As The Walking Dead opens, sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) is shot during a run-in with a criminal. He awakens in the hospital to find himself all alone and the place deserted. He makes his way back to his house, but no one is there either. Eventually, he meets Morgan Jones (Lennie James) and his son Duane (Adrian Kali Turner). They explain to Rick that the living dead have taken over the world and that humans are now having to run for their lives or hide. Rick decides that he must find his family and friends, so he heads for Atlanta. He soon hooks up with a group of survivors. They band together and begin to form a community where they fend off zombies and look for provisions. As the situation grows more desperate, the survivors begin to fight amongst themselves and relationships become strained.

For a TV show, The Walking Dead shows some pretty graphic violence. The zombie makeup is incredibly elaborate and the show doesn't shy away from showing zombies being shot or humans being bitten. And that's the only unique thing about this show.

I'd heard about "The Walking Dead" comic for years, but I'd never bothered to check it out. However, I was very interested in the show as it was being helmed by Director Frank Darabont and Producer Gale Anne Hurd. So, like many horror fans, I checked out the Pilot when it aired. And I couldn't believe how disappointed I was. But, for some reason, when I checked the Internet the next day, I couldn't believe the way that fans and critics were losing their minds over this show. My only thought was the same one which I had when 28 Days Later received so much praise: Apparently, these people have never seen a zombie movie before.

Ironically, the opening of The Walking Dead is almost identical to the opening of 28 Days Later, as a hospitalized man awakens to find himself in a world full of zombies. (I've read reports where comic creator Robert Kirkman claims that he wrote this before 28 Days Later was released, but even still, Darabont and co. should have known that a comparison was unavoidable and changed the story somehow.) From there, the show's trajectory is no different from movies like Dawn of the Dead or even something like Shaun of the Dead. The humans wander around seeking safety and occasionally have run-ins with zombies. There was nothing here that I hadn't seen before.

The show then adds insult to injury when it becomes a drama instead of a horror show. The problem with zombie movies has always been that they focus on man's inhumanity towards man instead of the zombies. The Walking Dead grabs this idea and runs with it. One of the episodes (I think it was 5) barely has any zombies. I know for some people, this "character driven" focus is appealing, but TV is full of character driven shows. Veering away from the zombies takes away the one thing which sets the show apart from other series. It's ironic that an actor from Jericho is on this show, as that's what it begins to resemble.

In the grand scheme of things, I can appreciate that The Walking Dead is a daring leap for TV (even cable) and that it's great that it retains a movie aesthetic. But, there is nothing special about the show and I can't believe that more zombie movie fans aren't up in arms about the attention that this has received while really good zombie movies have been ignored by the mainstream for years. The worst part is that I get the feeling that the show is over the novelty of zombies and Season 2 will be more about the love-triangles and in-fighting and less about the reanimated corpses.

The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season didn't have nearly enough Michael Rooker on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Anchor Bay Entertainment. The two-disc set contains all six episodes from the show's first season. The episodes have been letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 25 Mbps. The image is very sharp and clear, showing only very slight grain and no defects from the source material. The image looks very good, better than HD cable. The colors look great and the image is never overly dark or bright. The image has a nice amount of depth and the picture has good detail. The Disc carries a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 4.0 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. For a great example of the sound, just check out the shootout from the Pilot. The stereo and surround separation is great and the placement of specific sounds in the channels is spot on. The surround effects are nicely detailed and the police cars passing by sounds very real. The subwoofer effects add depth to the audio.

The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Disc contains several extras, all of which are found on Disc 2. "The Making of The Walking Dead" (30 minutes) is a very in-depth look at the creation of the show. Through interviews with Darabont and Kirkman, we learn about how the comic book was brought to the screen. The other creators, along with the cast, also talk about their experiences on the show. There is a nice amount of on-set footage here and we get a good look at the zombie makeup. From there, we get an exploration of each of the main characters. We get an "Inside The Walking Dead" for all six first season episodes, each of which runs about 5 minutes. These provide an overview of the episode, complete with cast and crew interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. "A Sneak Peek with Robert Kirkman" (5 minutes) has the comic artist introducing a long commercial for the show. Greg Nicotero shows us how to make a zombie in "Behind the Scenes Zombie Make-up Tips" (7 minutes). "Convention Panel with Producers" (12 minutes) offers highlights from a Q&A which took place at Comic-Con. The Disc also includes "The Walking Dead Trailer" (1 minute). "Zombie School" (3 minutes) shows how the zombie extras are taught to act. "Bicycle Girl" (5 minutes) shows the creation of the half-torso zombie from the show. "On Set with Robert Kirkman" (3 minutes) follows the creator as he wanders the gas station location from the pilot. "Hanging with Steven Yeun" (4 minutes) is a candid interview with the actor who plays Glenn. "Inside Dale's RV" (3 minutes) is a brief tour of the RV set with actor Jeffrey Demunn. We get an interview with the actor who plays Rick Grimes in "On Set with Andrew Lincoln" (4 minutes). The one thing which isn't included is a side-by-side comparison between the show and the comic. I would have liked to have seen that.