Everyone deserves to see The Walking Dead (for as long as they can tolerate it) and hear the shrieks and flesh chomping in their preferred language, so NBC Universo has bought the rights to air Spanish-dubbed episodes of AMC’s hit show. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the NBC subsidiary will broadcast and stream dubbed episodes of first three seasons of the show beginning in 2016. But anyone looking to gorge on the show will probably have to stick to streaming it somehow, as NBC Universo will dish out the first half of the series in weekly installments.
Ruben Mendiola, president of NBC Universo, told THR there is “a tremendous appetite for Latinos to fully enjoy this series in Spanish for the very first time in the U.S.” The addition of The Walking Dead is part of the channel’s ”commitment to bringing the most provocative and best-quality entertainment to U.S. Hispanics in Spanish,” in a lineup that includes Spanish-dubbed episodes of Law & Order, Suits, Alphas, and, as of this summer, Battlestar Galactica.
As with the crime procedurals and sci-fi shows in NBC Universo’s roster, there probably won’t be much, if anything, lost in translation. Shane’s dickish ways should still read loud and clear, and ordering Carl to stay in the house and out of the way is probably a universal impulse. But it should be interesting to learn how “walkers” will be rendered, given that the direct translation—caminantes—sounds a bit too cheerful.