Modern day America-it seems-has become all about sitting around, and flipping through the channels, trying to find something significantly entertaining enough to watch on the tube. The networks offer a bevy of television drama, comedy, and any other genres we humans can come up with.
We always have that one show that we love, even if it’s a guilty pleasure. And for the average 5.4 million viewers that would tune in to watch AMC’s The Walking Dead, zombie love was shared equally through the masses.
The cast is full of relative unknowns, and I often wonder what the outcome of this show would have been had this fact been otherwise. With last month’s rumor that Charlie Sheen (yes, that guy) was going to have a role in the show, I couldn’t help but beat myself over the head with the expected fear that comes with an impending and threatening event.
Thankfully, the news of Charlie Sheen joining The Walking Dead crew turned out to be hot air, but my mind still plays with the possibility of an A-List actor crawling on to the set.
Although it is hardly necessary to empty out the show’s coffers by shelling out a big time contract to a superstar, you can’t help but wonder if such a big name would further bolster The Walking Dead’s already simmering viewership.
One of the reasons I harbor such an enthralled love for The Walking Dead is the emphasis on character development, and the combined efficient effort of the cast to create such sympathetic characters that stir empathy from viewers like me.
The fact that this cast-except for Sarah Wayne Callies-I can’t honestly I have been able to recognize anyone else on the show. And yet, this curious fact adds something to the story and to the characters which would otherwise be present had a big name or two been cast.
This begs the question. What is that something?
I like to call it… frailty.
What I mean by this is the actor’s ability (circumstantially or talent wise) to portray the characters as-gasp-someone far less than invincible. In an effort to elaborate, let’s take the star of the show, Andrew Lincoln.
For six episodes, his role as Officer Rick Grimes has been nothing short of stellar, so much so that although we ultimately know that his character is predestined to surviving many and all of the walking dead hazards in post-apocalyptic America (thanks to the comics), he is able to layer his character to profound depths to the point that we are instilled with empathy and fear, not only for his own safety but for his family’s.
On the flip-side, if you add a big name star that is easy to identify, this tends to ruin the effect rooted in mystique. I liken this to a magic trick you may have seen several times, and no matter how hard the magician tries to change his routine, you still know where the deception is coming from.
And yet, from a marketing perspective, we should consider that a big name could potentially stretch the reach of the show to a viewership that would not have been attained otherwise had this diva never been acquired in the first place.
Thankfully, this is all just musings of a big time The Walking Dead fan, and we thankfully have no need to worry about the vein of the show being poisoned by a drama-queen who may or may not offer little more than just a big name.
We’ll find out what’s in store for The Walking Dead in Season 2, coming up next fall.
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