Our favorite moments from season 1 of The Walking Dead

As we count down to the start of The Walking Dead season 10, our panelists are taking a look back at their favorite moments from past seasons.

Season 1 of The Walking Dead debuted on AMC on Halloween night, 2010. At that time AMC was taking a big chance on the dystopian genre show that several other networks had passed on. The show, an adaptation of a popular comic, was dark and gory and no one was really sure how audiences would react.

At that time no one could have predicted that the little zombie show would still be going strong heading into season 10 and certainly no one predicted that it would have spawned two spinoffs and a series of feature films. The Walking Dead become a cultural phenomenon because it reflected the growing anxiety and unease that people were feeling. Constant war, recession, and a general sense of danger permeated much of the public consciousness. Culturally audiences needed someone to believe in, and a small-town sheriff from “up the road aways” rode in to fill that void.

From the first episode, fans believed in Rick Grimes. As they saw the post-apocalypse world through his eyes they were drawn into this world that felt both familiar and unfamiliar and they were drawn into the family that Rick created for himself as he met Glenn and the other people who would go on to become a community of survivors that made people believe in the power of humanity again.

The show has changed and evolved over the years. The future for The Walking Dead looks amazing and it will be exciting to see how this world expands, but it all started right here in season 1. To look back at this wild 10-year journey our panelists have pulled together their favorite moments from The Walking Dead season 1.