Ever since it was announced that The Walking Dead is ending with its 11th season, many have wondered why the decision was made.
Despite softer ratings than previous seasons, The Walking Dead Season 10 has still been a big hit and adds a lot of viewing post-airdate.
But, it’s also true that TV shows get more expensive with age, and given that Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride closed deals a few years ago that paid them astronomical amounts to appear on the series, it seemed inevitable that cost could have been a factor.
The series has an expansive cast, and while many of them have only been with the show a few seasons, they would be getting a pretty penny for their work.
Franchise overlord Scott M. Gimple recently chatted with Decider about the future of the franchise, and he opened up about AMC making the call to end the series after 11 seasons.
“You know, that was really more on AMC’s side of the equation … We have a ton of story to get through,” explained.
“And then story beyond that. AMC had a good idea of the space we were working in creatively, and they made a call on it. But to tell you the truth, there’s so much planned.”
Indeed, The Walking Dead Season 10 is quickly catching up to the comic book series events. While the characters may look different, the comic still had the whisperers arc, and, of course, the commonwealth arc.
It seems like the series has gradually been building towards an endgame, and given the surge in quality during the most recent seasons, it might be a good idea to wrap things up.
Ending the series will be interesting because there are a lot of characters to say goodbye to, and with the news that Carol and Daryl will lead their own show, we can rule out them dying.
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Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.