june gloom on 28/4/2010 at 13:31

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So I'm a big fan of Kirkman's The Walking Dead series (despite his love for killing almost fucking everyone and I'm really looking forward to AMC's tv adaptation of it. Since Scots decided he's too good for zombie stuff I decided to make this thread to annoy him.

So here it is. Are you annoyed, Scots? ;)

Show starts filming in May and first episode is supposed to drop in October.

jimjack on 28/4/2010 at 14:22

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A zombie show on AMC?? Well, I'm getting pretty sick of all the vampyre crap that's on tv. I'll definitely give it a chance.

Matthew on 28/4/2010 at 16:08

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(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_%28TV_network%29) A little Google is a wonderful thing ;)

quinch on 28/4/2010 at 19:04

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I wonder how depraved it's going to be. You know what comics are like. Some things are best left on the page..

:eww:

Muzman on 2/5/2010 at 10:48

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I'll probably be sniping at this in an embittered fashion all the way to release. So by way of explanation you might as well know of my lame aspirations.

Reading the comic was basically the green light for me to try and develop something similar: a long form, ensemble cast zombie apocalypse TV series that is. Why was it the green light? Well, after a fairly thorough examination of as much zombie stuff as I could get a hold of, this was the closest to what I was thinking of and the most highly regarded serious zombie work. And I could barely get through it it was so boring and derivative. I swear Kirkman has never spoken to another human being in his life, definitely no females, or at least it didn't sink in when he did. The thing meandered from place to place going largely nowhere and skipping all the interesting things about surviving in that situation, only seeming to have any drive once the hillbilly psychos show up. Cheesy exploitation sort of drive, but drive none the less.

I thought if this is the best they've got I'm basically in the clear; the zombie craze has peaked and will fade and there'll be room for something a bit more serious in year or two.
Couldn't get more wrong than that really. About a year and some scripts later the zombie craze showed no signs of abating; every game seems to include them or is adding them, every zombie idea seems destined for filmdom including comic nonsense with vampires and zombies and dumb parodies like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. But it's ok, maybe. No concrete signs of other series too close to home. Some web things and low budget stuff but that's all.
Then the kicker last August: Gale Ann Hurd and Frank Darabont to bring The Walking Dead to AMC, in the most expensive TV deal yet signed by man. Truckload of cash meets truckload of cash in zombie mega insanity *sigh* And the geek-o-sphere hyperbole "It's been compared to The Wire...". Sure, that's easy, I can do it: "Compared to The Wire, The Walking Dead is a complete piece of shit more akin to a self serious Gilligan's Island".
Worse still is the fact that it could adapt really well in the right hands (they being somone who keeps the premise and dramtis personae, some plot, a couple of ideas like the prison and chucks pretty much everything else: dialogue, characterisation etc and starts over). After The Mist, the idea of a Darabont zombie series would have me all aglow under different circumstances.

It's silly to get too uptight about it really. It's not like I was genuinely in with a shot and interest was shown and TWD stole my thunder. But it's always going to sting after all that dreaming, one way or another. Maybe there's room for two of these things in the world. I doubt it somehow though. Zombie series aren't going to be like cop shows ("thank god" says any number of people). They're a cult/event sci-fi sort of thing. I can't help but think, going so big like this, if it's less than massive no one will go near that sort of concept again for a long time. And if it is great, superficially similar ideas will get "That seems a little 'me too' for us. Sorry." (especially the Australian biz).
So, I would like it to be good, ultimately. But I wouldn't mind that much if the set was wiped out in a hurricane either, you know? I'll try and keep the bitching to a minimum. Just try and ignore me.