No, not another Zombie Apocalypse show, more like someone was a huge Bryan Fuller fan and decided to mash up Dead Like Me, Pushing Daisies and throw in Zombies because, like, they’re big right now. Yes, it is loosely based on a comic book of the same name, but it’s the angsty voice-over meets criminal investigation info from the dead that recalls the two dead themed series by Fuller. Billed as comedy-drama, it doesn’t have that fairy-tale idiosyncratic beyond “quirky” sense of irony, wit and charm of Pushing Daisies, nor quite the insight into life that Dead Like Me had. Easier to digest for the masses, I suppose, but not as challenging - at least that’s my take on it.
Rob Thomas, he of Cupid/Veronica Mars fame, is behind this. It’s awesome! Eating brains, people in a zombie show have seen zombie movies and say the word ‘zombie’. We even get a snarky zombie. Rose McIver impressed me in Masters of Sex, though it was a small role, I’m glad to see her get something of her own. The supporting cast is great too. Highly recommended.
Crap. I thought it was going to be about Undead Steve Jobs.
So…Miranda Cosgrove is NOT a zombie? ;)
Oh wow, the zombie protagonist literally ingests memories from consumed brains to aid criminal investigations.
Oh wow, the protagonist literally ingests memories from consumed brains to aid criminal investigations.
A similar concept (sans zombies) was explored in Chew. Also, there’s an old Theodore Sturgeon story that’s sort of an earlier exploration of the concept.
Doesn’t speak to the quality of the show, really, I mostly just wanted to link the Sturgeon story.
I watched the show and I think it is alright and hope it improves as it goes. I suspect that they have solved the supply of brain food (heh, heh) too early though the way they did it is brilliant.
I would have much rather seen a show based on Chew!
Took me a second. I actually thought Miranda Cosgrove was in this and looked it up on IMDB, and of course didn’t see her listed. Now I feel dumb. :)
I saw the signs posted when they were filming so I looked it up and the summary of the show turned me off completely (they also took over my free parking area that day…bastards).
Just saw a billboard this morning and now this thread. I suppose I’ll give it a shot.
Your Canadian tax subsidies at work! (Just teasing…I think…hmmmm…)
Filming crews would occasionally take over the neighbor’s front yard and dump all their gear there for the day while they filmed down by the dam, but at least they paid them something like $5000-$7000 to do it. You gotta rent your parking space out!
Oh right, I forgot about Chew! He’s just an otherwise-normal cop with a weird psychic affliction, but yeah.
Agree that the show’s nothing special, outside of the above. Although, I just cast a net but haven’t been able to find any other mainstream TV shows featuring recurring, sympathetic zombie protagonists, and I think that’s interesting. Maybe I’m out of my depth when I say this, but I wonder if this is a kind of a marker illustrating a point when mainstream pop culture begins to try and accept whatever it is that zombies are supposed to represent, and integrate that into itself somehow. I’d do well to back away from this vague, pseudo hypothesis at this point and let an experienced film/TV critic take the idea further if so inclined, but it’s fun to think about and toy with.
Just watched the first episode, it was decent enough for me to want to see the next one.
Also the ex-boyfriend of zombie girl was playing Dying Light at his house with that other girl!
I thought that was Dying Light but was too chicken to call it. :)
Woah! A show from Rob Thomas? I loved Veronica Mars and Party Down, so now I have to give this a chance. Also, wait, he did a show called Cupid? How come I never heard of that?
It was pretty fun, though it didn’t last very long…
Cupid is a 1998–1999 American comedy-drama series created by Rob Thomas, which featured Paula Marshall as Dr. Claire Allen, a Chicago psychologist who is given charge of a man named Trevor Hale (Jeremy Piven). Hale believes he is Cupid, sent down from Mt. Olympus by Zeus to connect 100 couples without his powers, as a punishment for his arrogance.
Enjoyed the show more than I usually enjoy pilots. It came off a bit too much like a new take on Tru Calling for me taste, but the characters were enough to keep me interested.
Having them explain why zombies exist (… it will fry your brain, batter it and fry it again) as well as solving the brain food supply problems in the first episode was refreshing. I expected all this hand wringing and “how did this happen to me?” emo crap, but nope, resolved those right away. Now they can concentrate on building out the characters and developing a “world” for them to live in.
The hard part is going to be preventing it from turning in to just another psychic crime-of-the-week drama.
No one did. I don’t even remember how or why I saw it. All I remember is watching it thinking “This is a great show, Piven and Marshall are excellent!” but also “Who thought naming the show Cupid was a good idea?”. There’s no way you can tell someone “There’s this great new tv show” and they ask “Really, what’s it called?”…no, I’m not saying “Cupid”, sorry. I think that poor naming choice killed it.
If Cupid is bad, then iZombie is the worst name ever.
Just watched a few minutes of this. So a zombie now is bad eye makeup? I almost threw up my own brain listening to the dialog. Nope. No thanks.