Summary
- Coronation Street's recent parody of The Walking Dead highlights the enduring popularity of the beloved franchise worldwide.
- The Walking Dead may have seen a decline in viewership, but its cultural impact remains strong, as shown by its appearance in a mainstream British soap opera.
- Despite its ratings decreasing, The Walking Dead's presence in pop culture endures, with numerous spinoffs and character comebacks keeping the franchise alive.
Britain’s Coronation Street featuring a parody of The Walking Dead goes to show just how popular the franchise remains 14 years after its premiere. Although The Walking Dead’s series finale aired in 2022, the post-apocalyptic franchise still obstinately refuses to die. Long before The Walking Dead ended, its first spinoff, Fear The Walking Dead, had already expanded the show’s fictional universe as early as 2015. By the time Fear The Walking Dead ended in 2023, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, Tales of the Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: Dead City, and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon had all begun.
This rundown doesn’t even mention 2024’s spinoff, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, which reunited viewers with Rick and Michonne years after they were last seen. The Walking Dead shows no sign of ending for good even though the franchise’s output has slowed down, and although its two biggest shows have ended, their finales only made way for major character comebacks in Daryl Dixon and The Ones Who Lived. The popularity of these shows proves that the franchise still has plenty of fans, and a surprising spoof shows just how ubiquitous the pop culture staple is worldwide.
Coronation Street's The Walking Dead Parody Proves The Franchise's Huge Mainstream Impact
A Long-Running British Soap Opera Spoofing The Walking Dead Proves It Is Huge
Colloquially known as Corrie, Coronation Street is one of the longest-running soap operas in TV history. The series focuses on the denizens of the titular street in Salford, England and the melodramatic trials they face, but the show has also finds room to affectionately parody other media. Coronation Street’s characters watch a popular TV show called Zombezi that is clearly a parody of The Walking Dead. Like The Walking Dead’s best episodes, Zombezi is thrilling enough to have Coronation Street’s characters hooked. One even failed to notice her husband’s heart attack as she was busy focusing on the series.
For a mainstream, long-running, and perennially popular British TV show to parody The Walking Dead and include a version of it within the show’s fictional world demonstrates the wide-reaching impact of the franchise. The Walking Dead’s presence in Coronation Street is a testament to its enduring popularity, as the show doesn’t often lean into pop culture references that are likely to age poorly. This explains why AMC has produced so many spinoffs from the profitable series, as the network is unlikely to ever abandon a franchise that has proven so culturally significant in its 14-year run despite its mixed reviews.
The Walking Dead Is Still Hugely Popular (Even If Its Glory Days Are Over)
The Franchise’s Heyday Has Passed But Its Popularity Hasn’t Waned
The Walking Dead’s popularity has undeniably waned since the show was at the height of its powers. When Fear The Walking Dead season 1 began in 2015, seasons 4 and 5 of the original series were regularly pulling 15 million viewers. In contrast, The Walking Dead's final season rarely gained more than 2 million viewers. Despite this, the franchise remains popular, and its pop culture footprint is proof of this. For all the show’s dwindling ratings and the mixed reception of its endless spinoffs, The Walking Dead putting in an appearance on Coronation Street proves that it might well never die.
