Okay, so, everybody loves zombies, right? Yeah. So, not too long ago, as i was going to work, i saw some. Really. No, i mean REALLY really.

i work in downtown Atlanta. At the Internet factory. When you have to be to work before 8 AM on a Sunday, you expect the city to be dead quiet. You do NOT, however, expect the breakfasting pedestrians to be dead too. But there they were. Actually, it was the overturned, burned-out bus i saw first. For a second i wondered if I’d missed something important by skipping the news with my morning cup of coffee. What’s going on here?

It TURNS OUT that they weren’t really undead and they hadn’t flipped a city bus. It was actors, forklifts, lighting crews, and all the other accoutremonts of film making. I’d arrived pretty much at the end of the shoot, but there was still stuff to be seen -even with police keeping passersby at bay. Down one alley there was an overrun blockade and an abandoned army humvee. Down another alley there was a crashed bus and messed-up storefront facades. Everywhere the streets were strewn with litter. It was pretty much how you’d expect a city to look after it’d been swept by rioting flesheaters.

No doubt you’re already familiar with the great Walking Dead series put out by Image Comics. Written by Robert Kirkman (art by Moore and Adlard), it tells the story, as it must, of a band of survivors from the zombiepocalypse. Taking place in the American South, it’s shuffled through issue after issue, year after year -winning critical acclaim and truckloads of fan money. It’s been so successful, in fact, that it’s been picked up as a TV series.

Yes. A series. On regular cable TV. Picked up by the same network that brought you “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad”, the Walking Dead has been filming since May and is set to premiere in October with at least six episodes. Frank Darabont (nominated for three Oscars) is directing the pilot. There are quite a few people with a piece of the Producer pie (including Kirkman and Darabont), but the Executive Producer is Gale Anne Hurd -whom you might recall from such productions as “Aliens” and “The Terminator”. The cast doesn’t have the star power of a major motion picture (or even a “BSG” on SyFy), however this might be a co$t-per-episode point in TWD’s favor when it comes to renewals and overall longevity.

If you like zombies (and what red-blooded American doesn’t?), join the buzz, tune in, and make sure this show gets off to a lively start. Sunday, October 31st (Halloween!) at 10 PM EST on AMC.

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