The Question, Sunday 3/30/14: Will The Walking Dead Reanimate A Record Viewership?

The highest-rated scripted show in recent TV history wraps up another season tonight, and somehow it keeps finding positive momentum even at these totally unrealistic ratings levels. The Walking Dead nearly tied its series high in the spring premiere despite facing the Winter Olympics. Then, after a few episodes slightly behind the corresponding fall ratings, it's pulled ahead of the fall pace in recent weeks, making it very likely to post its highest finale ever tonight. A really big spike might even see it make a run at series high levels. Will The Walking Dead reanimate a record viewership? That's The Question for Sunday, March 30, 2014.

The Walking Dead Fall 2013 | Spring 2014 Episodes

8.19 | 8.17 (-0%) 7.14 | 6.83 (-4%) 6.80 | 6.64 (-2%) 6.83 | 6.41 (-6%) 6.20 | 6.30 (+2%) 6.05 | 6.36 (+5%) 5.65 | 6.66 (+18%) 6.09 | ???

As I said above, it slightly trailed the fall pace for the first half of the spring, then pulled slightly ahead in recent weeks. (Makes me think people weren't all that interested in The Governor's return late last fall.) This culminated in a penultimate episode that went a full point (or 18%) ahead of the fall's penultimate ep. If this episode mirrors the +18% pace, it'll hit a 7.2. Was the +18% exaggerated because of how "low" last year's penultimate ep was, or does it mean the growth is going to continue getting bigger? Based on how it's been trending over the last few weeks, and because pessimism is rarely rewarded with this show, the latter seems more likely. The show usually doesn't spike huge for finales, but it has gone up more for the spring finales.

Over/Under: 7.95.

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