His version of the script was in black and white.

Like I said above, my problem isn't with Rooker's character being racist or sexist or just an unlikable prick; I'm a big fan of hard-to-like characters. It's that he expressed them in ways that were almost guaranteed to get him killed. He was less a character than a tool for creating plot complications.

I didn't watch the episode live; I was working from a screener, which listed a different writer. Blame me for not double-checking, though; there are often minor changes like that made after screeners go out.

Maybe, and I wouldn't object if someone accused me of being out of touch with modern iterations of this kind of comedy. But most of the really popular comedies I've watched regularly haven't been that much more subtle; they just seemed more confident in the material. They delivered the jokes without all the "GET…

Melanie Lynskey is also capable of being a fine actress, as anyone who's seen "Heavenly Creatures" can testify. She does well enough with not much to work with here.

I guess you're right, UMD. I should resign myself to a lifetime of being called pretentious by total strangers. But to quote a great man, why should I let people come into my office and stick me up?

Since you're the first person to ever notice one of my alt-text jokes, I'll happily buy you a drink.

explodingbarrel, as I've said repeatedly, I don't think mentioning there is no organized authority is much of a comic spoiler. This information is stated on the back cover of every collection of the comics and is part of the very premise of the series. It's a plot point, yes, but it's not a spoiler.

gaugebozo, that's fair enough, but as I mention below, I don't think it's much of a comic spoiler to say that authority is gone, because it says that on the back cover of every one of the comics.

I didn't mean that the scene where he returns to kill it was meant to be played for laughs; clearly, it's an emotional moment. But the scene where he first encounters it, and then tries to get away from it by plopping his naked ass on a bike he's almost too weak to ride, well, that's got enough absurdity to it that…

#78 isn't the last issue, it's just the latest. The series hasn't ended. And if it had, I would like to reiterate that we'd like to avoid posting comic spoilers here.

Man, that makes me sad. That means they can't watch any noir movies, and that's the best movie genre of them all.

Well, it's a spoiler of sorts, but it's not a major one. The back cover of every single one of the comics collections makes it clear that organized authority and normal life is essentially gone forever. And, as I said, that may not be the case in the TV show.

Huh, I didn't remember that. I stand corrected.

Covered the new Cephalic Carnage already.

The main thing that distinguishes "Walking Dead" from most zombie/apocalypse stories is that its focus is laser-tight and completely character-driven. It starts with Rick Grimes and it stays with Rick Grimes, and everything in it is about him and his family and what he does to survive. It doesn't really 'open up' at…

I'm not sure what's supposed to be sexist about it. Lori is only in the first episode for a few minutes, and doesn't do anything that I would characterize as being a sexist portrayal. She's in the second episode a bit more, but again, I don't recall anything that stood out as egregious. And the first two episodes…

I suppose that depends on what it is you don't like about the comic. The first episode hews pretty close to the first couple of issues of the comic, and the overall emotional tone is the same.

Really? That's all you got? It's like you trolls aren't even trying anymore.

Yeah, it was Arizona — Glendale, which was a much smaller town than it is now. I attribute not getting the shit beat out of me to the fact that (a) I was a kid and (b) almost all the people at church were old, meaning that they were too decrepit to give me the pounding I deserved, or possibly so appalled that they…