Is it correct to say that the "premise" of the show The walking Dead is that people turn into zombies when they die?

Question

I was talking to a friend and when I told her I was watching TWD, she asked me about the show. I told her the premise of the show is that people die and turn into zombies. She immediately wrote "premise?". I thought I might have used the wrong word and it made me feel embarrassed. So I quickly checked for it's meaning on Google.

Here's what showed up

1. A previous statement or proposition from which another is inferred or follows as a conclusion.

2. Base an argument, theory, or undertaking on.

I still feel like I used the word correctly. Can someone please tell me if I was wrong?

Answer 1

Your use of the word premise is entirely correct:

an idea or theory on which a statement or action is based:

• [ + that ] They had started with the premise that all men are created equal.
• The research project is based on the premise stated earlier.
• We should start from the premise that circumstances might change.
• The conclusions you have drawn are based on a false premise.
• We should work on the premise that this plan will be successful.
• Could you explain the basic premise of your argument? Your reasoning is based on a misguided premise.

As you can see from the examples, the use of "premise" is not limited to books, stories, movies, etc., however in filmmaking

The premise of a film or screenplay is the initial state of affairs that drives the plot.

Most premises can be expressed very simply, and many films can be identified simply from a short sentence describing the premise.

• For example: A lonely boy is befriended by an alien;
• A small town is terrorized by a shark;
• A small boy sees dead people.

In my opinion, the filmmaking definition of premise boils down to the same thing

An assertion or proposition which forms the basis for a work or theory.

• ‘the fundamental premise of the report’

EDITED TO ADD:

Your sentence is grammatically sound. I have absolutely no doubts about that, and I reaffirm my answer.

I haven't watched TWD, so I honestly don't know if the premise that "people die and turn into zombies" is, in fact, the premise of TWD, as the ensuing debate in the comments alleges it isn't.

Answer 2

The premise of a film or screenplay is the initial state of affairs that drives the plot.

A "premise", per the definition, is foundational to the plot. There's several problems with proposing that your suggestion is the actual premise to TWD.

It does a poor job of describing -this- story

Your suggestion can be re-written, accurately, as "the premise is that the story is set in this genre". I.e., your suggestion equally describes Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead, 28 days later, TWD, and literally every other story within the larger Zombie-setting. As such, it's not very meaningful to describe the premise in this way.

This story doesn't require your premise to work.

Foundational elements of stories often vary independently of the setting. Romeo and Juliet could be told equally well in Verona, Italy, concerning nobleman and ladies as it can in the Bronx, concerning street gangs as it can with Garden-Gnomes. The premise of Romeo and Juliet persists throughout those versions of the classic tale.

Similarly, TWD's premise has very little to do with "zombies", if anything at all.

Opinion:

It's my opinion that TWD's premise is "Man struggles to adapt to post-apocalyptic environment".

Answer 3

It's valid usage, but it implies you think the show is generic

A premise is what forms the basis of a theory or a plot

^{https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/premise}

The premise is the core idea of a work of fiction - the essence from which everything else follows.

It's a strong word. You can say that the premise of The Walking Dead is that people die and come back as zombies, and it would not be incorrect usage of the word - but it implies criticism if you say the premise is something so thin and generic that it is true of any work of zombie fiction.

"The premise is that people die and come back as zombies" is something a critic might say in a scathing review accusing The Walking Dead of being just another formulaic zombie show.

This is almost certainly why your friend questioned your use of the word. It was probably clear from context that you believe there is more to the show than some people dying then coming back as zombies.

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Some real usage examples

Let's compare that to some typical usage of the word in this context:

The premise is that a dangerous criminal has threatened carnage at the Miss United States Pageant

^{http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/entertainment/movies/2001_03/miss_congeniality.shtml}

The movie's premise is that guys like this might actually benefit from a good fight, and that bullying should be confronted by any means

^{https://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/fist-fight-review-charlie-day-ice-cube-1201989814/}

The film's premise is that the three women spend a lot of time spying on others, but they are unable to see problems closer to home

^{https://www.screendaily.com/mataharis/4034915.article}

You see how the film critics quoted have not simply described a detail of the situation of the film. They are saying something about the fundamental idea of the work, while communicating something deeper about what the experience of the story is like: tension and drama, a moral twist, an ironic contrast.

A premise can be very short, but if someone describes a premise in a way that sounds generic or bland, that will reflect their view of the work itself:

There is no dramatic tension to this film - the entire premise is already summarised in the title [Miracles From Heaven]

^{https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/plot-all-summed-up-in-the-title}

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Some examples of what is missing

I've not seen the show, but I imagine a better premise might be:

• the struggle to survive when the dead return as zombies.

This communicates an idea of what drives the plot (characters motivated by survival, constant daily struggles) and what the experience of the show is like (tension, intensity, threat, some level of realism and grit), as well as the mechanics of the situation (the zombies part).

But maybe I've misread the publicity and the premise is actually:

• a grave digger has to dramatically change his business when the dead return as zombies, with hilarious consequences
• a couple's relationship is shaken when the dead return as zombies, and an old flame makes an unexpected return
• an underperforming sports team have a chance to change their fortune when the dead return as zombies

The premises of these shows are very different, but "the dead return as zombies" is true of all of them.

Answer 4

Premise is technically correct usage, but it glosses over a lot.

It might be truer to say that "One of the conceits of the show 'The Walking Dead' is that people turn into zombies when they die"

Conceit in this case used similarly to Concept. It's part of the underlying rules of the show, and it drives some elements of the plot. But the show isn't just about people dying and turning into zombies.

Answer 5

That is more a premise than the premise. The premise of the the show, as swbarnes2 said, is that "the world has been overrun by zombies, collapsing civilization". That people die and turn into zombies is part of that, but not the central issue. For instance, on the show iZombie, it's true that "people die and become zombies" (for some definition of "die" and "zombies"), but it's a much different show. The Walking Dead isn't a show about dying and turning into a zombie, any more than it's a show about people who keep pet tigers. It's a show about living in a world where you constantly have to decide what you're willing to do to survive. It's about these three questions: "How many walkers have you killed? How many humans have you killed? Why?"

Answer 6

It may be that she prefers the spelling "Premiss" in this context. After all, "Premise" may refer a single unit of accommodation or commercial activity, though it is true that "Premises" works just as well in this context. I believe this ambiguity and/or dichotomy has been discussed on StackExchange in another context.

Answer 7

I would say, no, you aren't using the word quite right. The premise of the show is that the world has been overrun by zombies, collapsing civilization. That more are being created through natural death, instead of by zombie bite is a detail of world building, but not the premise of the show.

If there was another show, set 100 years later, where civilization was restored, and the show was about the people who monitor the population, to swiftly deal with people who unexpectedly die and come back as zombies...there, the premise would be that people who die come back as zombies.

Answer 8

This is a common and well understood use of the noun "premise" If it conforms to the original use of the word, I do not know. If it doesn't it would be an example of the expansion of the living, growing wonderful language of Shakespeare.