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The Walking Dead (AMC + Darabont)

post #1 of 1981
6/2/10 at 3:31pm
Thread Starter 
From the network that brought you Mad Men and Breaking Bad, Frank Darabont (Shawshank, Green Mile, The Mist) presents...

http://blogs.amctv.com/the-walking-dead/

http://chud.com/articles/articles/23...EAD/Page1.html

Yeah, I'm popping boners like I pop Pez at this.
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post #2 of 1981
6/2/10 at 7:47pm
Can't wait for this one. I enojy the books, I'm not particularly crazy about them but I see them as a good starting point to build something great. Kirkman is good at delivering great climaxes but is kinda sloppy in writing dialogue and pacing the narrative, so I trust Darabont and his guys to develop a smoother story. Hell, I'd trust Darabont with my life savings.

How'd you guys like the casting choices announced so far? I'm not sure about Andrew Lincoln as Rick, but I'm quite fond of Jeffrey DeMunn as Dale. The man's a quality actor, plus I like the small The Mist reunion with Laurie Holden. I
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post #3 of 1981
6/2/10 at 10:50pm
I'm game.
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post #4 of 1981
6/3/10 at 1:05am
I suppose I'll watch because it's AMC, it's Darabont, and that make up does look pretty good.

But I want it noted that I'm NOT watching because of Zombies. If there's one genre subject that has been run into the ground...


Maybe this project will bring me back around.
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post #5 of 1981
6/3/10 at 8:40pm
SO excited to see this come onto TV. Though the Zombie genre has been run into the ground, this (I hope) show could finally take it and treat the subject with the up most seriousness. Which is all i can personally hope for.


For the record: I've always liked the comic. I've had no problems with the dialog or the pacing or any of it. Don't get me wrong, there's been a few bumps in the road but nothing worth complaining about. What i've complained about the most in this series is getting the comic out on time consistantly month per month, but lately they've been really good about cranking them out on time. This site by far has the most people nitpicking it and being critical. Now i know everyone has an opinion, and we all want to show off how good we are at "critically assessing" things, but really come on. There is literally a mound shitty zombie comics/movies that can reach the clouds. But the one franchise that is decent if not Outstanding for the genre, and yet people still want to grill it for its debatable flaws.......Come on.....Seriously.....Why can't we just enjoy a good thing for what it is, instead of trying to find all the things we dont like about it.
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post #6 of 1981
6/3/10 at 9:04pm
I've only red the first few tpbs but I enjoy it so far, i just think it'll be a tough sell as a tv show - in that there's not loads of zombie action - it's mainly about the day-to-day life of a group of adults on the run from these things. I'm concerned that there won't be enough splatter for the zombie fans and the zombie association will turn off people who aren't into Zombie stories.

Still good luck.
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post #7 of 1981
6/3/10 at 9:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by joeypants View Post
But I want it noted that I'm NOT watching because of Zombies. If there's one genre subject that has been run into the ground...
It's been run into the ground as far as movies go, but it's a great idea for a an ongoing TV series. The zombie apocalypse movie that never ends.
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post #8 of 1981
6/3/10 at 10:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sebastian OB View Post
It's been run into the ground as far as movies go, but it's a great idea for a an ongoing TV series. The zombie apocalypse movie that never ends.
Yeah, I'm actually surprised it has taken this long to get a zombie television series off the ground. I've never read the comic, but I've heard good things obviously, and after The Mist I've got faith in Darabont and company to deliver the goods.

As has been said a million times, zombies are great because when in the right hands they are a wide open canvas to let them represent whatever a filmmaker desires- but it's true they've been done to death by a million filmmakers that only wanted to say "hey look, zombies eatin' people."
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post #9 of 1981
6/4/10 at 11:47am
I don't really understand the concept that zombies have been run into the ground. Hasn't everything? The only real question is whether an author/film maker/video game designer can give something a novel twist or unique perspective. In the case of "The Walking Dead", Kirkland--and I'll admit I've only read the first 4 trades--has done precisely this. I'm willing to bet Darabont will do the same.
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post #10 of 1981
6/4/10 at 12:05pm
Everything has been run into the ground. If you can name five movies in the last two years that have to do with [subject], then [subject] has been run into the ground. Obviously.

Zombies get a lot of play in movies because anyone can make a zombie movie. My friends and I made a zombie movie in college over the course of three days from start to finish (script-writing, casting, and all) for a film contest being held in Frederick, MD. It wasn't terribly hard. The movie wasn't terribly good. Or long. But we made it. Zombies aren't particularly complex to handle. Handling them well, of course, is different from just slapping together scenes of people in shitty make-up feasting upon their victims (by victims I mean bacon).

So if there's a case to be made for zombies being "run into the ground", well, maybe you could argue that for movies but frankly that feels kind of empty to me. Superheroes have been run into the ground too. And so on.

That said, I'll echo the opinion that a television program focusing on zombies is pretty genius. Seems like the perfect format for a story like this, and with the talent behind it ("Hey, our show has Darabont and KNB!" is a compelling argument), it's hard to not get really amped about this. Even if the source material is garbage.
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post #11 of 1981
7/18/10 at 4:06pm
Thread Starter 
Stolen from AICN




Its first season, which comprises only six episodes, began shooting June 3 and will start shambling onto AMC in October.

It’s long been known that Darabont wrote and directed the first episode himself, but when AICN visited him on the set of the that episode last month, we knew next to nothing about who was handling these chores for subsequent episodes.

I asked Darabont himself and he just came back with the line-up for the entire first season:

Herc!

You have but to ask!

The directors for the first six are:

1) Me.
2) Michelle MacLaren (Breaking Bad, X-Files)
3) Gwyneth Horder-Payton (The Shield, BSG)
4) Johan Renck (Breaking Bad)
5) Ernest Dickerson (The Wire, Dexter)
6) Guy Ferland (The Shield, Sons of Anarchy)

The writers for the first six are:

1) Me
2) Me
3) Me, Chic Eglee, Jack LoGuidice. (Chic: The Shield, Dexter. Jack: Sons of Anarchy)
4) Robert Kirkman (wrote some comics I think)
5) Glen Mazzara (The Shield, Hawthorne)
6) Adam Fierro (The Shield, Dexter, 24)

(If Darabont is a typical showrunner, he’s overseeing all creative aspects of all episodes, from the writing to post-production, which he's said is “a full-time job in itself.”)

Eglee, whom I believe serves as the series’ co-showrunner, has been a grade-A force in American television for decades, having scripted lots of “Moonlighting,” “St. Elsewhere” and “L.A. Law” before creating “Murder One” for Stephen Bochco and “Dark Angel” for James Cameron.

Kirkman, for those unaware, writes the “Walking Dead” funnybooks on which the series is based. If I’m not mistaken, 1.4 will represent Kirkman’s first produced teleplay ever.
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post #12 of 1981
7/18/10 at 4:26pm
Or, you know, CHUD.
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post #13 of 1981
7/18/10 at 6:21pm
Darabont must have really had a blast during his stint on The Shield. Between this and The Mist he seems to love working with folks from that show.

Of course, who could blame him?
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post #14 of 1981
7/19/10 at 5:08am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dontEATnachos View Post
Or, you know, CHUD.
The whole article about the directors/writers is from AICN, not just the picture.
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post #15 of 1981
7/19/10 at 8:40am
Great to see some Shield alumni getting more work. Hopefully it's better than Shan Ryan's latest efforts. THE UNIT? ugh.
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post #16 of 1981
7/19/10 at 6:47pm
AMC kill me sometimes, they have a great show on their hands, loads of buzz and they do six episodes, delay it 5 times then show them over a week with no warning. I'll watch em and i may even buy the dvd (i'm sure the extras will be nice - even if they get shown on AMC dozens of times to hype the show). this is what happened with the prisoner the last amc production i was hyped for.

By the way the cast pic looks fantastic, just perfect - i look forward to seeing them die.
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post #17 of 1981
7/19/10 at 6:47pm
The Prisoner remake ended up sucking though so it kind of made sense.
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post #18 of 1981
7/19/10 at 6:57pm
it did kinda suck yes - but it barely had a chance is the point. 6 episodes aint enough for an american show to find it's feet (for a uk show it's long ass run) - in the prisoner you didn't give a shit about jesus or why he was a prisoner or anything, i'm just worried that the same will happen here with folk fed to the hordes before we've had a chance to even learn their names - let alone engage with their characters....
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post #19 of 1981
7/19/10 at 7:06pm
I blame the BBC.
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post #20 of 1981
8/3/10 at 5:33pm
from what i can tell by reading the Script for episode 1 is that it covers about 3 issues of the comic. about when We get to Atlanta. The script is really strong. Good Good stuff.


from what i can tell, they plan on greatly expanding what happens in the camp before they move on. I think season 1 will end the same way as the 1st trade back.
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post #21 of 1981
8/3/10 at 9:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr_adam View Post
it did kinda suck yes - but it barely had a chance is the point. 6 episodes aint enough for an american show to find it's feet (for a uk show it's long ass run) - in the prisoner you didn't give a shit about jesus or why he was a prisoner or anything, i'm just worried that the same will happen here with folk fed to the hordes before we've had a chance to even learn their names - let alone engage with their characters....
breaking bad, not to mention the office uk, life on mars uk, and many other british shows, would disagree.

And hank, please try to keep the spoilers to a minimum.
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post #22 of 1981
8/3/10 at 11:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brechtsky View Post
breaking bad, not to mention the office uk, life on mars uk, and many other british shows, would disagree.

And hank, please try to keep the spoilers to a minimum.
Bolded parts are important.

Also, Spaced is one of the funniest TV shows in the last 2 decades. It got two 7 episode seasons. That's it, and it managed to find a rabid audience on both sides of the pond.
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post #23 of 1981
8/4/10 at 2:59am
I just hope Darabont takes control of the script when Kirkman's story goes off the rails. Keep the main plotlines, correct some of the stupid shit that happens in the comic series which defies suspension of disbelief.
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post #24 of 1981
8/4/10 at 3:26pm
If you actually read my post it's that UK shows have to find their feet in the first 6 episodes (there's hundreds of series that didn't) and the exceptional ones do. same with Exceptional US AMC shows - breaking bad etc. however, some shows - longer character driven ensemble pieces (like Walking Dead and many other shows) often require more than 6 episodes to settle in.
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post #25 of 1981
8/4/10 at 4:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Subotai View Post
I just hope Darabont takes control of the script when Kirkman's story goes off the rails. Keep the main plotlines, correct some of the stupid shit that happens in the comic series which defies suspension of disbelief.
I'll tell you at least one thing that will change -- Rick will not loose a hand. Kirkman himself regrets doing that.
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post #26 of 1981
8/4/10 at 5:41pm
Yeah, that was pretty dumb. So was having a cop let little kids wander around a medium security prison with freed convicts. Without hyperbole, I guarantee you 99.9% of the highway patrol would sooner flush out the cells with liquid napalm. And some of the stupid stuff which Kirkman did just for shock value, like having Rick's son get shot in the back with a hunting rifle and be up and around in a week. So glad Darabont's on this, it has so much potential, but if they follow Kirkman's story - fail.
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post #27 of 1981
8/4/10 at 5:48pm
Kirkman knows he's outclassed by Darabont. He said he sees this as an opportunity to revise the mistakes he made with the comic. If allowed to run as long as it needs to, the AMC version of THE WALKING DEAD is going to be the superior version of the story.
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post #28 of 1981
8/4/10 at 10:03pm
Let's hope so.
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post #29 of 1981
8/9/10 at 9:47pm
shit sorry. I didn't think it was a spoiler. I believe i read it in an interview with Darabont also.
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post #30 of 1981
8/10/10 at 1:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr_adam View Post
AMC kill me sometimes, they have a great show on their hands, loads of buzz and they do six episodes, delay it 5 times then show them over a week with no warning. I'll watch em and i may even buy the dvd (i'm sure the extras will be nice - even if they get shown on AMC dozens of times to hype the show). this is what happened with the prisoner the last amc production i was hyped for.
Every AMC show that was intended to be a series has been successful so far. The Prisoner was always supposed to be a miniseries, so I don't get why you are worried. They intended it to be 3 nights of two hour blocks from the get go. And no warning? It had months of over-advertisments and buildup. And it was completely stupid. AMC has been 3 for 3 in it's original series creations in Mad Men, Breaking Bad and Rubicon. I don't care about zombies in the slightest, but that track record alone makes this interesting.
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post #31 of 1981
8/12/10 at 4:50pm
Wait, what? Rubicon is doing well? Thats news to me .... everyone i talked to liked the first ep, and pretty much nothing else so far.
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post #32 of 1981
8/12/10 at 5:01pm
There was one comment re: Rubicon this week so far (mine) ... It certainly hasn't captured Chewer interest, it would seem. I know that my interest is starting to fade.
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post #33 of 1981
8/12/10 at 5:11pm
It's on during Trueblood so I never think to watch it. I'm just hoping Walking Dead comes on at a time that doesn't conflict with Sunday's on HBO or the soon to be returning Sons of Anarchy.
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post #34 of 1981
8/12/10 at 6:31pm
Yeah.. I am watching Trueblood with friends, then we all watch Mad Men. I have a couple of Rubicon's on the DVR, I just haven't managed to watch yet.
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post #35 of 1981
8/22/10 at 11:00am
In case anybody cares, a buddy of mine works for AMC and he was able to catch a screening of the pilot recently. He said it's some of the best TV he's seen in a while (although he does work for AMC, he usually doesn't bullshit about this kind of stuff).
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post #36 of 1981
8/22/10 at 3:08pm
Thread Starter 
It may sound like hyperbole, but I'm fairly sure this will be the GREATEST TELEVISION SHOW OF ALL TIME.

Ahem.
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post #37 of 1981
8/22/10 at 3:38pm
I should probably mention that he's a big horror buff, so naturally that could be swaying his opinion.
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post #38 of 1981
8/22/10 at 4:10pm
Thread Starter 
Apologies if I sounded sarcastic then, I am genuinely very excited by this. I think it could be a rare example of catching lightning in a bottle.
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post #39 of 1981
8/22/10 at 4:35pm
I'm so happy for this show, only because it can take the handful of good ideas Kirkman had and jettison his awful dialogue/pacing/most everything else.
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post #40 of 1981
8/22/10 at 7:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Murder View Post
Apologies if I sounded sarcastic then, I am genuinely very excited by this. I think it could be a rare example of catching lightning in a bottle.
Between Mad Men and Breaking Bad, I don't think that "catching lightning in a bottle" is terribly hard for AMC at this point.
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post #41 of 1981
8/22/10 at 7:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brechtsky View Post
Wait, what? Rubicon is doing well? Thats news to me .... everyone i talked to liked the first ep, and pretty much nothing else so far.
Well, the first two eps had great ratings for AMC. Heavy drop off since then though, and since then it's continued its mega slow burn. It's still quality though, and the sort of slow burn that you never see on television. If they play it right, it could be a spy version of the Wire in that sense.
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post #42 of 1981
8/24/10 at 12:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SamTanry View Post
Well, the first two eps had great ratings for AMC. Heavy drop off since then though, and since then it's continued its mega slow burn. It's still quality though, and the sort of slow burn that you never see on television. If they play it right, it could be a spy version of the Wire in that sense.
See...I don't know that I'd ever heard of this show before now. But that comment right there piques my interest.

It's on opposite True Blood? They only have, what?, two more eps? One? I'll have to hit Rubicon once the finale is over on HBO.
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post #43 of 1981
8/24/10 at 1:42pm
Thread Starter 
http://livefeed.hollywoodreporter.co...ler-video.html
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post #44 of 1981
8/24/10 at 1:51pm
Wow. That looks fantastic.
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post #45 of 1981
8/24/10 at 2:00pm
Yeah, it really does look great.
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post #46 of 1981
8/24/10 at 2:16pm
Thread Starter 
Using "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" = win
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post #47 of 1981
8/24/10 at 2:16pm
Lenny James!
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post #48 of 1981
8/24/10 at 3:20pm
Thread Starter 
For international viewers (until this gets deleted)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MmCanaLQGE
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post #49 of 1981
9/5/10 at 1:32am
TV spots.

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/21557
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post #50 of 1981
9/5/10 at 11:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Murder View Post
For international viewers (until this gets deleted)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MmCanaLQGE
Holy shit. This show is going to be pure awesome. I can't wait.
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