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Must See Zombie TV Shows

The dead are given new life in must see zombie TV shows.

By Lindsie PolhemusPublished 8 years ago 6 min read
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Like a massive virus that thrills most of the population, zombie TV shows have never been so popular. So let’s look at the best examples of this brutal, and breath-taking genre.

The zombie genre has been a pivotal part of the horror industry for decades. These undead people show us one of the truest fears of being human, mainly by having every recognizably human quality stripped away, after all, what are we without our personality? Up until a few years ago, zombies could reliably be found in film. In fact some of the greatest horror films have a lot to thank the zombie apocalypse for: George A. Romero’s hugely influential Living Dead trilogy, and Sam Rami’s sickeningly funny Evil Dead films are just a few. It wasn’t until 2010 when Shawshank Redemption director Frank Darabont dared to dream a little bigger and created The Walking Dead. Zombie movies were getting a bit stale, from 2010 onwards it was the dawn of the dead with zombie TV shows.

Created by Frank Darabont, not only is The Walking Dead one of the biggest, most popular, zombie TV shows, it’s also one of the most popular shows on the planet. With its seventh season about to begin, there’s no better time to look back at the shows bloody legacy. If you were to sum up The Walking Dead, a mammoth task but let’s give it a go, it’s the story of Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln. Grimes is a Sheriff’s Deputy who, after getting shot, wakes from a coma to discover the world has been overrun by zombies. The first season has a fairly traditional structure, Rick tries to get back to his family, and with a band of survivors, tries to come to terms with this new world. It doesn’t take long for the show, based on the comic by Robert Kirkman, to outgrow its premise. The zombies, while a constant danger, take a backseat as the show explores different aspects of human nature, and how this environment can change someone, for better or worse. The better leads to great supporting characters like Darryl, and Michone, and the worse gives us memorable villains like The Governor, and the mysterious Neagan. Occasionally frustrating, but always a must watch, The Walking Dead is king of the genre.

Created by original writer Robert Kirkman, Fear the Walking Dead was as inevitable as death and taxes. The Walking Dead proved to be a bigger hit than anyone could have imagined, and still is after six seasons. So what could Fear the Walking Dead offer? Quite a lot as it turns out. Despite being a spin-off, Fear the Walking Dead has proved its right to exist by being a tad more ambitious than its parent show. The show starts in Los Angeles pre-outbreak, giving the audience a taste of how the world-ending events only glimpsed in The Walking Dead. Throughout its first season, as it follows two dysfunctional families connected by Madison Clark (the excellent Kim Dickens), and her boyfriend Travis Manawa (Cliff Curtis), the drama comes with knowing the impending doom that waits for the characters, a sort of slow motion car crash that they can’t see coming, but we can. The show has proved a hit and what’s really exciting about the show’s success is the possibility of more like it. After all, Kirkman destroyed the planet, there’s a lot of possible stories out there.

Of all the zombie TV shows on this list, Z Nation may be the most impressive. Originally billed as the Syfy network's answer to The Walking Dead, Z Nation managed to carve out its very own place in the genre despite a rocky first season. Billed as a horror/drama/comedy/action series (Phew) Z Nation tells the story of a small group of survivors of the, you guessed it, a zombie apocalypse. After discovering Murphy, played by Keith Allan, a former convict who is the last person known to survive a zombie bite, a band of survivors, including series star Kellita Smith as Lt. Roberta Warren, must get Murphy to the last known lab of the Center for Disease Control in Los Angeles. Z Nation is a looser, more fun zombie show that has some great scares, and action, as well as a great sense of humor. Just get past those first few episodes and it’ll all be worth it.

Based on the French TV show Les Revenants, The Returned is the first show on this list to showcase how varied the zombie genre can be. The Walking Dead, and Z Nation were more traditional end of the world shows, with suitably big ideas, but The Returned strives for something much more nuanced. Created by Carlton Cuse, co-creator of the infamous Lost, and starring a wide range of great television actors like Kevin Alejandro (True Blood), Agnes Bruckner (Once Upon a Time), India Ennenga (Treme), Sandrine Holt (House of Cards), Mark Pellegrino (Lost), Jeremy Sisto (Six Feet Under), and a rare small screen role for Mary Elizabeth Winstead, The Returned is the story of a town driven to grief as loved ones, long dead come back to life. Using this simple premise, The Returned explores grief in a way that only genre story-telling can accomplish. It doesn’t all have to be eating brains.

Although sometimes eating brains may be exactly what the doctor ordered. Out of all the zombie TV shows currently on the air, iZombie loves the genre the most. Continuing the CW’s hot streak of genre shows, iZombie is right out of left field. Developed by Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas, iZombie is basically just a zombie version of that show, only much better. The show stars Rose McIver as Liv, a medical resident who is bitten by a zombie at a boat part, bad luck. Instead of the mindless creatures that we’re used to, Liv is basically normal, even though she’s much paler, and has a taste for brains. Through the brains that she eats, gained in her job as a mortician because she’s the hero remember, Liv takes on memories a, and aspects of personality from the people they belonged too. So she does what any sane zombie would do, she uses her power to solve crimes. iZombie is an extremely weird, and extremely fun deconstruction, and homage to the zombie genre.

Resurrection follows the same basic pattern as The Returned with a few, telling differences. Created by Law & Order and Damages writer Aaron Zelman, and based on the novel by Jason Mott, Resurrection portrays the events of the town Arcadia, Missouri, as various loved ones return from the dead. Starring Omar Epps, Frances Fisher, Matt Craven, Devin Kelley, Mark Hildreth, Samaire Armstrong, Landon Gimenez, and Kurtwood Smith, Resurrection ran for two seasons on ABC, before getting cancelled due to low ratings. That said, it’s well worth tracking down as the show has some serious things to say about grief, isolation, and small town politics. Where The Returned was more about the characters, the town is a character in Resurrection.

Lastly we have In the Flesh, the BAFTA winning BBC series that tackles just about everything that other zombie TV shows do in the space of nine excellent episodes. Created by Dominic Mitchell, In the Flesh follows teenager Kieren Walker, who goes from rabid zombie, back to his normal self with the help of medication; after which he is officially referred to as a sufferers of Partially Deceased Syndrome (PDS). In the Flesh has all the things that make the zombie genre so iconic in the first place: violent mythology, in this case The Pale Wars, social satire, the show has a lot to say about gay rights, and pharmaceuticals, and the duality of living as a dead thing.

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About the Creator

Lindsie Polhemus

Lover of dogs, wine, and buffalo chicken. Laughing through this thing called life.

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