Zombies in TeleVision and Video
Back to HomeOne of the most famous zombie-themed television appearances was 1983's Thriller, a Michael Jackson music video featuring choreographed zombies dancing with the singer. Many pop culture media have paid tribute to this scene alone, including zombie films such as Return of the Living Dead 2.
Romero-styled zombie outbreaks are often featured in animated shows, such as in the Halloween episodes of The Simpsons, South Park, and Invader Zim. In Japan, zombies often appear in manga and anime, such as Highschool of the Dead, Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho and Zombie-Loan.
In 2008, writer Charlie Brooker created Dead Set, a television miniseries set in a zombie apocalypse. The satirical horror storyline follows fictional contestants of the British Big Brother series, along with the studio employees who are trapped inside the Big Brother house as wild, savage zombies rampage outside.
In 2010, director Frank Darabont launched The Walking Dead, based on the graphic novel, on US network AMC. It has since become the highest rated show in the history of that network and gone on to win two Saturn Awards for best dramatic presentation.
In August 2011, MTV premiered Death Valley, a spoof horror series about an "Undead Task Force" that capture various monsters, including zombies, that infest San Fernando Valley