I’ve got two TV news stories and only one allotted post for them, so you’re getting them both: (1) “Sons of Anarchy” has been renewed for a fifth season, and (2) “The Walking Dead” season premiere broke its own ratings records.
“It is no small challenge to bring the themes of a great, ancient play like Hamlet into a wholly original television setting and to tell this complex story in a way that is both riveting and accessible to a broad audience,” network President John Landgraf said… This season has been averaging 5.8 million viewers, with the premiere episode the most-watched program in the network’s history. [TV Guide]
7.3 million zombie lovers tuned in, shattering all previous records for the show and dramatically improving on last year’s series premiere tune-in of 5.3 million. The story was even better for AMC in the key demo of adults 18 to 49, where the show averaged 4.8 million viewers under 50 and scored a 3.8 rating — bigger than just about everything else on network TV Sunday, save for NFL football. [Vulture]
It’s so weird that these shows are doing so well on cable, considering that they’re not cop shows on TNT. But if I’ve learned anything from following the TV industry, it’s that nothing stays fresh for long before it’s copied poorly. So get ready for shows about zombie motorcycle gangs, shows about motorcycle gangs fighting zombies, and of course the new Discovery docuseries “Zombie Vs. Motorcycles.” Can’t wait!
(banner image via)
