The first season of The Walking Dead, an American post-apocalyptic horror television series on AMC, premiered on October 31, 2010, and concluded on December 5, 2010, consisting of 6 episodes.

Developed for television by Frank Darabont, who wrote or co-wrote four of the season's six episodes and directed the pilot episode, "Days Gone Bye", the series is based on the eponymous series of comic books by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard.

[5] This season adapts material from issues #1–6 of the comic book series and introduces notable comic character Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), who awakens from a coma, after being shot, in a post-apocalyptic world filled with flesh-eating zombies, dubbed "walkers".

After befriending Morgan Jones (Lennie James), Rick sets out to find his family and discover the origins of the walker virus.

"[7] Darabont himself had been a fan of the zombie genre since seeing George A. Romero's 1968 film Night of the Living Dead when he was fourteen years old.

"I can't remember what the hell prompted her to read it [the script], but she said, "Wow, I really love this pilot you wrote.

"[9] Darabont's original pilot script was split in half and embellished, making the first two episodes instead of one, "...just to slow the narrative down and dig into the characters more deeply, so it's not just plot-driven, event-driven stuff.

[12] The first season features seven actors receiving opening credits billing: The series features several actors Walking Dead developer Frank Darabont has worked with previously, including Laurie Holden,[36] Jeffrey DeMunn, Melissa McBride and Juan Pareja.

[42] Laurie Holden also appeared in the 2001 film The Majestic (she played Adele Stanton, Jim Carrey's love interest), which Darabont directed.

[45] Hurd asserted that "[they] really are doing six one-hour movie",[46] and Darabont insisted that the series would closely reflect the development in the comics.

"Days Gone Bye" premiered in Hong Kong on TVB Pearl on August 30, 2011,[47] while it expanded in international markets during the first week of November.

The event occurred in twenty six cities worldwide,[50] and were hosted in select locations including the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., Palace of Westminster in London, Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Acropolis of Athens in Athens, and the Museo del Prado in Madrid.

[51] The Walking Dead was included on the cover of the December 2010 edition of Entertainment Weekly, which featured Rick Grimes pointing a gun at a horde of walkers.

The site's critical consensus reads: "Blood-spattered, emotionally resonant, and white-knuckle intense, The Walking Dead puts an intelligent spin on the overcrowded zombie subgenre.

"[61] Following the pilot episode's debut, TV Guide's Matt Roush called the show "a stark and harrowing survival parable ... visually stunning ... and daring in its artful use of silence.

"[62] Following the second episode, Simon Abrams from Slant Magazine awarded the show three and a half stars out of a possible four; "To say that Darabont has kicked his series off with a bang would be a serious understatement ... [he] has fashioned a fully realized alternate reality and it's a thrilling thing to experience.

[64] Josh Jackson of Paste magazine also praised the season by writing, "the characters are worth caring about" despite "occasional stilted monologues, quick tempers and unfortunate stereotypes".

[65] Some reviews were mixed, including one from Kofi Outlaw of Screen Rant who concluded, "The Walking Dead still hasn't really defined itself as anything more than a vague survival story about the human condition" but added, "you can be sure I'm one of those Dead-heads already chomping at the bit for season 2".

[67] Logan Hill of New York magazine was more critical, claiming the episodes contained "atrocious dialogue" and "a lot of plot machinery that has been contrived to create action suspense but ... hasn't really moved the story itself anywhere in particular", though he admits the fifth episode showed "flashes of promise".

[3] Frank Darabont was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series for his work on "Days Gone Bye".