I’ve learned that AMC is producing excellent series these days. What with the success of Mad Men followed by my favorite, Breaking Bad, AMC is becoming a powerful entity for creative, cutting-edge talent. The writing, direction, and plot lines are fresh, interesting, and hold my attention for more than a single season. Not easy to do with so many channels to chose from and quite honestly, not even HBO with their massive budget can keep pace. This is what good writing and believable stories do over massive budgets and recognizable names.
AMC has come through again with The Walking Dead. Based upon a comic book series of the same name, The Walking Dead is a post-apocalyptic setting where zombies have taken over and a small band of survivors struggle to avoid becoming dinner for “the walkers” stumbling around. But this series is so much more than a simple zombie flick — truth be told, it rewrites the genre. The typical zombie fare is a steady diet of gruesome deaths lashed with special effects and lots of screaming. The protagonists are typically moving from encounter to encounter and the most we find out about them is how fast (or slow) they are in reacting to the next threat. The Walking Dead goes much further. The series is a character study of people in the worst of circumstances, making tough decisions, while trying to eke out a niche to survive in. The weekly plot lines are compelling and become a high-point on the DVR each Sunday.
The Walking Dead has become a run-away hit and AMC has commissioned another 12 episodes to compliment the first six. I look forward to watching the series unfold and applaud AMC for taking a shot at something completely different … and winning.