The Walking Dead is an American horror drama television series developed by Frank Darabont, based on the comic book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. Andrew Lincoln plays the show's lead character, sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes, who awakens from a months-long coma to confront a new, apocalyptic world overrun by flesh-eating zombies. <br /> <br />Grimes reunites with his family and becomes the leader of a group he forms with some of the many other survivors whom he encounters in his quest for a safe haven. Together they are forced to survive and adapt in a world filled with the zombies (aka walkers) and certain humans who are even more dangerous than the zombies themselves. The first season takes place in the Atlanta metropolitan area, and the second through fourth seasons are set in the surrounding countryside of northern Georgia. <br /> <br />The Walking Dead premiered in the U.S. on October 31, 2010, on the cable television channel AMC and internationally in November 2010 on Fox International Channels. AMC has renewed the series each year because of its consistently increasing Nielsen ratings which have been unprecedentedly high for a cable series, including averaging the most 18- to 49-year-old adult viewers of any cable or broadcast television series during its fourth and fifth seasons. The series has been renewed for a sixth season, which will premiere on October 11, 2015. In addition, AMC ordered a companion series, Fear the Walking Dead,] to debut in August 2015. <br /> <br />The series has been well received by critics and has been nominated for several awards, including the Writers Guild of America Award for Television: New Series and the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama.
