was a well developed 90-minute premiere that detailed out the characters in the upcoming six-episode season, with a peppering of nuances showing us the first few cases of people going zombie.

Keep in mind that zombies will be looking a lot better in this show, since they haven't been dead for that long.

With that said, Fear The Walking Dead became the most watched series premiere ever, on cable, drawing in just over 10 million viewers on Sunday.

I can only assume the "Live+?" numbers will be just as impressive.

And it is cool to see these numbers, but I am worried.

I am worried that this slow burn they're introducing is going to be more of a complicated family dynamic burdened by sidebar zombie issues. The producers have said we won't be seeing that many zombies right away, and if the first episode is any clue, well, I see what they mean.

For me, I love well thought out slow-burn stories, but the TV mindset of viewers is what makes reality-TV so popular.  Simple, quick and to the point stories or events is what sells on television because no one wants to commit or invest in complicated plots.


Back in the day I used to watch shows that took most of a season to resolve issues, but now-a-days, most jaw-dropping events take one or two episodes to resolve.

or as they've become accustomed to doing, the slow-burn plot points are secondary or third in the line of subjects for any episode.

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My concern is that folks won't want to tune in to watch these family dynamics pan out. They don't want to see how the loser, drug-addled son deals with his problem while the zombie storm develops in the background.

Though it is frustrating and funny to see him freak out about what he's seeing, or thinks he's seeing. And mom is just plain stubborn, or at least was.

I think this series is something they did not want to be exactly like The Walking Dead,. What would be the point there?  What I believe is they've changed it up to help it stand out on its own. With TWD, we watched people come together while dealing with hungry dead people. (I see dead people... ya! No shit!)  But here, we're seeing this premise taken from a different angle.

Remember now, the events you're seeing in FTWD are taking place while Rick from TWD is in his coma. (He misses all the fun sometimes.)

So there's that.  Let's see just how stubborn FTWD fans really are. Will they stick around knowing what's coming up and wanting to see it? Or will they tune out and come back for the season finale like 50% of all TV viewers seem to do?

The ratings for Fear The Walking Dead over the next few weeks will seal the deal on this question.

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