Lots of things were considered to be “big deals” in 210, but by far, the most important pop culture event has to be AMC’s first season of The Walking Dead. The show pulled in the highest ratings of a cable based show of all time, not to mention the fact that it was about zombies, and had a regularly unknown cast.

Now, everyone everywhere can relive the epic 6-episode season again and again, as Anchor Bay and Starz is releasing the season on Blu-Ray and DVD this March. It’s already been nominated for a Golden Globe, but that’s only the surface of the accolades you can expect to see for the series in the future. Here’s what you can expect to see on the discs.

Featurettes:
The Making of THE WALKING DEAD
Inside THE WALKING DEAD: Episode 1-6
A Sneak Peek with Robert Kirkman
Behind The Scenes Zombie Make-Up Tips
Convention Panel With Producers
THE WALKING DEAD Trailer

Extra Footage :
Zombie School
Bicycle Girl
On Set With Robert Kirkman
Hanging With Steven Yeun
Inside Dale’s RV
On Set With Andrew Lincoln

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There you have it. Sunday night’s finale of AMC’s The Walking Dead may have had us in a tight little ball of tension for an hour, but it was one of the highest rated cable programs in history. This can only mean great things for Frank Darabont, Robert Kirkman, and the whole team at AMC. Here’s the breakdown:

Six million viewers tuned in for the show’s sixth episode, including four million adults 18-49. That’s up 9% from last week — which was also a series high.

If you include the show’s 11 p.m. encore, the finale delivered a whopping 8.1 million viewers.

All told, Walking Dead has become, according to AMC, the most-watched basic cable series of all time in the young adult demo.

Who would’ve thought that zombies in Atlanta would be the one uniting factor for people across the country? Apparently AMC did, as they’re already excited for a new 14-episode season to pick back up in October of next year.

The Blu-Ray and DVD release is currently set to hit shelves on March 8th of next year, so be prepared.

Well, this season of The Walking Dead certainly went out with a bang, didn’t it?  Sorry, I never met a bad pun I didn’t like. Once again, we don’t see many zombies, but there was tension running rampant throughout the entire episode as members of the group find themselves in one predicament after another.

I thought it was a stellar episode to cap off the season, and thankfully, the writers took a little mercy on us.  They didn’t leave us with a gigantic cliffhanger that we have to wait a whole year to resolve.

Well, except for what the heck did Dr. Jenner whisper in Rick’s ear?  Are you going to be obsessed as I am over the answer to that?

The episode, entitled “TS-19,” begins with a flashback of Shane back at the hospital.  It is revealed that he actually did make a valiant attempt to save Rick, but became overwhelmed by the military (who were indiscriminately shooting anyone they saw) and Rick’s medical fragility.

Rick was hooked up to lots of equipment, and Shane simply didn’t know what to do.  Add to that the walkers lurching about, and Shane did what any sane person would -he left (but not before placing a rudimentary barricade in front of Rick’s door).

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Finally, some more believable casting news for the upcoming Spider-Man reboot. Lately, we’ve been fielding news about names like Sally Field (now playing Aunt May), Martin Sheen (Uncle Ben) and Denis Leary (Capt. Stacey) joining the film, but now we have some more grounded information, as four new names have been added to the film.

Campbell Scott (The Exorcism of Emily Rose), Julianne Nicholson (Kinsey), Irrfan Khan (Slumdog Millionaire), and Annie Parisse (Rubicon) are all now joining the cast. Here’s the scoop from THR.

Scott and Nicholson will be Parker’s parents, who leave their son an orphan. Parker’s parents have rarely been seen in the various Marvel comic book series and have never appeared on-screen. It is unclear if they will appear in flashbacks, in a prologue or during the course of the movie.

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In a somewhat surprising move, it seems AMC’s breakout hit series The Walking Dead has decided to let go of its writing staff. In addition, it is still debatable if the series will hire a new staff for the second season. Instead, series Exec. Producer Frank Darabont may decide to proceed without a writing staff and work with freelancers and/or write the second season’s thirteen episodes himself.

While this may seem like an odd decision given the fact that the show has been so successful, it’s not that hard to believe. After all Darabont wrote two of the first six episodes himself and comic book creator Robert Kirkman wrote one as well. The others were written by freelancers and then reportedly rewritten by Darabont. So it would seem the writing staff wasn’t doing that much work anyway.

No final decision on this has reportedly been made but it would appear Darabont and AMC have some time to figure it out given that the network may wait to bring the show back until next year during Halloween. So that means we may end up having to wait almost a year for the show to return. Plenty of time for Darabont, Kirkman and some freelance writers to crank out thirteen episodes.

I don’t know what bothers me more that the show let go of its writing staff or that it won’t be back, potentially, until next October. Both seem like questionable decisions with the waiting almost a year seemingly the worse one. Still, this may open up opportunities for writers to get their stuff read so I’m all for that. Guess I’ll polish up that Walking Dead spec script and send it on over.

Do these sound like bad ideas to anyone else? Sound off in the comments.

The episode begins with Merle losing his marbles on the rooftop.  He’s incoherently recounting a nasty story one minute, and cackling like a madman the next. Seems the seriousness of  his situation has started to take a toll on his (questionable) psyche.

He nods off for a bit, and when he awakes, his plight has become exponentially more dire.  A wall of zombies are clawing at the rooftop exit, and there is precious little holding them back.  Merle has a quick come to Jesus moment as he begs for mercy and frantically tries to escape his confines.

I have a feeling that this is probably the first time that Merle has ever bothered to talk to God, here in the moments right before his impending death. He certainly hasn’t been acting very Christ-like up until now.

But wait, was he actually praying to his dead Pop?  I couldn’t really understand what he was saying, even after listening several times, but it sounded like he kept mentioning Poppy?

Back at base camp, Shane is buddying up to young Carl, acting all fatherly while Lori gives her son a haircut. Shane promises to take Carl frog hunting, and tries to persuade the boy that frog legs are a delicacy.  To the casual observer, they look like the perfect little family.

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With the ratings for the premiere episode going through the roof over at AMC, it’s no surprise that the network has officially renewed The Walking Dead for another season. But wait, that’s not all. . . there’s more.

The second season won’t be only six episodes. Instead, it will be a full thirteen as it should be. The announcement comes after the show’s very impressive premiere showing on October 31st which drew 5.3 million viewers, 3.6 million of them in the 18-49 demographic.

“The Dead has spread!” said Charlie Collier, President of AMC. “No other cable series has ever attracted as many adults 18-49 as ‘The Walking Dead.’ This reaffirms viewers’ hunger for premium television on basic cable.” Even more impressive was that the show was down only 11% from its debut, which hardly happens these days.

If, for some reason, you’re not on board the Walking Dead train just yet, it’s based on Robert Kirkman’s comic book series and written and directed by Frank Darabont. It deals with a group of survivors struggling to make it in a zombie ravaged world.

The show airs on AMC Sundays at 10/9C. If you’re a fan of great drama, compelling characters and, of course, zombies it’s well worth checking out.

This undead body still has life! For those who caught the amazing premiere of AMC’s newest show, The Walking Dead, we salute you. The show broke records for the network, bringing in the highest ratings ever for a premiere, surpassing the ratings of some of the network’s most popular shows.

The Walking Dead premiered Sunday night (Halloween) at the tail-end of a zombie and horror movie marathon hosted by director Frank Darabont. Not only did the 90-minute episode break network records, but cable-wide networks as well. From THR:

AMC’s The Walking Dead premiere ratings are enormous: The 90-minute Halloween night debut delivered 5.3 million viewers and a 3.3 adults 18-49 rating. That’s the largest demo audience for any series premiere on any cable network this year.

It’s also the highest numbers for any series in AMC’s history, and beat most non-sports programs on broadcast Sunday night.

At this rate, you had better believe the network is planning a second-and maybe even third season. With a story as rich as the one laid out in Robert Kirkman’s comic series, there’s no ceiling on what Darabont, producer Gale Anne Hurd, and the rest of the crew can do with this live action series.

Be sure to keep the momentum going and watch episode 2 of The Walking Dead next Sunday night at 10/9C.

AMC’s eagerly anticipated zombie drama The Walking Dead finally made its debut, and it did not disappoint. AMC builds on its excellent reputation for bringing us edgy, unusual drama. The Walking Dead is a worthy companion to Mad Men and Breaking Bad. The series is based on a comic series by Robert Kirkman.  AMC will air six episodes this season.

The show wastes no time establishing a grim tone.  A man in a police officer uniform is searching for gas, and comes across a (campsite?) of sort, where he sees a little girl in a bathrobe with a teddy bear in hand.  The man calls out to the girl, and when she eventually turns around, it is revealed that she is a zombie.  A pained grimace flashes across the man’s face, just before he shoots the girl in the head.  We watch the girl tumble to the ground in slow motion.

Balls, AMC, balls.  Not only do you flaunt some gore right from the get-go, but you show a child being killed.  Now that is how to (unapologetically)  grab an audience’s attention.

Next, we are shown the man’s story, through a flashback. He is Rick Grimes (played by Andrew Lincoln), a police officer in an unnamed town. One day he responds to a routine call with his partner Shane (Jon Bernthal) that culminates in a shootout.  Rick is badly wounded.  He awakes from a coma in an eerily quiet hospital.  After he staggers out of his room, it becomes apparent that the hospital is abandoned, save for a few decaying corpses strewn about.

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This Sunday may be a big day for most who love to dress up and eat candy, but for others it’s a huge day for zombie fans everywhere, as the very first episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead airs across the country.

While not much is known about what’s changing from the comic series by Robert Kirkman, there is plenty known about the production itself. We know that Frank Darabont is directing the first episode (of 6), who the main cast is, and any of the scenes we’ve gotten from the trailers and photos. Outside of that, we’re pretty much blind. Until now, that is.

We got our hands on a very rare clip from this Sunday’s episode, entitled “Days Gone By”. In it, we get a bit of the epic hospital scene that was so memorable from the comic.

Be sure to check the clip out after the jump, and don’t miss The Walking Dead this Sunday night at 10pm/9pm Central, only on AMC.

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If there is one thing bringing both comic book and TV fans together, it’s the fact that Robert Kirkman’s critically acclaimed comic series The Walking Dead is coming to AMC, the home of Don Draper and Walter White. For the fans of TV, this is a chance for something groundbreaking and deep to fill that Mad Men void. For comic fans, it’s a chance to see their favorite panels taken to the screen. And for zombie fans, there is the promise of some kick ass kills week to week.

In an attempt to get more than those 3 centralized groups into the show, AMC is planning to incentiveize those loyal fans to spread the word (or in this case, the “dead”) all over the country in hopes to make the premiere the biggest night on television.

How does it work? Easy. Sign up at AMC’s Spread The Dead website with all the necessary info. Once registered, you’ll get a custom URL. For every click that URL gets from a different user, you get a certain amount of points.

Top two earners by the end of the contest on November 19th get $5,000 for first place and $2,500 for second. Don’t feel bad if you get close, because the top 15 still get some great Walking Dead prizes. So if you already have The Walking Dead premiere DVR’d, then it’s time to get your friends, family, pets, and strangers on the street to do the same. It could mean big money!

Catch The Walking Dead on AMC, October 131st at 10/9c and stay in touch will all things Walking Dead at their Twitter and Facebook pages. Good luck!

Most of the time when we show trailers, clips or other materials associated with a particular TV show, movie or game we tend to talk about the clip, introduce it and otherwise give you some idea of what you are going to see. This time around, however, with this new trailer for the upcoming AMC series The Walking Dead, we’re not going to say anything.

Instead, we’re going to let the undead speak for themselves and as you will see, they do a pretty darn good job of it. Just to remind you, The Walking Dead is based on a comic by Robert Kirkman and is being Exec. Produced by Frank Darabont. So, that givers you some idea of the quality we are expecting from this.

Ok, without further comment, click through to watch the trailer. The Walking Dead premieres October 31st on AMC.

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