The Walking Dead might be one of the most popular post-apocalyptic shows, but these six series in the same genre exceed the zombie show in writing, character development, and entertainment value. Based on an indie comic book, The Walking Dead blew all expectations out of the water, becoming an absolute phenomenon. The initial series lasted 11 seasons, and AMC+ has created multiple spinoffs of The Walking Dead. The praise isn’t entirely unwarranted, but it feels a little bit overhyped.
There are certainly flaws in The Walking Dead. The ensemble can become a bit hard to follow since it’s so large. The writing quality isn’t consistent across all the seasons. There are timeline inconsistencies that become distracting. Plus, the show can be extremely depressing due to its completely nihilistic tone. Arguably, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. As it stands, the original show definitely doesn’t rank at number one in the post-apocalyptic genre. These six TV shows beat out the OG The Walking Dead show.
Paradise
Four years after an apocalyptic event, survivors are living in Paradise, a hidden town in the Rocky Mountains. The president ends up dead, which is Paradise’s first murder, leading to an investigation about who committed the crime and why. This TV show is a post-apocalyptic series, a murder mystery, and a thriller all wrapped into one. What’s more, the first season introduces us to the insular, hidden community and the effects of the apocalypse. Then, it expands past the small town in Paradise season 2.
Because Paradise narrows its focus to a smaller area, it includes more in-depth worldbuilding than The Walking Dead, which focuses on a much larger world with less depth. Additionally, Paradise has a much more hopeful view of humanity, emphasizing the importance of cooperation and community as a protective force. Meanwhile, the zombie post-apocalyptic show views humanity as largely corrupt and detrimental.
Based on the PlayStation video game franchise, Peacock transformed the vehicular battle royale into a high-energy, visually captivating TV show with a surprisingly great storyline and characters. The world has gone to absolute hell, becoming a wasteland with a few safe cities. Milkmen travel back and forth between the towns, delivering supplies. The first season introduces John Doe, an amnesic milkman, and Quiet, a woman hardened by the world, who go on a delivery mission. The second season gets into the vehicular combat battle royale, where the winner gets a wish granted by the mysterious Calypso.
Twisted Metal might be a dystopian post-apocalyptic story, but it doesn’t shy away from fun. John and Quiet balance each other perfectly, with John as a fast-talking, wisecracking guy and Quiet a taciturn woman with a sarcastic sense of humor. The vibrant colors make it easier to stay engaged in Twisted Metal than in the desaturated, grim color palette of The Walking Dead, which can get one-note after a while. Plus, the battle royale might have started a little late into season 2, but it’s epic when it happens.
Sweet Tooth
In Sweet Tooth, a pandemic called The Sick wiped out societies and caused survivors to withdraw. Nature takes back the world, leading to the next generation being born as half-human, half-animal hybrids with varying abilities. The story follows a deer-human hybrid named Gus, who goes on an adventure to find his mother after his father’s death. Gus is a much more compelling main character than The Walking Dead’s cast, partly because he’s a child and partly because they only have to focus on one to three main characters at a time instead of an ensemble.
Other than obvious narrative differences, one key element that sets Sweet Tooth apart from The Walking Dead is the fact that you won’t walk out of the Netflix show completely depressed. The Walking Dead and Sweet Tooth don’t shy away from the fact that some people are terrible. However, even when Sweet Tooth leans into the melancholy and darker side of the world, Gus maintains a child’s naive, optimistic view of humanity. There isn’t that same nihilism that The Walking Dead embraces.
Fallout
Although there was some hesitation at the announcement of a Fallout TV show, the series truly knocked it out of the park. In one of the best opening scenes of all time, Fallout immediately makes it clear that the world is getting destroyed in the 1950s by nuclear bombs, though “why” gets answered down the line. The story then picks up 200 years later in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, where citizens live in underground bunkers due to the radiation. A young woman named Lucy goes out into the unprotected world to find her father, who was kidnapped.
The Walking Dead is known for having up to a dozen long-running subplots all happening at once. However, Fallout takes a different approach that makes it easier to follow. The stories each happen one to two at a time with a clear throughline connecting them. In this way, it’s serialized but not unmanageable. The smaller cast in Fallout makes it easier to care about each individual and their character arc, which is harder to do with The Walking Dead’s expansive ensemble cast. On top of that, Fallout is visually stunning. The show has very distinct and easily recognizable visuals, whereas The Walking Dead’s color palette and style feel like they could be interchanged with many other shows.
Pluribus
Pluribus is one of the most unique post-apocalyptic TV shows because the apocalypse isn’t a world-destroying event. Instead, it’s a hive mind taking over nearly every person in the world, changing everything about society as we know it. Carol, a jaded woman whose girlfriend dies in the apocalypse, must figure out how to live now that this hive-mind has taken over. The show is quiet and deeply philosophical. The world Carol’s living in now might seem picturesque, as the hive mind just wants to make her happy. However, it also takes away all free will.
Ultimately, Pluribus and The Walking Dead are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Pluribus is about the individual, whereas The Walking Dead is about group survival. In the Apple TV+ show, the danger is mental, while the AMC series’ zombies are a very physical threat. The reason Pluribus ranks higher is that the story is extremely well developed, much like the early seasons of The Walking Dead. Unfortunately, the post-apocalyptic zombie show ran so long that the quality of the writing decreased. Realistically, Pluribus would probably hit that point too if it continued for 11 seasons. However, it is currently at its best.
The Last Man On Earth
Most post-apocalyptic TV shows are more serious or grim, but The Last Man on Earth leans completely in the other direction. The story takes place two years after a virus kills almost the entire human race. Phil Miller experiences overwhelming loneliness, so he wanders the country, leaving messages that he is alive and living in Tucson, Arizona. He plans to die by suicide, but then discovers another person named Carol. The two decide it’s their responsibility to marry and repopulate the Earth, but they quickly discover that they cannot stand each other.
The Last Man On Earth is one of the funniest post-apocalyptic TV shows out there. Comedian/actor Will Forte created and wrote the show, so it’s no surprise that it has laugh-out-loud moments. Forte and Kristen Schaal, the main couple, make their characters feel three-dimensional and compelling. They have amazing chemistry, leading to fun repartee. Plus, there’s actually great worldbuilding after the duo leaves Tucson at the end of The Last Man on Earth season 1. Between the zany characters and the entertaining storylines, The Last Man on Earth is just so much more fun than The Walking Dead.
- Release Date
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2010 – 2022
- Showrunner
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Frank Darabont, Angela Kang, Scott M. Gimple, Glen Mazzara
- Directors
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David Boyd, Ernest R. Dickerson, Billy Gierhart, Guy Ferland, Laura Belsey, Jeffrey F. January, Michael Cudlitz, Sharat Raju, Alrick Riley, Michael Slovis, Michelle MacLaren, Rosemary Rodriguez, Seith Mann, Tricia Brock, Daisy von Scherler Mayer, Daniel Sackheim, Fred Toye, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Jon Amiel, Kari Skogland, Kevin Dowling, Tawnia McKiernan, Larry Teng, Julius Ramsay
- Writers
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Channing Powell, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, Glen Mazzara, Jim Barnes, Vivian Tse, Robert Kirkman, Erik Mountain, Evan Reilly, Kevin Deiboldt, Julia Ruchman, Nicole Mirante-Matthews, Nichole Beattie, Eddie Guzelian, Geraldine Inoa, Magali Lozano, Curtis Gwinn, LaToya Morgan, Eli Jorne, Adam Fierro, Frank Renzulli, Ryan Coleman, Jack LoGiudice, Charles H. Eglee
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Norman Reedus
Daryl Dixon
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Melissa McBride
Carol Peletier