Once in a while, a new television show debuts and captivates viewers all over the world. It happened with Lost. It happened with Battlestar Galactica. On Sunday, October 31st, it’s going to happen again, only this time it will involve zombies!
AMC’s brand new series The Walking Dead is appropriately set for its 90 minute premiere on Halloween. After you watch this premiere you will believe that the dead walk among us.
(BEWARE OF MINOR SPOILERS)
Based on the award winning ongoing comic series by Robert Kirkman, The Walking Dead tells the story of Sheriff Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), who awakens from a coma to find that the world he knew has disappeared, only to be replaced with a post-apocalyptic life filled with zombies. As this grim new reality begins to set in, Rick returns home and has an encounter with a father and son who accidently mistake him for one of the “walkers”. After ensuring their safety, Morgan (Lennie James) explains to Rick the world they now inhabit, and provides Rick (and the audience) with some backstory of what Rick missed while he was in a coma and how the world went to hell. Rick sets out to find his missing wife (Sarah Wayne Callies) and son (Chandler Riggs) whom he hopes are still alive.
To pull off a show like The Walking Dead, you have to have an amazing and talented cast. Andrew Lincoln seamlessly steps into the role of Rick Grimes with conviction and sincerity. You can see the horror in his eyes as he fights to escape hordes of zombies. The pilot episode mainly focuses on Rick, but also features an outstanding performance from Lennie James as Morgan Jones, who has to face a grim fact about his family. The series cast also includes Sarah Wayne Callies (Lori Grimes), Chandler Riggs (Carl Grimes), Jon Bernthal (Rick’s partner Shane), Emma Bell (Amy), Laurie Holden (Andrea), Jeffrey McDunn (Dale), and Steven Yeun (Glen).
Greg Nicotero (credits include: Land of the Dead, Predators, and The Book of Eli) serves as Special Effects Make-Up Designer/Consulting Producer and is the man responsible for bringing these new zombies back to life. Robert Kirkman is also an Executive Producer on the series, and has stated that the show will follow the basic path of the comic, but it will detour a bit in certain places to flesh out some of the story arcs and allow for further character development. It is hard to believe that they are producing this show on a TV budget because every sequence looks like something that you could only see in a movie. The vivid scenery and attention to detail only prove to make this series more believable and terrifying.
This epic series is brought to us by Director Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) and Producer Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator) who faithfully adapt Kirkman’s work, bringing this horrifying reality to the small screen. The pilot episode alone is truly a testament to their dedication to the series as we see Rick’s story jump directly off the comic pages. There is absolutely no question that they respect and admire the source material and are devoted to do justice to the history of the book.
AMC‘s tagline is Story Matters Here, and you only have to look at this network’s pair of Emmy-winning series, Mad Men and Breaking Bad, to realize how perfectly fitting that slogan is. With its too-gruesome-for-broadcast-TV story, it’s clear that the creators behind The Walking Dead were reaching for a network that wasn’t afraid to aim for the head and bring the best ongoing story in comics today and execute it on our televisions.
Throw out all preconceived notions of what is to come, because you have never seen zombies or a television show like this before. The Walking Dead is coming to your television, and things will never be the same. If you think that this is going to be anything like a typical zombie movie, think again. The Walking Dead truly is an ongoing story of humanity’s survival, with the zombies serving as a plot device. Through the eyes of Rick we begin to see that humanity in a new light as he fights to protect the people he cares about most. Through his eyes, we’ll see what it really means to be human. Through this ongoing tale, we’ll see that we are the walking dead.
The Walking Dead premieres on AMC on Sunday, October 31st at 10pm.
ComicsOnline gives The Walking Dead “Days Gone Bye” 5 out of 5 assurances that this series is going to make television history.
Follow the links below for ComicsOnline’s interviews with:
Andrew Lincoln, Sarah Wayne Callies and Rick Bernthal
Laurie Holden and Emma Bell
Frank Darabont and Greg Nicotero
Gale Anne Hurd
Stay tuned to ComicsOnline for more reviews and interviews on The Walking Dead and everything geek pop culture.
