The Walking Dead Series Finale Hit Record Viewership For AMC+
While AMC has scored critical hits over the course of its run with shows such as "Breaking Bad" and "Mad Men," one of its biggest commercial hits has been the zombie apocalypse series "The Walking Dead." Based on the graphic novel series of the same name, written by Robert Kirkman and illustrated by Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard, the show was developed by "The Shawshank Redemption" filmmaker Frank Darabont.
The series ran for a grand total of 11 seasons, with a number of spinoffs resulting from the main show, including "Fear The Walking Dead" and "The Walking Dead: World Beyond." The franchise is set to continue with a number of additional spinoffs, including the upcoming "The Walking Dead: Dead City." The main series, however, came to an end with the finale, titled "Rest in Peace," jumping a year ahead to show the Commonwealth, Alexandria, and the Hilltop all having managed to rebuild and stabilize, and the characters looking to the future with new hope.
Proving its enduring popularity, the series finale of "The Walking Dead" hit a record viewership for AMC+.
Talking Dead also benefitted from the show's high viewership
Per Variety, the series finale of "The Walking Dead" was the most-watched episode on AMC+ since the streaming service began just over two years ago.
The episode led to the highest single day of viewership in the short history of the streaming service and was a major success for AMC as well. The Nielsen ratings for the series finale indicated that the viewership was up 36% from the previous week. The bump also helped the post-show discussion series "Talking Dead," which brought in 1.3 million viewers for its post-finale episode, a staggering jump of 138% from the prior week. It was also the most viewers "Talking Dead" had received since Season 10.
In an interview with Deadline, both Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who play Maggie and Negan, respectively, spoke about how it felt shooting the finale after being on the show for so many seasons. Cohan likened the experience to graduating from college or high school, saying that the experience was very emotional for her and that she was "with people that you love and that it's so easy to sort of like laugh and cry with."
Morgan noted that he hadn't been able to watch the finale himself due to not feeling emotionally prepared to say goodbye to the show yet. He added that he already misses the show and the cast and crew he worked with during his time there.