"Fear the Walking Dead," the spinoff to the hit post-apocalyptic series "The Walking Dead," won't jump right into a zombie-overrun city as the events in the series happen before the flesh-eaters came about. Thus, the word "zombies" does not yet play a part in it.
"Humans [that] have been infected by a very mysterious virus of which we do not have any understanding," Cliff Curtis, who plays the role of school teacher Travis in the upcoming show, told Yahoo! TV during the San Diego Comic-Con. "We're banned from saying it's a zombie show."
The actor said that they are "not concerned" with the apocalypse, adding that they are "just a family in L.A. going about [their] lives." This is basically where the show is grounded upon and the main concerns of the protagonists are their careers and families.
Kim Dickens, who plays Madison in the spin-off, said, as quoted by Uproxx, that "their characters would never know what an apocalypse looks like or anything" and that the focus is mainly on the troubles within the family, the tensions and relationships.
"The audience knows there's the ticking bomb under the table and what's behind the door and not to open the door. They know the rules, but the characters in this world do not," executive producer Gale Anne Hurd said via Uproxx. "There is no comic book road map for this show, so everyone is experiencing this new as they get the scripts."
The setting of the series also allows the team to explore the richness of the L.A.'s urban stretch and its diverse dwellers. About this, showrunner David Alpert said, "It's very interesting. When things break down, it adds to the isolation, and you ask yourself how well do you really know your neighbors."
"Fear the Walking Dead" premieres Aug. 23. A trailer for the episode was released at the Comic-Con.
