"The Walking Dead," what hath thou wrought?
This is not a screed on last Sunday's season premiere, even though it was one of the most emotionally wrenching, horribly graphic and most unpleasant hours in recent TV history, including the six previous seasons of "Walking Dead."
Rather than a review of the premiere, let's talk about the long arm of the show's influence.
The TV and movie industries have always been a place of imitation. Let a TV show or a movie do well, and loose the hounds - here comes a slobbering horde of similarity. Let's take a tight focus on TV, whose programs are far cheaper to make than movies, so it's easier to chunk more into the blender to see whether it comes out tasty.
Riffing off "The Walking Dead," look at the number of supernatural/horror shows on TV - both broadcast and cable. You can't include "Supernatural" (getting long in the tooth) or the "Vampire Diaries" ("Beverly Hills 90210" with fangs) since both began before "The Walking Dead."
Beyond that, the coffin gets crowded. Among others, there's "The Walking Dead" offshoot "Fear the Walking Dead" (way to put maximum effort into the title, guys), "Stranger Things," "American Horror Story," "Penny Dreadful," "Sleepy Hollow," "Preacher," "Outcast" (another offering by "Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman), "Z Nation'" (zombies again), "The Exorcist," "Van Helsing," "Bates Motel" and "The Originals" (more angst-ridden vampires, etc.). Even "The Walking Dead" is getting repetitious.
And let's not forget superheroes. Ever since 2000's "Spider-Man" was a hit, there's been a never-ending flood of them - 36 based on Marvel Comics characters alone at this point. Following those footsteps, TV now has "Arrow" and "The Flash" and "Jessica Jones" and "Daredevil" and "Smallville" and "Supergirl" and "Gotham" and "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and...
About the only show that hasn't been copycatted to death with is "Game of Thrones." Although it has a few lookalikes, its high production costs may scare people off. Hollywood likes to imitate on the cheap.
What trend is next? Hospital dramas have played out. Abbreviated shows -"NCIS," "Law & Order: SVU," "CSI" - are running out of weird crimes to solve. Anti-heroes - "The Sopranos," "Breaking Bad," "Better Call Saul," "House of Cards," "Mad Men," "Dexter" - are old hat.
If you've got any ideas, call someone in the entertainment industry. They love the taste of same-old same-old.
Contact Shawn Ryan at sryan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327.