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Trivia / The Walking Dead (2010)

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  • Acting for Two:
    • Andrew Lincoln plays The Hero Rick Grimes, but he also had an uncredited role as a British radio announcer in "What Happened and What's Going On".
    • Addy Miller, who played the very first walker in the pilot episode’s opening, returns several years later in the eighth season premiere as another walker. This was done as part of the episode’s Milestone Celebration of the show’s 100th episode.
    • Joshua Mikel, who played Savior Jared, was also a walker in Season 2, which is ironic since Jared ends up being Devoured by the Horde.
    • Scott Dale played one of the National Guardsmen who was killed by The Governor and the Claimer Lou, who was killed by Rick.
    • Bob Fisher also plays two members of the National Guard group.
    • Chandler Riggs, who starred as Carl, also was allowed to play a background extra in the Grand Finale.
  • Actor-Inspired Element:
    • A lot of Ryan Hurst's ideas for Beta ended up being used, including his backstory as a country singer, his Whisperer creed that he used to get into character (see Throw It In! below) and his character's death, embracing his demise and being at peace as the walkers eat him.
    • Connie telling Kelly that losing her hearing "isn't a disability, it's a damn superpower!" is something Angel Theory's mother told her when she started losing her hearing.
    • Lauren Ridloff has cooperated extensively with the showrunners to ensure the show’s portrayal of Connie’s deafness is accurate.
  • Actor Leaves, Character Dies:
    • Dale. Jeffrey DeMunn, who was a long-time collaborator and friend with showrunner Frank Darabont, asked to be written out when Darabont was axed. He later had second thoughts, but by then it was too late.
    • Tyreese. Chad L. Coleman was written out of the show because he got a major part in The Expanse.
    • Noah. Tyler James Williams was written out of the show after being cast in Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.
    • Inverted with Sasha. Sonequa Martin-Green was cast as the lead of Star Trek: Discovery, and the virtual death sentence for the character did not go unnoticed by fans after the announcement. Sasha did indeed die, reanimate and be slain for good in the seventh season finale. But Martin-Green later revealed she only took the role on Discovery after learning her character would be killed off.
    • Zigzagged with Heath. He was Put on a Bus due to his actor Corey Hawkins suffering an injury, and later stayed gone because Hawkins was cast in a leading role on 24.
  • Actor-Shared Background:
    • Glenn reveals his family is from Michigan with Korean ancestry, just like his actor Steven Yeun.
    • Paola Lázaro asked the producers if Princess (who is Mexican-American in the comics) could be given Adaptational Nationality to represent her own Puerto Rican heritage. They obliged her.
  • Adored by the Network: A very odd case, given how much The Walking Dead flip flops between this trope and Screwed by the Network. On the one hand, AMC runs marathons of the show much more frequently than some of their other series, like Mad Men, The Killing, and Breaking Bad, has a discussion panel after new episodes air with The Talking Dead, and even aired an altered black and white version of the pilot episode to reflect the comic's visual style, due to popular demand from the fanbase. Given the show's very high ratings for a cable network, none of this is a surprise. On the other hand, as of 2012, two showrunners have been released from The Walking Dead over behind-the-scenes issues. While it is clear that this series is AMC's ratings making baby, the executive decisions look series destroying, which has fans worried. Still, the ratings keep growing, as do the marathons.
  • Author's Saving Throw:
    • Despite showrunner Scott Gimple and creator Robert Kirkman vehemently defending the Season 6 cliffhanger, the negative fan reception was so massive that after a few months, Kirkman would admit that they would never end a season the same way again.
    • As the final season premiered, fans grew wary of AMC+ releasing new episodes a week early, and worried that the Grand Finale would also be released a week early as with what happened with World Beyond. Not only would this result in spoilers being rampant across the internet for a week for those who didn’t pay for the streaming service (effectively holding them hostage for not paying extra), but it would rob the fandom of experiencing the final episode together. After over a year of fans voicing their concerns (and showrunners Scott Gimple and Angela Kang agreeing with the fan sentiments), at NYCC 2022, AMC finally confirmed that the Grand Finale would not release a week early on AMC+, and would instead be released simultaneously with the episode’s broadcast.
  • Baby Name Trend Starter: The series made Ezekiel gain popularity again after lingering in obscurity for many years. In 2018, it made the top 100 baby names.
  • Billing Displacement: Subverted. The main cast members in the opening title sequence are listed in the order they became promoted to main character. This is why Melissa McBride, despite having been on the show since the beginning, is billed after Lauren Cohan, for one example, since Cohan’s character became a main character before McBride’s.
    • After leaving and then returning to the show in Season 10, Cohan is now billed after McBride in the credits.
  • Breakup Breakout:
    • Steven Yeun has done quite alright for himself since leaving the series, becoming a critical darling (that includes an Oscar nomination) while still retaining commercial success.
    • Jon Bernthal has also been pretty active since his departure from the show, working consistently in big projects whilst getting his fair share of acclaim, notably as Frank Castle/The Punisher in two Marvel Netflix series.
  • Casting Gag: A Facebook ad called Negan a “bat” man, in reference to Jeffrey Dean Morgan portraying Thomas Wayne in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. In Flashpoint, Thomas himself even became Batman.
  • Cast the Runner-Up:
    • Jon Bernthal was asked to audition for Rick Grimes before being cast as Shane Walsh (which was actually the role he hoped to get to play).
    • Ethan Embry, who plays Carter in the Season 6 premiere, originally auditioned for the roles of Rick and Shane.
    • Subverted with Norman Reedus. Although the role of Merle Dixon had already been given to Michael Rooker, he was asked to read Merle's lines as part of his audition and wowed Frank Darabont so much that he created the role of Daryl for him.
    • Ted Huckabee, who plays Alexandria resident Bruce, also auditioned for the role of Merle Dixon, as well.
    • Laurie Holden was originally asked to audition for the role of Lori Grimes before she was cast as Andrea.
    • Chad L. Coleman originally auditioned for the role of Morgan Jones. Similar to Reedus, he impressed the producers and was cast to play Tyreese when the character debuted in Season 3.
    • Sonequa Martin-Green originally auditioned for the role of Michonne. Showrunner Glen Mazzara enjoyed her performance and created the part of Sasha for her to play.
    • Markice Moore, who plays the prisoner Andrew in Season 3, originally auditioned for the role of T-Dog.
    • Ross Marquand (Aaron) and Daniel Bonjour (Aiden Monroe) were among those who auditioned for Gareth.
    • Ian Cassellberry, who played Gabe, the Savior guard who went to go retrieve Craig before being killed by Michonne, originally auditioned for the role of Tomas, a part that eventually went to Nick Gomez.
    • Dan Fogler originally auditioned to play the Savior Jed, who ended up being played by Rhys Coiro, while Fogler ended up playing Luke.
    • Angel Theory originally auditioned for Connie. The producers liked her so much they gave Kelly a Gender Flip and reimagined the character as Connie's sister to accommodate Theory.
    • Rutina Wesley auditioned for Michonne and ended up playing Jocelyn, an old friend of Michonne's, in Season 9's "Scars".
    • Ritchie Coster auditioned to play Bob Stookey, Abraham, and Negan before he was cast as Pope for Season 11.
  • The Cast Showoff:
    • We see the Governor golfing in "Walk With Me". David Morrissey, the actor portraying him is reportedly the best golfer in the cast.
    • Because Emily Kinney is a trained singer, Beth gets a couple big singing scenes in the Season 3 episodes "Seed" and "I Ain't a Judas", and then again in Season 4's "Alone".
    • Andrew Lincoln is a known voice-artist in the U.K., so the show gave him an uncredited role as a British radio announcer in "What Happened and What's Going On".
  • Cowboy BeBop at His Computer: IGN’s review of the Season 11 premiere erroneously listed Princess’s actress as “Juanita Sanchez”, ignorant of the fact that is Princess’s actual name and that the character is played by Paola Lázaro. Reviewer Matt Fowler evidently had lost interest in the series by this point as this ended up being the final review done for an episode of the series.
  • Creator Backlash:
    • Robert Kirkman hates “TS-19” due to it giving a mundane explanation for the origin of the walker plague (in that it originated out of nowhere just like any other virus), since he had been deadset on never revealing the cause of the walker outbreak.
    • Jeffrey DeMunn was angry at the firing of his friend Frank Darabont as showrunner and quit the show in protest. He later had second thoughts, but by then it was too late to undo the death that had been arranged for his character.
    • Laurie Holden was disappointed with how her arc in Season 3 turned out, though she at least praised Scott Gimple for giving her character a respectable death rather than the more anti-climactic one that was originally scripted (see the What Could Have Been page for more details).
    • In a downplayed example, Robert Kirkman apologized for the death of Hershel since not only was the character so beloved, but his actor as well (to the point that Hershel had already survived two intended deaths in previous seasons due to how much everyone loved Wilson and his performance). Kirkman noted with regret after Hershel's death that he would miss having Wilson around on set.
    • Danai Gurira, Chandler Riggs, and Michael Cudlitz have all expressed some manner of disapproval or sympathy with the fan backlash towards the cliffhanger of the sixth season.
    • Andrew Lincoln admitted that the show may have gone too far with the level of gore in the Season 7 premiere. Michael Cudlitz also doesn't think that both Glenn and Abraham should have died, believing at least one of them should have survived the episode. Former cast member Chad L. Coleman stopped watching the show after this episode.
    • Majority of the cast were not pleased over the decision to kill off Carl midway through Season 8. Andrew Lincoln, specifically, criticizes this decision as it effectively renders his character Rick's entire arc moot, even saying that he had a Heroic BSoD when told about it over the phone.
    • Both Xander Berkeley and Tom Payne voiced dissatisfaction with their stagnant roles in the series (particularly during Season 8), and were candid with showrunners Scott Gimple and Angela Kang about it. They both essentially asked to either have more development/screentime or to just be killed off to help the narrative. Kang obliged them by killing both of them off in Season 9. The season would've likely been the last for Berkeley anyway given his character died at the same time in the source material, but Payne's character, who survived the entirety of the comic's run, suffered a Death by Adaptation.
    • AMC has admitted that Season 7 being a long, brutal, and dark season focused on Negan dominating the heroes after the already cruel deaths of Glenn and Abraham was extremely hard for fans to endure, and that they can understand why some viewers tuned out - enough that the Season 7 premiere was the point of no return for the show’s ratings which have declined ever since.
    • Jeffrey Dean Morgan was hesitant to do the scenes in "Acheron, Part I" where Negan brings up Glenn and later abandons Maggie in a precarious situation because he thought it would damage any goodwill the audience had built towards the character, especially after seeing a more sympathetic side of him in "Here's Negan".
    • Norman Reedus admitted that the fallout from COVID-19 and Season 11 being announced as the final season resulted in the Daryl/Leah pairing feeling "a little rushed."
    • Several cast members expressed exhaustion from the back-to-back shooting schedule for the extended run of Season 10 and 11 necessitated by COVID-era protocols, and even found themselves not feeling as emotional as they likely should be given the filming of the Grand Finale.
    • Jeffrey Dean Morgan was baffled as to why AMC would announce a Negan and Maggie-focused spin-off before the airing of the Grand Finale, all but confirming the characters would survive the series.
    • Khary Payton has always been on “Team Fuck Negan”, explaining that he’s never been a fan of the character’s Heel–Face Turn and relished a scene in Season 11 in which Ezekiel called out Negan for his past atrocities, specifically his forced harems. He also left the series unsatisfied with Ezekiel’s journey, and wants the opportunity to play him again in any future spin-offs.
    • Dan Fogler was irritated over not being told that he was coming back in Season 11 just to get killed off in the finale, only finding out on set from a producer during rehearsal of the penultimate episode. Though he did have praise for the way his character's actual death was handled and credited his fellow actors for giving it their all during the emotional scene.
    • Jeffrey Dean Morgan took issue with Negan getting married off-screen in Season 11, finding it to be out-of-character and a letdown after the heartbreaking end to his marriage with Lucille.
  • The Danza:
  • Dawson Casting:
    • Maggie started the series at 22, when her actress, Lauren Cohan, was 29.
    • Beth started the series at 16, when her actress, Emily Kinney, was 26.
    • Downplayed with Andrea. She started the series at 36, when her actress, Laurie Holden, was 40.
    • Randall is stated to be 20 in a deleted scene, while his actor Michael Zegen was around 33 at the time of filming.
    • Prison newcomer Patrick's age range is 15 to 17-years-old, while his actor Vincent Martella was 21 when he first played him.
    • Noah is at the youngest 17 when he first appears, while Tyler James Williams was 22 when he started out on the show.
  • Dear Negative Reader:
    • Robert Kirkman and Scott Gimple have passively criticized the fan backlash towards the Season 6 finale cliffhanger, as they were surprised the decision had such intense negative reception. The day after the episode aired, Gimple criticized fans for being cynical about the decision. In August, Kirkman would begrudgingly admit that it was unlikely Season 7 or future seasons would end in a similar manner after such massive negative reception.
    • Jeffrey Dean Morgan has been known to bite back when backlash against him or the show has grown vitriolic enough.
  • Development Gag: In Season 11’s “Warlords”, Ian accuses Aaron, Gabriel, and Carlson of being cannibals there to kill and eat his people. Aaron is particularly disgusted by this. Ross Marquand actually read for the part of Gareth, leader of the cannibalistic Hunters, back in Season 4.
  • Directed by Cast Member: Well, former cast member. Season 9's "Stradivarius", Season 10's "Silence the Whisperers" and "Open Your Eyes", and Season 11's "Rogue Element" are all directed by Michael Cudlitz, who portrayed Abraham until the character's death in the Season 7 premiere.
  • Disabled Character, Disabled Actor:
    • Connie's actress Lauren Ridloff is also deaf in real life.
    • Angel Theory, who plays Connie's sister and interpreter Kelly, is hard of hearing. The Season 10 premiere reveals that Kelly is also losing her hearing, likely due to the same genetic trait as Connie.
  • Dueling Shows:
    • Despite being very different in tone, the fact that they're both about the Zombie Apocalypse makes this inevitable with Z Nation. In terms of sheer popularity Walking Dead is the clear winner, but Z Nation did have a good five-season run and has been getting a push from Netflix in the form of a prequel series titled Black Summer. Furthermore, Z Nation has less than one-third the budget per episode, and was made for a much less prestigious network.
    • Another example is with HBO's Game of Thrones. Both shows are wildly popular adaptations of ongoing series known for the idea that Anyone Can Die. One of the subplots even involve zombie attacks not unlike The Walking Dead. Comparisons were instantly drawn between the fakeout deaths of Glenn Rhee and Jon Snow.
  • Dyeing for Your Art:
    • Michael Rooker has been a pretty big guy for years, and was perfect for Merle in Season 1. He then lost twenty pounds to play Merle post-amputation in Season 3.
    • Blonde Michael Cudlitz regularly dyed his hair red to play Abraham Ford.
    • Blonde Josh McDermitt dyed his hair brown to play Eugene Porter. Strangely, Eugene is actually blonde in the comics, with even creator Robert Kirkman being confused at the change. When McDermitt posed the question to Scott Gimple at Comic-Con, he replied that he felt Eugene had been "spiritually" written as a dark-haired character.
    • Samantha Morton actually had her head shaved for her role as Alpha.
  • Enforced Method Acting:
    • The Talking Dead recap for the episode "Prey" revealed that this was used to great effect in the warehouse scene between Andrea and The Governor. Laurie Holden had the general idea of what David Morrissey was going to do in the scene but had no clue WHEN he was going to do it. As a result her surprised reactions when he busted out the glass and his all around creepiness were all real.
    • Addy Miller returned for the eighth season premiere to play another walker after playing the first walker seen in the pilot's Cold Open. To prevent Andrew Lincoln from recognizing her and impacting his performance, her scene was shot on a different set than where Lincoln and Chandler Riggs were filming, despite all three being a part of the same location.
    • Lauren Ridloff revealed on Talking Dead that Connie and Kelly's reunion in "On the Inside" was the first time she and Angel Theory interacted in person since she left over a year earlier to film Eternals, as well as since the COVID-19 pandemic began. She asked director Greg Nicotero to keep them apart on set until time came to shoot the scene to make the emotions they were feeling more authentic.
  • Executive Meddling:
    • Conflicts with AMC regarding the second season's budget eventually resulted in the departure of pilot director and first season showrunner Frank Darabont.
    • There was planned to be a twelfth and final season, but AMC cancelled the series a year early, forcing the Reaper arc to be shortened to just the first eight episodes when they were intended to be the villains of a complete eleventh season.
  • Fake American:
  • Fake Shemp:
    • An extra is made up to resemble Beth in Season 9’s “What Comes After”, but she is only seen lying face down with her never facing the camera.
    • Yumiko is only heard or played by a double in "Splinter" due to Eleanor Matsuura (who lives in the UK) not being able to film due to COVID regulations during the episode’s production.
  • Fatal Method Acting: Stuntman John Bernecker was killed in a stunt-gone-wrong during production of Season 8, which led to production being halted for a while.
  • Friendship on the Set: The cast of the show has notoriously gotten along very well, to the point of "TWDFamily" becoming a popular hashtag for cast pictures. Newcomers have reported being instantly welcomed by the long time cast members and many of the cast have been spotted hanging around offset even after the end of the show.
  • Hide Your Pregnancy:
    • Sonequa Martin-Green was pregnant while shooting Season 5, and covered it up by wearing the late Bob's jacket and carrying larger guns.
    • Alanna Masterson was pregnant while shooting Season 6. It's the reason why Tara was never given a full body shot, and was eventually Put on a Bus in the second half of the season.
    • Christian Serratos was pregnant while shooting Season 8.
    • Eleanor Matsuura was pregnant during the latter parts of Season 11, necessitating her wearing large, bulky jackets and several close-ups as opposed to full body shots. It works until the Grand Finale in which her very visible belly is seen during the epilogue. Matsuura alluded that Yumiko might have been pregnant through in-vitro fertilization and that she and Magna were trying to start a family (for what it's worth, Yumiko is the only one of the group not shown holding a wine glass or beer bottle).
  • In Memoriam:
    • The Season 8 premiere was dedicated to stuntman John Bernecker, who died during production of the season.
    • The Season 9 premiere was dedicated to Hershel's actor Scott Wilson, who died the day before the episode aired. Due to Wilson dying less than 24 hours before broadcast, the dedication was only able to be inserted between the episode’s end and its’ credits for its airing, as evidenced by how the dedication does not appear on any home release/streaming service release of the episode.
  • Irony as She Is Cast:
  • I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine:
  • Killed by Request:
    • After the firing of his friend and frequent collaborator Frank Darabont, Jeffrey DeMunn asked to be written out of the show in protest. He later had second thoughts, but production was too far along to save him as his character was now being killed off and his storylines being given to other characters.
    • Both Tom Payne and Xander Berkeley hated their repetitive minor roles in Season 8 and asked Season 9's new showrunner Angela Kang to either give them something interesting to do (as well as something to do in general), or kill them off to help the narrative. Kang picked the latter, having their characters killed off, though Berkeley was likely on his way out anyway given his character died at the equivalent of Season 9 in the comics.
    • Christian Serratos pushed for Rosita to die in the series finale to give the episode an emotional punch to go with most of the other characters getting a happy ending. She also wanted proper closure after playing the character for such a long time.
  • Lying Creator: The crew was adamant for months that Sasha's actress being cast in Star Trek: Discovery didn't mean she was going to die at the end of Season 7.
  • Meaningful Release Date: The tenth season finale “Here’s Negan”, an adaptation of the comic one-shot of Negan’s origin story, aired on April 4th, 2021; one day after the five year anniversary of the airing of Season 6’s finale “Last Day on Earth”, which introduced Negan.
  • Milestone Celebration: The Season 8 premiere is also the show's 100th episode. To commemorate the occasion, “Mercy” contains a Shot-for-Shot Remake of the very first scene of the series, is full of call-backs and references to the show’s early days, and also brings back the actress who played the first walker seen onscreen (see Acting for Two) as another walker.
  • On-Set Injury: Norman Reedus was injured three times during filming. First in 2015, while filming the episode "Them" where he suffered a nasty cut on his arm that spilled. It was captured by the cameras, but didn't make the final cut. Then while filming the 11th and final season he suffered a cut on his face during a fight scene. In March 2022, while filming the final episodes, he suffered a concussion, though it is not known if it was during filming.
  • The Other Darrin:
    • The show is dubbed in Filipino on two different studios with completely different set of cast.
    • The Season 8 finale features a flashback scene with Rick and Carl set a number of years before the series began while Rick is writing to a deceased Carl. For obvious reasons, Carl is not portrayed by Chandler Riggs in that scene (though the actor playing Carl there is never facing the camera).
    • After the second time skip in Season 9, the actor playing Henry is replaced (by his real-life brother, no less).
  • Playing Against Type:
  • Production Posse: Some of the crew, such as writers Eddie Guzelian and Matthew Negrete, and writer/showrunner Scott M. Gimple, previously worked on cartoons Fillmore! and American Dragon: Jake Long.
  • Promoted Fanboy:
    • Both Steven Yeun and Jeffrey Dean Morgan were fans of the comics way before they were cast in the show. Alas, it's only appropriate that one of the most iconic scenes in the source material involving their respective characters got retained.
    • Tom Payne was a fan of the comics and a massive fan of the character he ended up portraying, Paul "Jesus" Rovia. He ended up growing frustrated with how the character had comparatively little to do in the show than in the comics, having learned martial arts and advanced fighting techniques to match the character's skills only to have a minor role in the series.
    • Josh McDermitt and Ross Marquand were excited to join the cast of one of their favorite shows.
    • Lauren Ridloff had been a fan of the show since the beginning, noting how she would ask her husband to record episodes of the show she missed while she was busy putting their kids to sleep.
    • Dan Fogler is a fan of the comics and was blown away when he stepped foot on the Alexandria set and saw how much it resembled the drawings from the source material.
    • Cassady McClincy and Teo Rapp-Olsson were fans of the show prior to joining in Seasons 9 and 11, respectively.
    • Yvette Nicole Brown, who had been a longtime fan of the series and one of the most frequent guests on Talking Dead (even briefly taking over hosting duties for a time), voices a Commonwealth trooper in Season 11’s “Outpost 22”.
  • Reality Subtext:
    • As explained in this interview (spoilers, obviously), Sarah Wayne Callies was informed of Lori Grimes' death while working at a refugee camp in Thailand, preoccupied with "issues about medical care and gender safety." This makes Lori's Death by Childbirth — a fate that modern medical technology has largely eliminated in the Western world, but which is still all too common in places like a Thai refugee camp — all the more ironic.
    • Part of Henry's storyline is him having to deal with a dead older brother. Both his actors' sister played Sophia in the first two seasons, so in a way, he also has a "dead older sibling" behind the scenes.
    • Andrew Lincoln said in an interview that he did not take the decision to kill-off his onscreen son well.
    • The series is well-known for having "death dinners" for cast members whose characters have been killed off the show. The finale has the group celebrating with a dinner where they give toast to the fallen Luke. It's also a last meal for Rosita, who has been bitten and dies soon after.
  • Real-Life Relative:
    • Madison (who plays Sophia) and Macsen (who plays Henry) Lintz are siblings. Bonus for their brother Matthew Lintz playing Henry after the second Time Skip in Season 9.
    • The original Filipino voice actors of Hershel and Maggie Greene are brother and sister.
    • The Morales children are played by real life siblings Maddie and Noah Lomax.
    • Sasha is played by Sonequa Martin-Green and Scott by Kenric Green. The two are married in real life, though their characters are never seen interacting.
    • Negan's wife, Lucille, is played by Hilarie Burton, who is Jeffrey Dean Morgan's real-life wife. He had hoped that they would cast her in the part.
    • Jeffrey Dean Morgan's son Gus appears in "Out of the Ashes" as the walker that the Alexandrian kids are playing with at the breach in the community's wall.
    • Khary Payton's daughter Maya cameos in "New Haunts" as Celeste, the girl who wins the costume contest dressed as Mercer.
    • Okea Eme-Akwari's brother Onye appears in the penultimate episode as Trooper Anton.
    • Khary Payton's son Eli plays Eugene and Max's daughter Rosie in the series finale.
  • Real Life Writes the Hairstyle: Christian Serratos actually had cut bangs into her hair while filming Selena: The Series which occurred during Season 10C. As a result, you can clearly see that while Rosita doesn't have bangs, the hair framing her face is much shorter than the rest of her hair.
  • Real Life Writes the Plot:
    • Heath plays a minor role in his tenure in the series and is ultimately written out of the show after one season due to his actor Corey Hawkins getting cast as the lead of the 24 reboot and also sustaining a leg injury during the filming of Season 6.
    • The reason Tara is absent from the final episodes of season six is likely because Alanna Masterson's pregnancy (which was visible from Tara's first appearance in the season, and Masterson obviously gained weight as the season went on) was in its final days around the time of filming.
    • Negan has facial hair in his debut because Jeffrey Dean Morgan was an eleventh hour casting and reportedly literally went to film the day after getting cast. He later shaves it off during mid-Season 7.
    • Following in Alanna Masterson's footsteps, Rosita is shot during the Season 7 finale and is last seen recovering in Alexandria's medical office. She is out of commission for much of the first half of Season 8 due to Christian Serratos being heavily pregnant around the time the season began filming.
    • Subverted in the case of Chandler Riggs. As he grew to be a young adult, fans questioned his being able to juggle the show with other commitments such as college, which he had already delayed to continue filming. In a shocking turn, he ends up getting bit and dies midway through Season 8, which fans initially assumed meant he was given the only plausible permanent out he could have gotten in order to focus on college full-time. But then it came out that Riggs had (much like Emily Kinney before him) bought a house close to the filming location and hadn't even been told the decision until days prior to filming it. Tempers flared when Word of God revealed that it was a decision made to patch up an arguably inconsequential plot hole from the comics that fans argue could have been dealt with in a better, smoother way, especially on a show hit with complaints of countless plot holes already.
    • Connie is absent for several episodes in Season 10 to accomodate Lauren Ridloff's shooting schedule for Eternals.
    • As post-production on the Season 10 finale neared completion and with the COVID-19 pandemic still a ways off from ending, it became evident that filming for Season 11 could not progress as intended note . Since Season 11 was unlikely to arrive until fall 2021 at the earliest, the show decided to produce an extended six-episode run of Season 10 to fill the gap between seasons. These episodes were produced with the necessary precautions needed due to the pandemic and as such are smaller stories with less characters so that the cast and crew could produce them safely.
    • Adding onto this, Yumiko has the smallest role in “Splinter” and is The Voice for most of the episode, since Eleanor Matsuura could not leave the UK to attend filming due to travel restrictions.
    • Rosita is mentioned but not seen in the last few episodes of Season 10 due to Christian Serratos being busy filming Selena: The Series.
    • Luke is absent from the last six episodes of Season 10 and almost all of Season 11 due to Dan Fogler's schedule for the third Fantastic Beasts movie.
    • Season 11’s production during 2021 was marred by a wave of reluctance regarding the COVID-19 vaccines coinciding with and aiding the rise of the Delta variant, meaning that while episodes did not have as many restrictions as the extended run of Season 10, some elements could not make it into the show as had been planned and the production crew had to change certain filming techniques. Most large crowd shots, for example, are digital due to the continued need for social distancing and the season continues to mostly film either indoors (in more controlled environments) or in wide open areas to prevent transmission.
  • Referenced by...:
  • Romance on the Set:
    • Khary Payton (Ezekiel) and makeup artist Tracy Swiatly met on the show and have since had a son together.
    • Cassady McClincy (Lydia) and Cameron Roberts (Tyler Davis) dated after appearing on the show together (though, interestingly enough, never shared a scene).
  • Screwed by the Network:
    • Laurie Holden was contracted since the beginning to appear for seven seasons and was even told that her character will eventually end-up with The Hero Rick as was in the source material. She was written shoddily in Seasons 2 and 3 before being killed-off in the latter's Season Finale.
    • AMC announced a spin-off starring Daryl and Carol simultaneously with announcing the series' end with Season 11, removing much of the tension around the characters' fates for the remainder of the series. It got even worse when Dead City, starring Maggie and Negan, was announced before the end of Part 2 of Season 11.
  • Separated-at-Birth Casting:
  • Shrug of God: What caused the outbreak? Kirkman is on record for saying it will never be stated. This is why he hates “TS-19” since it pretty much spelled out that the outbreak was caused by a random virus that emerged completely out of the blue like so many other plagues.
  • Spin-Off Cookbook: The Walking Dead: The Official Cookbook and Survival Guide is a cookbook based off the television series.
  • Spoiled by the Cast List: Anyone who's paid attention to casting announcements for the final season knows that Margot Bingham was cast to play Stephanie (after previously voicing her in Season 10). Thus, when "Stephanie" is introduced at the end of "Acheron, Part II" played by Chelle Ramos, it's a good sign that something's amiss...
  • Spoiler:
    • The details of the Blu-Ray release of the second season were released before Season 2 was over. The blurb said that the release included Shane's last episode. Non-spoiler news story here.
    • AMC's Facebook page accidentally spoiled Beth's death by uploading a graphic featuring Daryl cradling her lifeless body before the episode had aired in certain time zones, not to mention other countries, and had to issue an apology.
    • Foreign FOX affiliates have a reputation for being a lot looser with spoilers than AMC. For example, the Latin American promo for "Inmates" spoiled Judith's survival and Russian FOX spoiled Carl getting shot in the eye in "No Way Out."
    • Promo material for AMC Plus, AMC’s personal streaming website, has begun showing spoilers from episodes that have not received a TV broadcast yet as of Season 11. The ending cliffhanger scene of the premiere was shown, recommending users to join AMC Plus to find out early what happens next. Even more jarring was a trailer that announced the premiere date for the second part of Season 11, utilizing footage from episodes following “For Blood”, which hadn’t aired yet on AMC.
    • After the finale of Part 1 of Season 11, Lynn Collins posted a photo dump of her and her fellow Reaper cast mates, one of which included a photo of Carver’s actor Alex Meraz with blood coming from his mouth and Elijah’s weapon embedded in him, giving away his death.
    • Played With for the Grand Finale. The week before it aired, AMC released a standard batch of images from the then-upcoming episode as usual. Fans quickly noticed a shot of Luke lying on the ground covered in blood, and became enraged that AMC seemingly spoiled his death. However, the episode proper would later reveal that Luke actually dies later in the hospital, after getting bit in the scene the picture showed.
  • Star-Making Role: For Jon Bernthal, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Melissa McBride, Chandler Riggs, Lauren Cohan, Emily Kinney, Danai Gurira, Sonequa Martin-Green, Christian Serratos, Tom Payne, Brighton Sharbino, and Lauren Ridloff (coupled with Eternals).
  • Throw It In!:
    • The barn's collapse in the second season finale was not scripted.
    • In "After", Michonne slaughters an entire herd of over a dozen walkers on her own. Originally, she was scripted to kill only eight walkers onscreen, but director Greg Nicotero was so impressed by her performance he kept letting the scene run. Since she never heard the word "Cut!", Danai Gurira just rolled with it and kept attacking the walkers.
    • Daryl's "You look ridiculous!" comment upon seeing Carol in her Stepford wife outfit in "Remember" was Norman Reedus' actual reaction to seeing Melissa McBride in the getup for the first time. Nicotero told him to say it when they filmed because it was something Daryl would say too.
    • Deanna's last roar of defiance before her death was thrown in by Tovah Feldshuh.
    • Abraham's Defiant to the End final words, "Suck my nuts!", were improvised by Michael Cudlitz.
    • Alpha and Beta’s mantra was actually something Ryan Hurst came up with to get himself into character before shooting. Angela Kang enjoyed it so much she incorporated it into the show.
    • Mercer’s final line in “Faith” was improvised by Michael James Shaw.
    • Chandler Riggs attended one of the final days of filming for the series out of loyalty to the show, and just for the heck of it, was ordered to go play an extra in the background towards the end of the episode.
  • Troubled Production: The series has been a massive hit for AMC, but significant production issues and a rotating stable of showrunners also made it a magnet for controversy:
    • During production of the first season, Frank Darabont reportedly fired his entire writing staff, including executive producer Charles Eglee. While executives with the production were quick to deny the story, sources indicated that Darabont wanted to use freelance writers, but pushback from AMC and possible issues with the Writer's Guild of America convinced him otherwise.
    • The house that was intended to be used as the Hershel residence in Season 2 was initially denied usage by the religious family that owned it, as they saw the series and thought was going to be shown in something that would be trashing religion. It took Darabont stepping in personally to smooth out the matter after the owners couldn't come to an understanding with the production crew.
    • The second-season premiere, "What Lies Ahead", was so fraught with problems that it was described by later showrunner Glen Mazzara as a potential "show-killer" years after the fact in an unsealed deposition. Filming began in earnest during a particularly hot summer, which reportedly caused director Gwyneth Horner-Peyton to suffer from heat stroke and turn in reportedly-unusable footage to AMC (the deleted scenes shown on the DVD and in trailers appear to disprove this claim, as they are mostly well-shot). According to Darabont's own words, he went to Suzie Fitzgerald (AMC's VP of scripted programming) and told her that production would be delayed by three weeks, but she reportedly lied about having the conversation while speaking with cast and crew. Due to the contentious shooting schedule, Darabont attempted to re-edit Horner-Peyton's footage himself, going so far as to use a pseudonym ("Ardeth Bey") in the final cut. Two-thirds of the episode was lopped off in the editing room and the remaining footage was re-edited into the following installment. Additionally, the production crew had to go back and reshoot at least one scene, as evidenced by Rick inexplicably wearing his full sheriff's uniform during the scene where he attempts to radio Morgan.
    • As a result of the contentious season premiere, Darabont was fired as showrunner midway through production of the episode "Secrets" (and just three days after appearing at ComiCon 2011). His departure reportedly caused strife and uncertainty on-set, with all of the cast members staying quiet due to a fear of losing their jobs if they spoke out. Numerous reasons were given for his sacking, some of which he spoke about years later after he sued AMC for unpaid royalties related to his contract:
      • Robert Kirkman has explained in interviews that he was unhappy with how the episode "TS-19" turned out, and reportedly ran into conflict with Darabont because the latter tried to give a scientific explanation for The Virus and hinted at events that were going on elsewhere in the world.
      • According to Darabont's unsealed deposition in 2016, he immediately butted heads with Joel Stillerman (AMC's head of scripted programming) right after joining the series, and that budget cuts and the contentious season premiere were used as an excuse to fire him.
      • Articles written at the time of Darabont's departure also lay blame at the feet of AMC themselves, who were showing favoritism towards Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner by giving him an increased budget for his series while short-shifting others.
      • In an interview given for Jon Bernthal's "Real Ones" podcast in 2023, Sarah Wayne Callies stated that the cast and crew were told that Darabont was fired for being an inexperienced and unprepared showrunner, despite the fact that he had delivered six completed scripts (representing the first half of the season) long before shooting began.
    • Jeffrey DeMunn (who played Dale) was incensed by the network's decision to cut Darabont, and asked to be written out of the show. He later reconsidered, but by that time the writers had his character get killed off near the end of the second season and had no intention of changing their stance.
    • Showrunner Glen Mazzara (who took over production duties from Darabont) left at the end of the third season, which confused many fans who enjoyed the third season's jump in quality. This move was reportedly due to creative differences between Mazzara and AMC over various parts of the episodes. According to one article, Mazzara stalled production several times due to a lack of material to work with, and Kirkman reportedly forced him out at the end of the season.
    • Half of the third-season finale, "Welcome to the Tombs", was reshot months after filming wrapped due to a perceived lack of suspense regarding Andrea's fate (originally, Milton would be shot by the Governor, and would do more to try and free her. Tyreese eventually discovered the undead Milton taking a bite out of Andrea and saved her, but she asks for a gun to kill herself with). It is unknown if this was the incident that caused Mazzara's departure from the production.
    • Residents in Senoia, Georgia (where the Alexandria Safe Zone scenes are filmed) eventually got so fed up that the production crew had taken over a large chunk of town (along with curious fans and on-set spies showing up to sneak video and photos away from the set) that they repeatedly complained to the local city council about it, causing some strife between the town and the production crew.
    • The show had continuous problems with sensitive information and character deaths being leaked months in advance, with efforts to stem the leaks often being for naught. Shane Walsh's death in the second season was spoiled weeks before its airdate by the description of a DVD boxset, while spoilers and speculation ran so rampant on the seventh season premiere (with both Abraham and Glenn falling to Negan's baseball bat) that AMC attempted to level cease-and-desist orders on groups like The Spoiling Dead Fans. It didn't work, and in an effort to stem the leaks, AMC shot multiple death scenes for all of the characters in Negan's lineup, as well as had Michael Cudlitz (Abraham) attend set long after his death scene was shot in an apparent bid to throw off the trail.
    • Filming on Season 8 was suspended when stuntman John Bernecker was killed during a fall gone wrong, landing on a concrete floor on his head. And at the exact same time, some of Darabont's emails from the time he left were leaked to the public, and showed him to be shockingly furious and profane over what he suspected was deliberate sabotage to get him off the show. AMC, for their part, quickly started pointing to this tone as evidence of the erratic behavior that caused them to want to get rid of him.
    • Midway through the eighth season, it was revealed that Chandler Riggs (Carl Grimes) had been let go from the show by producer Scott Gimple, which caused no end to fan complaints. Aside from the manner in which his character leaves the show (Carl is bit in the abdomen while rescuing a character who only debuted in the season premiere), the move was seen as an Ass Pull that wasn't helped by the fact that Carl becomes the de facto lead character in the comics. Though it was originally suggested that Riggs quit the show because he wanted to move to Los Angeles and become a DJ, it was then revealed (in a Facebook post by his father) that Riggs was fired after the producers promised to extend his contract for three more years.
    • The conclusion of the eighth season was marred by a number of controversial developments. Both Andrew Lincoln (Rick) and Lauren Cohan (Maggie) opted not to renew their contracts for the following season and only star in six episodes, with the former reportedly wanting to spend more time with his family and the latter accepting a role on the ABC series Whiskey Cavalier. After significant fan complaints to story developments, showrunner Scott Gimple was Kicked Upstairs while Angela Kang took over as showrunner. Amidst these changes, Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick was temporarily removed from his job after an ex-girlfriend accused him of sexual and emotional abuse.
    • The tenth season was cut short an episode early due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic halting the final stages of post-production on the season finale. The fifteenth episode “The Tower” was forced to become the quasi-season finale, while the following episode and true season finale, “A Certain Doom”, was delayed to air later in 2020.
    • COVID-19 continued to stymie certain plans for the series for the remainder of its’ lifetime, necessitating far less extras and continued use of desolate shooting locations in the woods. COVID protocols also resulted in the extended episodes of Season 10 and the nearly double-length Season 11 being shot back to back, exhausting the cast and crew.
  • Typecasting: Playing Abraham Ford only adds to Michael Cudlitz's long list of military and law enforcement roles.
  • Underage Casting: Angel Theory is implied to be slightly younger than her character, Kelly, who mentions being in high school when the outbreak began; she says this in Season 9, by which point eight years have passed, which would make Kelly at the very youngest 22. Theory was only 19 when she started working on the show.
  • Wag the Director: In the show's last seasons, Norman Reedus has seen his creative suggestions be heeded, most notably asking for Daryl and Negan's final fight with Beta to be reduced from a full fight to an extremely brief confrontation where Daryl quickly kills Beta, and having Daryl kill Leah without saying anything to her.
  • What Could Have Been: Has its own dedicated page.
  • Why the Fandom Can't Have Nice Things:
    • Chris Hardwick, host of Talking Dead regularly lampshades that he receives a lot of hate for the show's faults or transgressions (most notably after the universally panned Season 6 cliffhanger), despite the fact that he has nothing to do with the production of the show.
    • After the end of Season 7, Josh McDermitt deleted his social media accounts because he was getting a lot of hate and death threats over his role of Eugene (who had undergone a Face–Heel Turn that season). McDermitt noted in his last Facebook Live feed that fans are free to wish for the character to die, but he was personally saddened by the death threats directed at him for a character he plays on TV.
    • Alanna Masterson deleted her social media after being attacked due to a weight gain as a result of her pregnancy.
    • Seth Gilliam, Michael Traynor, Austin Amelio, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan have also admitted to receiving hate and death threats for their characters' cowardly or villainous actions (in one particularly outrageous instance, Amelio was threatened with having his house burned down).
    • Lynn Collins received hate on social media due to her character Leah having been revealed to have had a romantic relationship with Daryl during Season 9’s Time Skip, earning the wrath of Caryl (Daryl x Carol) shippers. Perhaps sensing this would happen, AMC had a “takeover” of their social media accounts by Dog, perhaps hoping it would ease the tensions of the inevitable social media backlash.
    • When Melissa McBride exited the planned spin-off revolving around Carol and Daryl, a chunk of the fandom went after Norman Reedus, believing the relocation to Europe for filming that led to McBride’s exit was a decision forced by him. It got bad enough after a few days that AMC stepped in with a statement demanding the fandom desist, confirming that Reedus had no part in the show’s relocation and reiterating that they were looking for appropriate avenues for McBride to continue playing Carol.
  • Word of God: The Talking Dead tie-in talk show interviews with series executives and actors provides a good deal of information not available within the show itself:
    • Creator Robert Kirkman stated that in the universe of the TV show, George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968) was never created, and there was consequently never a boom of Zombie Apocalypse pop culture like in our world. This is why the word "walker" is more commonly used, as none of the characters have any knowledge of the concept of "zombies" in the modern sense of the term.
    • He also confirmed that Raising the Steaks will be averted.
    • According to Talking Dead, Otis was the one who found and corralled the undead Sophia into Hershel's barn, but Shane killed Otis before Otis knew of a missing girl in the group, meaning that the whole search and Daryl's near death was all for naught.
    • Glen Mazzara has stated that T-Dog is a former football player, and that a line in which it was mentioned got cut during the first season.
    • Kirkman revealed in the comics letter page that the Hunters did not get infected from eating Bob's/Dale's "tainted meat", in either the show or comic.
    • The Talking Dead also revealed that the sewer walkers Maggie and Aaron encountered in "Now" were former Alexandria citizens who had been exiled from the community, and bitten while trying to sneak back in.
    • Angela Kang and Scott Gimple affirmed that Rick and Michonne married each other at some point after their Relationship Upgrade.
    • Angela Kang confirmed after Season 9's "What Comes After" that Heath was also traded to the helicopter pilot for supplies, presumably by Jadis/Anne.
    • Greg Nicotero has stated that Grady Memorial Hospital's surviving residents are all dead by the second Time Skip of Season 9, though he did not elaborate on how.
    • Angela Kang confirmed that Gabriel and Rosita broke up offscreen sometime during Season 11C.
    • Dan Fogler said on his podcast that he and director Greg Nicotero played Luke's death as if he died of a broken heart from watching Jules get torn to pieces by the horde.
  • Word of Saint Paul:
    • According to Sonequa Martin-Green, Sasha was a firefighter before the apocalypse.
    • According to Chandler Riggs in his Ask.fm, Carl knows that Ron is dating Enid, which is why he thinks he didn't kiss her in the tree in "Try". It's expanded on more explicitly on-screen during Season 6.

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