Jon Bernthal

CHICAGO – The differences between the series premiere and the second-season premiere of AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” airing tonight on what has become the most critically-acclaimed network on basic cable, are striking. Frank Darabont brought an old-fashioned horror showman’s sensibility to the first episode, but that season had a different purpose.

CHICAGO – The Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, more popularly known as “C2E2,” took place last month, and featured TV series cast panels with “The Walking Dead,” “True Blood,” “The Vampire Diaries” and “Dollhouse.”

CHICAGO – The series premiere of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” was the best horror movie of 2010 and the best single episode of television that year. Director Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption”) brilliantly distilled a lifetime of zombie fandom into one beautiful character-driven piece that not only provided the chills of the genre but proved that the series would be dramatically rich as well. The living were as interesting as the dead. And now the first season, only six episodes long, is available in a beautiful 2-disc Blu-ray set. Don’t miss one of the best shows of 2010.

CHICAGO – HBO’s “Band of Brothers” has been an annual bestseller around the holiday season, first on DVD and now on Blu-ray, and it seems virtually impossible that their equally-notable “The Pacific,” now on Blu-ray and DVD, would not follow it up the charts and turn out to be one of the most-given HD gifts of the upcoming season.

CHICAGO – AMC has become a major player on the television scene thanks to the multiple awards won by “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad.” As they expanded this year with “Rubicon” and this weekend’s “The Walking Dead,” the question was whether or not the pool would be diluted as it got bigger.

CHICAGO – I must admit to some trepidation about HBO’s WWII mini-series “The Pacific” from producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, debuting tonight, March 14th, 2010 at 8pm CST. Why? Because “Band of Brothers” is the best mini-series of all time and it’s difficult for anyone to pitch a perfect game two starts in a row. I knew it would be good, but doubted it would be great. I was wrong. It’s spectacular.