"It's a good day to be dead!"

What kind of champagne do zombies like? Better ask 'em over at AMC, where Halloween's premiere of the Frank Darabont/Andrew Kirkman horror series The Walking Dead delivered AMC's highest original series premiere numbers ever.

How big was it? Season 4 of Mad Men debuted with 2 million viewers. The Walking Dead averaged 5.3 million viewers last night, with a heavy 3.6 million made up of the coveted 18-49 year-old demo, making for... the best series premiere in that demographic for all of cable in 2010!

"It's a good day to be dead," said AMC President Charlie Collier. Reviews were extremely positive across the board. I'll just say that for me, there is this certain type of property where you really love it and just worry to death that someone won't get it and will screw it up. Lord of the Rings, for example. It's something you cherish and you're kind of holding your breath. Well, if you haven't seen The Walking Dead yet, what the hell are you doing reading this?!? It's without a doubt one of the most intense things I've seen in ages. It is just staggeringly well done and Darabont basically shows the rest of the horror world how it's done here. The cinematography in the pilot (Days Gone By) by David Tattersall is remarkable. They keep making choices that favor realism over contrivance, particularly in a wonderful supporting turn by Jericho fave Lennie James that is as human as it gets.

Watch this series!!! This is work that needs to be supported. And if you haven't sampled Kirkman's comics, there are years worth to get crazy with -- he's an amazing talent. My very high expectations were surpassed in ways I am still recovering from. This is the real McCoy and I can't wait for next Sunday night...