The Walking Dead

[Trades]

Originally Posted by stanner

It's supposed to mask her from the other zombies, I think.

In season 1 Rick and Glenn wipe Zombie gore all over themselves to mask themselves and it worked and Michonne used to walk her Zombie Ex-BF and another guy on chains to keep Zombies away.

[chiefst2000]

Originally Posted by JaxSuzy

LOL - no way! But Breaking Bad < Walking Dead. And apparently everybody is out fighting zombies instead of hanging in the Hampur. So I'll start:

What was the friggin' meaning of the title of Sunday's episode: I Ain't No Judas (or whatever it was)? I didn't see anybody Judas-ing: Milton stayed loyal to the Governor, Merle stayed loyal to Darrell, Carl stayed loyal to Rick (sorta hahahaha), and Andrea stayed loyal to the Governor. Terrell and the group that Rick psycho-kicked out of the prison last week are now at Woodbury and whether or not they support our gang doesn't matter - they can't be Judases because they were never a part of Rick's group.

Who else thinks the Governor was pretending to be asleep and would have grabbed Andrea's arm if she'd brought that knife down to stab him? She's been #1 on my sh*t list ever since she put Bros b4 Hoes by ditching Mischonne for the Gov. And remember when she told the Governor that she got all creamy watching the zombie arena fight? Maybe she's got the potential to be just as bad as the Gov.

So who's Judas? Andrea? Or is Merle in deep undercover at the Prison and still loyal to the Governor - in exchange for Darrell's life. Bwahahahaha!

Umm.. Andrea was clearly the Judas referred to in the title of that episode. She aint no Judas to the Governor as she didn't end up killing him....yet

[chiefst2000]

Originally Posted by quantum

I've only seen a few episodes.

Question: what's with the chick walking a zombie around on the end of a dog control stick? Was it explained why that would be a good thing to do?

Also: rats in cages as decoys

If you have a zombie on a stick the smell masks your scent and allows you to walk freely among the zombies.

[sash1]

i just watched the first 3 episodes on netflix. Not that good. HIGHLY overrated. And im a huge horror movie and zombie movie fan. Very average

[Ruby2]

Originally Posted by sash1

i just watched the first 3 episodes on netflix. Not that good. HIGHLY overrated. And im a huge horror movie and zombie movie fan. Very average

If you don't like the first 3 episodes you better get out now.

It gets a lot worse.

[Monsterxman]

Originally Posted by Ruby2

If you don't like the first 3 episodes you better get out now.

It gets a lot worse.

Lol... true story.

[AlwaysGreenAlwaysWhite]

Originally Posted by sash1

i just watched the first 3 episodes on netflix. Not that good. HIGHLY overrated. And im a huge horror movie and zombie movie fan. Very average

If you didn't watch the first episode and think it was gonna be great, Ruby is right... Save yourself the trouble.

Btw, this past episode was as close to the pilot as they've come since...

The new show runner directed (or wrote, I forget) it too, so there's hope folks...

[Jetworks]

Beyond a lot of Season 2, I really never understood the hate on this show. It's a solid show about zombies that chooses to be somewhat story-driven. If you're looking for quality writing with substantive plots, go watch PBS.

[John_0515]

Originally Posted by Jetworks

Beyond a lot of Season 2, I really never understood the hate on this show. It's a solid show about zombies that chooses to be somewhat story-driven. If you're looking for quality writing with substantive plots, go watch PBS.

People want non-stop action, blood and gore.

It's a tv drama.

Whatever, I enjoy it. I'm not looking for an Emmy.

[AlwaysGreenAlwaysWhite]

Originally Posted by Jetworks

Beyond a lot of Season 2, I really never understood the hate on this show. It's a solid show about zombies that chooses to be somewhat story-driven. If you're looking for quality writing with substantive plots, go watch PBS.

Nah man. TWD makes it sooooo easy to hate every character in the show. It's the writing/acting/story arcs all rolled into one giant ball of crap.

[neonleon29]

for all the bashing this show gets...some deservingly so...last episode was fantastic IMO.

[2milehighJet]

Originally Posted by John_0515

People want non-stop action, blood and gore.

It's a tv drama.

Whatever, I enjoy it. I'm not looking for an Emmy.

I enjoy it also. I had no idea about the book before I started watching. So I didn't know what action the zombies would make, while its part of show, I'm good with what's happened. And yes, it's just another drama tat keeps me interested enough to keep tuning in.

[stanner]

Originally Posted by AlwaysGreenAlwaysWhite

Nah man. TWD makes it sooooo easy to hate every character in the show. It's the writing/acting/story arcs all rolled into one giant ball of crap.

This. "Lost" had the same problem with the "now what do we do? " story writing, but remained watchable due to the acting and dialogue (and score, which probably deserves a lot of credit). This show is at a notably lower level in those categories. I don't like anybody.

[Ruby2]

Originally Posted by AlwaysGreenAlwaysWhite

Nah man. TWD makes it sooooo easy to hate every character in the show. It's the writing/acting/story arcs all rolled into one giant ball of crap.

Yup this. It's impossible to like a show where you hate every character and none of their actions are justifiable.

[Dimitri_0515]

Originally Posted by Ruby2

Yup this. It's impossible to like a show where you hate every character and none of their actions are justifiable.

Justifiable? It's a show about the zombie apocalypse. Nothing is justifiable. If you don't like the show don't watch it. Is it necessary to post on every page how bad the show is for the people that enjoy the show and are a fan of the comic? TWD has millions of viewers and has added seasons 4 and 5 so obviously they're doing something right.

[Ruby2]

Originally Posted by AlwaysGreenAlwaysWhite

Nah man. TWD makes it sooooo easy to hate every character in the show. It's the writing/acting/story arcs all rolled into one giant ball of crap.

Originally Posted by Dimitri_0515

Justifiable? It's a show about the zombie apocalypse. Nothing is justifiable. If you don't like the show don't watch it. Is it necessary to post on every page how bad the show is for the people that enjoy the show and are a fan of the comic? TWD has millions of viewers and has added seasons 4 and 5 so obviously they're doing something right.

I've made all the points I needed too. It just impossible to not enjoy hating something that so many people love when you know it's total garbage, sorry. That's it from me, enjoy the rest of the series.

[McGinley]

Originally Posted by neonleon29

for all the bashing this show gets...some deservingly so...last episode was fantastic IMO.

This is true. Probably had something to do with them focusing on a small number of characters and developing them.

[John_0515]

Originally Posted by Ruby2

I've made all the points I needed too. It just impossible to not enjoy hating something that so many people love when you know it's total garbage, sorry. That's it from me, enjoy the rest of the series.

At this point, 3 seasons into the show, if you don't like it why are you still watching?

[Trades]

Originally Posted by Dimitri_0515

Justifiable? It's a show about the zombie apocalypse. Nothing is justifiable. If you don't like the show don't watch it. Is it necessary to post on every page how bad the show is for the people that enjoy the show and are a fan of the comic? TWD has millions of viewers and has added seasons 4 and 5 so obviously they're doing something right.

It has also outdone all of the big networks. It is so popular that the Talking Dead talk show that airs after it to discuss the episode is also outdrawing the networks! There must be something there. It is a decent show. It isn't perfect but it is entertaining. Last weeks episode was very good and the one before that had a lot of action. I don't understand why people have to rip on it just because it is popular.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/04/bu...s-success.html

March 3, 2013
At AMC, Zombies Topple Network TV

By DAVID CARR

When a show about the walking dead on basic cable beats every network show in the ratings demographic that advertisers care most about, you have to wonder who the real zombies are.



A zombie, after all, is something that continues to roam, and tries to devour all in its path even though its natural life is over — a description that does not sound that far-fetched when it comes to broadcast networks.



During its run last fall, “The Walking Dead” was the highest-rated show among viewers 18 to 49, the most-sought age group, with a bigger audience than network winners like “The Big Bang Theory,” “American Idol,” “The Voice” and “Modern Family.”



Now the zombies are back for the second half of the show’s third season, and they continue to gnaw on everything in their path, including the broadcast networks’ historical claim to being the only place to find a mass audience. Three weeks ago, the zombies owned Sunday night, attracting 7.7 million viewers in the 18 to 49 range, more than any broadcast show in the land.



It gets better (or worse, if you are a network). AMC has a spinoff chat show about zombies called “The Talking Dead,” and even that is making waves. That same Sunday three weeks ago, “The Talking Dead” drew almost 2.8 million viewers ages 18 to 49, trumping NBC not just for the night, but for all of February.



Being a cable network, it’s clear, is less of a disadvantage than it used to be, as broadcast networks become just one more click on a seemingly infinite dial.



A couple of things are at work here. For years, inertia kept viewers locked on the big broadcast channels, but these days, consumers are roaming omnivores, hunting down whatever has heat and water-cooler value. And network appointment viewing has given way to foraging and bingeing.
AMC, along with its studio partners, has always made sure that if someone wants to catch up with America’s favorite zombies, or “Breaking Bad” or “Mad Men,” two of its other hits, then past seasons are readily available — on demand, on Netflix or on iTunes. As a result, the audience for “The Walking Dead” is up 51 percent overall last year, and it is one of the most consistently talked about shows on social media.



It’s worth noting that the gap between basic cable and broadcast television has gradually shrunk as satellite and telecommunications companies have joined the fray. There are about 115 million television households in America, and some 99 million of them have access to AMC. On the networks, old franchises are tiring, new efforts are flopping in record time and a show like “The Walking Dead,” whose audience grew slowly and steadily over three seasons, is just not in the playbook.



“AMC sold the show to Netflix early, so when people started talking about it, it was there for the watching,” said Alexia Quadrani, a media analyst at JPMorgan.



Last Thursday, I visited Josh Sapan, the chief executive of AMC Networks, at his office across the street from Madison Square Garden. You might expect him to be celebrating his zombies’ success, but you’d be wrong. Mr. Sapan has been at AMC for 25 years and he is too superstitious to tempt the gods like that. As a collector of lightning rods — he has acquired more than a hundred, two of them on display in his office — he knows that sticking out has a cost.



“I would have put big odds against a cable show winning over network five years ago,” he said. Still, he warns, “People’s taste in what is popular can be very fleeting and short-lived. There is some alchemy at work here that is hard to diagnose and replicate.”



“It’s a big moment to those of us who are in the business,” he added, “but I don’t think the general public, especially young people, even think about where programming comes from.”



The zombies have not devoured all Mr. Sapan’s challenges. Even though advertising in the fourth quarter is up 16 percent over the previous year, earnings at AMC fell short of Wall Street estimates because of a costly fight with Dish Network and expensive outlays to service debt.



And he’s right to give the American audience, a notoriously fickle bunch, a wide berth. Ask NBC, which went from first to worst this season in nothing flat. As my colleague Bill Carter pointed out, the peacock was on top of the pile in 13 of 15 weeks from September to December, according to Nielsen. Since then, it has dropped below not only its broadcast brethren but also Univision, the Spanish-language network.



“The Walking Dead” was actually NBC’s for the asking in 2011. At a news tour for television reporters in January, Kevin Reilly, who is now at Fox but was a top programmer at NBC when the show was still up for grabs, talked about the one that got away.



“ ‘The Walking Dead’ is an extraordinary thing,” Mr. Reilly told reporters. “I bought the script at NBC from Frank Darabont. I developed it. I loved it.”
But NBC was back on its heels at the time, and Mr. Reilly ended up letting it go. “I thought it was good, but it was an early draft,” he said. “And then, when I left and I heard it went over to AMC, there was just a lot of serendipity involved.”



In fairness, “The Walking Dead” would have never made it to network prime time in all of its gory glory because of broadcast standards. Not long ago, I was wedged in the back of an airplane and took solace by catching up on Season 3 on my iPad. The guy next to me was sawing into some meat of unknown agency and looked over at my screen, where a pack of zombies were lustily feasting on human innards. “Really, dude?” he asked. “Zombies?”



AMC is also home to “Breaking Bad,” where a former science teacher turned meth chef has been known to use chemistry to dissolve the bodies of people who got in his way. Think about the box that the broadcast networks are in. Audiences expect spicy and sometimes dark narratives, but because the networks are still in the business of not offending mass audiences, they cannot even grab a hit when it comes lurching through the door. And A-list actors who used to demand that their work show up on the big networks are now after their agents to get them onto a prestige cable show.



“The talent which used to complain about being on something like AMC now want to be where good stories are being told,” said Rich Greenfield, an analyst at BTIG Research. “All around, it’s a very seismic change in the television industry.”



It’s programming that rules now, not platform or position on the dial. I watch all kinds of AMC shows and I couldn’t tell you what channel on the cable box they live on — even if a zombie were after me.



E-mail: carr@nytimes.com;
twitter.com/carr2



This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: March 3, 2013

An earlier version of this article misstated the number of years Josh Sapan has been at AMC. It is 25 years, not 24.

[Dimitri_0515]

Originally Posted by Ruby2

I've made all the points I needed too. It just impossible to not enjoy hating something that so many people love when you know it's total garbage, sorry. That's it from me, enjoy the rest of the series.

Rubes, I love you, but you're wrong on this.