AMC's hit TV adaptation of "The Walking Dead" recently began shooting its 4th season, and the network has high hopes for its continued dominanceRobert Kirkman has teased that "The Walking Dead" comic series could easily continue for 300 issues -- that's another 16 years, give or take -- so why should the television adaptation be any different?

Appearing Wednesday at the Barclays Global Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference in New York City, AMC Networks' Josh Sapan lamented this summer's conclusion of "Breaking Bad," saying, "We'll all suffer from some minor heartbreak when these shows come to a natural close."

However, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Sapan also said the cable channel's smash-hit drama "The Walking Dead" still has a long, long life ahead of it.

"We hope that zombies live forever and we've just begun to find out what the post-apocalyptic world is like," he said, "so that we'll be sitting here at the Barclays conference in 2022 discussing the fact that 'Walking Dead' is not over ... at that point, I think any one of the companies will have replaced the United States government and we'll be in a complete free enterprise world in which there are no nations."

Given the record-breaking ratings of "The Walking Dead," it's easy to comprehend why Sapan's dystopic vision of the future would still be pretty cheery for AMC: The Season 3 finale drew a series-best 12.4 million viewers, making it the No. 1 program on any television network -- broadcast or cable -- that night.

The fourth season of "The Walking Dead," which began filming earlier this month, will premiere in October.