By Logan on November 14, 2010 
(This Post Is Spoiler Free)
I now present the top three reasons why The Walking Dead is my new favorite show.
1.) It’s Serious Comic Book Television
Based on the critically acclaimed comic book series created by Robert Kirkman, and adapted and directed by screen legend Frank Darabont, ‘The Walking Dead’ is not just a television series, but the realization of a dream I’ve had since I was a kid; serious comic book television on a big budget. That is to say a series or mini-series based on a comic book or graphic novel that isn’t a cartoon and has more adult themes. For years I’ve wanted to see stories like ‘Preacher’, ‘Sandman’, ‘100 bullets’, ‘DMZ’ and ‘Ex Machina’ portrayed on the small screen, but the only way these stories would work would be to portray the source material in a believable way and the only way that would work is with tons of cash. We’re talking James Cameron amounts of cash. That always put these kinds of stories out of reach for both network and basic cable television, which is why I always held out hope that one day HBO or Showtime would wake up and realize that serious comic television was a winner. (In HBO’s defense, they did option the rights to Preacher, but the project never had the support from HBO’s executives to really get moving.)
2.) It’s on AMC, the newly anointed king of television
AMC, a basic cable channel that for years was only known for playing the same movie six to nine times a day. In 2007 AMC premiered a little show called ‘Mad Men’ and in 2008 they tried another show out called ‘Breaking Bad’, maybe you’ve heard of them. After both of those show swept the Emmys (which they continue to do every year.), AMC realized its new role as drama series power house.
I’m not going to give you the entire production history of the show, I put that up there so as to better explain why ‘The Walking Dead’ on basic cable is awesome; because its on AMC. AMC has made more than a name for themselves in the last four years, they’ve changed the scope of what a basic cable series can be. And with ‘Dead’, they turn their sights on what made Lost so great: Epic, big budget television.
3.) It’s A Triumphant Return To Horror Television
When your talking about horror television, there aren’t a lot of great examples to cite: ‘Tales From The Crypt’, ‘The Twilight Zone’/’The Outer Limits’, ‘Buffy’, ‘Dark Shadows’, ‘True Blood’ and ‘The X-files’. That’s about it. Most of those are primarily sci-fi, and ‘True Blood’ is just crazy. Television has been without a good horror offering since Starz canceled its horror showcase/anthology series ‘Masters of Horror’ in 2007 (to be fair, Starz never knew it had a great show because no one watched it, the same thing happened to ‘Party Down’), and the ill fated network incarnation of that show, ‘Fear Itself’. So the fact that there is a genuinely compelling and smart horror show is great for the genre. As television pushes towards ensemble casts and overarching dramatic story-lines, horror, particularly zombie horror, is generally unexplored territory in the medium. ‘Dead’ manages to balance the drama that AMC has built their brand on, with the story and effects that the genre, when taken seriously, require.
Lastly, I’d just like to say that everything above aside, it’s just a damn good show. The characterization is great, the writing is awesome and most of the acting is top notch. (But ALL the acting is better than ‘True Blood’. Those accents are awful.)
Also, the gore is pretty awesome, and that’s all that really matters, right?
The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 10/9c on AMC
