‘Walking Dead’ season 6 midseason finale sets records, teases Negan
There was death, terror and a horde of Walkers to entertain millions of viewers on Sunday. The Season 6 midseason finale of The Walking Dead was watched by 14 million total viewers, with 8.9 million among the adults 18-49 demographic for a 7.02 rating.
In addition to the death of a major character, chaos among the survivors, and potential cliffhangers, AMC managed to introduce the most anticipated tease of all – the introduction of Negan, played by Jeffery Dean Morgan.
Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes and Tovah Felshuh as Deanna – The Walking Dead _ Season 6
Showrunner Scott Gimple talked to Deadline about adapting the controversial character.
“I would say this: It’s an incredible drag that its come out that we’ve cast that role. I know that it’s really hard for that information not to get out, but I would have loved to have been able to manage expectations there with fans. We make this show pretty far in advance and when they find out about things we’ve planned in the future, pretty deep into the future, I don’t want them just thinking, “Oh I want to get to that.” In a perfect world they wouldn’t even know about that or asking questions about that save for our mention last night, which is fair play…
“I will add that we’ve done things from the comics to the letter and we’ve done things from the comics very very differently. I think that’s probably the guiding principle that fans should have when they think about Negan.”
“The numbers for the November 29 episode are down 5% among total viewers and 7% in the key demo from the record-breaking Season 5 midseason finale of November 30 last year – which means this year was the second-highest-rated TWD midseason finale in the blockbuster show’s history after the 2014 winter finale,” the site noted of the great ratings.
More from Gimple over at Deadline – click here
