Frank Darabont to write/direct Walking Dead series for AMC

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 11:33 pm

triggercut wrote:So that's it? 6 and done? No second volume?

Hopefully they don't try to cram the entire series of comics into those six episodes, and if there's enough praise and ratings....

(BTW--the first episode of the show was the absolute apex of Zombie Apocalypse goodness. Everything done exactly right.)

They already picked it up for another season even before it started. After watching the pilot I can see why. That's easily the most impressive thing I've seen in years. I'm seriously giddy because I loved it so much.

triggercut · Post by **triggercut** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 11:37 pm

Whew. Ok then.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 11:37 pm

Now if I only I could get the page to load on AMC's poor melting servers so I can win my stagger-on role as "the fat zombie" in season 2.

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 11:39 pm

Kraken wrote:While teaching the DVR about this show I discovered that we don't have a HD AMC channel. I haven't gone slumming in the double-digit channels in ages. Regardless of whether or not the show's any good, I don't know if I can stand to watch it in SD.

I'm pretty sure you can buy the episode for 3 bucks on amazon. I'm actually planning on dropping my cable to basic for a while because it's too damn expensive and that's my plan for watching it.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 11:40 pm

It was cool, particularly the last shot which was amazing. Much more gore than I anticipated for television. I'm a happy camper.

cheeba · Post by **cheeba** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 11:40 pm

Intense! Can't wait til next week. However, I find myself not caring much about the main character yet. The more interesting character was the black guy, especially his struggle upstairs. The main guy seemed kinda one-note, but I guess that's how you would be waking up in a zombie apocalypse, lol. I'm sure over time I'll start caring about him more.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 11:41 pm

It sure was cool to see Prison Break's Sarah Tancretti as the main character's wife Lori. Usually the only guy I ever see from that show is Teabag, who I cannot stand but who seems to be damn near everywhere.

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 11:46 pm

cheeba wrote:Intense! Can't wait til next week. However, I find myself not caring much about the main character yet. The more interesting character was the black guy, especially his struggle upstairs. The main guy seemed kinda one-note, but I guess that's how you would be waking up in a zombie apocalypse, lol. I'm sure over time I'll start caring about him more.

Actually I was really worried about the main character from watching the previews. After watching the first episode I'd say he's perfectly cast. I did like the guy and the kid though. I'm curious to see how much they stick to the comic. They already have deviated a bit.

triggercut · Post by **triggercut** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 11:48 pm

Yeah, I don't know if the guy playing Rick is an unknown or just unknown to me, but he was terrific.

Lennie James was wonderful as well in the guest starring role as the guy with the kid. Dude was awesome in Jericho, he's awesome here. For me he combines my favorite aspects of Keith David and Don Cheadle.

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 11:58 pm

Looking at IMDB i'd say he's pretty unknown to everybody. That's not going to be the case for very much longer.

cheeba · Post by **cheeba** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 12:03 am

Oh yeah I got no problem with him as an actor. I think he did great. I just think the character is kinda one-note, but I think that's mostly a result of them portraying him as shell-shocked. It would have been cool maybe seeing him a bit more before everything happened. Not a major complaint or anything as one of the great parts about TV is it gives you time to really grow a character. Looking forward to it!

WarPig · Post by **WarPig** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 1:18 am

So at what point does he go from "I can't let them go on like this" and mercy killing to just killing for convenience? I have not read the graphic novel(s), but I'm expecting the sheriff to grow some balls.

EvilHomer3k · Post by **EvilHomer3k** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 1:44 am

I very much enjoyed the first episode. It is, without a doubt, the most gory series I've seen that wasn't on HBO/Showtime.

malichai11 · Post by **malichai11** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 2:20 am

Fantastic. Really felt like a movie. I was really disappointed when it ended.

Doomboy · Post by **Doomboy** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 2:48 am

I hated it.

Not. It was even more awesome than I thought it would be, and I got irritated when it ended. I have a new favorite show.

Can't wait until next week to meet the guy on the radio and see how he is going to get Rick out of the deep doodoo he got himself into.

I really liked how they did the reactions to the zombies. Just the right amount of feeling sorry for them and being afraid of them.

Spoiler:

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 7:35 am

Will definitely be watching this later, even though I promised tlr I'd wait till tomorrow. I guess it won't hurt to see it again.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 7:43 am

WarPig wrote:So at what point does he go from "I can't let them go on like this" and mercy killing to just killing for convenience? I have not read the graphic novel(s), but I'm expecting the sheriff to grow some balls.

He does...

Spoiler:

Odin wrote:It sure was cool to see Prison Break's Sarah Tancretti as the main character's wife Lori. Usually the only guy I ever see from that show is Teabag, who I cannot stand but who seems to be damn near everywhere.

Good lord, yes. He's this year's Garret Dillahunt.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 7:53 am

hepcat wrote:
WarPig wrote:So at what point does he go from "I can't let them go on like this" and mercy killing to just killing for convenience? I have not read the graphic novel(s), but I'm expecting the sheriff to grow some balls.
He does...

Spoiler:
...but then hovers over the line between going far enough and going too far for quite a while. It's part of what makes the comic so damn good. It blurs the line between who really is the monster in their new world and who's just a victim.

That's a good point. I wonder how much the show will delve into that and how much it will skip. For example, I read elsewhere that the "God forgive us" people had actually, in the comics,

Spoiler:

dedewhale · Post by **dedewhale** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 8:48 am

I thought it was excellent and cant wait for next week. I kept thinking how violent it was (which I enjoyed) and what a crock that violence is so accepted but yet the same people cant curse ("oh fuck a zombie!") on basic tv or even show a zombie boob....it strikes me as so bizarre. Tv censorship is soo strange.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 8:55 am

Overall, I liked it a lot. Some thoughts....

1) The opening very much seemed like a carbon copy of 28 Days Later, which seemed very much like a carbon copy of Earth Abides. I guess this allows them to quickly get to the post-zombie world, although they have to deal with a protagonist that doesn't know what happened. I'm a big fan of watching the world descend into zombie chaos though, so I miss that.

2) The scene in the house with the father/son and the deputy seems stolen right out of I Am Legend, and from some of the comments above, that is something that I'm going to notice thematically as the show goes on (i.e. who is the real monster?).

3) The Sheriff Deputy is possibly the dumbest zombie apocalypse protagonist of all-time. Leaving the safety of your transportation and walking into a huge park and then discharging your firearm, knowing that it will bring the hordes? Walking up to an abandoned farmhouse, and YELLING? Taking a horse into a city that could potentially be full of zombies? Are you serious, Clark? People like that should be (un)dead, not rewarded with a tank.

4) I was happy to see a balance between the slow zombies of yore, and the fast zombies of more modern films. These zombies shuffle, and can lumber after you, but aren't imbued with rage-fueled super speed.

In the end though, it's zombies, so it's an almost automatic win.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 9:16 am

RunningMn9 wrote:Overall, I liked it a lot. Some thoughts....

1) The opening very much seemed like a carbon copy of 28 Days Later, which seemed very much like a carbon copy of Earth Abides. I guess this allows them to quickly get to the post-zombie world, although they have to deal with a protagonist that doesn't know what happened. I'm a big fan of watching the world descend into zombie chaos though, so I miss that.

I think there are two very different sorts of stories you can tell. One is the "oh my god, the world is ending, what do we do?" story. The other is the "ah crap, the world ended and I'm still alive. Now what do I do?" Each one of those scenarios is (or at least can be) a complete tale in and of itself, so it's not surprising to me to see some stories that focus only on one or the other, rather than trying to do both. I like both kinds of stories, as well as the ones that do tackle both, so I'm satisfied regardless of which approach they take.

2) The scene in the house with the father/son and the deputy seems stolen right out of I Am Legend, and from some of the comments above, that is something that I'm going to notice thematically as the show goes on (i.e. who is the real monster?).

I thought it felt more like the father/daughter in 28 Days Later than anything from I Am Legend. I think you're right, though - if it's a major theme in the work, you wouldn't be paying attention if you didn't notice it.

3) The Sheriff Deputy is possibly the dumbest zombie apocalypse protagonist of all-time. Leaving the safety of your transportation and walking into a huge park and then discharging your firearm, knowing that it will bring the hordes? Walking up to an abandoned farmhouse, and YELLING? Taking a horse into a city that could potentially be full of zombies? Are you serious, Clark? People like that should be (un)dead, not rewarded with a tank.

I think there's a certain conceit in this sort of series. You pretend that normal people in the "real world" have never seen or read the sort of story they're in, and so they act like "normal" people when they're placed in the situation. They don't expect the stuff we expect them to expect, because "normal" people wouldn't expect it. It's sort of the opposite of the approach taken in Zombieland, for example, where right from the start it's clear that the characters know they're in a Zombie story and they behave accordingly. Grimes is still figuring out what sort of world he's living in and what it takes to live in it, and we're supposed to learn along with him, even if we already feel like experts. That's my take on it, anyway. I don't think we're suppose to get the impression that he's an idiot, he's just not the kind of guy who ever gave a moment's thought to how to behave as the main character in a zombie apocalypse. Unlike most of us, I suspect.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 9:20 am

RunningMn9 wrote:3) The Sheriff Deputy is possibly the dumbest zombie apocalypse protagonist of all-time. Leaving the safety of your transportation and walking into a huge park and then discharging your firearm, knowing that it will bring the hordes? Walking up to an abandoned farmhouse, and YELLING? Taking a horse into a city that could potentially be full of zombies? Are you serious, Clark? People like that should be (un)dead, not rewarded with a tank.

I had people over and we all had the same thoughts about his idiocy.

I think his stupidity crystallized when he rides into Atlanta. Lots of cars stuck leaving, and not one entering...perhaps that's a sign. F it, ride on! I'll gallop in on my steel-shod horse.

Still, loved it. A lot of potential for drama, and they really seemed to go the extra mile making everything look...war-torn, but not quite the same. I think they got it right.

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 9:53 am

Ya he's pretty freaking dumb in the beginning. I just think about it this way..
A. He just came out of a freaking coma.
B. He's in total freaking shock.
C. He couldn't grasp the scope of the issue in his mind.

Either way I loved the comic and the show really grasped the concept perfectly.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 9:54 am

RunningMn9 wrote: 1) The opening very much seemed like a carbon copy of 28 Days Later, which seemed very much like a carbon copy of Earth Abides. I guess this allows them to quickly get to the post-zombie world, although they have to deal with a protagonist that doesn't know what happened. I'm a big fan of watching the world descend into zombie chaos though, so I miss that.

It's a story-writing choice. It allows us (in this case) to experience the world through the eyes of Rick Grimes. Like Rick, we have no idea what's going on and need to be told the "rules". In theory, it should also help us identify better with Rick since we're in the same boat.

2) The scene in the house with the father/son and the deputy seems stolen right out of I Am Legend, and from some of the comments above, that is something that I'm going to notice thematically as the show goes on (i.e. who is the real monster?).

They could do worse than pulling from Richard Matheson. I also thought the stairwell decent in the beginning was a nod to Stephen King's The Stand, but who can say for sure?

3) The Sheriff Deputy is possibly the dumbest zombie apocalypse protagonist of all-time. Leaving the safety of your transportation and walking into a huge park and then discharging your firearm, knowing that it will bring the hordes? Walking up to an abandoned farmhouse, and YELLING? Taking a horse into a city that could potentially be full of zombies? Are you serious, Clark? People like that should be (un)dead, not rewarded with a tank.

See #1. He has no idea (really) what's going on and at first it might sound completely reasonable to head to a big city for military protection - particularly to a guy that's involved in maintaining order. What has it been about a month since he was taken to the hospital? I haven't read the comic so I'm not sure of the exact time line. Regardless, he has a lot of catching up to do and remember at that point he's only seen a dozen or so walkers. It's not like waves of them were roaming his street. And if a civilian father and son can protect themselves in a house, I'm sure he feels driving (or horsing) into a city is reasonable.

4) I was happy to see a balance between the slow zombies of yore, and the fast zombies of more modern films. These zombies shuffle, and can lumber after you, but aren't imbued with rage-fueled super speed.

I can live with fresh zombies being able to move a a moderate shuffle. Of course as they rot one would expect them to slow down a bit or in some cases crawl across the grass.

What I thought was really well done was the city reveal. The zombies are silent, shuffling monstrosities until they see meat. When he turned that corner it was fantastic.

Regardless, I thought it was all excellent. About half way through I felt like it was a series I'd like to buy and watch in one sitting - which is a rarity for me.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 9:55 am

I'm re-watching the show, and here's something that just caught my attention:

When they're at the sheriff's office trying the showers, Morgan (the dad) says, "The gas lines have been down for... maybe a month?"

Which I didn't notice the first time through, but today I did. And holy crap - a month? How long was Rick unconscious? I mean, if the gas was out for a month, then the zombie apocalypse must have started some days or weeks prior to that. It just messes with the assumed timeline I had in my head, which went:

a. Rick gets shot.
b. a few days pass.
c. Shane visits
d. zombie apocalypse
e. a few days pass
f. hospital is abandoned
g. a few days pass.
h. Rick wakes up.

But if the gas has been out for a MONTH, then the timeframe between D and H is measured in weeks rather than days. Was anybody else surprised by this? I'm probably just overthinking it.

Peacedog · Post by **Peacedog** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 10:07 am

RunningMn9 wrote: 4) I was happy to see a balance between the slow zombies of yore, and the fast zombies of more modern films. These zombies shuffle, and can lumber after you, but aren't imbued with rage-fueled super speed.

Romero's zombies did more than shuffle. They weren't 100 yard dash champions, of course. Really, it's pretty faithful to "zombies of yore".

Odin, you'll find out how long he was out in due time. That was obviously a big clue. But a scenario where weeks pass between D and H is very feasible. An outbreak wouldn't really be "all at once". But it would spread quickly for all of the reasons everyone already knows.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 10:18 am

Peacedog wrote:Odin, you'll find out how long he was out in due time. That was obviously a big clue. But a scenario where weeks pass between D and H is very feasible. An outbreak wouldn't really be "all at once". But it would spread quickly for all of the reasons everyone already knows.

Fair enough. As long as that wasn't just a throw-away line it's cool. It just jarred me because it was so out of step with the assumptions I'd made (without really realizing it) up to that point. You had to figure a significant chunk of time had passed for so much military activity and such to occur, but there's also only so long that a man can survive without food and water, even in a coma, so I'd figured he couldn't have been in the hospital alone for too long. Though, now that I think on it, that never bothered me about 28 Days Later.

I dunno, just surprised me I guess.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 10:24 am

Peacedog wrote:Odin, you'll find out how long he was out in due time. That was obviously a big clue. But a scenario where weeks pass between D and H is very feasible. An outbreak wouldn't really be "all at once". But it would spread quickly for all of the reasons everyone already knows.

My only complaint with the timeline is that there is only so long someone can be kept alive on an IV. It's not like he could have been laying alone in an abandoned hospital for two months.

Smoove_B wrote:He has no idea (really) what's going on

At the point I was complaining about (with killing the half-zombie in the park and the farmhouse, and the little girl), Grimes knows that they are undead, and that they are attracted to sound. I can get on board with his behavior being true to the rules of the story - I'm just saying that behavior like that should result in a really short story.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 10:33 am

RunningMn9 wrote:My only complaint with the timeline is that there is only so long someone can be kept alive on an IV. It's not like he could have been laying alone in an abandoned hospital for two months.

Absolutely. But if the length of time that he's been out is part of the story, I'm not worried. I was figuring (based on the shower-scene comments) that the zombie outbreak was about a month old and he'd been abandoned in the hospital alone for about a week before waking up.

At the point I was complaining about (with killing the half-zombie in the park and the farmhouse, and the little girl), Grimes knows that they are undead, and that they are attracted to sound. I can get on board with his behavior being true to the rules of the story - I'm just saying that behavior like that should result in a really short story.

The rules are set and it was pretty apparent to all of us that going into the city was not a wise choice. I would expect some exposition to occur over the next week or two that explains what happened and why maybe sitting around in the suburbs (or camping somewhere outside the city) are viable options. There were a lot of bodies outside the hospital and at the military evacuation center. It's possible that they were able to manage the outbreak in the suburbs a bit and keep the zombie density down while getting people to Hot-lanta. But then as the infection spread all those relocated people made the situation worse.

As I said, this is all speculation as I haven't read the comic books - but I do think it's all part of what makes it interesting.

EvilHomer3k · Post by **EvilHomer3k** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 10:36 am

Odin wrote:I'm re-watching the show, and here's something that just caught my attention:

When they're at the sheriff's office trying the showers, Morgan (the dad) says, "The gas lines have been down for... maybe a month?"

Which I didn't notice the first time through, but today I did. And holy crap - a month? How long was Rick unconscious? I mean, if the gas was out for a month, then the zombie apocalypse must have started some days or weeks prior to that. It just messes with the assumed timeline I had in my head, which went:

a. Rick gets shot.
b. a few days pass.
c. Shane visits
d. zombie apocalypse
e. a few days pass
f. hospital is abandoned
g. a few days pass.
h. Rick wakes up.

But if the gas has been out for a MONTH, then the timeframe between D and H is measured in weeks rather than days. Was anybody else surprised by this? I'm probably just overthinking it.

Wouldn't it actually only be between F and H? Up until the hospital is abandoned I would think there would be someone checking on him and replacing the IV. Then he could survive on the IV for a while and then he wakes up a few days later.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 10:53 am

EvilHomer3k wrote:Wouldn't it actually only be between F and H? Up until the hospital is abandoned I would think there would be someone checking on him and replacing the IV. Then he could survive on the IV for a while and then he wakes up a few days later.

Hard to say, really. Hopefully they'll explain it at some point. My thought was that the gas going off would correspond pretty closely to the "utter collapse" milestone - the same one where the hospital is abandoned. Though I could easily buy into various scenarios where the gas went offline (or was taken offline) days or weeks prior to that, especially if the hospital was a "bastion" of sorts - a last holdout against the undead.

But if it wasn't - if the gas stopped around the same time that the hospital was abandoned and other social services went down - then that leaves Rick lying around the hospital all alone for an arguably unrealistic amount of time. I guess I'll just have to wait until they address it.

tru1cy · Post by **tru1cy** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 10:54 am

I like the show a lot, but my moderate medical knowledge called bullshit about him waking after a month in a coma and being able to move as well as he did. About a week or so on your ass without reasonable PT will cause muscle atrophy, but I guess I shouldn't use logic for a zombie TV series

Anyway, great ride so far

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 11:02 am

That was an awesome show. I look forward to more.

As for the gas lines, I imagine that the pipeline is coming in from a larger city for distribution. It's possible that the breakdown in the gas supply line came well before the zombies came to the town he started in.

JonathanStrange · Post by **JonathanStrange** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 11:20 am

I enjoyed it. There were enough zombies for all but the hardcore zombie fans and enough "what do we do now" moments for the post-apocalyptic fans. Not to say it didn't feel derivative of other zombie-related movies, books, and games - but having already read more than a few Walking Dead threads elsewhere, I really don't want to get into a debate about who wrote/directed/filmed what dialogue/scene first. What counted - for me - was that it felt right within the context of the episode.

Chaosraven · Post by **Chaosraven** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 12:10 pm

Most timeline issues will need other answers... Was the 'outbreak' global simultaneous, focused in certain areas (metropolitan) and slowspread, what time lapse occured between WakeUp/etc... I mean, to be nitpicky, they locked Dead inside that door, but left a living guy in a coma laying exposed and undefended? I loved the first episode, watched it after midnight on DVR as chaosfaerie had a Marathon of (someshow) running all night.

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 12:54 pm

I think I read in a interview that they really don't ever go over how the outbreak actually started. The writer said that wasn't really the important thing about the story. It's more about how these people tossed into a f'ed up world adapt and survive. I'm good with that if that's how they want to approach it.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 12:59 pm

Octavious wrote:I think I read in a interview that they really don't ever go over how the outbreak actually started. The writer said that wasn't really the important thing about the story. It's more about how these people tossed into a f'ed up world adapt and survive. I'm good with that if that's how they want to approach it.

Fair enough with me, too, conditionally. The condition is, if you're going to be vague about it, be vague about it. Instead of having Morgan say "a month," have him say "a while." Then I don't get to thinking about how this guy can lie in bed for a month, get up and be fighting zombies the next day. I'm totally willing to suspend disbelief if the writers work with me a little.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 1:08 pm

Having read (most) of the comics, I never got the feeling that the creators were necessarily trying to set themselves apart in the zombie genre - they just wanted to make a good-old fashioned zombie comic. As time went on the series did start to set itself apart in its focus on character/moral issues, but in terms of the "zombieverse" they took a very traditional stance.

Thus, the cliches that were pretty rampant in last night's episode didn't bother me much. Ultimately The Walking Dead is more about the living, and I hope the series adheres to the comics in that way.

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 1:18 pm

Odin wrote:
Octavious wrote:I think I read in a interview that they really don't ever go over how the outbreak actually started. The writer said that wasn't really the important thing about the story. It's more about how these people tossed into a f'ed up world adapt and survive. I'm good with that if that's how they want to approach it.
Fair enough with me, too, conditionally. The condition is, if you're going to be vague about it, be vague about it. Instead of having Morgan say "a month," have him say "a while." Then I don't get to thinking about how this guy can lie in bed for a month, get up and be fighting zombies the next day. I'm totally willing to suspend disbelief if the writers work with me a little.

Ya I actually don't disagree that the beginning in the hospital is a bit strange and probably could have been done better but in the grand scheme of the story it doesn't matter too much once all the other crap starts hitting the fan.

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 1:19 pm

YellowKing wrote:Having read (most) of the comics, I never got the feeling that the creators were necessarily trying to set themselves apart in the zombie genre - they just wanted to make a good-old fashioned zombie comic. As time went on the series did start to set itself apart in its focus on character/moral issues, but in terms of the "zombieverse" they took a very traditional stance.

Thus, the cliches that were pretty rampant in last night's episode didn't bother me much. Ultimately The Walking Dead is more about the living, and I hope the series adheres to the comics in that way.

It's the Blizzard version of a tv show. Take a old formula and polish it up nice and pretty and everyone is happy. It's not breaking any new ground it's just doing it with a hell of a lot of style.