15 things you probably didn't know about 'The Walking Dead'

If you haven’t been infected by The Walking Dead yet, there’s a good chance you are already a zombie. Or don’t have a TV. In either case you are missing out and should probably get with the herd, because it’s only going to get better now that the show is back for its seventh season. That is unless you want to be the only roamer around the water cooler not discussing Lucille’s first on-screen victim.

There’s a lot we know about TWD. Like it’s the greatest show ever to feature cannibalism, chocolate pudding and a little boy getting shot in the eye. Also, Rick Grimes is a badass. But there are still plenty of off-screen trivia and on-screen easter eggs that even the most loyal of walkers have yet to sink their teeth into.

Here are 15 things you probably didn’t know about The Walking Dead.

1. HBO passed on it because the show was too violent

The network that has shown Khaleesi eating a heart, a pregnant lady stabbed to death, and is not above having a brother rape his sister, felt The Walking Dead was just too violent for their viewers. Originally, the show’s creators pitched their idea to all the big players, and HBO, one of the most obvious fits, passed. They were willing to take it on only if the producers would significantly cut down on the violence. Because imploding a man’s skull? That’s fine. But doing the same to a zombie, that’s just not cool.

Come to think of it, AMC has made a career out of devouring HBO’s throwaways. Both Breaking Bad and Mad Men were turned down by them, though for vastly different reasons. Of course, that doesn’t make a network built on a foundation of nudity, violence and vulgarity finding The Walking Dead too extreme any less odd. Luckily, AMC on the other hand has no such qualms about seeing a zombie torn in half or whatever other grotesqueries the show can dish out, just so long as no one swears while they do it.

2. The opening logo has been decaying since day one

After watching a show for long enough, it’s only natural to start zoning out during the opening credits; you might even find yourself fast-forwarding through them more often than not.  But more than likely, even the most casual of viewers have noticed that The Walking Dead’s main title sequence changing over the years. From the photos of Shane and Lori in Season One to symbolic objects like badges, watches and arrows in later seasons, the credits have definitely mixed things up over the years. But one of the coolest evolutions to keep an eye out for is the ever-changing main logo, which has been getting darker, grimier and all-around more worn out from one season to the next.

Just like the walkers themselves, who are gradually rotting from the inside out, the logo is another sign of the showrunners’ dedication to creating an atmosphere of a deteriorating society. Which begs the question, with the series’ continually being renewed, what will be left when all is said and done?

3. Networks originally wanted it to be a zombie crime procedural.

Before AMC came along and revived our interest in a zombie apocalypses, networks were reluctant to jump on board. In the years leading up to the series’ 2010 premiere, producer Gale Anne Hurd and original showrunner Frank Darabont had a rough go of it when they went around pitching Robert Kirkman’s graphic novel based on the world surviving an epidemic of walking corpses who eat people. The folks over at NBC finally offered to take it on at one point — so long as they left out the zombies.

Your guess is as good as ours as to what that would have looked like. Luckily, this idea fell dead, only to be replaced with an even more ridiculous one…turning the show into a “crime-of-the-week” procedural in the vain of Law & Order and CSI, only with zombies. That’s right readers, each week, Rick and Co. would solve a zombie related “crime” that would not only help provide a better understanding of human nature (somehow), but also answer the question that’s constantly on viewer’s minds: what exactly are the walker’s motives for eating those brains? Darabont politely declined and then ran away as fast as possible, because nothing will turn you into a mindless vegetable quicker than watching Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J chase down criminals on a weekly basis.