--- description: The Parents Television Council was not pleased with the season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead title: Parents Television Council: The Walking Dead Premiere Was Too Violent image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1371a6d73220f581/6988ab6a0b72e350396eb7bc/walking-dead.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Parents Television Council Thought _The Walking Dead_ Premiere Was Too Violent by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Oct 25, 2016 12:29 AM CUT  Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan in a scene from the first episode of "The Walking Dead - Season 7". Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan in a scene from the first episode of "The Walking Dead - Season 7".Gene Page—AMC by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Oct 25, 2016 12:29 AM CUT **Warning: Spoilers ahead** The [Parents Television Council](http://w2.parentstv.org/Main/News/Detail.aspx?docID=3347 "undefined") was not pleased with the season 7 premiere of _The Walking Dead_, saying the episode was too violent for families to watch. “Last night’s season premiere of _The Walking Dead_ was one of the most graphically violent shows we’ve ever seen on television, comparable to the most violent of programs found on premium cable networks,” council president Tim Winter [said](http://w2.parentstv.org/Main/News/Detail.aspx?docID=3347 "undefined"). “It’s not enough to ‘change the channel,’ as some people like to advocate, because cable subscribers – regardless of whether they want AMC or watch its programming – are still forced to subsidize violent content. This brutally-explicit show is a powerful demonstration of why families should have greater control over the TV networks they purchase from their cable and satellite providers.” The [premiere episode](http://time.com/4542150/walking-dead-season-7-cliffhanger/ "undefined") shocked fans by gruesomely killing off two of show’s favorite characters. Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) are seen beaten to death with a baseball bat wrapped in razor-wire in a scene people [found devastating and gross](http://time.com/4542337/walking-dead-season-premier-seventh-disgust/ "undefined"). Winter, who only saw video clips of the episode, told [_The Hollywood Reporter_ ](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/walking-dead-violence-ptc-responds-940874 "undefined")that the TV-MA rated episode pushed its boundaries. “When you look at the definition of MA and what content of the show is, it’s unquestionable they chose what best represented the content,” he said. “This certainly raises question of if there should be an even more severe rating than TV-MA.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4543808/parents-television-council-walking-dead/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4543808/parents-television-council-walking-dead/"},"headline":"The Parents Television Council Thought The Walking Dead Premiere Was Too Violent","datePublished":"2016-10-25T00:29:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:23:42.381Z","description":"The council said it was \"graphically violent\"","url":"https://time.com/4543808/parents-television-council-walking-dead/","keywords":["Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1371a6d73220f581/6988ab6a0b72e350396eb7bc/walking-dead.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1371a6d73220f581/6988ab6a0b72e350396eb7bc/walking-dead.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"walking-dead","caption":">>> NOT TO BE USED UNTIL 10/24/16 at 1:00 AM EST <<< Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan - The Walking Dead _ Season 7, Episode 1 - Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC","creditText":"Gene Page—AMC","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4543808/parents-television-council-walking-dead/","name":"The Parents Television Council Thought The Walking Dead Premiere Was Too Violent"}}]}] ```