Ranking our favorite zombie shows as Resident Evil stalks onto Netflix
In 2010, AMC released The Walking Dead, a zombie show based on the comic book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman. The series became the network's highest-rated program ever and proved that zombies could work just as well on television as they could on the big screen. While TWD is set to end later this year, zombies aren't leaving television any time soon. Not only does AMC have several TWD spin-offs in the works, but a new player enters the ring this week – Netflix's Resident Evil.
Well, it's not exactly new, as Resident Evil began as a PlayStation "survival horror" video game in 1996. This inspired sequel games and a 2002 film, and the franchise expanded substantially in both arenas over time. Seven movies tell the story of the spread of the T-Virus, which turns humans into zombies, a plague caused by a greedy company called Umbrella Corporation, and a woman named Alice (Milla Jovovich) who becomes increasingly entwined in a mission to eliminate Umbrella Corporation and restore humanity. The film franchise rebooted last year with Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, and Netflix brought it to TV via an animated series last July. The first-ever live-action take stars Ella Balinska (Charlie's Angels) as the new main hero. With this and other zombie shows coming, and TWD departing, we ranked which zombie series over the past decade-plus have had the most infectious bite. Rankings are based on my own preference, plus ratings from IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes (audience score and the Tomatometer critics score), and what EW has written about them over the years.
<em>The Walking Dead: The World Beyond</em>, AMC 2020 - 2021
The second spin-off of The Walking Dead focused on a group of teenagers trying to survive the zombie apocalypse. However, the show didn't find the same success as its predecessors. Critics and audiences alike eviscerated it. EW's Darren Franich gave it a C upon its premiere, and its ratings put it at or near the bottom of all categories for this ranking. Its IMDb rating is 4.3/10, its Tomatometer score is 46 percent, and its Rotten Tomatoes audience score is only 36 percent. Thus, it's an easy pick for this last place. But hey, perhaps The Walking Dead's future spin-offs will fare better.
<em>Day of the Dead</em>, SyFy 2021 – present (renewal undetermined)
Much like Resident Evil, Syfy's Day of the Dead was inspired by a film franchise of the same name, created by horror icon George A. Romero. The show follows people in a small town whose lives are upended by a sudden zombie attack. It hasn't received much buzz – viewers seemed unimpressed, giving it a 31 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 4.6/10 on IMDb. The show's fate remains uncertain, but it's safe to say Day of the Dead's TV edition doesn't have the same clout as the films.
<em>Z Nation</em>, Netflix 2014 – 2018
Netflix's first of several zombie shows featured a particular trope: a band of fighters must get the one person who survived the zombie virus across the country to a lab so a scientist can potentially develop a world-saving cure. Z Nation has done well enough to last five seasons and falls within the top five shows on this list in Rotten Tomatoes audience score (67). However, it's unrated by Rotten Tomatoes critics, falls in the bottom half in other metrics, and was lambasted after its debut by EW's Jeff Jensen. He rated it a D+ and criticized it for not leaning fully into its campy essence, thus taking itself more seriously than it is. As such, Z Nation falters.
<em>Daybreak</em>, Netflix 2019
Another of Netflix's zombie shows, Daybreak took a unique approach by presenting a world in which a virus only turns adults into undead creatures. The creatures are technically referred to by the surviving teens as "ghoulies" and, in fact, there's a line where main character Josh Wheeler (Colin Ford) explicitly says ghoulies aren't zombies, but the essence is the same. The ghoulies are not-alive-but-not-dead, eat human flesh, are drawn to noise, etc. The show is middling across all metrics, hence its placement toward the lower end, but if you like your zombie stories with youth and levity, this teenage-led apocalypse is a fun romp.
<em>Black Summer</em>, Netflix 2019 – present (renewal undetermined)
Even with Z Nation's shortcomings, Netflix doubled down on it by introducing the prequel spin-off Black Summer. Black Summer tells the story of the beginning of the zombie outbreak, which characters in Z reference early on. Summer isn't rated as highly as its predecessor by audiences, but critics adore it — it's tied for second place in Tomatometer score at 89 percent. Perhaps it's because it has a more defined tone than Z Nation – not as campy, and more committed to being a dark, dramatic take, with solid acting from lead Jaime King (Hart of Dixie). Netflix has not declared whether another season is coming, but the show is worth a watch for die-hard fans of the undead.
<em>Helix</em>, SyFy 2014 – 2015
SyFy's Helix only lasted two seasons, and didn't generate exceptional buzz, but it falls in third place for Tomatometer score (81 percent) and lands in the top half of this list in IMDb rating (6.7/10) and Rotten Tomatoes audience score (tied for fifth with 66 percent). Unlike most zombie shows, which begin in a world already succumbed to the mass spread of a virus, Helix focuses on the very beginning of a zombie virus, featuring the accidental development and how the scientists and military personnel involved try to contain the base after realizing things have gone awry. This fresh angle, and its relative critical success, earn Helix the middle spot here.
<em>Fear the Walking Dead</em>, AMC 2015 – present
Fear the Walking Dead is the original – and so far, most successful – of The Walking Dead spin-offs. It debuted as a prequel featuring characters experiencing the beginning of the zombie outbreak (The Walking Dead began in a world already overrun). After season 3, it was more like TWD, but the two shows continued to coexist. Overall, this was a hard show to rank. It landed below Helix and Black Summer in Rotten Tomatoes audience and Tomatometer scores (60 percent and 75 percent, respectively) but above them in IMDb rating (6.8/10). In a season 6 article, EW's Dalton Ross noted that audiences had begun losing interest in FTWD, but season 6 was a substantial resurgence. Now it's seven seasons in and counting, so something must be working. Given its strengths and cultural presence, I slot FTWD here, fittingly just behind its genesis show.
<em>The Walking Dead</em>, AMC 2010 – 2022
Based on the comic of the same name, the first zombie television show (at least of the modern era) served up a zombie apocalypse story in a serious, dark, gritty tone, but with enough heart and character development to give it depth and emotional realism. Fans fell madly in love with nearly every main character, and each death or triumph sent shockwaves through the fanbase. Over time, fans (myself included) did get sick of the deaths, and the show lost some love (at least in the Twittersphere), but overall, it tops zombie shows in IMDb rating (8.2/10) and falls within the top four in all other ranking categories. Thus, it's a no-brainer that The Walking Dead falls at least in the top three of this list. It infected viewers with a love for zombies, and set the stage for the current zombie TV landscape.
<em>Santa Clarita Diet</em>, Netflix 2017 – 2019
When I ranked vampire shows, I said vampires are best serious. Well, the top two shows on this list signal the opposite may be true for zombies – the undead should be fun. Santa Clarita Diet infused the zombie genre with a sitcom structure, introducing quirky realtor couple Sheila (Drew Barrymore) and Joel (Timothy Olyphant) and their rebellious teenage daughter Abby (Liv Hewson). When Sheila is exposed to a zombie infection, shenanigans ensue as Joel, Abby, and Abby's friend Eric (Skylar Gisondo) discover Sheila's condition trying to keep her fed and cover up her zombie slip-up murders. The high jinks were both fun and endearing, and the cast was perfect – Barrymore and Olyphant flexed comedic muscles and were well-matched by two young and fast-rising stars in Hewson (Yellowjackets) and Gisondo (Booksmart, The Righteous Gemstones). Santa Clarita Diet and the top show on this list were neck-and-neck across all criteria. Santa Clarita landed the best Rotten Tomatoes audience score (94 percent) and tied for second in IMDb ranking (7.8/10), but was edged out slightly in Tomatometer score (Santa Clarita has a rating of 89 percent). Upon its debut, EW writer Leah Greenblatt served up some criticism but ultimately gave it a B+, gushing that it toes the "unlikely line between David Lynch and Desperate Housewives… then literally eats that toe, which is pretty fun." Fun indeed, and well worth tasting.
<em>iZombie</em>, CW 2015 – 2019
The CW is sometimes teased for being over the top, but there's no denying the network's success in sci-fi playgrounds. With plenty of vampire and witch shows already under its belt, it dug into the zombie subgenre with iZombie. It struck gold by blending a zombie plague with wunderkind girl detective à la Veronica Mars, as EW's Jeff Jensen referenced in his review of the show's debut. iZombie follows the story of a medical resident, Olivia Moore (Rose McIver), whose life is half-ended when she gets bit by a zombie. After she turns, she dumps her fiancé and takes a job at a morgue to keep him safe and keep herself fed (with brains of the dead!). Wild twist: eating brains of corpses gives her the person's memories. What does one do with all of this new insight? Fortunately, Olivia does some good with this new power of sorts by helping a police officer solve crimes. In the process, she finds herself re-energized for her half-life. The show was a quiet hit, lasting five seasons, earning a list-topping 92 percent Tomatoemeter score, second-place (with Santa Clarita Diet) IMDb rating of 7.8/10, and a third-place Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 68 percent. Jensen gave it a B+ and showered it in praise, including its actors – e.g., Rose McIver and Rahul Kohli, who recently stole audience's hearts in a different show, The Haunting of Bly Manor. Jensen wrote that iZombie's "diverse elements work together to nourish an allegory for re-humanization in dehumanizing times." Ultimately, while it may not have cured the real world, iZombie offers a great escape.
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