‘The Walking Dead’, an American Movie Classics Channel series following a group of survivors in the zombie-infested post-apocalyptic American South, burst onto the scene on Halloween 2010. Since that time the popularity of the series has continued to spread through the country like a virus. Now, in its second season, the show has broken several viewership ratings records and has been renewed for a third season.
‘The Walking Dead’ is based on the Eisner Award-winning graphic novel series of the same name by writer Robert Kirkman. The comic book series has been running since 2003, meaning there is plenty of content to draw on for the series. While it can be argued zombies are an overdone topic, I would submit that they have never been done like this before. In fact, I believe ‘The Walking Dead’ is less a ‘zombie flick’ with some drama and more a ‘drama’ with some zombies. Detractors of horror genres should not be deterred, the drama is thick and constant. The series explores the human condition in a more tenacious and depth-exploring way than most zombie tales dare to. The result is a very engrossing and effectively fresh take on a classic subject matter every Sunday at seven. ‘The Walking Dead’ is the series that zombies have never had, and the one they have deserved.