Producing zombie television: AMC, The Walking Dead, and the institutional dynamics of green-lighting hard-edged horror on cable

This study documents the industrial conditions that permitted the green-lighting and production of The Walking Dead (2010-present) on AMC, a network that built its reputation through high-brow series like Mad Men (2007-2015) and Breaking Bad (2008-2013). The findings challenge two major arguments forwarded to make sense of the show's airing: 1) the diagnostic model which suggests that zombies dovetailed into a zeitgeist-coloured paranoia of Others and the aftereffects of a neoliberalised social order and 2) the reputation model, which maintains that the industry track records of the personnel behind projects significantly enhances the chances of receiving a green-light.