The popular television show "The Walking Dead" caused an uproar with fans on Wednesday when they announced that three actors had been upgraded to series regulars for season four, and cast member Melissa McBride was not included.
Fans of the actress, who has played Carol since season one, posted numerous messages on the comments section of the sites reporting the news, like TVLine.com, to demand AMC, who produces the series, make her a regular. Fans also sent many messages of support to McBride through her Twitter account.
The thing is, McBride is already a regular and has been. She confirmed this on her twitter account Wednesday, when she posted a response to the "awesome outpouring" of support after Chad L. Coleman, Sonequa Martin-Green and Emily Kinney were promoted.
"I currently am a series regular," McBride tweeted. "It's legalese and what it means for my castmates now is CONGRATULATIONS!"
The legal aspects she refers to are the source of confusion for fans. McBride's name is not included in the main sequence alongside co-stars like Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus, and even Sarah Wayne Callies who saw her character killed off in the first half of the season and has since only made brief appearances as a hallucination.
McBride is listed in the secondary credits, the part after the first commercial break where actors are listed as "Also Starring," a place usually associated with guest stars.
The contracts for "the Walking Dead" reportedly give producers and AMC the right to include series regulars in either section. Another example of the same situation is Scott Wilson, who plays Hershel, and is listed in the same section as McBride, yet is also a series regular.
Interestingly, Danai Gurira, who only joined the show in the second half of season three, is listed in the main title sequence. Even the series creator cannot say why this is.
"There are a lot of executive producers on the show and that's not my forte," he told TVLine. "I don't even know what the series regular term actually really means when it gets down to it, I'm sorry to admit."
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