The Walking Dead is......(!!SPOILERS!!)

[Silent Invader]

..... Starting to bore me.  

It's difficult to discuss this without giving out spoilers; I shall try but please don't read on if you haven't seen up to the episode screened in the UK last night (Friday 22nd November).

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I do like that the focus is on the human realities and relationships because it'd be difficult to sustain a series in which every episode was 'slash-bang-gore' but, c'mon, I need something more than an extended back story to keep me engaged.  Last night's episode was quite literally the pits (ha, see what I did there?!  )..... So tediously slow with an ending of ludicrous coincidence.  As with all movies of this genre, I expect some 'when, what, where' questions to remain unanswered, though those questions should be about the cause of the zombie outbreak, not the circumstances of the people.  Here's a thought Walking Dead producers, if the circumstances if the people need so much explaining then, er, maybe, they've become just a tad.....

.....extended?
.....over blown?
.....far-fetched?
.....extended, overblown and far fetched?!

And if last night's episode wasn't a 'zom' it was also barely a 'rom'.  Frankly, a 'bomb'.

[Driscoles]

I saw the first three seasons. I liked the one with the Governator the best.

If it bores you. Stop watching it. I did that with Lost and never regret it.

[Elk101]

I did the same with the comics. A mate was lending me the trade hardbacks after he'd read them and in the end I politely said "no thanks, I've had enough". I've recorded the third season but haven't watched a single episode.

[Mason]

I have just finished Season 3 and found that tedious.
I actually enjoyed the character development in Season two that was totally lacking in 3.
I thought the Governor was an annoying twat, not scary at all.

Season 2 was brilliant and 3 just became a whole pile of poop.

Not seen 4 and not sure if I will.....probably will try it, though.

[moonshado]

I thought it was just me becoming fastidious, everyone else where I work still thinks season four is brilliant. I had began to doubt the characters in series three and they have continued in a similar vein this season. How they manage to survive, when others succumb so easily, is becoming incomprehensible. They are the most self destructive set of survivors that American TV has come up with yet and that takes some doing. I'll continue to watch, but it has been downgraded to background TV whilst ironing my shirts and trousers, when most of my concentration is devoted to obtaining razor sharp creases. 

[Silent Invader]

 

I think there are a couple of episodes left until the mid series break, so in the hope that the 'finale' will provide some exciting recompense I shall persevere until then, then that's it, like Driscoles for me it is likely to go the way of Lost.

 

[Mason]

Seeing as how I felt fairly disenchanted at the end of Season 3, I may not even get that far!

[Too Bo Coo]

I think the Walking Dead brings up some problems with American style programming.  One of the things I hated about programs like Black Adder and Peep Show is that they have about 6 episodes a season,a nd then like let's say the UK Office, they kill the program after 3 seasons.  But then again, there seems to be some mentality that it's best to leave on a really high note.  Hard to argue The Office's popularity at the end of 3....  But the US shows just push the programming, when successful, past reasonable limits.  How long was the cast of Friends '20-something'??  Or having to keep children either perpetually young, or advance their age by many years in order to have a viable character?  But I think what WD S4 is suffering from is a mix of popularity and not the easiest subject to drag out.  How scary can the Zombie Apocalypse be if these seeming death-lovers seem to survive to well??  To my taste, there's not all that much each week that I have a drop pf interest in, so I watch shows like this, but I gauge my interest by the fact that I very rarely watch an episode twice.  When I like something, 3-5 times... 
Not that anyone cares, but just my meaningless 2 cents....

[Too Bo Coo]

I should add, classic programs like All in the Family, Good Times, ST TOS/TNG/B5/V, Cheers, (And a bunch more) had real social value that transcended their entertainment value, which was often high.

[Centaur_Seducer]

To be honest, the series is pretty awful in many ways. The comics are great, especially now when they've evolved the arc line. However, the absolute best experience is the game from Telltale. That is one well scripted game with a horrible decision lurking behind each corner

And to be honest, the only series I watch frequent, excluding all the Discovery shows about large machines and big builds, is Supernatural. Cheesy all the way with a great soundtrack!

[Evilcartoonist]

George Carlin: Americans are good at two things: Taking a bad idea and running it into the ground, or taking a good idea and running it into the ground.

I also started growing bored with it somewhere in season 3. But I find it a great series to paint to: "Oh boy, some zombie action or major plot point- I'm watching. Oh, now they're talking about their feelings- back to painting."

[3 fingers]

I've not watched last nights,but cannot get into this series,I watched 2 episodes that I had recorded.and found them lacking.

[Ruther]

Well seeing that this is the only pa zombie show out there i'll keep watching it (and reading the comics) because there arent that much good zombie movies/shows (but a lot pretty shitty ones) out there which give you that nice post civilisation feeling. After all caracter developement isnt a bad thing and i'm interessted in the psychologic impact on humans which have to live under these conditions. Everything for its own i guess. If you dont like something dont watch it ... althought i guilty of watching  alot of crap show wise but than like american tv shows ... unlike european televison they make a couple of good ones besides all the garbage every year (not sure what all the hollywood bashing is about but the stuff they produce here in europe is very horrid, besides some BBC productions, very very horrid indeed ). 

[Silent Invader]

That's an interesting comment about euro TV..... Do you mean just zombie stuff or in general?  In the UK we had a bout of Scandinavian and French TV that I thought was very good.  And there's still some really good stuff out of the US..... American Boardwalk and True Blood being two examples of what is current while Dexter ended very well.  Their subject matter veers away from zombies I know but they are examples of long running series that maintain the momentum.  Lost being an example of one that didn't. :-)

As mentioned on another thread, my favourite zombie movie is I think the French made Mutants.  It deals with the human / relationship issues, which is what holds it together, without losing momentum. Just IMO of course, others will likely differ! :-)

Anyways, back to TWD, having thought about it a bit more I realise that my frustration isn't due to slow pace etc but because, for me, it jumped the shark.  If it's all about people surviving together - which I agree is the best element of any post apoc production - then way more attention should be paid to the realisation that everyone turns when dead.  Despite the events of recent weeks, there seems little recognition of the effect on a group of the risk of someone dying in their sleep.  I guess that risk has existed since day one and so since discovery would surely undermine the human desire to cohabit?  The strain of ostensibly healthy people wanting to be together but needing to be apart would IMO have been an interesting development. Anyways, how did Westbury survive as long as it did without someone 'waking up dead' and biting everyone left, right and center.......

All my personal view of course and the 'don't watch if it bores/sickens/irritates/etc' ideal is kind of at odds with inquisitive human nature..... Sometimes we can't help ourselves, can we 

[maxxon]

I watched the first series, bought the first comics compilation and read it...

...and I was really turned off by the torture focus in the last arc. Didn't bother to go back to the TV series.