On Friday, AMC released major news for Walking Dead fans—a pilot for a new companion series set in Dead’s post-apocalyptic world has been ordered by the cable network. Entertainment Weekly reported that while the new series has tapped three Walking Dead executive producers (Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, and David Alpert), it will not focus on any of the characters we’ve come to love and will not take place in Georgia.
For Atlanta fans, the scene change has to come as a bittersweet revelation. Surely, this franchise owes so much to our fair state. We’ve given them our vast forests, our railroad history, our Southern charm, our capital city that is rapidly becoming its own post-apocalyptic punchline thanks to recent snow and CDC disasters. Andrew Lincoln lives in Atlanta, for God’s sake! (At least during filming.) Not to mention everything the franchise has done for us—Senoia has become a household name, Atlanta is quickly becoming known as the zombie capital of the U.S., and even this magazine has benefited greatly from the devotion of die-hard Dead fans. How could they leave us out of a new adventure?
At the same time, however, hardcore fans and casual viewers alike have certainly wondered just how the rest of the world is fairing in the zombie apocalypse. What are the walkers doing in New York? Ohio? Nebraska? Are there walkers roaming Buckingham Palace or circling Tokyo Tower? Is there some island no petrified hands have ever touched? A new series could finally fulfill this craving. Plus, no one has yet confirmed where filming of this new show will take place. The crew could certainly stick around—clearly, not everything filmed in Georgia is set here.
So we welcome this new show with timid optimism. We love this world we’ve spent the last four years playing in, and we certainly want to see more and learn what’s happening outside of our state’s borders. But Walking Dead producers, please don’t forget your roots. Georgia loves you, and we want to help you help us a little longer.
