They’ve spent three years struggling to make one show about the zombie apocalypse dependably interesting from week to week. How can they possibly sustain another? Is all the non-boring dialogue being left in the writers’ room right now for some reason? Good lord. It’s like spinning off “Wings” because there are just too many good airport jokes to shoehorn into one 30-minute sitcom.

The good news for Hot Air readers: Come 2015, you’ll get two posts a week instead of one about how annoyed I am at something I watched on TV last night.

“Building on the success of the most popular show on television for adults 18-49 is literally a no-brainer,” AMC’s president and general manager Charlie Collier says in a statement. “We look forward to working with Robert, Gale and Dave again as we develop an entirely new story and cast of characters. It’s a big world and we can’t wait to give fans another unforgettable view of the zombie apocalypse.”

The series, which as of yet has no title (may we suggest The Running Dead?), will be set in the same universge as Walking Dead, but with the audience following a different group of characters.

The LA Times had to issue a correction to its original post about the spin-off because someone told them the new show would be called “Spread the Dead” and they believed him. Yes, seriously.

AMC seems to be embracing spin-offs as a broader programming strategy, starting with one of the “Breaking Bad” characters and now extending to its zombie goldmine. (Coming soon, hopefully: “Joan!” starring Christina Hendricks.) All snark aside, though, I like the idea. The problem with “The Walking Dead” isn’t the premise, lord knows, and it isn’t really the writing. (Well, sometimes it’s the writing.) The problem is that most of the characters are stiffs, no pun intended. I can’t find the post now but I remember writing once before that the show would be improved if it jettisoned this bunch of losers and focused on different aspects of the zombie apocalypse rather than one dull troupe’s experience during it. We’ve all read “Lord of the Files”; no need for a new lesson about trying to maintain a semblance of civilized behavior while civilization disappears. If they’re going to take a second crack at this universe, I’d rather they do it as a collection of short stories using different characters from week to week (or a different batch every few weeks for discrete story arcs) than write another novel that trudges along with yet another bunch of harried yet scrappy survivors. Let’s face it: All zombie novels are going to go pretty much the same way. Shorten your narrative and the possibilities open up.