The Walking Dead season 1 premiered 11 years ago today

Fans of The Walking Dead know that October 31 marks the anniversary of the premiere of the series. This year is bittersweet as we all know that the series has entered its final season. Even with the promise of additional spin-offs and movies, it will never be the same without the flagship series.

On October 31, 2010, at 9 p.m CT, AMC premiered a new zombie series as part of the 14th Annual Fear Fest festivities. This series would go on to spark a fandom, spin-off series, cons, cosplays, careers of aspiring actors and artists, and so much more.

“Days Gone Bye” was the pilot episode of the series. Frank Darabont directed it with Gale Anne Hurd producing. This episode was shot on 16 mm film.

The Walking Dead season 1

Season one aired from October 31- December 5, 2010, and consisted of six episodes. The pilot episode received 5.35 million viewers, with the finale receiving 6 million. With such a positive reception, AMC renewed the series for a second season that would begin airing on October 11, 2011, consisting of 13 episodes.

The first episode, “Days Gone Bye,” introduced us to Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), a character that comic fans knew very well. He was the leader of a group of people who had to learn to survive in a new world where the dead would rise and hunt the living.

Grimes awoke from a coma in an empty hospital with no clue about what had been going on. He meets Morgan Jones (Lennie James) and his son Duane (Adrian Kali Turner), who help him explain what occurred during the time Grimes was in the coma.

In the very first scene of the series, we see Rick Grimes traveling in search of gas. He is dressed in his sheriff uniform and driving his patrol vehicle. He comes upon an abandoned gas station surrounded by many burned-out cars and not a soul around. He carries his gas can to the pumps in hopes of acquiring some fuel. As he walks along, he is in shock at what he sees. Personal items were strewn about and many of the discarded vehicles contained dead bodies.

He is greeted by a sign that reads “no gas.” As he walks away, he hears the shuffle of feet across the pavement. Looking under a car, he sees slippered feet shuffling, they stop, and the owner picks up a discarded teddy bear. As the little girl walks away from him, he calls out to her, and when she turns, Rick and the viewers see that she is, in fact, one of the undead. The horror and pain that is expressed on Rick’s face is felt by the viewer as well, knowing what he must do. As she charges at him, he shoots her in the head, the now-iconic theme song plays, and we are introduced to The Walking Dead series.

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