I had to tivo it, so I haven't had a chance to watch it yet. Was it any good? What did/didn't you like about it? I've read the first volume of the graphic novel, but still please keep spoilers to a minimum.

I liked it and then I remembered it was a TV show and it was over. Damn it.

Well, it was fun for a TV show....

They tried to build up an intense scene by a guy being too fucking stupid to speak a single word. It's fucking retarded.

I don't recall any scenes that went quite how you're colorfully describing. Care to enlighten?

*SPOILER*

When that kid whacks him with a shovel and the kid's dad is hanging down over him with a gun telling the guy to talk, and then telling the guy he'd better tell them where he got the wound or he'd blow his head off. The guy's just laying there on the grass, looking like a damn idiot and not saying anything. And the scene just gets stretched out until it becomes ridiculous.

It lasted like ten seconds, and he was in pain from both being hit in the head with a shovel and from the gunshot wound, and it seemed like he was still feeling the effects of the drugs. I think him not answering wasn't out of line.

Edit: It was 20 seconds, and he was clearly completely out of it after being hit in the head with a shovel, not stupid.

The wife and I stayed up to watch it and weren't too impressed. It's not the worst show I've ever seen, but I was disappointed.

I was hoping for a little more originality from it. There are scenes where it's obvious that Darabont basically ripped off certain movies. The effects were okay, the dialogue was average, and the action was a little lacking. Just my opinion, of course. But I won't be watching any further episodes.

My brother and dad liked it, I didn't watch it since I hated the comic it's based on. To me it just feels like every other zombie property with a little twist to make it last longer.

The scenes aren't ripped off from the movies (28 days later in particular); in an interview there was stated that the start of the comics with the main character coming out of a coma was done before the movie got out but the book was published after that even though that scene was already done.

As for the show I liked it and am eagerly looking forward to the rest of the season. I was afraid it was going to be schlocky (I'm not familiar with the source material), but was pleasantly surprised when it basically turned out to be a film-quality TV pilot about the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse :D

I don't know how they'll sustain it as a show. I suspect they'll have to give it a definitive end date like HBO has done with some of their series. I'm excited for this first season, at least.

Couple of things that stuck out me during the premiere:
* Great way to start the show. Blow the little zombie girl's head off so people know what they're getting with this series. I loved it!
* I wasn't initially a huge fan of the main actor (he seemed like he'd be better suited playing the slightly-lecherous and stupid guy who gets eaten by zombies part way through than the Main Zombie Killer™), but he grew on me.
* Speaking of comas, I was a little surprised that they took the same approach to the main character's introduction to life-after-zombies as the movie 28 Days Later. Then again, that's really the best way to jump right into it without having to show the shit actually hitting the fan, I guess.
* I'm not an expert...but do many cops these days (even small-town sheriff's deputies) carry large-frame 6" or 8" revolvers as their service weapons? Maybe it's just a character thing done to give him some pizazz as the Main Zombie Killer™, which I'm okay with I guess. It was just something weird that I noticed.
* Glad to see the dude who played Hawkins in Jericho getting some roles. I hope we see him and his kid again.
* I loved the stop-off at the sheriff's office for a hot shower and weapons resupply. I half expected them to try and fortify there, but then Hawkins (or whatever his name actually is in this show) talked about Atlanta so I knew they'd try to get there.
* So you have to be careful about making a lot of noise because it draws the attention of the Walkers, but the sheriff's going to go on a zombie mercy-killing spree and the dad is going to try and exorcise his emotional demons by offing his now-zombified wife? Understandable from a character development standpoint, but major zombie survival violations :p

That's actually been a mainstay of storytelling since just about forever. Someone goes to sleep in the real world, wakes up in another one, or a vastly altered version. Like Rip Van Winkle, and that story's about 200 years old.

I watched most of it this afternoon after renting it from Amazon. I'm not really familiar with the genre. However, it was light on profanity, leaned heavily on gore/shock value, had excellent special effects, very good makeup, decent acting, and good writing. Suspenseful, but as an earlier poster mentioned, I expect this to be a miniseries, not an actual long-running 'TV show'.

By the way, why is it that nobody in this film simply went down to the local hardware store for some machetes? Quick, quiet decapitations. DECAPITATIONS, PEOPLE.

On another side note, I liked these zombies much better than the hemowotsits from I Am Legend. Shuffly angry gurgly things instead of hissy bouncy gollum things.

YES. FUCK YES.

Good that it's the classic zombies that rise from the dead and not that distilled "infected by a virus" bullshit we have been seeing for a while now. I like it. If they build on the zombie origins a bit more... hot diggity.

When I ASK, you ANSWER THE QUESTION! YOU BEEN BIT?!?.