Grading Fall Television’s Hits And Misses

Photo Credit: AMC

The Walking Dead — D-

The hit zombie show was a massive disappointment to fans in its eighth season. With a petition circulating online to get show runner, Scott Gimple, fired things look like they’re getting worse for AMC. Creatively out of breath, the series has struggled to craft a compelling story despite the comic books remaining popular. The story has stalled greatly and it seems like they’re unsure of what the direction of the show will be. Can they afford to kill off anymore characters without losing the rest of their fans? Not to mention Negan has been completely underwhelming as villain and continues to be a disappointment rather than the evil figure conjured up in the books.

Spoilers ahead!

Chandler Riggs’ exit from the series has been met with resounding anger, especially considering the circumstances around his departure. Since his character is alive in the comics, fans were upset at how much the show has grown from its canon. However the real anger seems to stem from how the producers led Riggs to believe he would be on the show for a while, only to drop this bombshell on him this season.

It will be interesting to see how this effects the show in the longterm as well as the viewership. Considering this has been the lowest rated season of the series thus far, it looks like AMC is going to have to make some dramatic changes if it hopes to keep their zombie show as one of the best shows on network television.