"The Dead Have Spread!" or The Walking Dead Mania

By Miranda -


Zombie Thursdays is a weekly feature with guest blogger, Miranda. You can read more about her here.

By now, hopefully it is no surprise that the premier of AMC's new show, The Walking Dead, was NOT a flop. In fact, the first episode which aired on Halloween 2010 received the highest ratings for any show ever on AMC. Not only that, but the execs at AMC are stating that the series has the highest ratings EVER in the coveted 18-49 year old viewer demographic, meaning that more people in that age category tuned in to watch The Walking Dead than ANY SHOW EVER IN THE HISTORY OF TELEVISION. Those are some pretty big statistics! It should also be no surprise that the series has already been renewed for a second season... even though a smart viewer would have already guessed that based on the Halloween premier-- AMC was holding a contest to win a walk on zombie role for a series that had already filmed all of its episodes... hmmmm...


Now, I don't want to get distracted with mania and fads and numbers and ratings. I tend to be wary of anything that is ZOMG! AMAZING! But what I will say is that I did of course watch the premier, and yes-- it was VERY good. While I did find the first ninety minute episode to move a bit slowly in spots, overall it was pretty awesome. The acting is superb, the makeup and special effects are out of control, and the best part is there is a ton of room for growth and character development. I always feel a show should leave you not only wanting to watch more, but craving that next episode! I won't sit here and summarize the first two episodes, you just need to do yourself a favor and watch the show! For subscribers to (evil) Comcast, you can rejoice and know that The Walking Dead episodes are free On Demand (available the day after the show airs), plus it has some cool behind the scenes bonus features you can watch! Don't have Comcast? No worries-- the episodes are also available on Hulu and on the AMC website.

So, walk, don't run (these aren't fast zombies... they shamble) and check out the show that has people everywhere going crazy! Become one of the horde! You won't be disappointed.