AMC's The Walking Dead Season 1 Discussion & Spoilers
- Thread starter Dream
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Bad example to use with me, because I'd be more confident of success if we were talking about Joss Whedon. Of course, Aaron Sorkin burned himself out trying to do the same thing on The West Wing, resulting in increasing production costs due to late scripts. If Sorkin couldn't hack it, why should I be confident that Darabont can? You could also ask J. Michael Straczynski about the hazards of trying to write entire seasons on your own. A writing staff is there for more than just breaking the stories and writing the scripts; the writers are there to tell one another when they're trying to move forward with a bad idea. If Darabont has no other writers on the series, the only people left are the other producers. I think it's a bad idea.
On the other hand, it's not as if he has to start from scratch. He has a lot of material he can take from the comics. In fact, one could argue that this show is designed especially for freelancers. The work-for-hire writers can always read the comics to avoid any concerns about misunderstanding the tone or direction of the series.
Disagree. Wheedon is great at creating entire universes and coming up with general ideas about story arcs, but, when he actually writes scripts, the guy is this generation's George Lucas.
True, which is why I think it's a bad idea, rather than going farther and calling it a terrible idea. In fact, it makes me wonder if season two won't routinely wander off the roadmap of the comics if he goes with freelancers.
Ah, that could explain it.That's very odd, considering how well the show did, both in terms of quality and ratings. I wonder if he didn't get along with them or something.
This season, Darabont wrote two of the episodes himself. Two more were written by freelancers not on staff. And of the remaining two, Darabont cowrote/rewrote.
Seems to me that the "staff" was pretty useless.
As for the guy taking on too much, he's got almost a year to get the scripts into shape.
I don't think there's a problem with writing all the scripts himself time wise as it's only 13 episodes as opposed to 24 or 26.
It was eerie. Almost like watching someone being born. Very strange and also incredibly bittersweet.
That's an apt observation since she rose as a zombie on her birthday.
It's a reference to the circus sideshow freak that would bite the heads off live chickens, who was called a geek. I always thought it was funny when the modern use of "geek" started to mean someone smart and nerdy ... definitely not the historical connotation of the word.
I'm absolutely loving this show, and I usually don't like the zombie genre. Aside from "Shaun of the Dead" this was the first zombie story I've ever fallen for. I'm really enjoying the characters and the writing.
After the first couple of episodes I got so into it that I even picked up a zombie novel and read it straight through ... Mira Grant's "Feed" (AWESOME book! Highly recommended.) I'm holding off on reading the original comic because I don't want any spoilers, but I've gotta say I'm definitely a zombie fan these days.
DVD & Blu-ray Disc release will be sometime close to early March.
I only watch it in the daytime. No way I could sleep an hour after "Guts"
I save it for later viewing, too - not right before bedtime!
Yeah, they really should have shot him in the head. Nobody really knows what the experience of zombiehood is like, but considering their behavior, it wouldn't surprise me if they are in a constant state of painful, desperate hunger. Just because they can't reason or communicate doesn't mean they can't feel, at an animal level. If I were Jim, I'd have demanded they shoot me in the head, just to be safe.
I thought it was hilarious when the director cuts from Andrea cradling her dead sister to a scene where the redneck guy suddenly jerks upright, which is exactly what the sister would have done in a bad zombie movie - the redneck guy wasn't even part of the Andrea scene, but I still jumped.
And of course when sis does revive, there are no cheesy shocks, just a very sad and strangely lovely sequence. This show is really good at defying expectations.Several times, I've noticed scenes that seem "ripped from the page of a comic book." Jim sitting at the tree as the others leave; the CDC door opening and silhouetting the characters against a blaze of light. Can anyone who reads the comics confirm that they've been mimicking scenes?
I was expecting Daryl to finish him off with the cross bow.
Oh, some scenes, certainly. I don't actually own any issues myself (I've been periodically borrowing large stacks from a friend for the last couple years) so I don't have any issues handy at the moment to do some quick reference checks. Jim sitting under the tree, though, was definitely one, and you can see a comparison of the two Amy death scenes here side-by-side. The CDC angle, though, is entirely created for the television show. At this point in the comics, all of the Atlanta survivors were in Dale's RV on the road; a CDC facility didn't enter into things at all.
The scenes with Jim at the Tree and the others walking away is ripped straight from the comic almost frame to frame, and Andrea and Amy's moment is almost exactly like the comic but the tv series scene has alot more emotion and sadness to it. As i have stated before the tv series seems to go more into detail with the story and is almost like watching a "directors cut" of the comics
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Exactly. Especially since they've seen signs of intelligence in the Zombies.Yeah, they really should have shot him in the head. Nobody really knows what the experience of zombiehood is like, but considering their behavior, it wouldn't surprise me if they are in a constant state of painful, desperate hunger. Just because they can't reason or communicate doesn't mean they can't feel, at an animal level. If I were Jim, I'd have demanded they shoot me in the head, just to be safe.
That's because, unlike most TV and movies, this is actually written for adults.I thought it was hilarious when the director cuts from Andrea cradling her dead sister to a scene where the redneck guy suddenly jerks upright, which is exactly what the sister would have done in a bad zombie movie - the redneck guy wasn't even part of the Andrea scene, but I still jumped.
Me too!! That would have made much more sense.
YES! I'm continually impressed with how much more depth the individual scenes have than most TV - I feel as if I'm watching real people, with real emotions. It's quite moving, actually. I never thought I'd get sniffly while watching zombies!That's because, unlike most TV and movies, this is actually written for adults.
Maybe the success of TWD will inspire more shows written for grownups? But that requires that TV producers realize that what's making this show successful is that it doesn't insult the audience's intelligence, instead of everyone suddenly liking zombies.
If I see networks starting to trot out their own zombie shows, I'm going to throw my TV out the window. That is not the lesson here, but it would be characteristic of the morons running network TV that they'd think so. A zombie show, sanitized and dumbed down to network TV levels would be about the most useless thing I can envision. I'd rather they do reality TV shows about people eating bugs.
If I see networks starting to trot out their own zombie shows, I'm going to throw my TV out the window.
That is not the lesson here, but it would be characteristic of the morons running network TV that they'd think so. A zombie show, sanitized and dumbed down to network TV levels would be about the most useless thing I can envision. I'd rather they do reality TV shows about people eating bugs.
Here's a story about TWD plot holes. What bugs you about this show? How would you handle a zombie outbreak better than these guys have?
I also wondered why they were living in tents so close to a heavily populated area. Why not roam around till you find a heavily-fortified, off-the-grid country estate built by some reclusive, paranoid whack-job? I'm sure there are plenty of options all over America.
And this being America, there should be plenty of cars at least partly filled with gas available for the taking. And guns all over the place (could you gather spent bullets and re-use them?) but that wouldn't be so useful since gunshots attract walkers.
Instead, raid every sporting goods store you come cross for crossbows and learn to use them. Stock up on arrows. Don't bother to retrieve and re-use arrows - that strikes me as very dangerous behavior. Darryl just wipes off the blood and gore on his pants, but he doesn't know how infectuous zombie parts are. All it would take is one accidental nick.
One possible strategy: head north and find an off-the-grid estate with self-sustaining power and water to weather a snowy winter. See what effect that has on the zombies by spring. At some point, the zombies will simply disintegrate from the effects of being in the weather. But maybe hotter zones will break them down faster than sub-zero temperatures. Either way, it should be possible to hunker down and just wait for the zombie problem to solve itself. (Not a very interesting way to tell a story, tho.)
Getting back to zombies being attracted by gunshots - are they intelligent enough to realize gunshots = dinner bell? Shouldn't there be a lot of noises in the cities as buildings start to collapse, fires spread and cause explosions, etc? How do they tell the non-dinner noises from the dinner bell?
I also wondered why they were living in tents so close to a heavily populated area. Why not roam around till you find a heavily-fortified, off-the-grid country estate built by some reclusive, paranoid whack-job? I'm sure there are plenty of options all over America.
And this being America, there should be plenty of cars at least partly filled with gas available for the taking. And guns all over the place (could you gather spent bullets and re-use them?) but that wouldn't be so useful since gunshots attract walkers.
Instead, raid every sporting goods store you come cross for crossbows and learn to use them. Stock up on arrows. Don't bother to retrieve and re-use arrows - that strikes me as very dangerous behavior. Darryl just wipes off the blood and gore on his pants, but he doesn't know how infectuous zombie parts are. All it would take is one accidental nick.
One possible strategy: head north and find an off-the-grid estate with self-sustaining power and water to weather a snowy winter. See what effect that has on the zombies by spring. At some point, the zombies will simply disintegrate from the effects of being in the weather. But maybe hotter zones will break them down faster than sub-zero temperatures. Either way, it should be possible to hunker down and just wait for the zombie problem to solve itself. (Not a very interesting way to tell a story, tho.)
Getting back to zombies being attracted by gunshots - are they intelligent enough to realize gunshots = dinner bell? Shouldn't there be a lot of noises in the cities as buildings start to collapse, fires spread and cause explosions, etc? How do they tell the non-dinner noises from the dinner bell?
