Frank Darabont to write/direct Walking Dead series for AMC

[fancydirt]

Related to the movie.. I think the idea is that several months passed while Rick was in a coma. I don't recall the comic being exact either.

Very 28 Days Later. It's hard to say if he was in a coma or just heavily drugged since they made it seem like he was lapsing in and out of consciousness, though that could also have been their way of portraying the theory that people who are in a coma and still receive some input from the world around them. There's not enough attention to detail with the production to really draw any specific conclusions since he wasn't even hooked up to a catheter or anything and while there were still lights on in the hospital, the wall clock had stopped working and it looked like all the machinery in his room had stopped working too. How long can someone who is in a coma or simply heavily drugged survive with no IV fluids being administered?

[silverjon]

I've tried to keep my untagged spoilers to very generic stuff about "the universe" and not post anything specific enough to ruin anything. I'll tag anything that I think is worth posting but contains more than background or speculation of my own.

Odds of me seeing the TV series are slim to none, but it's still interesting to compare, as a few atmospheric-type things that appeared in the first episode weren't featured until much later in the comic series.

[Peacedog]

I haven't watched it yet, but feel free to spoil me on this one issue: One of the things I liked about the Romero mythos is that if you die, you get up again (assuming no brain damage in the process) - even if you jumped off the roof, you would re-animate. None of this "it's a virus spread by biting" nonsense. Is that the road they take here?

(Also Romero's zombies are no more interested in eating brains than any other organ. Spleens are just as yummy But that's a discussion for another day).

I'll note I'm speaking strictly from what I saw in the premiere (I've read the first 6 trades).

We don't know. It wasn't addressed directly. There were hints suggesting that there was no more room in hell and that the dead (by "normal" means) do in fact rise. There may have been evidence suggesting otherwise (it's being debated in various locales). I feel like the question was deliberately left open ended for now.

We really need a separate thread for people watching the show who have read the comic, IMO.

[hepcat]

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.

Spoiler:

I don't buy that. These are mindless monsters who show no mercy because they are incapable of doing so. I'd have no problem putting down as many zombies as I could possibly do so safely. I don't have any idea how you could go "too far". I'm not sure how that would make me a monster in any way unless I just did it for some sort of sadistic pleasure

Spoiler:

It's his eventual attitude towards the living that threaten his family and loved ones that I'm actually referring to. Yes, the original question was about his attitude towards the zombies, but I took it out a bit further in response to the question about the size of his testicles.

[Odin]

We really need a separate thread for people watching the show who have read the comic, IMO.

I agree. I don't want to be spoiled for the show, and discussing the comics in here is guaranteed to result in that eventually.

[gameoverman]

About him surviving in the hospital- I always figured on one or two last holdouts, staying behind to care for the final surviving patients. Then, at some point, even those holdouts leave. And before they leave, they hook up one last big bag of IV whatever for everyone still alive.

So while Rick's family and friends may have left him for dead X days ago, that doesn't mean the last person to tend to him was X days ago.

And him waking up may well have been triggered by his body becoming more aware of lack of hydration(the IV running out). You ever fall asleep with your arm bent awkwardly, then wake up for no reason other than your arm hurts? Something like that.

[Odin]

Okay, there's now a "spoiler-full" thread here to discuss the comic series in detail, and to discuss anything about where the show is likely to go based on things that have already happened in the comics.

If you want to discuss the current or past episodes of the TV series, this would still be the place to do it.

[fancydirt]

Spoiler:

Clearly the hospital had been attacked and/or overrun by Walkers. And therefore abandoned. Why was he left behind? Better yet, why wasn't he ZombieChow?

Spoiler:

Actually, it goes a little beyond that. Outside the hospital it's apparent that they lined up all of the sick/dead and executed them. It could be they decided that he was going to be okay and bypassed him, but if he were in a coma as implied you'd think he'd have been just killed rather than take their chances.

Spoiler:

The first body he sees in the hospital corridor, while well chewed up, seemed to have an intact head. Why wasn't it active? In the Romeroverse, the only intact organ you need to get around is a brain.

Spoiler:

Does the brain need to be removed/destroyed or simply disconnected from the body? It could be the spine was somehow severed or the brain received enough trauma to no longer be functionally infected or however they work.

Minor points, all. This was the most enjoyable 90 minutes of TV I've seen in a long long time.

I agree, this is the only show I've watched in a long time where I intend to watch it again before the next episode.

[Odin]

I agree, this is the only show I've watched in a long time where I intend to watch it again before the next episode.

Agreed. I've already watched it twice, and could easily see myself watching it again.

[WarPig]

I agree, this is the only show I've watched in a long time where I intend to watch it again before the next episode.

Agreed. I've already watched it twice, and could easily see myself watching it again.

My wife likes to keep the DVR list short and keeps asking me if I'll delete it. I'm going to watch it at least one more time before episode 2.

[Odin]

I agree, this is the only show I've watched in a long time where I intend to watch it again before the next episode.

Agreed. I've already watched it twice, and could easily see myself watching it again.

My wife likes to keep the DVR list short and keeps asking me if I'll delete it. I'm going to watch it at least one more time before episode 2.

That's why wives aren't allowed to dictate what should be on the TiVo. It's a guy-box. Hands-off, honey.

[Mr. Fed]

Watched it last night.

I liked it. But it wasn't as OMG AWESOME as some comments led me to believe.

I liked that it was generally understated, to a level I would not expect on television.

[gameoverman]

When I was a kid I could only dream the most unlikely 'wouldn't it be cool if...' dream about being able to watch a zombie tv show like this. I mean we're talking about a time when having the sound of a toilet flushing in the background was considered controversial.

That contributes hugely to my "OMG!" reaction to this show. It is a 100% no holds barred Romero-esque zombie story. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I saw this on Sunday night television! Not HBO or one of those channels either, just right there where you can see normal stuff like Mad Men and watch the Three Stooges in the morning. I can't get over it.

[silverjon]

Spoiler:

The first body he sees in the hospital corridor, while well chewed up, seemed to have an intact head. Why wasn't it active? In the Romeroverse, the only intact organ you need to get around is a brain.

Spoiler:

Does the brain need to be removed/destroyed or simply disconnected from the body? It could be the spine was somehow severed or the brain received enough trauma to no longer be functionally infected or however they work.

I'm not moving this into the other thread because it's again universe-stuff and not especially plot-related. But I'll tag for courtesy.

Spoiler:

Zombie severed heads. Honestly, I'm not sure if the comic series has been 100% consistent on showing that everyone reanimates unless their brain is destroyed, though that is the official line. I also can't remember if some zombies have been depicted as falling to decapitation. For imagery that really sticks with a reader, see above.

[tgb]

I promised tlr I'd wait until tonight to watch it with her. She doesn't know I couldn't wait, so now I'm sort of obligated to watch it again. Yay.

[AWS260]

I promised tlr I'd wait until tonight to watch it with her. She doesn't know I couldn't wait, so now I'm sort of obligated to watch it again. Yay.

Don't forget to squeal like a little girl at every scary moment, to prove that this is your first time watching it.

[Odin]

I promised tlr I'd wait until tonight to watch it with her. She doesn't know I couldn't wait, so now I'm sort of obligated to watch it again. Yay.

You forgot the exclamation point after your "yay." The whole thing should have read:

I promised tlr I'd wait until tonight to watch it with her. She doesn't know I couldn't wait, so now I get to watch it again. Yay!

[AjD]

That contributes hugely to my "OMG!" reaction to this show. It is a 100% no holds barred Romero-esque zombie story. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I saw this on Sunday night television! Not HBO or one of those channels either, just right there where you can see normal stuff like Mad Men and watch the Three Stooges in the morning. I can't get over it.

This. I feel exactly the same way.

For those of us born in the golden age of zombiedom (the '60s or '70s), this is the holy grail. This is beyond our biggest wishes, zombie-wise. Here's how I described this to a fellow zombie "connoisseur" (read: zombie nut) who hadn't heard about TWD yet:

"Ok, you're not going to believe this! It's called The Walking Dead, and it's a serialized Sopranos/Mad Men style drama about a zombie apocalypse! With A-list production values! And it's creator is the guy who did Shawshank Redemption! No, I'm not making that last part up! Plus, he's directing the R-rated FEATURE LENGTH pilot episode himself! And why is he doing this, you ask? No, not just for the money... turns out, he's a huge zombie nut - and Night of the Living Dead is one of the reasons he got into filmmaking! And... here's the best part... the zombies are going to be the slow Romero-style zombies!"

My friend almost fainted from the news.

You see, for those of us geezers that have been zombie fans for 30 years or more, this is beyond our wildest dreams. Until the last few years, no one remotely took the genre seriously. Zombies were always the distant "also ran" (no pun intended) behind vampires, werewolves, the devil, teenage slashers in hockey masks, and, heck, even sharks. Very few "serious" zombie films existed, and if you wanted to see them, you had to search for "that one indie video store that has them" or order them from the backs of magazines.

For some reason (google zombies and zeitgeist, and you'll find lots of theories), it all started to turn around with 28 Days Later and the Dawn of the Dead remake. And now, zombies are everywhere. My 6 year old daughter knows all about them, and she's NEVER seen a real zombie flick.

That said, I never thought I'd live to see a full-on major television production that's actually on par with the best zombie cinema - complete with all the gore. And the network is putting millions into promoting it! It's their marquee show right now, along with Mad Men. I just heard that the pilot episode of Walking Dead was cable's most watch premier of the year.

So pardon if we lay on the hype a bit thick. It seems like a dream come true. Maybe soon, I'll wake up in a hospital somewhere...

[Doomboy]

Yeah, I have been pretty amazed by that too. I never had to order my zombie movies from the back of magazines though. Of course, I just stuck with the big three. They were all I needed. In fact, nothing by any other director ever compared to even the crappiest of Romero's movies back before 28 Days Later.

So I am happy and amazed by this show, even more amazed that it did so well. I hope it continues to do well. I want to be watching it in five years.

[Smoove_B]

Yes to both of the above. I don't quite have 30 years under my belt as a fan of Zombies, but it's absolutely true. We've been on zombie overload in culture for the last 10+ years (particularly in gaming), but as far as movies or TV go I've yet to see anything that felt as right as watching the Walking Dead did on Sunday night.

My 4.5 year old thinks you attack Zombies with Plants -- and that's fine -- but that 90 minute show was leaps and bounds better than any zombie movie I've seen in years - and it was on cable TV.

[Odin]

it was on cable TV.

This is key. I don't want HBO to be the only channel that can make decent non-motion picture content.

In fact, this is what bugs me. Technology has come amazingly far - we now have technology in our homes that's light-years ahead of the very best technology they had to make full-scale motion pictures with back in the 60s and 70s (and perhaps the 80s). Granted you still need skillful people to use it and talented writers, actors, directors, costumers, set-designers, lighting-designers, properties masters and so forth, but the realms of what's possible to do on an ultra-low budget is overwhelmingly better than it was a few decades ago. There ought to be more of a trickle-down effect, with better and better entertainment reaching down from motion pictures through HBO to the networks to cable and onto the Internet. Walking Dead shouldn't be the exception to the rule. It ought to be, at minimum, one of many exceptions to the rule. The Guild shouldn't be such a big deal, it should just be one of many good serialized Internet shows.

Maybe this stuff is happening more than I realize, I dunno.

[Chaz]

I feel like the "It was on cable TV" was more about the level of gore that they were willing to show. That kind of stuff is usually too extreme for non-premium channels.

I think there's been a lot of TV shows that have extremely high production values and quality over the last several years. Off the top of my head, I can think of Battlestar, Supernatural, and Lost. It's just that most networks are squeamish about showing heads being blown apart.

[Hamlet3145]

Also, if I'm not mistaken, AMC is not held to the same content standards that, say, NBC is due to the main networks being broadcast over the airwaves and subject to FCC regulation.

[RunningMn9]

Hey, I have a question about the "mindless flesh eaters" part of zombie lore and how it was portrayed in the show. I've seen it 3 times now, and I didn't even think about it the first two times.

First though, some people had some questions about the non-animated corpse on the floor of the hospital that didn't try to get to the cop and eat him. I noticed towards the end of the episode, and you had the two zombies on the bus. They had just been sitting there for how long? And then the cop comes through, they hear the horse and they get up and try to eat him. When the cop sees that corpse in the hospital, he is on the other side of the fire doors, and he doesn't really make any noise. So it may be reasonable that the corpse doesn't try to eat him.

Which brings me to my question. Those two zombie dudes were just sitting on the bus mindlessly for how long? And in general, the zombies are just milling about doing typical zombie activities. But there are two zombies that show what could be considered as sentient activity.

1) The little girl in the intro. Why would a zombie be milling about, and pick up her teddy bear?
2) The wife/mother of the Jericho guy and his kid. She seemed to come up to the house out of memory or what have you, and tried to open the door.

Neither seemed like typical mindless zombie behaviors.

[msteelers]

Neither seemed like typical mindless zombie behaviors.

Romero's movies have the zombies retaining a small part of their humanity, in that they gravitate towards things that were important to them in life. I took your two examples to mean that these zombies acted in a similar manner.

[silverjon]

I'm still not moving to the other thread (neener neener!). Kirkman zombie lore per RM9's query above.

Spoiler:

Walkers are divided into roamers and lurkers. Roamers move around, actively seeking food. Lurkers are much more passive, and don't try to bite unless disturbed. They aren't really any less dangerous than the more active roamers, because it's very easy to stumble into one in the dark.

[tgb]

Neither seemed like typical mindless zombie behaviors.

Romero's movies have the zombies retaining a small part of their humanity, in that they gravitate towards things that were important to them in life. I took your two examples to mean that these zombies acted in a similar manner.

That was my take on it.

[gameoverman]

Also, if I'm not mistaken, AMC is not held to the same content standards that, say, NBC is due to the main networks being broadcast over the airwaves and subject to FCC regulation.

This is not really a major difference, in fact I think it is no practical difference at all.

Money has more influence on what gets shown, not so much the FCC. If a network has reason to believe showing something will alienate/anger viewers thereby pissing off advertisers(ie money)- they aren't going to show it regardless of what the FCC allows.

That's why you have to pay extra upon extra(pay for cable then pay for a premium channel) if you want to see that kind of content.

That's also why I think it's a major sea change to have Walking Dead on the air. A nonpremium network has gambled that not only would there not be a major uproar and backlash against the airing of something like that, but that they could actually profit from it...not to mention win critical acclaim for the quality of it.

[hepcat]

Neither seemed like typical mindless zombie behaviors.

Romero's movies have the zombies retaining a small part of their humanity, in that they gravitate towards things that were important to them in life. I took your two examples to mean that these zombies acted in a similar manner.

That was my take on it.

One needs look no further than the original (and to a lesser extent, the remake of) Dawn of the Dead. The zombies "window shop" in their afterlife.

[AjD]

Great, detailed article on Darabont's almost religious devotion to the '68 Night of the Living Dead template for zombie behavior (which he first saw as a junior high school kid in 1974):

"It all depends on the zombie’s mood,” says the Shawshank Redemption director. “If they’ve recently fed, they’re a little less interested, a little more shutdown. Other times, they’re riled to a predatory state and can get a little faster.” So, they’re mostly walking — but sometimes they jog in the manner of an arthritic grandmother? “Yes, exactly,” laughs the filmmaker, who also directed the Walking Dead pilot, which debuts, appropriately, on Halloween. “This all goes back, by the way, to the original Night of the Living Dead. The Internet adherence to zombies never running clearly ignores the first 10 minutes of that movie. Because the first zombie you see is pretty spry. He’s obviously rather hungry and worked up.”

http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/10/28/walki ... ving-dead/" target="_blank

[Smoove_B]

One needs look no further than the original (and to a lesser extent, the remake of) Dawn of the Dead. The zombies "window shop" in their afterlife.

And Bub from Day of the Dead.

Regarding it being on cable - it wasn't the gore that stood out to me. Yeah, that is (IMHO) a staple part of any zombie flick, but the production quality was what stood out. It was very...film-y in the way it was shot and how it all unfolded. I supposed rrmorton or PR_GMR could tell you the technical terms, I'm just speaking as a a regular dude watching along.

[Odin]

One needs look no further than the original (and to a lesser extent, the remake of) Dawn of the Dead. The zombies "window shop" in their afterlife.

And Bub from Day of the Dead.

Regarding it being on cable - it wasn't the gore that stood out to me. Yeah, that is (IMHO) a staple part of any zombie flick, but the production quality was what stood out. It was very...film-y in the way it was shot and how it all unfolded. I supposed rrmorton or PR_GMR could tell you the technical terms, I'm just speaking as a a regular dude watching along.

Awesome - that was the way I took your comments when I responded to them.

[msteelers]

Regarding it being on cable - it wasn't the gore that stood out to me. Yeah, that is (IMHO) a staple part of any zombie flick, but the production quality was what stood out. It was very...film-y in the way it was shot and how it all unfolded. I supposed rrmorton or PR_GMR could tell you the technical terms, I'm just speaking as a a regular dude watching along.

Agreed. In fact, my one criticism of the show is that the commercial breaks were too sudden. It felt like it was written for the big screen, and the writers and director never took into account the commercial breaks. While this is mostly a positive, there's something to be said about writing to your medium.

And if my only complaint is about the commercials... that's saying something about the quality of the show.

[Smoove_B]

Yeah - I think that's why I won't hesitate to purchase this on DVD. The commercials (while minimal) felt forced. Thankfully I was watching it about 30 minutes behind (thanks to TiVo) so I could skip through them, but it really felt perfect for a DVD experience.

[telcta]

First though, some people had some questions about the non-animated corpse on the floor of the hospital that didn't try to get to the cop and eat him. I noticed towards the end of the episode, and you had the two zombies on the bus. They had just been sitting there for how long? And then the cop comes through, they hear the horse and they get up and try to eat him. When the cop sees that corpse in the hospital, he is on the other side of the fire doors, and he doesn't really make any noise. So it may be reasonable that the corpse doesn't try to eat him.

Which brings me to my question. Those two zombie dudes were just sitting on the bus mindlessly for how long?

I was also wondering about the "resting" zombies too. The one outside the house in the morning that was sitting up against the fence, struck me as odd that he appeared to be sleeping. Same goes for the two in the bus. Do they need to rest? Shut down for a bit? I find it particularly creepy that you cannot be sure what is actually dead or a zombie just waiting to start up again.

I really enjoyed the show and I'm looking forward to see where this short season takes me. It's been awhile since I've felt uneasy like this and wanting to turn off all the lights to try and enhance the mood. I love it.

[Chaz]

About the FCC thing, technically, their restrictions on indecent material pretty much don't apply between the hours of 10pm and 6am. I think broadcasters are still prohibited from showing explicit sex, but language and violence restrictions seem to be pretty much "not actionable". It's just that the broadcasters have unofficially decided that it's easier to not air that stuff ever than risk the public outcry.

Some broadcasters are obviously starting to make more use of the loosened rules, as we can see from Walking Dead and some of the stuff like The Shield and NYPD Blue (oh no, a naked dude's ass!). Hell, a few years ago I remember Comedy Central airing the South Park movie completely uncensored at midnight.

FCC website for reading fun.

[JonathanStrange]

Do zombies need to sleep? I think not but they seem to have the habit, if no obvious targets are around, to go into a standby mode. We've seen this many times in many movies and games where a zombie will awaken to investigate what that noise was. That's why you should stay alert and keep your shotgun handy.

[Smoove_B]

That's why you should stay alert and keep your shotgun machete handy.

You truly have learned nothing.

[Doomboy]

That's why you should stay alert and keep your shotgun machete handy.

You truly have learned nothing.

I sure ain't gonna get in hand to hand range with something that can kill me with a scratch. Using a gun may attract more, but the associated noises with killing one even in melee is probably going to bring all the zombies that are close enough to fight me before I move on.

A gunshot is loud, sure, but I won't be in the same spot when the hundred ones within earshot of that come along. In fact, it might be a good way to get them moving in the opposite direction from where I am going.

[Isgrimnur]

Shotguns take too much weight in ammo and are ineffective at range. If all you need to do is scramble the brain, a .22 LR is sufficient. As for a machete, it never runs out of ammunition.