Producing zombie television: AMC, The Walking Dead , and the institutional dynamics of green-lighting hard-edged horror on cable.

This article examines the industrial and organizational conditions that enabled AMC to green-light and produce *The Walking Dead* (2010–2022), a hard-edged horror television series that diverged from AMC's established reputation for high-brow dramas like *Mad Men* and *Breaking Bad*. It challenges prevailing explanations that attribute the show's success either to its alignment with post-9/11 sociopolitical anxieties (the diagnostic model) or to the involvement of established industry figures (the reputation model). Instead, the study argues that a unique convergence of AMC's programming strategies—such as leveraging its horror film marathon Fearfest, updating its film library, and embracing slow-burn storytelling—created an "opportunity space" that justified the show's production despite broader industry hesitance toward hard-edged horror. The article also contextualizes *The Walking Dead*'s initial five-year rejection period across networks and cable channels, highlighting economic concerns, content apprehensions, and the television industry's cautious approach to horror prior to the rise of streaming platforms.