'Walking Dead' Gets an Eighth Season

News for The Walking Dead got a little bit ahead of itself this week with the announcement that the series has been renewed for an eighth season before the premiere of its seventh. That means the zombie apocalypse will continue into 2018, no matter what happens in the meantime.

The eighth season of TWD will begin with the series' 100th episode, a landmark that easily makes the TWD the longest-running series on TWD. The early renewal shows that the network still has faith in TWD despite signs of peaking ratings, inconsistent critical reviews, and some fan dissatisfaction with plot development throughout the series' sixth season.

Season seven of TWD debuts on AMC on October 23, and that first episode of the season should reveal the resolution to the controversial cliffhanger that ended season six. In that season's finale, the new bad guy Negan - whose arrival fans had been waiting for all season - began to beat to death an unrevealed member of Rick's group. Negan's chosen victim will be revealed early on in season seven, leaving Rick and the surviving members of his group free to get on with the business of surviving the latest baddie who threatens their security.

Aside from Negan, season seven will also introduce another flashy character in Ezekiel, the leader of a new community called the Kingdom, and his pet tiger.