The Walking Dead: Season 1

Best show of last year, love that it has TrueHD that's impressive for a TV show and the 16mm look with have the grain haters up in arms

Agreed. First few episodes were really good. Curious how this will sound in lossless.

The broadcast version on AMC did not look very good in HD. Granted, AMC HD never looks that great for any show or film.

I have some mixed feeling about this.

I really enjoyed the show. I watched every episode and loved it. I look forward to the new season.

Personally, however, I see a problem with the replay value. The format is serialized like a soap opera wherein each episode is developed from the story in the previous episode. For me, that makes it very hard to go back and rewatch something that I've already seen.

Having said that, the price is very attractive. It's cheaper than I expected so I still might pick it up.

^^^ I agree, no reply value for me. But, I wasn't bowled over by the series as some others. I enjoyed it, but I don't see a need to rewatch it soon.

larry

Not enough replay value for me but enjoyed it more than anything on cable since 24. Very impressed with the zombie makeup and level of gore too. Agree on AMC's PQ, it was fairly poor.

Agreed. I had very high hopes for this concept - love me some apocalyptic Zombie - and it really looked the part. The first few episodes were pretty intense but it tailed off after that and the replay value is low. If the AV was substantially improved I would think about it. I am hoping next year's shows are better.

I liked, but did not love, the first season of this series. Stories that recount post-apocalyptic events are a guilty pleasure for me, but I must confess I did find myself chuckling on occassion at all the zombies staggaring around. I think I will wait to see how things develop in season 2 before buying this on disc.

I liked it 'cause it was filmed in Atlanta and environs.

But it was very unpleasant and didn't really seem to add much to a canon that already seems to have said about all it can say. But if you like gore you're probably all set.

I sort of question the replay value of any hour-long TV series. If you are young and have your whole life ahead of you, and figure you will live forever, maybe. If you see the dark at the end of the tunnel, how much time will you want to invest seeing something very time consuming all over again?

I think that replay value can be found in "episodic" television where each episode is a self-contained story. That's why things like THE TWILIGHT ZONE work well. And I have SPACE 1999 on Blu-ray too. In these cases, each episode is like a compact movie with a story that stands alone. They can be watched in (almost) any order because no single episode is dependent upon the story in any other episode.

The problem with "serialized" television is that each new episode sort of becomes a spoiler for the previous episode. That works fine when you see a series for the first time. But it's hard to rewatch the slow, linear development of a serialized drama. THE WALKING DEAD is a very good series, however, as with any serial, much of the things we saw in the earlier episodes becomes old or irrelevant as the series moves on (like trying to watch last years ALL MY CHILDREN ).

I watch the entire run of the sopranos close to yearly

I couldn't imagine a show like The Walking Dead not being serialized. It's perfect.

It's region A locked too














Scumbags

I completely, but respectfully, disagree. Just because you know where the show is going doesn't mean the journey is any less enjoyable. And great writing is great writing...it will hold up even if you've seen it. Not to mention, many great shows have things you completely missed the first time; things that would only reveal themselves if you knew their significance having seen the show once.

If it's an amazing show, what about watching it with someone else while THEY get to experience it for the first time? Love doing that.

Regardless...your Twilight Zone example doesn't really hold, IMO, unless you're talking about randomly catching it in syndication. If you've seen the one with the X-Ray vision, you still remember how it ends...how is that different than owning a serialized series and watching it in order? It's the same thing...the latter just takes longer.

Nothing beats the first time you see a great show, but there is a lot left to experience. I'm a casual Sci-Fi and Fantasy fan and can think of a few examples off the top of my head that I watch multiple times: X-Files, Lost, BSG, Firefly, Dexter, Buffy, Angel...

There's a huge case to be made for serialized TV shows with big story arcs being replayable. To me, even more so because there are so many details, you can't possibly catch them all in one pass.

I completely, but respectfully, disagree. Just because you know where the show is going doesn't mean the journey is any less enjoyable. And great writing is great writing...it will hold up even if you've seen it. Not to mention, many great shows have things you completely missed the first time; things that would only reveal themselves if you knew their significance having seen the show once.

I agree with your contentions. I would also agree it would depend upon the excellence of the writing and how many compromises were made along the way. I have always loved House but I realized early on I wouldn't have the stamina to re-view the series, partly because a lot of the shows appeared to indicate fiddling with the format- not as badly as, say, Lie to Me, which morphed so badly I had to stop watching it.

And I loved Hill Street Blues. Couldn't ever go through that again. I don't think they ever got around to releasing the complete series either.

On the other hand, I am watching Edge of Darkness for the fourth or fifth time, and I anticipate watching I, Claudius again at some point, and I've watched it at least five times. I wouldn't get rid of my Buffys, and I would probably continue to buy Mad Men, though season three was a pretty heavy slog.

Still, I ask: is this the best use of one's time? Maybe it is; everybody has to answer that question for his or herself. I think lots of collecting is for the collecting's sake, and lots of my DVDs sit on the shelf (and I'm not a Blu-ray snob either).

LOL...well, I would argue that part of this hobby is not fiddling with anything, and just enjoying the fruits of your labor, so to me, it's as useful to one's time as any other hobby. Besides, if I told you I spent 4 hours every weekend reading books, would you consider me lazy? Or cultured? A great story is a great story, regardless of medium.

Totally agree with you on it being specific to the individual, and agree on shows like House, Lie to Me, CSI, Law and Order, Castle (a personal fave, but with no replayability) etc. To me, those are formulaic shows that have a predictable outcome, and even though they do have season-long story arcs, they're hardly the kind of mythology that contains multiple layers and that you can't live without.

The other thing about serialized TV...

IF you watched the show originally... then watch again each season as you buy them on DVD/Blu...

Then you don't have to always watch the whole series over from the beginning.

Once you've watched a couple of times... you're familiar enough with the plot that you can just "drop in" on your favorite episodes and watch them out of order at that point if you want.

I do that all the time with shows I like... I know and remember the overall season arc... so I can just hop around and watch the best episodes from that season.

I do the same with movies sometimes... Movies that I've seen dozens of times, and I don't have time to sit through the whole 2 hours... I can just skip to the part I like most.

That's the real benefit of having TV shows on home video... you can watch them all in order... or skip around as you like.

For those wondering about how this looks, it's generally pretty good. I got through four episodes of my review copy last night and while there's a bit of edge enhancement here and there (especially in the very first scene), it's pleasing and detailed. Grain is all over the place, at times overbearing (and poorly resolved), at times on the level of 35mm. There's a bit of digital sprinkled in too. Solid presentation though overall.

Relative point? The writing is this program's weakest link. I could write paragraphs on the inconsistencies, contrivances and absent resolutions.

As a huge fan of the comic book series, I was really looking forward to this, but shockingly, it didn't get me. I was not hooked. In fact, I was underwhelmed and found the carnage in glorious color to be too much. Way too much. One episode made me a bit sick and I love Argento films, so I am no wimp when it comes to on screen violence.

I would much rather it have been in black and white.

The price is down to $22.99 at gohastings. If it hits $19.99 anywhere I'll pull the trigger for a 6 episode season.

Sorry for the vague point being made. I haven't seen Walking Dead, and in fact, am only here to see if it should be a blind buy for me or a Netflix rental.

I stand by my contentions for serialized shows if the writing holds up...if this show doesn't qualify, you won't see me defend it.

BD looks great. Re-watched the Pilot today....can't wait for S2!

Posted my rough draft for an episode guide over at the custom covers thread if any one's intestested.

I watched the first three episodes over the weekend and agree, it's better than most things on tv. However, the replay value is low as it has a very soap opera(ish) feel to it with Zombies, of course. Good but not great.