AFI lauded The Walking Dead as one of its Television Programs of the Year for 2012, marking the second time that the AMC drama has appeared in the American Film Institute's almanac. The awards were created as a way to preserve and honor America's cultural legacy in the moving image arts. Also recognized in the Television Programs of the Year category were two other shows from AMC -- Mad Men and Breaking Bad -- as well as American Horror Story (FX), Game Change (HBO), Game of Thrones (HBO), Girls (HBO), Homeland (Showtime), Louie (FX) and Modern Family (ABC). AFI's Movies of the Year for 2012 were Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Dark Knight Rises, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Moonrise Kingdom, Silver Linings Playbook, and Zero Dark Thirty.

The AFI will celebrate the honorees at a luncheon on Fri., Jan. 11.