The Failed Zombieland TV Spin-Off You Likely Never Knew Existed

Public interest in which movie monsters get to thrive in the pop culture zeitgeist ebbs and flows, and that was especially the case in the late 2000s, when zombies were in vogue. AMC's small-screen adaptation of Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore's comic book "The Walking Dead" has since become a bloated corpse of its former self, roaming the airwaves with a whole bunch of spin-offs and not a lot of chatter about them. But in 2010, that first season was the talk of the town. The Walking Dead" was considered prestige, must-watch television back in 2010. About a year earlier, however, the subgenre received an unexpected boost from an unlikely horror comedy named "Zombieland."

Following in the footsteps of Edgar Wright's seminal zom-com "Shaun of the Dead," Ruben Fleischer's 2009 film took a lighter, yet still gory look at the zombie apocalypse through an eccentric cast of characters with hometown-based nicknames. Jesse Eisenberg's Columbus was the central voice of this world, acting as a walking manifestation of Max Brooks' "The Zombie Survival Guide." He would give audiences tips on how to stay safe, in addition to awarding out kills of the week. During his travels, he ends up forming a found family with a Twinkie-obsessed cowboy named Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), con artist Wichita (Emma Stone) and her sister Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). I'm more mixed on the film, seeing a lot of its humor as a relic of its time, but there's no denying that this was a bona fide success when it came out.

"Zombieland" not only received adoration from critics and audiences, but also grossed $102 million on a $23.6 million budget. Its status as a franchise was all but ensured. When it was announced in 2011 that the film's screenwriters, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, would be bringing it to television, it didn't entirely seem like such a bad idea. If the film plays like an expensive TV pilot for a series following these four characters, then that's partly by design. "Zombieland" had been initially envisioned for the small screen, with Fleischer coming in to make the concept feel like a complete feature. It worked as its own thing and there was plenty of room to expand the concept.

It wouldn't be until 2013, however, that audiences got their first glimpse of what a "Zombieland" show would look like — and it was almost unanimously rejected by fans and casual viewers alike after just a single episode.

The 2010s saw Netflix as lord and ruler over the streaming service landscape, with its original series forever transforming how we watch television. Competitors arose in its wake, and Amazon was among those wanting a piece of the action. In the early stages of their streaming service, Prime Video followed the network approach by letting viewers watch a bunch of new pilots — albeit with a twist.

Where new shows would get picked up by its viewership and/or positive response, Amazon Studios decided to release 14 original pilots for anyone to watch, whether they had an Amazon Prime account or not. Anyone who watched them had an opportunity to be a critical component in whether they were picked up to series or not. Not a single one of them has left any kind of memorable impact, which is crazy to think about considering Prime Video has since become one of the biggest in the game with shows like "The Boys" and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." The one outlier among these failed pilots was "Zombieland," not because it was good, but because it's the only one of these oddities that was attached to an established name.

Folks got their first look at "Zombieland: The Series" on April 19, 2013, where the internet was set ablaze by the half-hour comedy not holding up to the quality of the 2009 film. Eiseberg, Harrelson, Stone and Breslin were nowhere to be seen, with Tyler Ross, Kirk Ward, Maiara Walsh and Izabela Vidovice taking over the respective roles of these characters. The critical reception was not kind either. Needless to say, any potential prospects of "Zombieland: The Series" came to an end a month later, as Amazon pulled the plug on the whole project. Reese had some hard feelings on the cancellation in his social media posts after receiving the news (via X – formerly Twitter):

"I'll never understand the vehement hate the pilot received from die-hard 'Zombieland' fans. You guys successfully hated it out of existence."

You can't even watch the "Zombieland: The Series" pilot on Prime Video anymore, as it was ultimately rejected by the streamer. So, what happened? Was the episode bad simply because it wasn't the movie, or did it just not live up to fan expectations? Well, there's a few answers to that.

Catering to the whims of what the fans want is almost always a recipe for disaster. In the case of "Zombieland: The Series," however, showrunners Reese and Wernick were practically setting themselves up for failure by recasting the same characters. A big reason why the 2009 film was a success wasn't just because of its gore or jokes, but because people really liked spending time with this cast. Most of the best moments in "Zombieland" revolve around this eclectic ensemble bouncing off of one another.

The "Zombieland" pilot flounders with its new cast because they have virtually no chemistry with one another. Additionally, the cathartic romantic culmination between Wichita and Columbus at the end of the 2009 film is walked back so the show can start from square one. I know Ward was initially envisioned as Tallahassee when the movie was getting some traction, but Harrelson's performance goes to show how much an actor can infuse their personality into a memorable character whose little joys are Twinkies and Bill Murray. 

Where the TV pilot went wrong was in not coming up with a bunch of whole new characters, especially when there's a whole infected world to explore. The pilot's ensemble don't exactly act like their film counterparts, but you're constantly reminded of them every time these imposters say one another's names. Keeping the same band of survivors also made the concept of "Zombieland" feel small and isolated, which isn't the best foot forward for a television series.

You would think that, well, even if the cast isn't bringing anything, surely there will be at least some fun zombie carnage. After all, the pilot is directed by Eli Craig, who was responsible for one of the funniest subversive slashers of the 2010s in "Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil." Sadly, Craig is beholden to a production that looks comically cheap at every opportunity. Ruben Fleischer is far from one of our great auteurs, but at least his film had texture. Even the zombie kills aren't all that impressive, with their larger presence relegated to the background. 

If there's one good thing that came out of the pilot's failure, it's showing there was still some interest in a proper "Zombieland" follow-up. One decade later, the 2009 sleeper hit got a sequel in 2019's "Zombieland: Double Tap." It managed to get all four of the original ensemble back in their roles, and added Rosario Dawson and a hilariously ditsy Zoey Deutch into the mix.

As for the "Zombieland" pilot, it exists more as a "lost" curiosity more than anything. Those that wanted a sequel got one, so at least this doesn't exist as a franchise killer anymore.