Robert Kirkman recently gave his opinion on how long he sees the TV version of "The Walking Dead" running. According to Comicbook.com, Kirkman told a fan that he didn't see the show lasting for more than seven seasons.

In a letter column for Issue #167 of The Walking Dead comic books, a fan told Kirkman that he shouldn't milk the show and to end it by Season 7 or 8. In Kirkman's response to the fan, he kind of agreed, writing, "Just because something goes a long time doesn't mean it's being milked. We'll be lucky to make it to Season 7, but if we go beyond that it'll be because we have a story to tell."

"We certainly won't be able to tell the full story of the comics in seven seasons of the show," he added.

So at least Kirkman knows that it will take much longer to completely tell the whole story. Showrunner Scott Gimple also talked about the duration of the show and said that he thinks it could last several years.

"As a comic book, I don't know if it will end. As a TV show, all TV shows end," he told Larry King. "But I will say, I think it's possible that it could go on and on and on. I think if it went ten years... if it went longer than that it's possible that the cast, considering the amount of deaths on this cast and everything else, after ten or twelve years, it could shift into a whole new cast."

When King pointed out that he did his show for CNN for 26 years, Gimple added, "Ok, then, I'm going to say 27 years."

In related news, the show just added a new character as a series regular. According to Deadline, Seth Gilliam has been cast to play "Michael Todd" in Season 5. AMC is using a fake name to try and keep the character's true identity under wraps but they released a character description that could provide a clue.

The character is described as "having two sides, displaying a friendly, puckish humor but also having a haunted side stemming from a dark secret." It's been speculated that Gilliam will play comic book character Father Gabriel Stokes.

Father Gabriel is an African-American preacher who locked himself in his church at the beginning of the outbreak. Even though friends, family and parishioners came to the church to seek shelter, he would not let anyone in.

Would you like to see "The Walking Dead" end at Season 7or continue on for years?