The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus weighs in on Andrew Lincoln’s exit
By Derek Johns
Last week fans of The Walking Dead everywhere were shocked to learn leading man Andrew Lincoln will be leaving the show at the end of season 9.
TWD co-star Norman Reedus briefly gave his thoughts on Lincoln’s departure in an Instagram post of the two actors hugging each other on set.
Now that Lincoln is on his way out, by all appearances, Reedus himself is now expected to serve as the main lead for TWD from season 10 onward with AMC allegedly offering him as much as $20 million for season 9.
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Of course, the big question for TWD faithful is what this means for the show going forward. In all likelihood, not anything good.
This situation isn’t unprecedented in TV history but a lead’s departure rarely bodes well for a show’s future.
Back in the 80s, when Ron Howard left Happy Days, the torch was informally passed to Henry Winkler. In this case, Winkler had been the somewhat de-facto star of the show for years. However, despite Happy Days continuing for four more seasons, this is often seen as the beginning of the end of the show.
A more recent example comes from ER. In 2002, when the long-running show killed off Anthony Edward’s character, co-star Noah Wyle took over as the show’s lead. Unsurprisingly, ratings took a steady decline for a few years until Wyle eventually left the show as well in 2005.
The numbers took a nosedive after that and the show continued to limp along until it’s cancellation in 2009.
It also doesn’t help that TWD itself has already been suffering in ratings and overall quality the last couple seasons and another of the show’s biggest stars Lauren Cohan already set to also leave in season 9.
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Do you believe The Walking Dead can survive without Andrew Lincoln? Will Norman Reedus be able to carry the show? Give us your thoughts in the comment section.