What could be better than a zombie movie? A zombie TV show?

Maybe.

It's not yet clear whether "The Walking Dead" can successfully repackage the cult appeal of zombie movies for basic cable. I am guessing it's never been done quite like this before (we've had vampires aplenty, but I'm pretty sure no zombies). But from what I've read about the comic books the show is based on (one of the co-creators of the series, Robert Kirkman, is from Lexington, KY), this is the series to try.

And based on the premier--and my need to fill my now "Mad Men"-less Sunday nights--I am willing to watch and see.

Last night, I watched the premier with my husband and a friend who was over to help us hand out candy, carve a pumpkin, roast pumpkins seeds, and generally participate in some lame thirty-something halloween fun. As with most halloweens, the build-up was huge; I bought my candy two weeks ago, and I even got a discounted bee costume for my adorable dog so that he could welcome the trick-or-treaters in style.

This year, however, the pay off was not so great.

While I had a blast with my friend and husband, the trick or treaters were few and far between. Yes, our friendly neighborhood Iron Man, pimp, and princess showed up, but we had, at the most, about 20 kids come by our door. (Unfortunately, I am starting to think trick-or-treating will be a tradition of days gone by in 5 or 10 years.) Luckily, the food, drinks, and leftover candy were plentiful, we made a pumpkin with the best nose ever (thanks, husband), and we still had "The Walking Dead" to look forward to.

And it definitely delivered.

AMC prepped its audience by spending all day yesterday playing the five "Halloween" movies, "From Dusk 'Til Dawn," and the remake of "Dawn of the Dead." I caught the 2nd half of Halloween 2 (awesome) and Halloween 5 (awesomely bad), part of "From Dusk 'Til Dawn" (sorry, couldn't get into it), and bits and pieces of "Dawn of the Dead" (Ving Rhames is a badass, but I think I need to see the original). (Note, I am readily revealing my complete incompetence to write about this show, but I am writing about it anyway, just because I can.)

By the time "The Walking Dead" premiered, we were all on a bit of a sugar high, which added to the tension. At first glance, the show delivered what we expected, the requisite horror movie shots and scare tactics/cliches: a sweet little girl in the first scene turns around to show her nasty zombie face; a zombie hand claws between doors trying to escape, bodies lined up under white sheets.

But it also delivers an unexpected amount of, for lack of a better term, humanity.

At one point, after our hero, County Sheriff Rick Grimes, wakes from a coma to find the world gone to zombie and his wife and son missing (zombieland realism alert: how long was he out, exactly? and how did he not starve to death?). As the horror of it all sinks in, Rick breaks down completely. At that moment, I turned to my friend and husband, and was like, "Wait, isn't this show supposed to be scary? Why is it so sad?"

But I guess that's the point. This is not your typical zombie show.

"The Walking Dead" brings the tragedy: See the protective blanket Morgan throws over his son Duane as Duane sobs after spotting his now-zombie mom walking outside their hideout, or the tears running down Morgan's face when he can't make himself shoot his zombified wife.

"The Walking Dead" also brings the comedy: Duane gets down and funky singing, dancing, and shouting his dirt off during his first hot shower in forever, and the show ends with a bit of fun in the midst of fear, as Rick--trapped in an abandoned tank surrounded by zombies--hears a voice over the radio, "Hey you, dumbass . . . You in the tank. Cozy in there?"

And of course, "The Walking Dead" serves up the romantic drama/love triangle. Shane, Rick's former partner, is currently (quietly) shacked up with Rick's wife, Lori, in a camp of survivors outside of Hot-lanta. Hotness is sure to ensue when these survivors find each other and Rick starts asking questions about exactly where, when, and how Shane and Lori hooked up. The possibilities for betrayal are endless. Were Shane and Lori having an affair when Rick was reluctantly revealing his marital problems to Shane in their cruiser during the flashback at the beginning of the show? Did Shane, the best friend who brought flowers to the hospital, tell Lori that Rick was dead so they could leave him behind?  

It seems, then, that this show has all the elements of a good TV drama.

But, of course, it has its moments. At times, I wondered why Rick wasn't vocalizing the obvious craziness of what was going on, for example, when he was eating dinner with Morgan and Duane. As they were eating beans, I was waiting for Rick to ask them WTF was going on, "Wait, so you mean these dead people are zombies? And they've taken over the world?" Instead, Morgan had to be like, "So, I guess you don't know what's going on" and drag Rick's ignorance out of him. And at times, as I mentioned earlier, the show's timeline pushes even the bounds of zombie plausibility.

Let's face it, "The Walking Dead" will never replace "Mad Men." Such a feat of television strength would be impossible. In the interim, though, I think it will be a good apples-to-oranges replacement.