The Walking Dead - Frank Darabont's Zombie Show on AMC!

*** some tiny spoilers ***

There were clues to the zombies in the barn in the last two episodes, the members of Hershel's team gave furtive glances to the barn, Hershel warned Rick to stay away from the barn and Maggie was horrified when they smashed the head of the zombie that came out of the well. The big unknown is "why are they keeping zombies in the barn?" I'm not going to spoil that for you ... but the obvious result is a confrontation between Hershels team (on the farm) and Ricks team of travelers. I've also enjoyed seeing certain key points happen. The passing of Ricks hat to his son Carl is the beginning of the signature look for the Carl character, a pivotal character in the whole series. Also you may have noticed that from the start the Andrea is becoming more and more into guns and this builds her into the crack-shot sniper she becomes. The biggest surprise in the TV series is Daryl Dixon, the crossbow carrying redneck who is not in the drawn comic series. He is adding so much and just shines when on camera. You can see the actor letting the moment ride and the camera find him - for me he is stealing the show. Reminds me of Lafayette's character dominating True Blood thanks to Nelsan Ellis' acting.
 
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My problem isn't with the story, just in the way it's being told. Like I said things are being drawn out in a way that to me reeks of budget stretching. The budget was the main reason Darabont was fired. He was fighting for more money and the penny pinchers wouldn't have it, so they canned him the first chance they got.
 
The comic's storyline had some boring lulls that I didn't like. I would have loved for the TV series to be a synthesis of the best parts of the comic series, a newer better more riveting version. However, even though they are carrying the best stuff over, the extra that is added (eg. the child Sophia going missing) is bringing the pacing back to the same, almost sedate momentum of the original.
 
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I read the comics as well, they are incredible. The show is weak sauce in comparison.
Read the comics and then you'll see everything the show could have been. I still watch the show
and hope for the best, and I'm happy for it's popularity.
 
Matt Harris said:
I read the comics as well, they are incredible. The show is weak sauce in comparison.
Read the comics and then you'll see everything the show could have been. I still watch the show
and hope for the best, and I'm happy for it's popularity.
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How did you feel about (zombie-less) issue 90? and in particular the end of issue 90? I'm in two minds ...
 
I'm on issue 72, i do not want to get to 90, because reading this series has been one of the best most rewarding reads of my life! I don't want to it to end...
 
ahhh ... 72 (temporarily goes back to check on 72) don't worry it keeps getting better and better from 72 all the way up to 89, then the latest one #90 went zombie-free
 
Zombie free... wow really? That's crazy.

Also reading through the thread I've noticed a few people saying Daranbont got the shove, I was under the impression he quit, amid rumblings he didn't quite comprehend the amount of work/time it took to head a show, and was also reportedly unhappy with the quality of the writing team and often had to heavily rewrite the first season's scripts?
 
ManofWords said:
Zombie free... wow really? That's crazy.

Also reading through the thread I've noticed a few people saying Daranbont got the shove, I was under the impression he quit, amid rumblings he didn't quite comprehend the amount of work/time it took to head a show, and was also reportedly unhappy with the quality of the writing team and often had to heavily rewrite the first season's scripts?
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Everything I've read states that he was used to promote the show at Comic Con and then fired.
What's truly scary is that this show is bigger than anything on AMC. That's just sad. I mean, I like this show. But Breaking Bad might just be the best thing on TV. Ever.
 
Interesting, thanks.

Mad Men remains the best for me. Which ironically went through a similar controversy when execs tired to enforce episode time cuts and proposed doing away with a cast member to save on budget. Thankfully Matt, held his ground.
 
ManofWords said:
Interesting, thanks.

Mad Men remains the best for me. Which ironically went through a similar controversy when execs tired to enforce episode time cuts and proposed doing away with a cast member to save on budget. Thankfully Matt, held his ground.
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I think Darabont held his ground too, but I think the AMC execs cynically made the determination that The Walking Dead doesn't need to be great to still pull in viewers, while Mad Men's high quality is what gets the show an audience, so they felt they could live without Darabont.
 
Walking Dead's writing is borderline film school. Not to say that it's not entertaining, but man, some of the exposition is so unecessary, and it's really repetitive.

Mad Men and Breaking Bad are tops.

Mad Men's a slow burn, but holy crap what amazingly round characters, the cinematography is muther jumpin' dreamy, set design, etc. And the dialogue is hands down amazing.

Breaking Bad is stressful as hell, and also amazing!
 
Kholi said:
Walking Dead's writing is borderline film school. Not to say that it's not entertaining, but man, some of the exposition is so unecessary, and it's really repetitive.

Mad Men and Breaking Bad are tops.

Mad Men's a slow burn, but holy crap what amazingly round characters, the cinematography is muther jumpin' dreamy, set design, etc. And the dialogue is hands down amazing.

Breaking Bad is stressful as hell, and also amazing!
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Couldn't agree more. I've given up on Walking Dead and eagerly await the return of Breaking Bad and Mad Men. I just don't know what they are thinking with Walking Dead, it really makes me want to smack my head into a wall sometimes.

I might get lynched for this, but I think Breaking Bad is my favorite show ever...sorry to The Wire.
 
You have to consider the source material, and despite the fact that it has translated mediums is is still restricted or rather influenced by the comics themselves and thus a lot of exposition and dialogue. But as some don't realize it's about the people and how they choose to survive and the decisions they would make, not zombies. The comic is one of the darkest things I have ever read and highly recommend them... if the show is going anywhere near where the comic did then I highly suggest holding out for a bit longer as it's notorious for calms before the storms, and when they bring a storm it's unlike any you have ever seen... lets just say there are no rules.

Breaking bad is phenomenal.... but I'm sorry the wire will forever be the best show, movie, book, play, song, whatever of all time, in my opinion...

have a good one, and don't forget to check out hell on wheels!
 
I can't believe I didn't realize it was about the people!

(Just messing, man)

The problem is, the written material for screen makes all of these characters VERY flat and predictable. It's all well and good that it's about the people, but if they were all less one note then it would be a lot better.

There is one character that has shown quite a roundness to him, and that's Daryl's character. That's just my opinion. Glenn is pretty fun, but the others are rather flat and obvious.

I also like how they "homage" Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 thorughout this thing. xD
 
I never got the big deal with the wire. It's far better than most cop dramas, but that's not a very high bar. Even in that genre, I prefer Luther.
 
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