Anyone else catch the debut episode last night?  Have to say I was very disappointed in it.  It seemed completely uninspired and derivative.  Pretty much everything in that hour and a half, we have seen ad nauseum in better zombie flicks.  The bite, the fever, the bullet to the head, etc.  The opening was a blatant rip off of 28 Days Later.  Still have no idea why the zombies didn't devour him while he was in his hospital bed.  And, the decision of the cop to ride a horse up I-85...uhhh, yeah.  Great choice of transportation.  Especially when it looked like he was minimum ten miles from downtown Atlanta.  Oh, and those zombies that can pull you right off and eat your horse.  Wise choice. Frankly, I expected a much more original angle than Darabont gave us.  

I dunno, it was catch 22 for me.  It was better than the script read... That's for sure.  But, at the same time, they used a lot of things from other movies as you said.  But, to a degree, to me, it was done better and that's sad.  Sure it's the same basic idea... Zombies are boring.  They're lame.  There is nothing to do with them anymore.  And I think the show showcased that much, but they did it in one place and all at once.  It could be the best thing to happen to Zombies.  It could.  I've said this before, there hasn't really been a fantastic Zombie movie.  There has been good ones... just not great ones.

Everything is stolen material and this was an interesting clone.  I didn't like some of the choices (The sleeping Zombies) and the character stupidity, but it worked.  And really worked for how minuscule the budget is opposed to some of the alternatives.

C+ for me.

In regards to the opening, 28 Days Later stole it from Day of the Triffids.
And Triffids, probably stole it from something older than me. =p

As to the pilot episode...
Originality = nada
Execution = solid
Character Development = promising
Humanity Factor = excellent

I felt for the dude struggling with the situation over his wife and son.
The way he baited her, it felt very human to me.  
It was a do or die moment, and it worked for me.
I like this trend of feature directors turning to cable to tell stories.

E.D.

P.S. To Frank Darabont, stop wrecking awesome muscle cars immediately!

I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it worked really well. Having read the comic I already knew what was going to happen but it was great to put an actual face on the characters. I didn't like the actor who plays Rick - the scene where he cries after getting home to his empty house was a case of really, really cheesy acting. The black guy was fantastic though. A very promising start.

By far the best show on right now, and in recent years, and it had one of the best openings ever!

Well, maybe if I had read the comics, I would have liked it better.  I guess I was hoping for something that would turn the whole zombie genre on its head.  This episode offered absolutely nothing new, IMO.  The actors were decent, I just thought they had very little to work with.

Quoted from The boy who could fly By far the best show on right now, and in recent years, and it had one of the best openings ever!

Really?  Best show in years?  Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one.  I do hope it gets better, though.  I'm gonna stick with it at least through this season.

Quoted from Ryan1 Well, maybe if I had read the comics, I would have liked it better.  I guess I was hoping for something that would turn the whole zombie genre on its head.  This episode offered absolutely nothing new, IMO.  The actors were decent, I just thought they had very little to work with. Really?  Best show in years?  Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one.  I do hope it gets better, though.  I'm gonna stick with it at least through this season.

This guy likes everything... Every piece of human excrement pulled out of Hollywoods toilet falls under critical acclaim by this guy.  Glowing reviews for everything from Piranha 3d to Death Proof.  This is Hollywood's demograph.  That guy right there.  He also praised Halloween 2 (Zombie's version)... Yeah, that's what we're dealing with here.  

But, with that said, I think the series has promise.  Albeit, like you said, very typical and basic.  It's not going to break the mold for old fans, but for TV it has set a bar.  It did a by the numbers job, but they stayed inside the lines better than most care to do.

Quoted from Ryan1 Frankly, I expected a much more original angle than Darabont gave us.

I'm not sure why you would, look at his three most prominent films. All adapted. It seems like some people were expecting some sort of zombie genre revolution.

Quoted from Baltis. This guy likes everything... Every piece of human excrement pulled out of Hollywoods toilet falls under critical acclaim by this guy.  Glowing reviews for everything from Piranha 3d to Death Proof.  This is Hollywood's demograph.  That guy right there.  He also praised Halloween 2 (Zombie's version)... Yeah, that's what we're dealing with here.

Wow. Sarcasm is hard to read over the internet, so I hope you're joking. He's entitled to his opinion. I'm sure you like tons of movies I'd consider shitty but I wouldn't call you out on it.

Anyway... I thought this was awesome. In terms of breaking new ground in the zombie genre, no, this show didn't do that but the performances were fucking amazing. Andrew Lincoln and Lennie James acted their asses off. The show also looked great. I'm impressed with what they did, shooting on 16mm film. Also, Gregory Nicotero had the zombies looking incredible. I was actually worried about that. Would the zombies look stupid? Nope.

I can't wait for more. Seriously... I'm looking online for bootlegs right now.

Quoted from Nixon Wow. Sarcasm is hard to read over the internet, so I hope you're joking. He's entitled to his opinion. I'm sure you like tons of movies I'd consider shitty but I wouldn't call you out on it.

Impossible... There is no way I like a shitty movie.  Just can't happen.  It'd be easier for someone to rotoscope a retarded monkey than it would be for me to like a shitty film.  With that said, I wish they'd remake the Wizard, only instead of Nintendo being whored out it was Microsoft and the insidiously faulty xbox 360.  The Wizard is the best movie of all time!

Quoted from Nixon I'm not sure why you would, look at his three most prominent films. All adapted. It seems like some people were expecting some sort of zombie genre revolution.

I think revolution would be too strong a word for what I was expecting.  A fresh idea somewhere within that hour and a half would have been nice, though.  Like I said, there was nothing in there I hadn't seen before.  The acting was good, definitely not awesome, IMO.  I thought the makeup effects were excellent.  I'm not familiar at all with the source material, so I don't know how closely the producers adhered to that storyline.  Maybe I bought into the hype too much and therefore was expecting a lot more, I don't know.  But, the pilot episode was a "meh" for me.

Quoted from RayW Re-broadcast schedule

Yeah, they usually do that when it didn't have as many viewers as they wanted... Just saying.    

Quoted from Baltis. Impossible... There is no way I like a shitty movie.  Just can't happen.  It'd be easier for someone to rotoscope a retarded monkey than it would be for me to like a shitty film.  With that said, I wish they'd remake the Wizard, only instead of Nintendo being whored out it was Microsoft and the insidiously faulty xbox 360.  The Wizard is the best movie of all time!

Quoted from Baltis. Yeah, they usually do that when it didn't have as many viewers as they wanted... Just saying.

The Walking Dead actually beat every other non-“Housewives” hourlong airing Sunday night in broadcast.

I watched this last night and while Zombies are not really my thing, I actually thought this was pretty decent for TV show. The season is only going to be six episodes long so am expecting the high quality to be kept up for the duration. It was quite fun actually.

I wonder if he called Danny Boyle and asked if he could effectively steal the first 15 mins of 28 days later?

Quoted from Murphy I wonder if he called Danny Boyle and asked if he could effectively steal the first 15 mins of 28 days later?

It's not the fact if he did or didn't take it... I don't know.  These books are older than 28days is I believe.  For me it's how much better it was orchestrated and brought to life.  I much preferred The Walking Dead to most any zombie movie out there in the last 20 years.  Easily.

If it were me writing it --  I'd have had more people in the hospital, though.  Having everyone "BUT HIM" gone was a mistake.  Took me out of the picture.  Have some dead patients laying about and what not.  Have another guy who is paralyzed in physical therapy or just down the hall screaming for help.  I could've added a little more to it.

Say what you will about derivative or whatever -- but this series actually has my wife sitting with me on the couch watching zombies.  Zombies, I say!

**sniffle-sniffle**

It's a beautiful thing...