Days before AMC premieres the fifth season of its ratings juggernaut The Walking Dead, the network renews the zombie drama for a sixth season. It’s no surprise, really, since the show continues to perform spectacularly in the ratings and its popularity never seems to die down.

“We could not be more excited for October 12th as we share new episodes of The Walking Dead with fans around the globe,” said AMC President Charlie Collier in a statement released this past Tuesday. “In advance of Sunday’s season five premiere, AMC proudly confirms a sixth season order of this extraordinary series. Thank you to Robert Kirkman, Scott Gimple, the terrific executive producers, and the entire team who brings this compelling world and these rich characters to life. There’s plenty more Dead ahead thanks to their impressive, collective effort.”

At last, it seems as if the series has found a showrunner it’s sticking with. Following the abrupt exits of Frank Darabont and Glenn Mazzara, Scott M. Gimple is here to stay. Season 5 premieres this Sunday, Oct. 12 at 9pm.

Elsewhere, CBS is bringing back its summer dramas Under the Dome and Extant for a third and second season, respectively.

“We’re committed to delivering our viewers and advertisers year-round programming with a wide variety of storytelling,” said CBS Entertainment Chairman Nina Tassler in a statement today. “We continue to see summer as a great place for unique concepts, innovative business models, and passionate television audiences.”

Update (10/13): Following tradition, the Walking Dead season premiere opened to record recording on Sunday: 17.3 million viewers tuned into it (11 million of which are part of the 18-49 demo), making it the most watched episode to date. The previous record holder was the season 4 opener which drew 16.1 million viewers (10.4 million in the 18-49 demo). These are huge numbers for cable; not only do they rival network TV viewership, they exceed it. AMC might as well renew Dead, at this point, for life.