The Walking Dead

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dad1153
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Re: The Walking Dead

#26 Post by dad1153 » Mon Nov 15, 2010 6:07 pm

The Walking Dead Adds More Viewers In Week Three; Steady With 18-49

Anyone predicting the ratings for AMC’s The Walking Dead would go down for the third episode got it wrong.

The adults 18-49 held steady at 3.3 million adults 18-49 (2.5 national adults 18-49 rating), but those predicting the ratings would go up have a better case to make. Total viewers rose from 4.7 million viewers last week to 5.1 million last night.


Considering the third episode was pretty much filler (except for Shane beating the crap out of Ed, that was cool!) it's rare for a third episode of a series to go UP in the ratings, they usually go down and down until they stabilize. People seem to like what they're seeing. :)

ianungstad
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Re: The Walking Dead

#27 Post by ianungstad » Mon Nov 15, 2010 7:24 pm

Having the "marathon" was a smart move. It allowed new viewers to catch up.

The series is pretty entertaining and it handles suspense well but I wish the characters weren't quite so cliche. Maybe that comes directly from the comic book...but you can distill every person in this show down to one prominent stereotypical attribute. It makes handling a large ensemble cast an easier feat but at the expense of the show feeling incredibly contrived.

It's entertaining and I enjoy the watch but it's hardly one of the best show on television like some critics would have you believe.

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jbeall
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Re: The Walking Dead

#28 Post by jbeall » Mon Nov 15, 2010 9:53 pm


ianungstad
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Re: The Walking Dead

#29 Post by ianungstad » Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:49 am

Wasn't a big fan of episode four. Robert Kirkman's script showed some pretty solid workmanship but I thought director Johan Renck missed most of the emotional beats of the episode and did a poor job of building tension. The whole premise with the nursing home required some pretty good misdirection from the director but the reveal came across as pretty limp.There were several moments that I felt like I should have been on pins and needles but at most felt mildly interested. The orgy of violence at the end should have been terrifying and a real punch to the gut. Instead, it was cartoonish and somewhat silly.

I hope that Johan doesn't get any more work from the show as I think he's the only director to have really failed with the material. I think I may be alone in this opinion as most of the reactions I've read online have been pretty positive for this episode.

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mfunk9786
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Re: The Walking Dead

#30 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:51 am

Did you guys at AMC just fire the dude or something? I thought it was as well done as any other ep.

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dx23
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Re: The Walking Dead

#31 Post by dx23 » Mon Nov 22, 2010 2:27 pm

Me too. I think the episode was as good as the other three and actually I loved the shocking attack at the end and thought it was greatly done.

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Professor Wagstaff
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Re: The Walking Dead

#32 Post by Professor Wagstaff » Sat Dec 11, 2010 4:08 pm

I really enjoyed the pilot, but the quality of this show steadily dropped over the next few weeks. By last week's finale, I had become angry with most of the one-dimensional characters. Had I learned anything about them in six weeks? They are the most annoying array of zombie story stock characters. It doesn't help that that this show has no sense of humor. Reminds me of the worst Frank Darabont screenplays/films in that way (think The Green Mile).

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mfunk9786
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Re: The Walking Dead

#33 Post by mfunk9786 » Sat Dec 11, 2010 9:31 pm

On Sirius' "Geek Time" radio show, the author of the comics and co-creator of the TV series hinted that there is a very good chance that there will be B&W transfers of each episode on the Blu-ray release (to honor the comics, which are all in B&W).

ianungstad
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Re: The Walking Dead

#34 Post by ianungstad » Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:20 am

According to Brian Cranston, AMC has decided to move up the premiere of The Walking Dead season 2 to July. New episodes of The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad will air back to back on Sundays.

I think they originally bumped Breaking Bad to July to air it alongside Mad Men. AMC has already signed a deal with Lionsgate Television for Mad Men season 5 but Lionsgate and Mathew Weiner are currently in contractual disputes ($$) and the new season of Mad Men has yet to go into production. Looks like it's going to be pushed back at least to the fall....meh.

Breaking Bad is a great show, if this does pan out, hopefully some of the ratings generated by The Walking Dead will spill over to Breaking Bad. I think it's a good decision to launch season two of The Walking Dead in July instead of October.

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mfunk9786
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Re: The Walking Dead

#35 Post by mfunk9786 » Tue Jan 11, 2011 6:22 am

Whoa, like a Sunday night TV orgasm

Nothing
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Re: TV of 2011

#36 Post by Nothing » Sat May 07, 2011 12:45 am

Haven't been all that taken with The Walking Dead. It's watchable, certainly, and probably the best zombie flick since Romero (at least it adopts a reasonably serious tone, there's little in the way of handheld camera and the zombies don't run) yet it brings nothing new to the table and is stuffed with stock characters and improbable amounts of heroism.

ianungstad
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Re: TV of 2011

#37 Post by ianungstad » Wed May 11, 2011 1:52 am

Nothing wrote:Haven't been all that taken with The Walking Dead. It's watchable, certainly, and probably the best zombie flick since Romero (at least it adopts a reasonably serious tone, there's little in the way of handheld camera and the zombies don't run) yet it brings nothing new to the table and is stuffed with stock characters and improbable amounts of heroism.
Outside of the pilot, the writing on the show is pretty middle of the road (and at times poor). They made the right decision to let go of the season 1 writing staff. Hopefully the new crew can iron out some of the weaker elements of the series. I watched the series again recently on bluray and for all it's flaws it's still pretty entertaining.

Stephen King's son Joe Hill is writing a special season 2 episode. He has a great series of graphic novels called Locke and Key which has a pilot at FOX. I'm really hoping FOX picks the series up. (or another network picks it up in turnaround)

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ando
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Re: The Walking Dead

#38 Post by ando » Tue Oct 11, 2011 12:37 am

Professor Wagstaff wrote:I really enjoyed the pilot, but the quality of this show steadily dropped over the next few weeks. By last week's finale, I had become angry with most of the one-dimensional characters. Had I learned anything about them in six weeks? They are the most annoying array of zombie story stock characters. It doesn't help that that this show has no sense of humor. Reminds me of the worst Frank Darabont screenplays/films in that way (think The Green Mile).
Well, I'm not looking forward to the drop-off in quality. The first episode was visually intriguing, though far less so conceptually. It's not terribly far from what we'd see in a typical Western with the square-jawed sheriff coming into town to clean out the riff-raff. The fact that he ends up under a zombie-besieged tank would bring some amusement into the proceedings if (as PW pointed out above) the series had a bit less sanctimony. Considering the circumstances, the anonymous voice addressing the trapped cop as dumb-ass (or some similar invective) over the radio inside the tank should have brought a laugh. Instead the creators left me thinking, "What a cheeky young man!", when really, the cop is a dumb-ass.

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dx23
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Re: The Walking Dead

#39 Post by dx23 » Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:01 pm

The Walking Dead was back tonight and it had its moments but overall I found the episode to be very dull. Hopefully it picks up in the next episode.

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mfunk9786
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Re: The Walking Dead

#40 Post by mfunk9786 » Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:05 pm

There's no narrative drive and an incredibly uninteresting setting. And don't even get me started on the dull characters. I feel like the writers may have wedged themselves into a corner.

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Bill Thompson
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Re: The Walking Dead

#41 Post by Bill Thompson » Mon Oct 17, 2011 12:07 am

I really liked it myself, found the first half hour or so to be very tense, with the rest great character building stuff, and I love the setting.

ianungstad
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Re: The Walking Dead

#42 Post by ianungstad » Mon Oct 17, 2011 12:37 am

It came across as pretty weak compared to the amazing season of Breaking Bad that just wrapped up. The first half hour was pretty tense and an enjoyable thriller but once they went on this long chase for the missing girl and started to add all the trite melodrama, the whole thing deflated quickly and went out with a whimper. The writing was not good and the director just couldn't find the tension. I wouldn't say it was bad...it was passable. I expect the show to improve from this episode otherwise I might tune out.

One of the things that grates on my nerves is all the purple prose speeches Rick makes over the radio and in the church. Good writing allows the viewer to pick up on a characters emotional world through their actions. If you have to stop the story with some dramatic device to have the characters talk about their innermost feelings..well there's some problems with your writing. (generally)

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dad1153
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Re: The Walking Dead

#43 Post by dad1153 » Tue Oct 18, 2011 1:59 am

'Walking Dead' Season 2 Premiere sets all kinds of ratings records
4.8 Million viewers in Adults 18-49
4.2 Million viewers in Adults 25-54
7.3 Million total viewers for premiere
11 Million total viewers for the night
(premiere plus two encores)
1.2 million total viewers, 795,000 adults 18-49 and 735,000 adults 25-54 for the live 'Talking Dead' post-show


Not surprisingly, today Fox announced it's turning "Zombieland" into a network comedy series for next season.

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mfunk9786
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Re: The Walking Dead

#44 Post by mfunk9786 » Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:44 am

That's a great idea if they can get the original cast for it. Which they almost certainly can't.

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dx23
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Re: The Walking Dead

#45 Post by dx23 » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:10 pm

Second episode of the season was an improvement but the stereotypical annoying blonde bitch character its what is dragging down the series. They should kill her as soon as possible and not replace her bitchiness with anyone else. Why is it that writers include this type of character in many television series. Lost had the same problem with a couple of the female characters and it hurt many of the episodes.

ianungstad
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Re: The Walking Dead

#46 Post by ianungstad » Sun Oct 23, 2011 11:43 pm

I didn't think it was an improvement at all. Yet again, it was poorly directed with no sense of tension. You had two characters in need of medical attention and possibly dying and a trip to a zombie plagued high school. The potential is there for some edge of your seat storytelling but somehow they make it all banal, generic and frankly boring. There's a lot more wrong with the characterization than just the Andrea character. They are all generic and whittled down to one cliche trait. So far we have had no real characterization in season 2 but plenty of melodrama and hysterics.

What I would like to see change in the next episode or two just to make the show tolerable is A) Bring back the sense of fun. It's a horror show. People want to be scared, shocked and thrilled. There should be some kind of lurid quality. If the zombies are not on screen, there should still be a sense of danger. B) Drop these awful monologues. With Rick especially we get these long winded monologues about religion, life and death and other existential questions. Nobody likes to be preached at. If you want to deal with those kind of ideas incorporate them into your narrative in a meaningful way. (Maybe the writers need to read Cormac McCarthy's The Road?)

The show has other problems but those are my two big gripes with the new season thus far.

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Bill Thompson
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Re: The Walking Dead

#47 Post by Bill Thompson » Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:20 pm

Another really good episode. The show continues to build interesting characters, provide great tension, and play to its B horror sensibilities rather well.

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dx23
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Re: The Walking Dead

#48 Post by dx23 » Tue Oct 25, 2011 6:32 pm


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knives
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Re: The Walking Dead

#49 Post by knives » Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:27 pm

Considering how poorly even their next best show does (a whopping 0.9 average in the demographic) they'd be stupid not to.

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dx23
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Re: The Walking Dead

#50 Post by dx23 » Mon Feb 13, 2012 10:43 pm

After a strong mid-season finale, the Walking Dead came back last night with another so-so episode that goes back to portray women as the most inept, emotional beings on the planet. I don't understand why in this day and age, writers still stereotype women like this.

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