The Walking Dead's survivors cut loose and have fun, it's more to relieve tension than inspire genuine laughs.
Indeed, The Walking Dead drew its biggest laugh in December 2020, when franchise-runner Scott M. Gimple revealed a straight-up comedy spinoff was in the works. The prospect of such a notoriously stony-faced TV series trying its hand at comedy immediately raised eyebrows. The Walking Dead going funny sounded as unlikely as a Breaking Bad told entirely from Skinny Pete's perspective. Surely, a humorous Walking Dead project was a spinoff too far?
Chucky in of being knowingly outlandish and taking advantage of genre conventions. Bonus points for the random goat.
Tales Of The Walking Dead Is Good News For TWD's Future
The Walking Dead's severe tone is, generally speaking, not a problem. Audiences don't tune into a show called "The Walking Dead" for slapstick and one-liners, after all. But the more AMC expands its zombie franchise, and the more new spinoffs enter production, the more repetitive The Walking Dead's consistently downbeat tone becomes. With at least three spinoffs coming after The Walking Dead season 11 concludes, a serious shake-up is needed if the impending procession of new content has any hope of staying fresh. Tales of the Walking Dead finally proves the zombie apocalypse can raise a giggle without losing its edge or straying too far from the franchise's core values.
As proven by the shock announcement confirming Rick Grimes' solo movie had been canceled in favor of a TV spinoff, The Walking Dead is a fast-moving business. That comedy spinoff we've heard so little about since 2020 won't necessarily see the light of day... but that's not necessarily the point. The humor behind "Evie/Joe" showcases The Walking Dead's ability to drop the tonal RBF it's worn since 2010 and cross into other genres successfully. All those forthcoming spinoffs needn't tread the same well-worn footsteps as before, and if AMC can keep finding new angles to its zombie outbreak, The Walking Dead might just have the last laugh.