The Walking Dead Spinoff Still "In the Incubation Stages," Says AMC Exec

In a new interview with Vulture, AMC's top executives were pinned down on a few questions about the post-Breaking Bad, (soon-to-be-)post-Mad Men future for the network, which includes spinoffs of both Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead, their zombie drama based on Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard's comic book series. We're living in an age of remakes, sequels and prequels and AMC--long though of as a prestige network whose original programming generally skews somewhat more arty (even The Walking Dead was developed for TV by The Shawshank Redemption director Frank Darabont)--isn't immune. Not long after they made it official that the network was planning a Breaking Bad prequel series came the announcement that The Walking Dead would get a spinoff series, too, acting as a "companion" series and doubling the amount of Dead AMC can put on the schedule in any given calendar year. It was seen at the time as a somewhat surprising move from AMC, as something that had the potential to water down both properties and as, frankly, a bit crass. When questioned about why the network jumped into the spinoff game with both feet, network chief Charlie Collier told the website that it wasn't even really a question--that the creatives at the heart of those shows pitched follow-ups and he would have been crazy not to do them. "If you're in my chair, and Vince Gilligan wants to explore what makes Saul Goodman the best/worst lawyer in the world? You say yes. And if you have the number one show on television — not just on cable, but television — and the guy at the core of the show and who literally created the source material [Robert Kirkman], says, 'I think there's more story to tell.' you say yes," Collier said. "Those two decisions were such no-brainers. Those were simple decisions. I understand your question, but: You're in my chair, you do those." Of course, there's been very little in the way of news on either, but Better Call Saul is a bit of a different animal; the series lead is already cast, a showrunner has been named and to an extent there's a comfort zone there. The Walking Dead's producers have gone out of their way to emphasize that while their spinoff will be set in the same world, no characters or locales will be shared. No particular showrunner has yet been named, and it's unlikely the network will give up The Walking Dead's current boss for the spinoff--something that's fairly common in TV--because he's their third showrunner in four years. Asked about the status of the series, head of programming Joel Stillerman said that they're still very early in development. "Both are in the very, very early stages," Stillerman said. "Saul is actually a little farther along. That show is committed and on the books now. The writers' room is open. Broad strokes — probably no news here: It is a prequel, it explores what went into shaping the incredibly compelling and idiosyncratic and funny and somewhat tragic character of Saul Goodman. I think the other thing that's really great about Saul: Vince and Peter Gould, who are partners on the show, talk a lot about really reinventing the tone of what it means to be a drama. There have been a number of dramas on the air that have had comedic elements. But I think they really want to push the envelope in terms of what it means to take you on an emotional roller coaster ride, and make you laugh, and break your heart and stretch the boundaries of where you can go emotionally within the context of a drama. Saul's obviously a very funny character, and there's going to be a lot of comedy in that show. But they felt at the end of the day that it was best crafted as a drama, and that would give them the latitude storytelling-wise and character-wise to really go into a sort of unprecedented range of emotions."

As far as The Walking Dead's spinoff specifically, things seem a bit more amorphous. "That show is not as far along. Robert has some things on his plate," Stillerman said. "He continues to write every issue of the comic and hasn't finished season four of The Walking Dead, which he is very intimately involved with and will continue to be. That's really in the incubation stages. The one thing that I'll share is just an anecdote that Robert shared with us. He has such a specific vision that he laid out really clearly in the first issue of the comic book. And I encourage anybody who's interested in the show to go read the note that he wrote in the first issue of the comic. His motivation for telling that story was so clear and so powerful, and it served as such a great north star for the show. We kicked around a few ideas, but primarily what he's working on is, what is the idea that gives [him] as clear a mandate to make another version of this show as [he] had for the first one? What is going on [now] is a more philosophical discussion over why there should be another version of the show. Once we answer that, we'll zero in on the specific creative." Added Collier, "What we want to do is not diminish the mothership. What we want to do is find something that everyone involved feels as passionately about as being a unique vehicle and unique enterprise as compared to the original series. We'll take our time, and we'll do it right."