Long before The Walking Dead had us sweating Negan’s first victim, fans were concerned how AMC might replicate the villain’s colorful language. We’ve seen alternate takes on DVD, but it seems AMC may finally allow Jeffrey Dean Morgan to let a few F-bombs drop in Season 8.

You may have noticed cable shows on FX and AMC getting a bit more lax with the F-word in recent years, and this past Sunday’s Fear The Walking Dead similarly took advantage of its 9:00 P.M. airtime. ComicBook.com inquired about the usage to showrunner Dave Erickson, who explained that AMC changed its tune to allow a few F-bombs per year:

You get a specific number of curse words you can say, and then there’s a list of what you can and can’t do. I think it was our script coordinator who told me there was an email had come up; there had been a memo saying we could now say ‘f---’ twice over the course of an entire season … I don’t know at what point AMC corporate decided to allow it, but they did.

Granted, other AMC series have dropped F-bombs long before Negan made it a sticking point, and it isn’t as if standards have relaxed to the point Jeffrey Dean Morgan will spend each week on a list of naughty words. Still, it’s an interesting trajectory to follow, and Season 8 will likely give good reason for Negan’s language to add a little color.

In the meantime, watch the latest Walking Dead trailer below, and stay tuned for more on the October 22 premiere.

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