‘The Walking Dead’ renewed for season 8 one week before premiere

We certainly do not consider the renewal of “The Walking Dead” to be a surprise, given the fact that it is one of the biggest shows on television and there is a rabid fan base for it all over the world. With that said, we’re a little bit surprised to learn of its season 8 order before season 7 even premieres.

Tonight, AMC confirmed during a retrospective special that the series, starring Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, and many more, will be back for another batch of episodes. There’s no firm information out there on the episode count, but it will begin with the show’s 100th episode.

In a statement, the network’s president in Charlie Collier chose to announce the news with one of the biggest show references / dad jokes possible:

“Eeny, meeny, miny, more. What a joy to partner with Robert Kirkman, Scott Gimple and some of the hardest-working people in television to bring The Walking Dead to the fans. And, most important, thanks to those fans for breathing life into this remarkable series right along with us.”

In theory, you could say that this show could last forever, given that it is really more about the zombie apocalypse than any one character in particular. So long as the ratings stay strong, we also don’t imagine that AMC has much of a reason at all to end it. Our feeling, though, is that as soon as the show starts to fall into the range where it is no longer a top 3 cable series, you gotta consider ending it. You want this to conclude on a high note, and when people are still talking about everything that happens. Personally, we’re excited to see if the Negan cliffhanger helps or hurts fans.

If you missed the news, “The Walking Dead” recently announced episode lengths for the first two episodes of the season. Check them out over here. (Photo: AMC.)