This shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone who's actually seen the show or even just knows what it's about, but here are the facts anyway: According to a study conducted by a funeral resource guide called Funeralwise.com, AMC's record-breaking series The Walking Dead has the biggest death toll of any show on television. Killing zombies left and right really adds up!
Per the study, every episode of The Walking Dead averages about 38 dead bodies, and the series represented about 20% of the dead bodies in the entire study. Amongst these dead bodies, 90% were already dead, AKA, they were zombies. The second deadliest series turned out to be Cinemax's Strike Back, which averages 26 dead bodies per episode - NBC's Revolution came in third with 11 dead bodies per episode.
While this isn't exactly surprising, we have to wonder: Should murdered zombies really count in the overall death toll? The show hasn't really delved much into the mythology or science behind the zombies - in fact, in The Walking Dead's universe, no one initially knew what was going on because zombie films don't exist to them, hence everyone's habit of calling the undead "walkers" - but unless Hershel was on to something and the zombies really can be cured, those dead bodies were already dead long before Rick and co. put bullets through their skulls.
Other interesting findings from the study: Guns are the deadliest weapon and their use accounts for 44% of deaths on television, followed by knives which are the cause of 19% of television deaths. Perhaps the most troubling finding of all: Though men are more often killed on television and account for 86% of deaths, females are more likely to be killed by "means other than a gun," which refers to strangulation or violent beatings.
On second thought, maybe we'll take the zombies.
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[via The Hollywood Reporter]
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