'Walking Dead' Anthology Spinoff 'Tales of The Walking Dead' Ordered at AMC

AMC has officially given the greenlight to the episodic anthology series Tales of The Walking Dead, the fourth spinoff in the larger The Walking Dead universe. The formal series order was handed out on Tuesday and comes as flagship series The Walking Dead nears its conclusion, with Season 11, Part A having wrapped on Sunday and the series finale set to air in 2022.

Unlike the other shows in the TWD universe, Tales of The Walking Dead will be an anthology series. Set within the world of The Walking Dead, each standalone one-hour episode will focus on both new and established characters, who have not yet been announced. Channing Powell, who has been a writer and producer on the flagship series and its first spinoff, Fear the Walking Dead, will serve as showrunner and will work closely with Scott M. Gimple, chief content officer of the Walking Dead Universe. Gimple said the series, "more than any other in the Walking Dead Universe, runs on new voices, perspectives, and ideas -- bringing to life stories unlike any we've told before." Production on Tales of The Walking Dead is set to begin early next year, with the series expected to premiere on AMC+ and AMC next summer. The first season will consist of six episodes.

"The Walking Dead is a show that made television history and attracted an army of passionate and highly engaged fans," Dan McDermott, president of original programming for AMC Networks and AMC Studios, said in a press release. "We see so much potential for a wide range of rich and compelling storytelling in this world, and the episodic anthology format of Tales of the Walking Dead will give us the flexibility to entertain existing fans and also offer an entry point for new viewers, especially on streaming platforms. We have seen the appeal of this format in television classics like The Twilight Zone and, more recently, Black Mirror, and are excited to engage with fans in this new way, against the backdrop of this very unique and engrossing world."

Tales of The Walking Dead will mark the fourth such TWD spinoff and follow on the heels of Fear The Walking Dead, which is currently airing its seventh season, and the limited series Walking Dead: World Beyond, currently airing its second and final season. The series was first teased to be in development in September 2020 when AMC confirmed Season 11 would mark the last for TWD. At the time, it was also announced that a second spinoff focusing on fan-favorite characters Daryl Dixon and Carol Pelletier was in the works. The Walking Dead returns with Season 11, Part B in February.