The Walking Dead is a tv series about life after a zombie apocalypse. It is based off of a comic book series of the same name and premiered Halloween night on the AMC network. The first season, comprised of six episodes, recently finished airing. Because I only got around to watching the show this past weekend, I thought it would be a good time to review the first season.
While drawing its name from the undead creatures that permeate the series, The Walking Dead is really about the human survivors trying to stay alive in a world that has changed dramatically. The main character of the show is Rick Grimes (played by Andrew Lincoln) who was a Sheriff's deputy before the dead rose. After being shot in the line of duty, Rick falls into a coma. When he awakens, he finds himself in a much different world. All of his loved ones have fled town and apparently left him for dead. After receiving some help from another survivor (played by Lennie James), Rick leaves his home in search of his family.
Before anyone thinks that The Walking Dead is about a man searching for his family all by himself, it is not. Rick encounters other survivors early in his journey. These survivors have built a small community just outside of Atlanta, GA which includes Rick's wife and son as well as his former partner. Once Rick joins these survivors, things start to get really interesting as Rick and his former partner, Shane (played by Jon Bernthal), begin to clash over leadership of their small group. That conflict kind of drives the last few episodes of the season.
I quite enjoyed these six episodes as a lot of story and character development got crammed into a small number of episodes. The acting was sharp and the writing was excellent. However, the season felt kind of lacking because of so few episodes. Also, very little happened in the last two episodes so they detracted a bit from a strong debut season.
Aside from these gripes, The Walking Dead is a very enjoyable and gory series. The first season may be over, but all of the episodes are available online at AMC's website. Unfortunately, it seems like season 2 will not be airing until late 2011 so you may want to make those six episodes last. That is, if you can.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
My thoughts on Christmas episodes
TV has reached that point in the year where basically every show has a Christmas episode. Ordinarily, I have no problems with this because I understand that the majority of America is Christian, but I don't like it when you have a show that makes a point of having a diverse cast of characters and they do a Christmas episode without paying homage to the other cultures being represented as it completely alienated me.
So far this season I have seen three Christmas episodes and only one of them managed to make me angry. The first one I saw was Glee's. Glee has two characters that are Jewish and they usually say that they are proud of their heritage, but in this episode both of them were basically Christian. Neither of them protested singing Christmas songs or even suggested maybe singing a Hanukkah song (which was still going on when this episode aired). It also didn't help that the plot for the episode was a rehash of a Dr. Seuss book (if you're wondering it's the one that has Christmas in the title). So for me, that episode just made me angry.
The other show whose Christmas episode I am going to mention is Community. The entire episode was done in stop motion animation and was centered on Christmas, but they made several pluralism jokes and acknowledged the fact that all of the characters have different beliefs. Aside from the nearly constant talk about the holidays, Community also managed to throw in a rather adult story about growing up and how things change as time progresses. So, the episode ended up being a lot more relatable and enjoyable.
And that concludes my thoughts on Christmas episodes.
So far this season I have seen three Christmas episodes and only one of them managed to make me angry. The first one I saw was Glee's. Glee has two characters that are Jewish and they usually say that they are proud of their heritage, but in this episode both of them were basically Christian. Neither of them protested singing Christmas songs or even suggested maybe singing a Hanukkah song (which was still going on when this episode aired). It also didn't help that the plot for the episode was a rehash of a Dr. Seuss book (if you're wondering it's the one that has Christmas in the title). So for me, that episode just made me angry.
The other show whose Christmas episode I am going to mention is Community. The entire episode was done in stop motion animation and was centered on Christmas, but they made several pluralism jokes and acknowledged the fact that all of the characters have different beliefs. Aside from the nearly constant talk about the holidays, Community also managed to throw in a rather adult story about growing up and how things change as time progresses. So, the episode ended up being a lot more relatable and enjoyable.
And that concludes my thoughts on Christmas episodes.
Friday, December 10, 2010
What I'm Watching
So I have a TV blog, but I haven't really discussed the shows that I watch on a regular basis. To fix that, I am going to run down through the shows that I watch with a couple of comments about the show and why I like it thrown in for good measure. Now onwards to the shows.
First off is Castle. Castle is about a mystery writer and a NYPD detective teaming up to solve crimes, usually murders. I like it because of the great ensemble of characters and the lead actor, Nathan Fillion, is one of my all time favorite actors. Castle airs Monday nights on ABC.
Then we have How I Met Your Mother. This show is a hilarious sitcom about a man telling his kids the story of how he met their mother. Again, I like the show because of the characters. Also, I like the show's commitment to their jokes as certain ones recur throughout the series. How I Met Your Mother airs Mondays on CBS.
Next up is The Event. The Event is a new show that is a true successor to Lost. I like it because is uses some of the same storytelling techniques that were employed well on Lost. So if you are looking for a show that is driven by story as well as characters this is one to check out. The Event airs Mondays on NBC, but it is currently on break until February.
Skipping Tuesday and Wednesday (I already mentioned the shows that I watch on those nights in previous posts), we have 30 Rock. 30 Rock is a sitcom that takes place at the NBC Studios in the Rockefeller building in New York. It focuses on the people running a fictional variety show called TGS. As with most shows, I like this one because of the characters. Also, the absence of a laugh track is definite win. 30 Rock airs Thursdays on NBC.
Moving on to Friday, there is only one show that I consistently watch then and that is Smallville. Now in its tenth and final season, Smallville focuses on the life of a pre-Superman Clark Kent. I like the show because they have managed to pay homage to Superman's storied past and make him more relatable to modern audiences. Smallville airs Fridays on the CW.
That concludes this look at my TV watching habits. There were a few shows that I decided not to mention (mostly cable shows, but there were some broadcast shows that were mentioned in previous posts that I decided not to bring up again), but I hope that this gave you a better insight into the kind of TV viewer I am.
First off is Castle. Castle is about a mystery writer and a NYPD detective teaming up to solve crimes, usually murders. I like it because of the great ensemble of characters and the lead actor, Nathan Fillion, is one of my all time favorite actors. Castle airs Monday nights on ABC.
Then we have How I Met Your Mother. This show is a hilarious sitcom about a man telling his kids the story of how he met their mother. Again, I like the show because of the characters. Also, I like the show's commitment to their jokes as certain ones recur throughout the series. How I Met Your Mother airs Mondays on CBS.
Next up is The Event. The Event is a new show that is a true successor to Lost. I like it because is uses some of the same storytelling techniques that were employed well on Lost. So if you are looking for a show that is driven by story as well as characters this is one to check out. The Event airs Mondays on NBC, but it is currently on break until February.
Skipping Tuesday and Wednesday (I already mentioned the shows that I watch on those nights in previous posts), we have 30 Rock. 30 Rock is a sitcom that takes place at the NBC Studios in the Rockefeller building in New York. It focuses on the people running a fictional variety show called TGS. As with most shows, I like this one because of the characters. Also, the absence of a laugh track is definite win. 30 Rock airs Thursdays on NBC.
Moving on to Friday, there is only one show that I consistently watch then and that is Smallville. Now in its tenth and final season, Smallville focuses on the life of a pre-Superman Clark Kent. I like the show because they have managed to pay homage to Superman's storied past and make him more relatable to modern audiences. Smallville airs Fridays on the CW.
That concludes this look at my TV watching habits. There were a few shows that I decided not to mention (mostly cable shows, but there were some broadcast shows that were mentioned in previous posts that I decided not to bring up again), but I hope that this gave you a better insight into the kind of TV viewer I am.
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