It seems interesting to me that Gimple thought the hook to get people’s attention and endear fans to him would be to link him to Carol and Melissa. Especially given the indications that, if a reunion show helmed by Gimple were to go ahead, Melissa and Carol wouldn’t be involved. I suppose there are a number of possible explanations for why he thought that was a good idea, but I don’t really understand.
When you say a TWDU break would be good, how long are you thinking? I thought the problem was that AMC is struggling financially and needs something successful from TWDU fast in order to keep in business.
Thank you for taking a look at the article and giving your take. Really appreciate hearing your insights. And yes, you’re right about the Gimple reunion show quote. I don’t really think it deserves repeating, but he essentially said fans would be shocked to know how much is going on behind the scenes to make it happen and that it’s not guaranteed but he believes it will happen. So, same old.
“...fans would be shocked to know how much is going on behind the scenes to make it happen...”
Well, he would need to pitch a story (which involves a whole lot more than saying “wouldn’t it be cool if...”) to the head of development (aka Bad Ben) and McDermott. There’s detailed paperwork involved in making a pitch and literally everyone at AMC hated Gimple’s efforts at writing a feature; TOWL wouldn’t have happened without Danai’s involvement. Usually, you pitch to a bunch of studio execs and then approach the actors once you have the studio’s interest in the project, but Gimple probably needs Andy to reach out to AMC, saying he’s interested, because Gimple has no credibility as a writer.
TWDU shows aren’t cheap to make because they require a lot of stunts, VFX and building of sets. Anything that involves a lot of work on visuals in post always costs a ton to produce. Add six actor salaries to that, all of whom have expectations on how much they should be featured and it turns into contract negotiation hell. Properly servicing six characters’ arcs in a 6-8 episode limited-run show is a tall order—fans shouldn’t expect something emotionally satisfying with those constraints, even if a good writer was attached.
Because TWDU is also an aged franchise that's been in continuous production for 15 years, it has numerous challenges. One being audience acquisition. AMC would be lucky to recoup production costs of a reunion show because the audience is only people who are already/still invested in TWDU. Rick die-hards, Richonners, Negan apologists fans... A reunion means nothing to people who haven’t watched the other shows and AMC can’t make a profit without attracting new viewers.
So yes, I do believe that Gimple is running around like a muppet behind the scenes, but no mainstream media is picking up the buzz he’s trying to create. If the twitter source for the new quotes on the reunion show is an Arabic language one, then it’s probably the same account Gimple usually uses to try to spread his gospel.
“When you say a TWDU break would be good, how long are you thinking? I thought the problem was that AMC is struggling financially and needs something successful from TWDU fast in order to keep in business.”
It’s a catch-22 for AMC.
They only have two IPs to keep them in the black, so they have to milk TWDU, but when AMC canceled the flagship show to make three concurrent spinoffs, they oversaturated the market. Particularly as some of the shows devalued the IP by damaging the characters in ways that can’t be repaired. The other thing Gimple is interested in making is a next gen show, which is a risky move even if the cast would be cheaper, because none of those characters have enough authority to draw an audience. That’s why AMC cut the coda with young adult Coco, Gracie, Hershel and the Grimes siblings which Gimple wanted in the TWD finale. There is no demand for a show centered on RJ Grimes.
TWDU needs a break long enough to recover from DC and DD. The former poses a problem for the franchise because it’s set further into the future than the other two post-finale spinoffs, and the latter butchered the characterization of both Daryl and Carol, as well as contradicted narrative choices established in the original show. Both shows have painted the franchise into a corner because you can’t pick up the story at the end of either show.
When Angela Kang took over TWD she turned the show into a western because after a decade plus into a zombie apocalypse, the stakes and dramatic tension of survival horror are just gone. You have to find a new angle and shade an aging show and/or franchise differently to make it feel fresh and interesting to the audience. In order to make a successful TWDU show with preexisting characters, there has to be some sort of a reset and that can’t happen while DD hasn’t aired its final season and DC is still in production. I say “some sort” because there’s a variety of ways you could approach a reset that doesn’t involve blatantly rejecting canon the way DD does.
AMC needs to either burn off the last season of DD quickly or shit can it. If Negan and Maggie aren’t in a potential new show, DC doesn’t matter (and can stand as-is) because of its timeline five or so years after the TWD finale, but the ways in which DD reappropriated Carol’s character arc for Daryl and even stole her hero weapon is a significant problem for the story integrity of the franchise.
