Cable TV takes on the zombie apocalypse

The zombie apocalypse has spread. An undead plague has claimed yet more victims. Fans have never been happier. AMC’s “The Walking Dead” is a hit.

The show, based on a comic book of the same name, follows the life of a county sheriff from Georgia after most of humanity has either been killed by or joined an army of lifeless zombies.

AMC executives confirmed a 13-episode second season but have yet to release an airdate.

They plan to start production of the second season this month.

The show, produced by Frank Darabont (director of “The Shawshank Redemption”), is an adaptation of the graphic novel by Robert Kirkman.

The series follows the survivors of a zombie apocalypse, as they fight to stay alive after the undead destroy civilization.

Writers definitely don’t delay the first zombie appearance. Viewers get an in-your-face look at one of the walking dead almost immediately, and it is a bloody, mangled, little girl, no less.

Fans of the comic series may be enthralled to witness scenes pulled right off the page.

But, at times, the focus on action and special effects leads to less-than-stellar character development from main character Sheriff Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his friend and partner, officer Shane Walsh (Joe Bernthal), when the episode flashes back to better, less zombie-filled times.

While the show is about the undead destroying civilization, it is also about humanity and the lives of the survivors.

There is a large emphasis on interaction and relationships throughout the six-episode season, and each episode definitely gets better as the season progresses.

The show questions the laws and morals of the surviving society while the world collapses socially, financially and directorially.

Through a series of events in the first episode, Grimes is hospitalized and wakes up from a coma to find a viral outbreak has started the zombie apocalypse, disappointingly similar to the 2002 zombie movie, “28 Days Later.”

However, the hospital, like almost all of “The Walking Dead” sets, is perfectly creepy, complete with flickering lights and half-eaten corpses.
I would imagine if zombies ravaged the world in real life, it would look like the set of “The Walking Dead.”

Grimes searches the desolate town for his wife (Sarah Wayne Collins) and son (Chandler Riggs) but instead finds survivors who inform him of the post-apocalyptic world and the classic zombie rules.

For the people who don’t know the traditional zombie policies, it starts with a bite. Then the person develops an illness trademarked by a fever. They die and the virus reanimates them as flesh-eating monsters.

Directors have produced a number of types of zombies throughout horror-movie history.

The undead in this show don’t have super speed, but they aren’t necessarily slow.

They do seem to keep some remnants of memories but can’t communicate. Noise attracts them, which means hand-to-hand combat is a necessity—no gunfire.

After getting the apocalypse low-down, Grimes travels to Atlanta where he believes the military has created a safe haven.

While he doesn’t quite find what he’s looking for, he does find survivors, who attempt to live as normally as possible, including not being torn apart by zombies.

The survivors find some relief and a few answers in the last episode of the season, but it is short-lived and shallow.

The season ends with the characters disappointed, uncertain and troubled but still together.