Fear the Walking Dead

Main cast

Los Angeles

International waters

Mexico

Development

In September 2013, AMC announced they were developing a companion series to The Walking Dead, which follows a different set of characters created by Robert Kirkman. In September 2014, AMC ordered a pilot, which was written by Kirkman and Dave Erickson, and directed by Adam Davidson, and is executive produced by Kirkman, Erickson, Gale Anne Hurd, and David Alpert, with Erickson serving as showrunner. The project was originally known as Cobalt; Kirkman confirmed, in March 2015, that the series would be titled Fear the Walking Dead. On March 9, 2015, AMC announced it had ordered FTWD to series, with a two-season commitment: the first season, comprising six episodes, premiered on August 23, 2015; the second season, comprising 15 episodes, premiered on April 10, 2016. AMC announced in April 2016 that they had renewed the series for a third season of 16 episodes to premiere in 2017.

Casting

In December 2014, the first four starring roles were cast: Kim Dickens as Madison, the female lead; Cliff Curtis as Travis Manawa, the male lead; Frank Dillane as Nick; and Alycia Debnam-Carey as Alicia. In April and May, 2015, Elizabeth Rodriguez and Mercedes Mason were announced as series regulars, both in unknown roles.

Filming

Production of the pilot episode began in early 2015 and ended on February 6, 2015. The pilot episode was filmed in Los Angeles; the remaining first-season episodes were filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Production on the remaining five first-season episodes began on May 11, 2015. Adam Davidson, who directed the pilot, also directed the series' second and third episodes. Filming for the second season began in December 2015, with production moving to Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico. Filming for the third season began on January 6, 2017, in Baja California, Mexico, the same location site used for the second half of season two.

Broadcast

On August 23, 2015, the series debuted simultaneously worldwide on: AMC in the U.S.; AMC Global in major regional markets in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East; and FX in Australia. Hulu holds the show's video on demand rights in the U.S., while Amazon Instant Video owns the streaming rights in Austria and Germany, and will make episodes available online one day after their original airing. Streaming in the United Kingdom became available to Amazon Prime members in 2016.

Season 1

On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 77%, based on 57 reviews, whose average rating is 6.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Fear the Walking Dead recycles elements of its predecessor, but it's still moody and engrossing enough to compete with the original." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 66 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Elisabeth Vincentelli of the New York Post rated the first two episodes three out of four stars, stating that "[They] are creepily suspenseful–they're great examples of how effective a slow pace and a moody atmosphere can be." Another positive review of the first episode came from Ken Tucker of Yahoo TV, who wrote, "Fear the Walking Dead is a mood piece, more artful than the original series" and that the cast is "terrific". Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter gave an average review, writing, "The 90-minute first episode and the hour-long second episode are, while not actually boring, certainly less magnetic than the original."

One of the harshest negative reviews came from HitFix, on Daniel Fienberg and Alan Sepinwall's podcast, where Fienberg called the premiere episode "awful, just horrible ... as bad as The Walking Dead has ever gotten at its very worst. This is that bad. I've been kind of stunned to see people being generous to it. ... I thought this was almost unwatchably bad." Sepinwall called his B- review "slightly generous".

Season 2

The second season received mostly mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 71%, based on 26 reviews, whose average rating is 6.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Fear the Walking Dead sets sail in its sophomore season with an intriguing backdrop that doesn't always disguise its deficiencies in comparison to its predecessor." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 54 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Ratings

The U.S. series premiere attracted 10.1 million total viewers, with 6.3 million in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old demographic, both cable television records for a series premiere. Numerous international debuts of the pilot also set ratings records. The first season averaged 11.2 million viewers in "live plus-3" ratings (includes VOD and DVR viewing within three days after initial telecast) to become the highest-rated first season of any series in cable history.

Fear the Walking Dead: Flight 462

Fear the Walking Dead: Flight 462, a 16-part web series, premiered on October 4, 2015, on AMC.com; it also aired as promos during The Walking Dead season 6. Two of the web series' characters, Alex (previously known as Charlie) and Jake, are introduced in Fear the Walking Dead season 2, episode 3 ("Ouroboros").

Fear the Walking Dead: Passage

A second 16-part web series debuted on October 17, 2016, and episodes are made available online weekly and air as promos during the seventh season of The Walking Dead. The web series follows Sierra, a capable survivor, who helps an injured woman named Gabi as they try to find sanctuary. The series was written by Lauren Signorino and Mike Zunic, and directed by Andrew Bernstein.

Home media

The first season was released on Blu-ray and DVD on December 1, 2015. A special edition version of the first season was released on Blu-ray and DVD on March 22, 2016, with new bonus features, including deleted scenes, seven featurettes, and audio commentaries by cast and crew, on all six episodes. The second season, featuring audio commentaries, deleted scenes, and various behind-the-scene featurettes, was released on Blu-ray and DVD on December 13, 2016.