Talamasca Premiere Includes 'Fun Little Rib' At The Walking Dead — But Don't Expect Any Zombies, EPs Say

AMC welcomed "Talamasca: The Secret Order" to its line-up on Sunday with a two-part premiere that included a "fun little rib" at one of the network's longest-running franchises.

As Helen (Elizabeth McGovern) was preparing Guy (Nicholas Denton) for his newfound career in the supernatural, she laid out every manner of immortal creature he might come across: "vampires, witches, ghosts and demons." When he asked, "What, no zombies?" she wryly replied, "No such thing. You watch too much telly."

Without saying it, this was an obvious nod to "The Walking Dead," the zombie-centric series that has dominated pop culture since its premiere on AMC in 2010, spawning multiple spinoffs that still air to this day.

"That was just a fun little rib at AMC that we thought would give them a chuckle and they wouldn't be offended by," co-showrunner John Lee Hancock tells TVLine.

But Helen's off-handed response does raise an interesting question: Are there really no zombies in the Anne Rice Immortal Universe? Is that where we're drawing the line?

"Our meticulous Anne Rice fact checkers at Gran Via [Productions] and AMC didn't flag that one, so as far as we understand, there are no zombies in the Anne Rice Universe," adds co-showrunner Mark Lafferty. "If there are, let us know. We could probably make some use of them."

While you shouldn't expect any traditional zombies to appear on any of the Anne Rice shows, however, Lafferty acknowledges that "there are definitely beings that sort of seem zombie-like. We have hybrid creatures and things where you go, 'I don't know quite what that is.' But yeah, for now I think 'The Walking Dead' has has grabbed that zip code and taken it fully from us."

Did you catch that "Walking Dead" joke in Sunday's "Talamasca" premiere? And what do you think of the latest installment in AMC's ever-growing Anne Rice catalogue? Grade the episode below, then drop a comment with your full review.