Zombie Research Society
This is an editorial piece, and is my opinion, and not necessarily that of the Zombie Research Society.
This is not going to be a popular post. When I woke up this morning, the morning after watching the season finale of Z Nation, I realized something. I was enjoying Z Nation more than the current season of The Walking Dead. I was looking forward to Friday nights more than Sunday nights! Could it be that Sunday nights also represented the day before I had to go back to work? Perhaps. Fridays always said “weekend ahead”… so maybe that had a little to do with it.
And maybe, it’s this season of The Walking Dead.
The Walking Dead is, without dispute, a multi-layered and complicated story, much like the comic book by Robert Kirkman. It has layers on layers, with each character adding to its layers. These characters are complex and truly three dimensional– each bringing that complexity to the story in ways that can, and have been played with by the writers. But as the seasons have gone by, the story is starting to feel bogged down by all those layers that come with six seasons. Each story arc has to be fed through the depth and gravitas of each character, creating a bottleneck that the story itself has to squeeze through. The Walking Dead has become so heavy it barely moves anymore. This season started off with promise at Terminus, but what promised to be an epic standoff was dealt with in one episode. One could argue that that in itself showed how The Walking Dead was moving quickly from storyline to storyline, but I argue that it really showed how hard it was to deal with conflict inside of its never-ending soap opera format, which Robert Kirkman admits it is.
Z Nation is anything but a soap opera. It has actors spouting sometimes inane dialogue in sometimes truly ridiculous situations. There is no moody camera grabbing emoting– at least not any that pretends to be anything more than… moody camera grabbing. Because Z Nation came out of the gate as anything but a group of people surviving a zombie apocalypse, it never had to pretend to be anything more than a show about people surviving a zombie apocalypse. It could riff on all the zombie movie stereotypes and beliefs and yes, even current affairs. It could use euphemisms when talking about surviving an apocalypse– ones that we all can identify with. It could talk about the end of the world. It could even use the term “zombie.”
That is what’s really missing now with The Walking Dead. The characters in The Walking Dead have become martyrs, of a sort. Almost caricatures of themselves in the early days. I loved The Walking Dead in the early days. The first episode of Season 1 hooked me for years. Easily the best thing on TV at the time, I wrote. But I can only hold my breath so long. And while the special effects by Greg Nicotero continue to amaze and have only gotten better, the dialogue in the show is really starting to come off as dialogue in a soap opera. There is no pay-off. The purpose of the show is more show. In an early forward in one of the early TWD comics, Kirkman even wrote that he wanted to create something that really had no ending, just like a soap opera. And Kirkman did it– it really is a soap opera that has zombies as the occasional side show.
Z Nation is not that. Everything is very blunt in Z Nation. You want zombies, you get zombies. In Z Nation character development has taken place over the run of the season. The Walking Dead’s character development has taken place over years– mine and their’s. It is more a movie than a television show. A really really really long movie. Creating great television is an art, and there really is no firm recipe. You point at what makes a great TV show, and I’ll point at one that did the same thing but was cancelled after one season.
Z Nation is doing it right– right now. When I removed my Walking Dead filter, I actually saw Z Nation for what it is. A television show about a zombie apocalypse. The characters are growing on me, and I actually feel a twinge when I see one of them die. The Walking Dead is sometimes like a needy relationship with someone who constantly does things so that you will feel sorry for them, in the hopes that you will love them more. Eventually you want that person to just be a great person, buck up and do something grand. You’ll love them more for that. In Z Nation, the characters are always doing something grand, in every episode. And that’s exactly why I watch it every week.
By the way, Z Nation has been picked up for a second season. “God I love the apocalypse.”
You all must be delusional. The acting is completely awful and can t hold a candle to TWD even though it struggled last season with its direction.
Z Nation all I can say is “OUTSTANDING”!
As for the walking dead I’m done with it until Rick removes the stick from his ass & kills that fuck Negan!
Walking Dead just became way too heavy and depressing for me and Rick is borderline psychopath.
I find Z Nation refreshingly cheesy and it has enough unique concepts like Murphy and the Apocalypse backstory to keep me interested and it has some laugh out loud moments.
Z Nation is a crazy, chaotic, gratuitously violent but just ridiculous enough to be cheerfully upbeat episodic spectacle that follows the good ol’ tradition of the American Road Movie.
Americana, WITH ZOMBIES.
…TWD?? More like methamphetamine psychosis, moody, ranting, raving, sadistic – and with zombies.
TWD draws on the way children are irresistibly mesmerized by examining roadkill.
ZN injects an overdose of Bruce Willis-style feelgood mayhem into a trope-laden, sarcastic Huck Finn mould.
Yeah, yeah —- oooh, roadkill! But…
But… ZN is just good entertainment, while TWD is overladen with martyrdom and wangst. Blame the source comic, I guess? Dark, everyone dies things go always bloody and forever badly roller coaster rides don’t work with that solely-downward direction. We get desensitized. We get bored. …its not a coaster without some ups twists and turns, even if they’re all false and sadistic.
Author should go read Gantz or something.
I just watched 2 episodes of season 2 and can’t wonder why are they all chasing Murphy for bounty, wth they need money for.
They don’t need money. Money is useless. However, they do need medicine, food, water, fuel, transportation, and weapons. It was mentioned various times that the bounty would be paid in whatever currency they desired. Whether provisions such as the ones mentioned above are worth chasing Murphy around a dangerous, unpredictable apocalyptic United States is questionable. Hell, it may be because the world is so dangerous and unpredictable that they went out of their way. There is nothing else to do, they were gonna die eventually and the world was moving for worse, not better. You’d get tired of being constantly impeded by hordes of Zs in every direction, of having to kill all day, every day in order to survive. Of scrounging for necessities, not being able to take a decent shower in ages. Of sleeping with one eye open, not being able to trust anyone or fully rest. However, the possibility of creating a successful vaccine from the antibodies in Murphy’s blood gave them hope, a purpose, something to do in a world full of despair, death, and loneliness. I could go more in depth, but put simply, that is why they may have been chasing Murphy around and putting up with his bs.
I am 100% agree with you.
I’ve been watching TWD since pilot and all I could said that I was a fan. Not that I will stop watching since my DH still wanted to know who Negan kills.
I’m honestly dissapointed with season 6 overall, all the name dropping of the “best bad guy” in the series with only 15 mins appearance, also with all the fake-out death scenes.
I just started watching z nation after TWD, it’s kinda ridiculously cheesy at first, but after
a few episodes, it kinda grew on me. I actually care about the characters and hate some but it better than indifference, right?
Z nation also offers me something that TWD doesn’t have, humor not soap opera, I could have watch a real one ya know.
TWD is way better!!! What are you talking about!?!? Z Nation may be good but I mean TWD has that cliffhanging end of the Negan kill but Z Nation is just… Not as good
But just my opinion really.
Ok, I ‘ve watched both shows. I binge watch Z Nation. Its just one of those shows where the story is constantly moving along, each episode picks up as if the group continued to travel while we anxiously awaited the next week. It just didn’t stop, pause and pick right back up at the next episode. They actually change clothes which Apocalypse or not I don’t want to wear the same nasty zombie bloodied outfit day In day out. TWD has become exhausting to me to watch. I feel like it never goes anywhere and that listen to me I’m Rick Grimes BS is old and the Carllllllll. OMG!. TWD kinda started losing me at the farm and the overly grotesque zombie kills. But to play devils advocate, I’m tired of the Citizen Z character in ZN.
Thats kinda funny you should say that it lost you at the farm, bc im still watching, and the writing has gone so far down hill since the farm its unreal, maybe it had to do with amc firing frank darabont amd Jeffrey demunn “dale” quitting afterwards.
Im guessing your mentally retarded, Citizen Z is the only good part of the shit show z nation.
Dude you are so right. This is so much better, in every single way, definitely in my top 3 best tv show ever, up there with x files and dr who. Lol
I think that the primary thing for everyone to remember is that both shows are there for everyone to enjoy. I’ve just finished watching the final episode of Z Nation’s (ZN) second season and it has been an absolute blast. It is a total reversal from the gut wrenching seriousness of The Walking Dead (TWD) and, for that, I am very grateful. They contrast each other very, very well.
The humour in ZN is pretty constant and I’ve been laughing a lot (that rolling cheese ‘n zombie wheel was just too funny). I’m thoroughly enjoying the show’s super creative piss-take approach. For me, the genius is very apparent.
Interestingly, the ZN’s world is a lot bigger than TWD’s and more diverse. Refreshingly so. There is none of that claustrophobic, pervasive anxiety that permeates every scene and every progression of the story of TWD. Instead, ZN explores the world through the eyes of the group, and the world is telling the story of the changes constantly occurring in the group. So, as people die new ones join and the story rolls on.
In TWD, the story and the world have taken a back step to the characters. TWD has lost its sanity and is slowly taking ours with it. There is no light at the end of the tunnel because there is no end. It’s riveting and excruciating.
I’d prefer to watch TWD on Friday, and ZN on Sunday. Good to start the week with a laugh.
Znation is better in my opinion, i guess twd fans are gonna attack me
Yes they will… TWD is coming back!!!!!!
Can’t wait till October!!!
I am just saying Pobtam, it keeps giving the same thing, over and over, I am getting so tired of “oh this place has some shelter and stuff we can stay here” then a warfare just comes out of no where in every season, and then TWD is leading no where and just so dramatic every time.
I am tired of it, maybe SYFY is not liked, but this is the 1 show that is good on there.
Z nation is 100x better than the walking dead as Z nation knows that it’s not so serious whereas the walking dead tries to hard
I have to agree with you, I much prefer Z Nation to TWD.
Z Nation might be less serious, it certainly has a lower budget and less in the way of character development, as mentioned in other comments here, but it triumphs over TWD in one major regard and that is that it’s entertaining.
I’ve tried to like TWD, I really have, I’ve made repeated attempts at watching it but it just bores the hell out of me, it’s just 90% a bunch of people bickering in the woods and 10% entertainment.
For all it’s flaws Z Nation is just much more fun to watch.
Your right
“You’re”.
And yes, he is 🙂
i dont think the Znation is better then twd. Znation Is just ruining the movie were ever they go everything gets bad. but twd were ever they go nothing gets bad its always Perfect and im 100% Correct about THE WALKING DEAD is better the ZNATION.
Actually its the other way around, everytime they go some where there like “Oh, its shelter” then there is a warfare going on, I am sick of it, and znation has like zunami’s where there are thousands of zombies, baby zombies, unbeatable zombie, etc.
Then TWD is so dramatic and so serious, then in znation it can get funny sometimes and fun to watch.
I agree 100% with all of this. Znation seems to do things that TWD does without trying.
You’re kidding right? While Walking Dead has lost some of its momentum, its still miles ahead of this b-movie disguised as a legit show. I watched 2 episodes of this poor mans Walking Dead & where to begin? The awful acting, terrible writing, unlikable characters & oh yeah its got The Asylum name attached to it. A company famous for making mockbusters (piggy backing the success of better films) & now they have done it with walking dead. Which ever way you want to spin it this show is nothing more than a cheap cash in a better zombie show.
Well Walking dead did Zombies at normal level. Znation decided to go for hard level. And honestly the charm of each show is different. I personally enjoy Znation more, but I must admit it’s not as hooking as TWD. Is just, well… Like a fanfic of TWD. Still, there are characters like 10k that have attained my admiration.
Honestly, Znation may be piggybackriding, but it takes off in a different direction that some people like me may enjoy.
I just finished watching Z nation season two. I do agree with the fact that Z nation has lots of punch though I don’t give a crap about the characters because there is really very little character development. The only character with a bit of depth is Murphy (who is great and interesting) followed by doc and 10k. After that meh. Someone dies and it is ok whatever.
I do really appreciate the lack of long drawn out stories that you can watch 2 or 3 episodes and nothing really happens but it just moves the story along they wrap their shit up quick. Having said that by the end of the 2 nd season I kept looking at my phone during the zombie fights because there was another one were everybody does something stupid and manage to come up ok.
Oh look Murphy has gone walk about again.
Oh look, the group are running around after him.
Has the next season got the legs to follow Murphy around sorting out the cure.
I personally think that the need a new main arch if they want to get some more momentum out of it because I was getting bored.
I can honestly say the walking dead has never bored me, frustrated yep, confused yep but never bored.
The thing I enjoy the most in z is the comedy elements. They are not so in your face as to make it a b movie type but there are definitely a few chuckles to be had.
Mostly I care about the walking dead characters, yes you know that terrible things are going to happen to some of them and you watch in almost a grief porn way but, as you say they have spent years building up these characters I am invested in their lives.
The walking dead is what you would actually imagine a zombie apocalypse to be, hard, destructive, painful and exhausting, there is no easy way out in the walking dead. It is like having to eat a 7 course meal in front of homeless people.
Z nation is like a chocolate cake you eat it because it is there, you enjoy it and once it is finished you forget about it. Gratifying yet no real substance.
Just started watching Z Nation (I’m on ep 7),so yeah…I’m not an expert on it,but I like my apocalyptic worlds and zoombies just the same.
First thing about ZN is that it’s impossible not to compare it to TWD. That said, each person’s comparison is gonna reflect what they like on their tv shows and what made tgem watch it in the first place.
For me, it’s the characters and how they fare in a post apocalyptic day-to-day’ so acting does matter. I need to be able to relate to the characters,like most people I guess, mand seeing them evolve and make their decisions is what draws me to a show; how easily I can see myself in their shoes does matter.
When I started ZN I didn’t know it was SciFi and it didn’t bother me at first because the network has some great shows,with nice character development. But then in one episode there was a tornado, with Zs being thrown like sharks and it hit me. ZN doesn’t take itself seriously. It’s more like a parody than a show about real life people in an extreme situation.
If you like it,that’s perfectly fine.
But the comparisons with TWD need to be out of the picture. It was for me the moment that first Z zoomed past the fire truck. They’re two utterly different shows which happen to have zombies in them. They’re not in the same category for sure.
The Walking dead is a great show!!! Z nation is only on its 2nd season! Remember where the Walking dead was on its 2nd season?? Is the same God damn thing! The Walking dead isn’t just making spews for the ratings! The characters have true progression just like it would be in real life! Z nation is syfy so it’s all unrealistic!! And let’s not forget that Z nation only came out after walking dead because they saw how great the Walking dead was doing! And for everyone saying z nation is fresh… I don’t want fresh… I want gritty… isn’t that what we watch post apocalyptic television for?
although TWD draws everything out much too long, and you have to admit that in a real zombie apocalypse 8/10 people will die fast and i believe that ZN captures it better than TWD because they arent afraid to kill ANYONE, murphy excluded of course, but i like TWD tho it is just boring and they wont kill to many people anymore…unrealistic on that account
Z Nation has all the things I want in it. Z-Weed, Cartel, zombie animals & babies, mind control zombie, hilarious catch phrases, unlimited ammos, nuclear missile, radiation zombies, cheap hilarious effects and much more. I got bored watching Waking Dead, but the first season was cool.
TWD is boring, Z Nation is fun. Bottom line.
Why would you want to watch a zombie show that is not about zombies? Yeah, ZN is a little corny and definitely funny, but that is a perfect ode to the 80s golden age of zombies, like Return of the Living Dead and even newer ones like Zombieland.
The very premise of TWD is stupid, but I like zombies, so I painfully watched it for a few seasons. I’ve rewatched ZN episodes, can’t say the same of TWD.
twd is not stupied.its a fun movie and good movie.Znation is good to but twd is better so dont ever think twd is stupied.the Znation is funny but twd is more Interested bec they make More plans then Znation.
Z Nation is so stupid
Haha you must be working for Robert Kirkman. Honestly…i like the walking dead but lately its been getting boring!
Znation on the other hand is a fresher, quicker pace and much more light hearted version. If u are a true zombie fan u will grow to love it after watching a few episode. It doesnt take itself too seriously and its what makes it great and different. Both TWD and Znation are great if u enjoy the zombie apocalypse.
And thank you Karl Schaefer for making this fun version of the walking dead lol..I just started watchin this series and im starting to enjoy it more especially the second half of the first season.
I don’t think Kirkman likes what they did with his comic either 🙂
Love z nation has alot of what you want from a zombie anything lots of zombies and making fun of zombies all at the same time
Twd sux.
Like the packers.
End of story
#znation
Z Nation just got renewed for a third season. 🙂 I thought it was cheesy when I first watched it, but I kept watching it and I ended up loving it and I don’t care that the effects are low budget. I love the comedic relief along with horror and some drama and I absolutely love the characters and hate it when one of them gets killed off. However, that’s what makes it more realistic in my opinion. Death is escaped by no one, especially in an apocalypse and being a main character doesn’t exclude you, which is one reason why I love GRRM’s ASOIAF.
I loved TWD up through season 4 but then it just started to bore me. It’s not a bad show by any means, but I guess I’m just not that much of a fan for drama filling in a horror casting. Different strokes for different folks.
So you have bad taste. That’s perfectly ok.
I watch both shows, both can be entertaining. Z nation is overrated and the walking dead doesn’t always get the credit it deserves. The walking dead was an original spin on the zombie story. It was the first zombie story where everyone was already infected with the zombie virus. Before the walking dead, zombie lore was zombie biting person equals infected.
In the walking dead you can slip,fall break your neck and reanimate. Before the walking dead this was never a thing! This twist was not revealed until the 3rd story arc in the comics,”safety behind bars” when Tyreese’s daughter reanimated after being shot by her boyfriend. That twist was not revealed until more than a year of the comics publication.
Every other zombie story before TWD showed that you are safe as long as you are not bitten. Even with “The Last of us” story you have to be bitten to become infected. Then came z nation, the first show/story to use twd’s staple, the very thing that made it different from every other zombie story.
Z nation is entertaining and at times funny but it lacks its own identity. It changes its own rules on the fly. One minute it has slow moving zombies, then sprinting zombies the next. Some may prefer z nation to TWD but there would be no z nation if TWD did not exist first.
But you say it like that and it’s then easy for anyone to then say; TWD wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for (insert ANY prior Zombie flick here).
Just like anything. If it wasn’t for Bell we wouldn’t have the Smartphone, etc etc.
You can’t simply say what you just did.
EVERYTHING origins from an earlier version. EVERYTHING essentially is a copy of something from years ago.
The thing I hear the most is people claiming TWD has become to much like a soap opera, or has been to dramatic. What those people fail to take into account that TWD is classified as a drama to begin with, and it follows a formulaic approach to how a person/persons handle a disaster that thrusts them into full term survival mode. It follows the path of dog eat dog (man eat man in some cases), what people will do anything to survive. I do have to admit that it has taken a turn towards being more about human to human interaction than the original vs the dead situation, but that’s the thing. Lately when they show zombies they are always in hordes, which may be hints to an underlying plot. My opinion about the overacting, I see the same acting that’s in all dramas. Now ZN takes a more comedic approach than TWD and that’s it.
Btw fuck your opinion. Facts out weigh your dumb ass thoughts.
Z Nation for the Win !!!!
Alright I may biased as I’ve always loved The Walking Dead. Here’s my piece on the subject. First and foremost I understand that Z Nation has a very low budget. Honestly though there is so much wrong with the show that I really can’t think of anything good to say about it. How they depict a 50 caliber machine gun is straight asinine. I’m a marine veteran so i know what I’m talking about. The loser main character pretending to be a sergeant and the doofus at the computer believing it, is just completely unbelievable. You say that its good for being a comedy, yet the inaccuracies and plain old cheesiness of the show tell me that this show only targets the lowest common denominator. People who like this probably love the song “Watch me twist and watch me nae nae.” Where people who are intelligent would listen too, “If you go platinum its got nothing to do with luck it just means that a million people are stupid as fuck.” btw murphy died for a stupid ass zombie baby for no reason all because “oh we cant leave him like that.” Aren’t they supposed to be veteran survivors that have been around for three years since the outbreak? Oh and before you say watching it says different, it was my wife who was interested in it. She loves violent movies even ones with no intelligent plot. Guess what she thinks this show is retarded too. No one i know likes it so I’m done here. Don’t ever compare such an abortion to my show, your show doesn’t deserve to be uttered in the same sentence as The Walking Dead.
Murffe Didn’t die Ass ..
Thanks for your service in the military. Other than that when it comes to tv, you’re an idiot. I feel like I’m wasting my time watching TWD anymore. znation is modern and the characters I can relate to more. Just because you and your wife don’t like it doesn’t make a shits worth of difference to me. The guy said it was just his opinion so quit being a douche bag.
The fact that you think all smart people listen to the same music and because your smart you must all have the same taste in music makes you more ignorant than anyone that posted on this entire site. Liking how any set of words or sound of a beat or a rhythm sounds does not make one stupid or less smart than say someone that likes Beethoven. Please link your study that shows the correlation between music and intelligence in adults. I would love to see your facts on that. Also the fact that you said I served in the military I know what I am talking about does not mean shit. Majority of everyone in the military wont ever touch a .50 caliber machine gun and a great deal higher wont ever get to fire one. So the fact that you said you were in the military is a classic lie technique to try to prove your right with out any proof or the fact that you just wont to go around bragging to everyone your in the military for no absolute reason. Someone that googles .50 caliber machine gun will know just as much about one as almost everyone in our military.
People who serve are shown all basic infantry weaponry and taught the damage they can do. almost all infantrymen will be taught on how to use mounted 50 cal mg’s. So you’re wrong. I do disagree with most of what he said but he was right about the 50 on that show.
Way to be a jerk bro I would you like it if you got your favorite show in the world hated on so badly by some random dude? Way to go, you just pissed off a special needs kid that loves Z Nation and made him cry
Z nation sucks zombie c–k
Wow it’s not that serious dude smoke a bowl
You seriously made me laugh so hard a little pee came out!!!! Hahahaha
YOUR show??
You sound like you own the damn show yourself, and with your statements of “I’m a marine veteran” make you sound like you’re bragging about it.
You seriously didn’t learn proper discipline for yourself when in the services did you? Steaming off over a show.
People be warned, don’t breathe near Mr Marine, he might pike ya. Bless.
Z nation shows greater ideal than the walking dead.Zombies are more realistic & the situations & events get you put of your seat.Watching the walking dead is like watching love & restless …Another soap opera always predictable.
Z Nation is mindless goofiness for its own sake. The story doesn’t particularly have to make sense, the characters don’t really have to behave in sensible ways, and the world itself is just sort of goofy. Now, there is nothing wrong with any of that since that seems to be the whole point, but mindless goofiness is not inherently better than thoughtful looks at what long-term survival would do to people.
My problem with TWD is that the show itself has gotten lazy in that they always have fuel, ammunition, and so on, which removes much of the real stresses of survival. They bounce from “safe location” to “safe location,” and the characters spend their “safe time” trying to deal with what happened in between. It has become too formulaic in that sense, but people would probably complain that focusing on actual survival would be too boring and formulaic as well—”Where’s the drama and excitement?”
Z Nation and TWD are entirely different shows, and neither really delves into the strict realities of actual long-term survival. TWD focuses on how people might behave given a set of rules in that universe. Z Nation is a goofy show where the second season includes con men discussing the possibility of going to Australia as well as a zombified George R.R. Martin “signing” books. People taking “survival advice” from either would likely die quickly in the apocalypse, but both are fun for their respective fans.
Weirdo
I completely agree with you. I enjoyed the walking dead up to around season 5, when the story started repeating. The problem with a show like that is once the characters reach permanent safety, the show is over. This means that, since there are only so many different obstacles to overcome, the show has no other options than to rehash old concepts and events.
Z nation will likely also run into this problem should it continue for more seasons. But for now, while it’s fresh, Each episode after the first few are interesting, funny, and creative.
ZNation is just pure crap, I can’t believe how they could shit on all over zombie genre
By “pure crap” I presume you mean “doesn’t have enough bickering” because, let’s face it, that’s what TWD is, at least 90% of the time; people bickering.
TWD is a soap opera that just happens to have zombies in it.
Ok, Ya’ll are all talking about a bunch of damn zombies! Well, ZNation is a damn comedy and TWD is a drama! They’re both crap!
Znation is a zombie show for dumb people with no attention span. It’s corny and lame. TWD is gritty, raw and requires a little more focus from the viewer.
Well “Jake” it’s not for dumb people and if it is u just proved by watching it. It is an enjoyable comedy and I watch it and it is not for dumb people I happen to get straight a’s. I think the walking dead is dumb, seriously we all think 6 seasons is enough they need to end it
I have a 4.0 and I watch Z Nation, not your walking dead crap
Look at all the smart people watching a show! That must mean its better. You’re both just as dumb as he is. Guarantee neither of you are what someone would call intelligent.
Hah. Yeah, the walking dead is soo smart man. The road out of the city in every intro shot, oh so serious, so clever.
So, there’s an apocalyptic event and everyone is leaving the city, but they all travel on the one side of the road, leaving the other side entirely clear?
No one other than the heroes (much later) had the bright idea to make use of the empty road?
All hell was breaking loose, but no one made use of the other lane?
that fucking road is in the intro for your cleva show.
Dude lays in a hospital bed for what, how long? His beard had less than a weeks worth of growth, I said to myself well thats a stretch without water. No, apparently he was there for a month or more? WHAT?
At least znation does not take itself so seriously or spend 90% of the time doing some annoying soap opera, tricking people into thinking it’s being intelligent. The only reason anything happens at all on twd, is so the characters can whine, bitch, and bicker about it for 40 minutes.
ill never understand how u stand behind ur drama tv as u would a sports team. no winners no lossers just a chance to be entertained.. that said everyone mark your points of what and why but leave ur vulgarity with your football team.. i was very dissapointed to see fear the walking dead not bring the cause of the outbreak into the story i dont see how it would hurt either story except i dont belive kirkmans even rested on a particular answer himself yet.. could really only be a virus or venom of sorts or wild transgender virus/disease.. or he could take the anti holy religous type start.. so i guess we already in many ways know the start just dont know names or faces.. just kinda suprized me to see an all new series of the same literly just a differebt time and place..znation i truly havnt seen enough to judge honestly havnt even seen a zombie yet..but im hoping it has more meat to it then some of the comments ive read.. cause it would be a great TWD fix till TWD starts..makes you wonder why they made fear the walking dead.. to *fill the gaps*? or steal znations zombie fixing fans over.. i just dont see how it fills the gaps..tho rick grimes is comatosed.. the others are all very busy getting the too and setting up the first camp rick joins for obvious reasons.. theres a decent city there to watch collapse as the tank sceen in s.1 shows.. why not tell there story darel his bro.. ricks wife n child..friend..even show the farm comming to being.. and glimpes of the future prison comming apart and the govener comming to his communistic barbarian leader role.. the show isnt bad but i feel to much of the same but not the same could bring fans to a point where if TWD got cancled we’d have to find our answers in his comics and its just not the same..i have my researves on the new show as u can see.. i wanted to also say to the guy that dropped the 28 days later ref. loved it..a movie that truly gave us all a more beleivable twist on the zombie virus a much needed.. oh shit it could possibly happen which acourse always brings kore fear n entertainment! i would die for a series of 28days later with producer and writer in cahoots. could even tear me from grimes n company. ill give znation its much needed shot..but it sounds very well too shallow to get into..which i must say i dont expect much less from syfy.. they went from a more deeper syfi type release network, from making us all belive the blair witch was real… to the b,c,d and e sometimes f movie home base.. if u want a shallow funny because the monsters look like they came outta wal marts halloween section movie syfi s ur best play. if u want to get into something that takes you out of your mind and into the shoes dont place ur bets on syfi.. those who bashed origin poster.. i feel he made good points all his own and the bashing comments went to far as in no way did i see him teying to convert us.. goodnight all enjoy plz dont bash my 2 cents lol
You would be more interesting if You learned about paragraphs and stopped rambeling on so much
Just rewatched the !st season on Netflix to prepare for the start of the 2nd season.. it was even better the 2nd time around, simply can not wait for the season 2 premiere
alot of people are chatting bullshit about TWD, its a show about Rick and his group not the zombies. who gives a crap?The Dead have taken over but the humans become more dangerous. More bout them do you really want dumb people you cant relate to die all the time? I would be bored if it was always bout the walkers. instead the heroes meet true enemies the governor, claimers, terminus etc you people who love shit shows like z nation can do one. George. A Romero and Robert kirkman do the best.
the dumbass who compares these shows together on the post please dont. they are nothing alike thank god. Rick,Daryl and Michonne could juggle a million of your shows zombies. z nation will be cancelled soon, wait and see
I personally think if you put the comedy of Dog soldiers. the horror of 28 days later running zombies and the epic of the last of us there isnt much imagination .
Fear the walking dead will take place in the early outbreak days. Real zombies just rot and cant run. and all the characters in z nation are chickens. when Rick’s group gets the opportunity they kill badass style
And lastly Robert Kirkman the creator says one day he would like delve into how it began. but if you are rushing the series then you are rushing beautiful storytelling as the story is far from the over. your looking at about 10 seasons and more volumes. and we already know the zombies virus either is in the water or air. i know TWD will outlive Z nation.
No Disrepect but sounds like z nation is trying to rip off The last of us. what genious made that plot. Z nation is a tasteless plot just re used 100 times. You need something different with lots of imagination Once again no offence to z nation fans its a good series but I have my reasons why i like TWD more.
and the series of walking dead is just getting started. wait until season 6. And Fear the walking dead you will see alot of zombies and realistically they have tried to find cures but in reality there isnt much hope if you commit to series you must understand its just plain and simple its not about fixing the world. its about finding a safe place they can call home away from dangerous people . thats the only victory possibly left that can maybe just maybe work…
I must say , call me out voted but I disagree. As the title refers Its not actually the zombies , the walking dead is symbolically the survivors of the outbreak. the show doesnt care about how it began but how survivors cope. Everything however does end eventually but isnt that what we need? something that wont end? next people complain about the ending . call twd a soap opera but as long as there are zombies there will always be cool people . I however love Walking Dead and its mythology is interesting. usually its bite that makes you turn but twd you die and your reanimated! Its culture is something we need. if your a die hard fan like me you will understand twd isnt about happy endings cure etc its about how this world change people . as the living are worse . Dont get me wrong i like z nation but its something we have had before . my opinion . And finally the reason because they dont use the term ‘zombie’ is because in twd universe George R Romero’s movies never existed. therefore the word zombie isnt known and makes it smarter if they dub them ‘ walkers’
etc. my moneys on the show with . comic series , upcoming spinoff , video games
I love the walking dead. always waiting for the next episode day too hurry up around but I agree its not what it use to be come end of season 4 it became shit boring. a show that was so mind blowing amazing at the start has become so what dull. I was so happy when I watched z nation for the first time. I got that thrill back =) the walking dead has a lack of zombies in it these days. needs more action!!!!! (with zombies) not people deciding to neck one and another.
I thought the same thing until this season 6 came around the show is thrilling again
I can not deny that. I posted basically the same thing on our Twitter feed. Season 6 is rocking right now!
I like Z Nation better than the Walking Dead. I was watching wrestling and then Z Nation came on and I was going to turn it off but then I found myself standing in front of the TV when I watch Z Nation I can’t look away from the TV. But one day I put on The Walking Dead and it was so boring. Z Nation is about actually curing the apocalypse but The Walking Dead is just about survival.
I 100% agree walking dead sucks, I’m sorry no one else will say it, but I will. It’s like a whitemales wet dream of survivalism, in between the stereotyping and hideous overacting I actually look forward to the character deaths. Truthfully I have so little invested I don’t even notice. If William Shatner write his own zombie apocalypse drama and was fortuitous enough to dawn heaps of make up and get to act every last character himself- well youd get the walking dead. It’s kind of ironic the living in the show and monotonous drama creates for better zombieism than the zombies! z nation is a breath of fresh air, far more entertaining, and the fact pivitol characters actually solve problems in the show , I’m far more worried when one bites the bullet because hey I’m curious to know how will the group manage without them.
iam going to say this once u stick ur nose into this shit again about talking shit about the walking dead iam going to rip u a new one because the walking dead by far is way better than z nation. Znation sucks dick the first season was gay so was the second season even one episode of the walking dead beats z nations whole intire season.
I take my hat off to you bro.
Hey Colton, TWD (show) is a pile of horse crap. You don’t like the fact? Suck my balls. And learn grammar you ignorant prick.
BTW, TWD comic is awesome. So is Z Nation.
Oh my, do calm down please. You’ll give yourself a stroke or something. Incidentally, Season 2 of Z Nation hadn’t even started yet when you posted your little rant. I’ve watched TWD from the beginning but I just can’t take any more of the overacting. It’s become too much like a soap opera so this morning I gave Z Nation a try. I will not watch Walking Dead again, ever.
Colton get over yourself Znation is by far the best show about zombies out there. TWD has gone way too far, 6 seasons is enough
PS: go rot in a hole with the rest of the walking dead
Let’s play nice. 🙂
Znation fans need to relax, you sound like 12 year old switching from xbox to playstation because its the cool thing to do now. TWD does have over acting but so does this piece of garbage. They try way to hard to not take themselves to serious.
In my opinion, the difference between TWD and Z Nation right now is that TWD focuses more on the emotional aspects of the zombie apocalypse, and how the human mind is affected by catastrophe. Z Nation is purely about people surviving, and putting the characters in situations to show how they’d react.
Both shows have their place, however, I do not agree that Walking Dead has become too much of a soap opera. ZNation is more like a cartoon or video game. The violence on it is not scary, but seems to be directed at humor or to get a response out of the kind of people who are more interested in something being cool rather than be emotionally affecting. The characterization on Walking Dead is the very thing that makes it capable of eliciting horror when a character dies. If all you want is to see nameless bodies run through a meat grinder, then ZNation is for you.
I just finished the first season. I do enjoy the shoq somewhat but it seens to not bw grounded in to many rwalistic ways. There are way to many quick conclusions, the characters being two dimensional takes away drom being able to cjnsider it as a rwalstic possibility of who people might really act in an apocalypse. I qouls still watch season 2, and was actually surprised it was renewed.
This show really plays more towards simpletons who probably feel life is rather disappointing because it doesn’t movw as fast as some t.v. shows and or movies where as AMC has chosen to bring in more realisric depths of characters and realistic time frames of events to transpire.
Z nation almost insults its audience by starting up the next show with no explanation of events that transpired between episodes and there is vert little bagage rhe characters carry to make the audience to feel a conection.
AMC does at least provide depth, like they did in Breaking Bad, and that depth plays to the walking deads strenghts and allows some weaknesses to be overshadowed.
Both shows could be picked aparr by nerds but Z nation has too much of a campy feel and flaws that go on without any explanation and the audience ia forced to except blatant flaws wirhout question.
Bottom line is i do like it but it falls short of really being a drama and more like a 30min sitcom that cleans up loose ends at the end of every episepisode.
just my opinion.
I fully agree, the first two episodes seemed to me a B movie but slowly I liked it more and more.
The walking dead has become a sort of soap opera, Znation I enjoy most.
If I want to deepen the characters and their relationships do not watch a zombie movie, but a drama.
Z nation give me action, fun and a dash of horror.
Hope they will broadcast in Italy
I like more z of Spain twd.en we look forward to the second .si has more quality twd is because it has more budget! and having fewer resources z, being a series all creat .no has to be a drama, as proposed by twd, personally even though I don’t like the zombie comedies, too is have something that brings you closer to reality. laugh when they have to laugh, and struggle when they have to fight. as life itself…
I also agree completely ate Z nation in two sittings and now waiting for more just watched first episode of walking dead after the season five break and feel it should now be called sleep walking dead best bit about Z Nation is it moves along more than one road, which walking dead appears to have been doing now for five years
ì agree with this post completely. i love the walking dead, but its a damn soap opera about the people. the zombies become entirely irrelevant, just background noise. they become like mosquitoes – people who live near a swamp take precautions like wearing repellent. thats the zombies on the walking dead. i feel the people on twd die from the zombies just because theyre careless.
but in z nation the zombies are still entirely relevant, and every single episode you feel they pose a threat. i dont care if the production and dialogue arent as good, z nation is a lot more fun and to my mind it still better conveys the sheer terror a person would feel from living with and around reanimated corpses that are ravenous for human meat. and it doesnt turn it into the bloody days of our apocalypse every 3 minutes!
oh and dj qualls is a pure badass
I like z nation more than the walking dead. I just think its more to the point, walking dead is just drama. and they put a lot of unnecessary extra crap like the talking dead where people talk about a show you just watched.It keeps switching up there’s new characters every season, It gets old, this part of the crew splits, one of them becomes a zombie or dies, all this extra crap, its all lovey dovey, talk talk talk, 15 minutes of zombies then the shows over. As the seasons went on more action started happening and that’s not right, ITS A ZOMBIE SHOW! If I wanted a soap opera Id watch days of our lives. Now z nation is different, yeah the production might be crappier but the story is better, the characters are cooler in my opinion, and it actually has a comedy kick to it, and every episode is filled with killing zombies and action, and its a zombie show that keeps a original zombie tradition, its a virus that spread, they’re trying to find a vaccine, one of the guys is immune from the zombie virus, he’s the only hope, and we know what’s going on. Not walking dead, it doesn’t explain why the zombies came, they just appeared, there’s no cure, people just kill each other, and it doesn’t get to the point. Days of our lives with zombies is what walking dead truly is, and since it has a lot of money behind it of course they’re gonna advertise it a lot and make it commercialized, and people are gonna fall for it and say its “good”. It sucks thats why it has a talk show about it. Z nation is underrated and way better and funnier than the walking dead.
I totally agree. What I love is that the zombies are faster and keeps you on the edge of your seat. The plot is great and there not afraid to kill off a character at any moment in the show.
I definitely like Z Nation much more than that Walking Dead crap, which is nothing more than a zombie soap opera that take itself way too seriously! Z Nation seems way too cheesy at first and then you realize it’s FUN and subsequently entertaining, as it should be.
What if Z Nation referenced Walking Dead?
Nothing on TV one night, so I decided to watch Z Nation on Netflix. My very first impression within in the first 5 minutes was ‘generic’ and horrible acting. But something held my attention and I didn’t turn it off like I usually do. I found myself watching the whole first season on Netflix and really enjoying it. I liked the crazy situations they got into. Will I stop watching the Walking dead.. Heck No! But I find myself enjoying Z Nation much more than the Walking Dead. Hope the Series continues. Syfy channel has a way of canceling the best shows and frustrating me.
That are doing a second season. 🙂
Come on… Z has horrible acting, shitty dialogue, bad costumes, silly script and hasn’t given me the feeling of intensity for a single moment after 5 episodes. It’s like watching something from the late 80’s. TWD on the other hand has great acting, believable and well played characters and is constantly nerve wrecking. You guys must have totally lost it… It’s like you’re saying that Rihanna looks like crap while arguing that Roseanne Barr is smokin’. It doesn’t make any sense, and you know it…
Do u even know anything about zombie genre films? Action, humour, satire. Thats what it is. Both Romero and TWD creator Kirkman have called TWD a soap opera. Guess they lost it too. Moron. Its like youre a seventh grader calling out the experienced 40 year old boxer to a fight. The masters and fans of zombie genre know better. And so should you. “Acting”. “Dialogue.” Gimme a break. Watch breaking bad or deadwood if u want awesome dialogue and acting. Compared to any other major tv show TWD has pretty sub par acting and dialogue. And all the drama and preaching isnt realistic at all. Nor is the whole snail pace journey with redundant “communities” along the way. Violence and movement is real. Detachment and humour is real. Being in an apocalypse doesnt mean u sit around talkin spiritual and moral development. TWD is for women and nerds that know nothing and resent true zombie genre
Hold it right there. Z Nation is for woman. Addy? Cassandra? Roberta Warren? All damn awesome. I like TWD, but it’s for manly men who don’t know how to joke. Z Nation is were the moral dilemmas are, where the fun, the drama and the gore is. Z Nation is for women and men alike. TWD … well, it’s for the people who watch for the drama, not for zombie fans.
I think they are both good just very different. znation is a nice change, light hearted with glowing radioactive zombies.. zombies on drugs.. cannibals from early episodes.. great fun gets to the point quickly and surprises me when main characters die. Yay to a second season!
I love both shows !!!!!!! Walking Dead gives us more than just Zombies. It is more about the characters and 2 me that is just fine. The Characters is what got me 2 stick with the show for all this time. They had one whole season of nothing happening but I still stayed tuned. As for Z Nation well that is a fun show. If u are feeling down just watch a episode and it will make u laugh. Sure its a spoof thing but so was Zombie Land and Return of the living dead . I love those 2 movies !!!!! So there is always room for all types of Zombie shows and movies as well. Hell I even loved Warm Bodies. I am going 2 watch I Zombie when that comes on. Zombies Rule!!!!!!!!
This show could only wish it had the high caliber that the walking dead has..plain and simple fact. You want good acting, good diolouge, great make up effects and great stories. …..Walking Dead is the show to watch. This show is for the people that don’t want depth in a show, and that is pathetic …
Depth? I love depth. TWD has only a little depth. It’s more superficial and pseudo deep. In Z Nation they don’t care about pseudo deep. They care about entertainment and they produce plenty depth.
I’m one of the few who never liked TWD, but Z Nation had me hooked from the start. I admit, I initially started watching it because of DJ Qualls and Harold Perrineau (and was really shocked when they killed him off so soon), but I keep watching because it’s just a great show – there’s always something unexpected happening, and you can’t say that about TWD (even though I don’t like TWD, my son does so I have to watch it).
I recently watched the AMC. Marathon of the Walking Dead. I had not watched this before. The first few episodes were very compelling and interesteing. The longer the marathon continued the less the plots could lhold my interest. The plots became too much the same. I also view Z Nation and have never been disappointed by the plots. I have a question that has been bugging me and maybe someone has the answer…why are some zombies seen gorging on their victims yet others only bite them. Hope someone has an answer to my question. Thanks.
Fuck! Znation can go kill itself by drowning in a pile of maggots.
thank u finally some one with a brain
Thank you for this post! I thought I was going insane. I loved the Walking Dead but now it has almost gone into Lost territory where I am just watching to see how it pans out after investing so much time in it.
Unlike others I really enjoyed the first 4 seasons, but TWD season 5 has had this strange duality this season where it wants to be a hard hitting serious drama, but then has silly moments of b-movie violence zombie kills (e.g Daryl ripping a zombie’s head off and using it as a weapon, the fire truck scene), Carol becoming a one woman army, silly storylines from the comic that I think should not have been in the TV show, storylines finishing too quickly, lack of character development (in my opinion), the hospital storyline was boring and how it concluded was so random I was not even shocked just disappointed with the writers, etc.
I think Z-nation is quite freeing in comparison. There is a clear plot, there is some tension with Murphy, there is a good sense of pace with a new scenario every episode so far. So it has some meat to it, but because it has never went completely serious drama like it can play with the theme more and have Western homages, etc. that work. I do not mind the characters and find them more likeable then the current TWD characters. I especially like that no one is safe in Z-Nation with two main characters dieing… Unlike Rick, Carl, Daryl and Michonne who seem invincible to the point that I no longer feel that there is a threat in the show.
Anyway, never thought I would say as someone who had become quite snobbery with TWD, but I am really enjoying Z-nation. Much more than season 5 of TWD at least.
Thanks Sushi! You get it. 🙂
I not a big fan of the cheesy SyFy channel shows, but I love TWD so I figured I’d give Z Nation a shot. I liked it more than I thought I would. I also began looking forward to seeing what happened next, week after week, and was excited for the show every Friday.
I was talking about some Zombie Theories on facebook and mentioned the big migration south on Z Nation. Others joined in the conversation and some liked the show, others panned it as just a weak, cheesy SyFy show. I put it like this. I said, “The Walking Dead is like a steak dinner at a nice restaurant. Z Nation is like hitting up a fast food joint. Yes, the steak dinner is usually better, as it should be, but who doesn’t like some junk food?”
There is definitely a place for Z Nation if people would give it a chance like I did. I was/am a “hater” of the cheese usually, but Z Nation is a fun show and I look forward to seeing it next year.
I agree that ZNation is like a very long & rewarding zombie movie I still enjoy both shows. To be perfectly frank I will watch anything about zombies & the subsiquent appocolypse I love the genre in all it’s incarnations. I am tired of the animosity between fans of both shows can’t we just love all zombies?
I prefer TWD 10 to 1 over Z Nation. TWD is a drama about people fighting for survive on an xtreme situation. Each character has a defined personality. TWD is a series that invite the audience to think and to analyze. Z Nation looks like a bad comedy, a parody of zombie’s movies. Sometimes remember a zombie walk. Something like a game, when finish the program, nothing to meditate.
really you meditate to zombie tv…actually kinda cool..you may have accidently started a new religion
I love Z Nation as well. When I first saw it was by The Asylum, I was disappointed as their SyFy Zombies movies always had poor effects. And that kinda did not give me the best start to watching the show. But I love Zombie Movies, Big Budget or Low-No Budget, if it’s got heart and a good story, I usually like it. Well over the 1st season, the show was pretty decent and it grew on me. To compare it to the Walking Dead is unfair. It’s a totally different type of story and obviously without the Budget TWD has. But that okay…they each do their own thing and do it well.
When I compare them both, I liken The Walking Dead to a Graffic Novel with it’s more serious tones. Z Nation is the Comic Book, more light-hearted and doesn’t always take itself too seriously. Just remember the Liberty Bell scene and you know exactly what I mean.
Loved that Liberty Bell scene.
Remember the zombie bear
Dave, Thank you for posting this. For weeks now I have been calling out the same thing. I feel like TWD is becoming the horror version of Seinfeld…a show about nothing but surviving, which has very little variety in narrative or plot concepts/conceits. Z Nation is not as well produced and the dialogue could not hold a candle compared to TWD. However, I seem to care less and less…because it is fun. Radioactive zombies, zombie animals, zombie-nado…and it goes on and on. The overarching concept…the one man with the potential cure who can save us all has to get across the country, is spot on. We have a solid theme….some hope of a resolution…and a reason to go place to place. This has a nice old school flair, like the Incredible Hulk series and such, where each week there is a new situation and a new landscape. And not all character exits are the same…not surviving. Addy stayed behind with a colony of women to overcome her traumas. Fresh ideas, week to week, are the bread and butter of Z Nation. It’s not as deep as the book/audiobook World War Z (Brooks really set a high bar), but it’s a massive improvement over TWD. We’re halfway through Season 5 of TWD and we are still in the outskirts of Atlanta, we’ve learned nothing new about how the outbreak occurred or anything about the virus, or how long will these corpses be around as they are slowly desiccating away. I also read the comic, which is about 2-4 seasons ahead…and we have more intense versions of the same plotlines coming our way. I still watch TWD but am getting more and more antsy for them to mix it up a little more.
Thanks Eric! I’m glad you got the just of the article. I too religiously watch The Walking Dead, and it is still a wonderfully produced, acted, special-effected(?) show. The impetus for writing the article was pretty simple. After each episode of Z Nation I was happily satisfied, and they have only gotten better. After each Walking Dead episode as of late, I kind of felt blah. Maybe it’s the constant downer mood of the show. It really is case of “come on, get on with it.” I’m still a Walking Dead fan, but “come on– get on with it!”
Really touched a nerve– check out the conversations on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/zombieresearch?ref=hl
I am So glad Z Nation is coming back. I too found myself looking forward to Friday nights. Sometimes it’s nice to watch a show just for fun. I still love TWD but it’s has a darker, heavier feel than Z Nation. My husband and I enjoy seeing how many places we can identify as it’s filmed in a town neighboring ours. Maybe we’ll try out to be zombies next season.
Is this a programme only on in the US or has it been picked by a UK network?
I believe it is only in North America right now. I’m sure it will get picked up in the UK.
Z nation season 2 is now on in the uk
I, too, am more excited about watching z nation! I love the walking dead, but it does get tedious. In z nation u never know who’s gonna be on the next episode. And Murphy is a riot! Plus, every episode more happens even with flashbacks of the characters. I’m glad to hear it’s on for season 2
I love the walking dead but I 100% agree with z nation being a better, the zombie kills and gore are much better in z nation, the walking dead always seems to be filmed on them same country roads, z nation in my opinion is better and I hope we get at the least anoth 10 seasons
The first season of Znation every other episode was good and the ones in between were terrible. I almost had to stop watching it. The second season was way better. I think z nation is definitely getting better with each episode. It’s definitely a fun show and has great horror humor .