The Walking Dead Season 3

[Why One]

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShQz6...layer_embedded

Looking forward to it!

[Kwinnky]

As much as the show sucks a lot of times, the words, "Welcome to Woodbury," did send a tingle up my spine.

It won't be as good as the comic version, but I still have to watch it.

[UltraSuperMegaMo]

^ I've been reading the comic version on and off (I bought the Bible-sized trade paperback form amazon) and haven't really been wowed.

I know people rag on the show a lot about how dumb it can be at times, but I just find the comics to be too pulpy and disjointed. I read an article a while back about how a show's character's challenge the protagonist to deal with the show's central theme. You can really see that in The Walking Dead - the central theme being something like "How would you deal with the end of the world?". You can really see how Dale and Shane force Rick to engage that question. Shane's survival of the fittest and Dale's survival with decency (how it going to work now that they're both dead I'm not sure). Rick's all over the place in the comics.

The comic's pretty board too. It might be a question of the medium not lending it self to subtlety. The best moment in the TV series, from the perspective of appreciating the writing, is the first couple of minutes of the pilot. When Shane dips his french fries in Rick's ketchup, it's super brilliant, it accomplishes what pages of exposition about their friendship couldn't in one simple action.

[Brice]

Disclaimer that I haven’t read the comics, but the trailer looks great. Season 2 was definitely uneven – some great moments interspersed with quite a bit of nothing happening – but this looks like it could get closer to the constant tension that made season 1 so memorable.

[Kwinnky]

Originally Posted by UltraSuperMegaMo

^ I've been reading the comic version on and off (I bought the Bible-sized trade paperback form amazon) and haven't really been wowed.

I know people rag on the show a lot about how dumb it can be at times, but I just find the comics to be too pulpy and disjointed. I read an article a while back about how a show's character's challenge the protagonist to deal with the show's central theme. You can really see that in The Walking Dead - the central theme being something like "How would you deal with the end of the world?". You can really see how Dale and Shane force Rick to engage that question. Shane's survival of the fittest and Dale's survival with decency (how it going to work now that they're both dead I'm not sure). Rick's all over the place in the comics.

The comic's pretty board too. It might be a question of the medium not lending it self to subtlety. The best moment in the TV series, from the perspective of appreciating the writing, is the first couple of minutes of the pilot. When Shane dips his french fries in Rick's ketchup, it's super brilliant, it accomplishes what pages of exposition about their friendship couldn't in one simple action.

The pilot was definitely well done and the first season was really good, but as the show went on, it really felt like they were stretching the plot. Characters became inconsistent if not outright idiotic.
It's not the changes from the comic that bother me as I actually watched the show first, but it's was becoming just as broad as the comic, but with less respect to the characters.

[Signal30]

Originally Posted by UltraSuperMegaMo

When Shane dips his french fries in Rick's ketchup, it's super brilliant, it accomplishes what pages of exposition about their friendship couldn't in one simple action.

That's actually my favorite part of the show...just neat li'l moments that pack all sorts of info.

I was starting to hate the show after the first few episodes, but after the break it really began to draw me in. Especially when I realized — in a good way — that they slipped subtly into doing Night of the Living Dead: The Series. And with the prison coming up, looks like this season will be Dawn of the Dead: The Series.

Someone's head better explode in the first episode.

[Mr. Earth]

I think this is one of the rare examples of the film/tv version being far superior to the source material and I think that's nearly all due to the choices the show writers and producers are making to develop the characters.

The 2nd season had its moments of stagnation, but most of that lead up to finding the zombie daughter and turning the whole "they're just dead people, so shoot them in the head" mentality upside down for the characters (and more importantly, the audience). That was one of the most impactful story arcs I've ever seen done on television. Who would have thought that a show about zombies could actually connect with the audience in such an emotional way? Not that it has to, but the comic barely tries to do anything like that--and the whole zombie daughter storyline is missing from the comic books.

And, I'll go out on a limb and say if they stick to the comics for season 3, they are going to really alienate a lot of the fan base. Once they reach the prison, the comics get waaaay out there to the point of being pretty ridiculous and stupid, while at the same time, treading on some familiar territory seen in other shows and movies. And they nearly ignore the zombies completely. I'm actually hoping the show tempers it all a little bit.

[UltraSuperMegaMo]

^ I think it's a safe bet they'll won't stay in very close continuity with comics in the new season. Look at the first seasons, the Shane v. Rick conflict took two season to settle, it's barely a storyline in the comics.

[Mr. Earth]

Originally Posted by UltraSuperMegaMo

^ I think it's a safe bet they'll won't stay in very close continuity with comics in the new season. Look at the first seasons, the Shane v. Rick conflict took two season to settle, it's barely a storyline in the comics.

That's true.

I actually sit in amazement of the show creator's choices when they go away from the book. I think every alternative choice they've made has been spot on.

[UltraSuperMegaMo]

I'm a little surprised they based the series at all on the comic book. There not that many tweaks away from being completely independent from the comic series. Maybe they felt the comics would give the show a built in audience?