'The Walking Dead' Premieres on AMC Sunday, October 31 (Hall

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Joolz
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Post by Joolz » 11-01-2010 04:58 PM

Doc Jensen and Dan Snierson at EW posted a recap/review of 'The Walking Dead' today, too. I haven't finished reading it, but will go ahead and post the link:

'The Walking Dead' recap: Boyz in the Zombiehood

and a quote from Doc Jensen:
JEFF: If both of us are but modest zombie fans, then why are we watching this show? My two-part answer: 1. The comic book. Kirkman’s saga is a smartly written survival drama/sociopolitical allegory where the zombie apocalypse is beside the point. The real focus is on the living—and how you don’t need a zombie bite to become a monster. >snip< 2. Frank Darabont, best known for The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile (but also well respected in geek circles for knowing his B-movie/horror genre s--t). Man alive, did he direct the hell out of this pilot.
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Saharaka
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Post by Saharaka » 11-01-2010 11:12 PM

Joolz wrote: Here's something fun at AMC's site for the show:

What kind of survivor would you be...
after the apocalypse?


The Walking Dead Survival Test

(Choose quickly! It's a timed test...)


Youthful survivor
Creature of the desert

"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing plaid with stripes comes easy."

Joolz
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Post by Joolz » 11-02-2010 04:10 AM

Good to see you posting here, Saharaka! I assume you must be watching? From one 'Lost' fan to another, from what I've seen so far, the 'Lost' community is all atwitter about this show -- very excited. ;)

And BTW (this goes for anyone watching the show), Brian over at MyMedia is watching, and he's offered to get screencaps (he can get HD screencaps, too), so if there's anything anyone wants to see better, closer, clearer, or whatever, let me know and I'll ask him for a screencap for us. (He seems to love doing it. :) ) Then, I can post it here, or link to it, or whatever.
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Post by Joolz » 11-02-2010 04:16 AM

Oh, here's something else that's interesting. Bear McCreary, the show's composer (who was also composer for Battlestar Galactica) is blogging about the music, just like he did for BSG. I'm not a musician, but I still found what he had to say in some of his BSG blogs fascinating. Here's his blog entry for 'Days Gone Bye': http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=4964
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SETIsLady
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Post by SETIsLady » 11-04-2010 12:36 AM

I watched tonight and I am officially hooked on this show too ! And the previews for the season look great. The only thing I couldn't handle was the horse scene. Can't wait for next week !

Is anyone else watching besides you and I Joolz ?

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Post by Joolz » 11-04-2010 03:25 PM

Hi Linda! :cool: Glad you found some time to watch it! I thought it was a pretty amazing pilot episode. :D

Yeah, same here... the horse scene was horrible. I get why they did it, but I still wish they'd found some other way to say that. I guess it was in the original comics, though, so the producers felt they had to include it. Still... it was a major bummer for me, too. :(

As for who else is watching, well, maybe Saharaka, since she posted here. Linnea had said, over on the Rubicon thread, that she might check it out (based on my recommendation), but don't know if she did. And I know Kaz seemed interested when I mentioned it on another thread he started about a zombie flick, but don't know if he actually tuned in, either.

I hope some others tune in and post up. This show, with its focus on disaster survival, seems right up our (Pirates') collective alley, so to speak. From what I've seen and read, the zombies take a back seat to the characters and their stories in this one, and I like that -- a lot. Those who aren't watching are really missing something spectacular, IMO.

But we shall see... hey, you guys, if you watched, post up! Let us know what you think (good or bad)!
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Post by Linnea » 11-05-2010 02:29 AM

Joolz, I chickened out. I really hate being scared out of my mind - and zombies! oy!

I am sorta toying with the idea of watching the pilot on the AMC site. Haven't made a final decision yet.

:eek:

:)

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Post by Joolz » 11-05-2010 05:41 AM

Linnea wrote: Joolz, I chickened out. I really hate being scared out of my mind - and zombies! oy!

I am sorta toying with the idea of watching the pilot on the AMC site. Haven't made a final decision yet.

:eek:

:)

LOL :D Well, if you decide to check it out, we'll be here. :)

I'm not a huge fan of zombies, either, as I said before, but they aren't the real focus of this show. If it were all about horror and scary stuff, I know I wouldn't like it. (I thought 'Zombieland' was awful, for instance. It sucked royally, IMO, and was basically unwatchable for me. Waaay too much gratuitous violence and gross-out stuff. I know some of it was supposed to be campy and funny, but it didn't work that way at all for me.) I didn't find this show to be scary, though. I can say that, I think. There is suspense, but I didn't find myself afraid. Grossed-out a few times, yes, but not scared.

The focus in this show, from what I've both seen (so far) and read, is on the human drama, on the characters. I found them compelling. In one episode, they managed to make me care about them. What it's about, thematically, is survival in a holocaust of epic proportions. Apocalyptic disaster and how people who are left respond to it. (It is in this way that it has some similarity to 'Lost,' and is attracting some of the 'Lost' fan-base -- it has a compelling ensemble cast who form a group of characters trying to find ways to deal with an almost incomprehensible and utterly life-changing event.)

The zombies take a back seat to this element. They're just what caused the disaster. Although what caused them to become zombies (no one calls them 'zombies' in the show, though -- they're called 'walkers') is a virus -- which I wonder if we'll learn was engineered by humans. Perhaps there is a reason why the story is set in and around Atlanta, headquarters of the CDC? I have a feeling that a lot more along the lines of social allegory will be worked in as it goes along, too. It's a perfect medium for that sort of thing.

It's got some gross stuff, for sure, and I won't lead you astray on that, but nothing of the proportions of most zombie fare. IMO anyhow. And there is something different about how they treat the subject, something truly pathetic about these zombies. That they were once human is not ignored. There is pathos here.

OK... enuff said. I'm not trying to convince you to watch, just rambling on about what I think about it. ;) With several more days to absorb it all and think on it, I'm finding I have more to say about it (not a surprise, eh?).
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SETIsLady
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Post by SETIsLady » 11-05-2010 08:52 AM

Joolz wrote: Here's something fun at AMC's site for the show:

What kind of survivor would you be...
after the apocalypse?


The Walking Dead Survival Test

(Choose quickly! It's a timed test...)
I did the test here is my score:

Your Survival Skills rank you as a

Father Figure

You've got life experience, and your gentle manner, compassion, and wisdom attract others, making you the nucleus of your group. That's fine because you need people as much as they need you.

You've lost alot (both before the apocalypse and after) and a sense of community helps ease your depression and gives you purpose.

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Post by SETIsLady » 11-09-2010 02:22 AM

Good News ! :D

'The Walking Dead' Renewed For Second Season

Given the overwhelmingly positive, record-breaking reception to the first few episodes of "The Walking Dead" television series, it comes as no surprise that AMC has given the go-ahead for a second season — but now it's official.

The network gave audiences the good news today, just a week removed from the series' wildly successful premiere. According to the announcement, the post-apocalyptic saga based on Robert Kirkman's long-running comic book will receive another 13 episodes for its second season.


http://splashpage.mtv.com/2010/11/08/th ... nd-season/

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Post by Joolz » 11-09-2010 09:25 AM

Wow! That is good news!

I checked at TV by the Numbers after reading your post. They said: "Since debuting Sunday, October 31, “The Walking Dead” has broken ratings records, with the series reaching more Adults 18-49 than any other show in the history of cable television." They also said that the show had "record-breaking premiere ratings in 120 countries in Europe, Latin America, Asia and The Middle East."

The ratings for Episode 2 were 4.7 million -- still damn good for a cable show!

ETA: Oh, and Mo' Ryan sez we're getting 13 episodes next season (this season is just 6). That's good news, too! :)
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Joolz
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Post by Joolz » 11-09-2010 10:56 PM

I just had to post this photo! LOL It was taken during a break in the filming. :D

Makes me feel better about the horsie... reinforcing my knowing he's really OK. :) He is sooooo gosh darn cute!
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SETIsLady
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Post by SETIsLady » 11-10-2010 10:29 AM

Awesome pic ! Yeah that helps a little. I had to leave the room last week, I know its just a TV series but just couldn't take it. He looks like a Hollywood actor just sitting there :D

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Post by Joolz » 11-11-2010 03:04 AM

In case you haven't heard, for the last two weeks, the media has been all abuzz about AMC's The Walking Dead. None other than The Wall Street Journal hailed the series as "so good that it has hooked even a zombie hater like me." If you've somehow missed the first two episodes and are feeling out of the loop, now's your chance to catch up:

On Sun., Nov. 14 at 8PM | 7C, AMC will re-air the first two episodes of The Walking Dead with limited commercial interruption.

The all-new Episode 3 ("Tell It To the Frogs") follows at 10/9c.


Source: AMC
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Post by Joolz » 11-11-2010 02:53 PM

I posted this in the thread I started about the mini-marathon I mentioned above, but am going to cross-post it here on the main thread for this show as well -- for posterity's sake. ;)

=============

Television critic James Poniewozik at TIME made some interesting comments about the show in his review published in the November 8th issue of the magazine -- comments with which I agree. Here are a few snippets:
The 90-minute pilot, directed by Darabont, paints a thoroughly convincing postapocalyptic world, both visually and emotionally. Yes, it delivers astonishing scenes of devastation, but its more affecting — and more horrifying — concerns are human.

How do you hold on to your morals, your laws, your faith, when no one is around to compel you to? Does the calamity drive the few remaining humans to band together or revert to barbarism? And how does it feel when the "walkers" on your street — whom you must put down or be killed yourself — are your friends and family?

...

Darabont opens the pilot with a scene — a flash-forward to Rick after his awakening in the hospital — that establishes the show's world by gradually offering information in a slow pullback. First we see an empty road. Then a car moving, from which Rick emerges with a gasoline can. Then an overturned car. An overturned truck. A traffic light with no power. And then an entire roadway of burned vehicles, lined with abandoned encampments littered with children's toys. [This was an exquisitely executed scene. - Joolz]

...

The more intriguing aspect of the series is the survivors and whether they can maintain a society worth surviving in. Which makes zombies an ideal metaphor, as Godzilla was in the nuclear age, for our nightmares du jour: pandemics; decentralized terrorism; the collapse of social, financial and ecological systems. Zombies are viruses, really — leaderless networks, organized on no other principle than destruction, multiplying exponentially until they burn themselves out, taking us with them. ...

Read the entire review here: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic ... 67,00.html
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