‘The Walking Dead’ Season 8 Premiere: What Time & Channel Does It Air Tonight?

The Walking Dead premiere time

AMC What time is The Walking Dead premiere on tonight?

After the way last year’s premiere of The Walking Dead started, we’re pretty nervous about what AMC has in store this year for the Season 8 premiere. Who will die and who will survive? The Season 8 premiere airs tonight and will be about seven minutes longer than usual, so set your DVRs accordingly if you’re not watching live. The episode starts at 9 p.m. Eastern. Read on below for more details on Season 9 premiere.


DATE: Tonight, Sunday, October 22, 2017 (Note: If you’re in the UK, you’ll have to wait until October 23 to watch on FOX instead of AMC.)


‘MERCY’ AIR TIME: 9:00 p.m. – 10:07 p.m. Eastern (8:00 – 9:07 p.m. Central). Tonight’s episode will be extended, clocking in with an extra seven minutes of air time.


TV CHANNEL: AMC – Click here to access the AMC channel finder and locate your local station’s channel number.


THE WALKING DEAD LIVE STREAM: Click here to check out how to watch the Season 8 premiere of The Walking Dead via live stream.



EPISODE PREVIEW: To get ready for tonight’s episode, you’ll want to watch a preview first. Here’s a sneak peek. And if you want to count down to the premiere, a fan put together a countdown timer here. If you’re planning a premiere watch party, another fan came up with some ideas for recipes and games and shared them here.


Season 7 Finale Recap 

So exactly where did we leave off last season? Although a big battle was brewing between Negan and Rick’s crew, we didn’t end up with a huge number of deaths. Instead, the only main character to die was Sasha, along with many unnamed people in both groups. Shiva took down a couple people in some epic scenes too.

When the finale began, Sasha had taken a poisoned pill from Eugene to commit suicide. Dwight showed up at Alexandria, wanting to be a turncoat so he could help kill Negan. Rick’s group took all of Oceanside’s guns, with Tara’s help. Gregory had left to visit an unknown location, after apologizing to Maggie for the tension between them. But during that apology, he really looked like he wanted to kill her.

Throughout the finale, we saw Sasha reliving moments with Abraham or imagining how things might have been.

Rick’s group debates about what to do about Dwight. He had murdered Denise. But Dwight said he only followed Negan because of his wife, and now she’s escaped. Dwight tells them that Negan is coming tomorrow with at least 20 Saviors minimum, but he can slow them down and buy them a little time.

Back at the Kingdom, Morgan is dealing with guilt over Benjamin’s death and is wearing his armor. He agrees to accompany Ezekiel as they fight the Saviors.

So it looked like we had The Junkyard Group, Rick’s group, people from the Hillside, and The Kingdom banding together (along with Dwight) to fight the Saviors. But when the Saviors arrive, the Junkyard group — including Jadis — turn on Rick’s group, dismantling the explosives.

But then Negan opens the casket that Sasha is in, and is surprised to learn that she’s a walker. She attacks him and everything goes a little crazy, giving Rick’s group a new chance. But then Negan gets the upper hand again. But right before he kills Carl with Lucille, Ezekiel and the Kingdom show up. They drive the Saviors away.

Back at the Sanctuary, Dwight and Eugene are there with Negan. Negan tells the group that they’re going to war.

Then, back with Rick and company, we hear a heartwarming speech about Glenn.

Everything good that has happened, decisions to love and live and fight for each other, started with Glenn’s decision to help Rick.

One question we were left with was at the end of the Season 7 finale, when Daryl found a small figurine on the ground carved to look like a soldier. It read: “Didn’t know.” Fans believe the statue was left by Dwight, who was carving small statutes back in Season 6 when he first met Daryl.