Brikar

AMC has aired two episodes of the series now. The pilot, directed by Frank Darabont, was just plain freaking awesome. It takes the basic blueprint of the comics, brings it to life and expands up on it.

My favorite part of the pilot is probably expanding on the roles of Morgan and Duane Jones, the father and son that find lead character Rick Grimes after he's woken up in the hospital after the zombocalypse. In the comic, these characters were around for a few scenes at the beginning, basically used to dole out exposition regarding the state of civilization (or lack thereof). Here, they stick around for much of the pilot, again doling out exposition, but they're also developed into more fully-fledged characters.

Probably the best addition is Morgan's wife. The scene where she tries to open the door of the house, with Rick looking through the peephole... fucking ultra creepy. That actress just nailed it... There's something about the way she breathes, opening and closing her mouth like that, just one of the scariest things I've seen on TV.

The scene later where Morgan tries to kill her, also excellent. Great emotion, Lennie James' performance was awesome, Bear McCreary's music was perfect. And the ending, with Rick getting to Atlanta and discovering it's entirely overrun by the dead, getting into that tank... what a great cliffhanger.

I didn't think the second episode was quite as good. Not to say it was bad, it was great. But something about it wasn't quite as... measured? I think Frank Darabont is a great director. Whoever directed this second episode doesn't quite have his artistic hand. Still, there are a lot of great moments. The cracking glass of the store doors was really cool.

Michael Rooker's character seemed like the kind of standard douche he normally plays. He's not a character that was in the comics, so I'm not sure yet if he'll be anything I'd calla worthy addition. The comics' cast of characters at this point in the series was already pretty large, and I'm not really sure why they're increasing that for the TV adaptation.

Overall, though, for my money... "The Walking Dead" is the best thing I've seen this fall.

__________________
"A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown."

http://olympusmans.blogspot.com
http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

Closet Racist

Watched the pilot online last night. I don't routinely watch any episodic TV but I may have to watch this, and I'm not a "zombie" person.

__________________

Brikar

AMC announced today that it has been picked up for a second season!

__________________
"A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown."

http://olympusmans.blogspot.com
http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

Brikar

Episode 1x03 was another winner. The opening scene, Merle going nuts on the rooftop was well-played by Michael Rooker. I thought the last shot was pretty predictable, but otherwise this episode was great. I'm really looking forward to how they handle Shane in the next three episodes. I'm worried that Carl isn't being developed - at all - since he's integral to what happens between Rick, Lori and Shane in the comics.

It's going to be a LONG wait for Season Two.

__________________
"A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown."

http://olympusmans.blogspot.com
http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

Bean

Dont you dare say that we only get three episodes...

__________________
"I haven't faced death. I've cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing."

--James T. Kirk

Brikar

Nope - Six.

__________________
"A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown."

http://olympusmans.blogspot.com
http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

Sam Cogley

Weren't they talking about doing a longer second season?

Ah, here it is. 13 episodes. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/201...-ratings/71238

Bean

mother fuckers! why can't the networks get behind a good show and give is a full season for a change. I hate this fucking half season, mini season, 2 part season bullshit. personally I blame Lost and BSG. they were the first heavily serialized shows to get away with it IIRC. I miss the days of TNG when you knew your show would be on wednesday night at 8 for more or less the entire season minus a week or two.

__________________
"I haven't faced death. I've cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing."

--James T. Kirk

Sam Cogley

I'd rather have 13 great episodes than 26 with 8-9 that are filler at best, and crap at worst.

Brikar

Yes, but for the first season, AMC only went for six episodes. The show is a big risk for them (albeit, one that seems to be paying off), so they wanted to start out small and then expand if it took off. I believe this is the same model they took with "Breaking Bad."

__________________
"A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown."

http://olympusmans.blogspot.com
http://benforrealz.blogspot.com