[Vince Ferrer]

In TWD, the zombies DO eventually die if they don’t feed, just slower than we would. I remember someone saying that this last season.

It was the governor's nerdy assistant, who was talking about Michonne's amputated pack animal zombies.

Most zombie movies don't cover this much time. In Romero's movies like Night of the Living Dead, the film takes place over a night, and by morning, humans have the upper hand and are wiping out the zombies. The longer the Walking Dead goes on, the more these details become an issue that is hard to deal with or explain.

Because Carl is in the group, a lot of compromises have to be made that exaggerate the issue as well. The actor is in the age where he is growing by leaps and bounds, and they can't hide that and keep him the same age.

For instance at the end of season two, they are camping right next to the prison, but don't see it. Then in the first episode of season three, they reveal that they have been going around in circles all winter, and finally find the prison back where they ended last season. The only reason they went around in circles for a whole winter is to account for the aging of Carl.

So because of the necessity to account for Carl, they have to find an explanation for very long surviving zombies. Otherwise, if it was just the older actors, they could have compressed all of the three seasons so far into a few months after the outbreak.

[boatbums]

Lori's pregnancy, too. When season three starts, they have spent the winter going from house to house across neighborhoods, so they didn't spend the whole winter out in the elements eating bugs - though when Carl finds a can of dog food and starts to eat it, Rick says it's time to move on again. Then, on a scouting trip, Rick spots the prison. All those cars with nobody in them, made me wonder why they didn't pick something that could get everyone out...but then the series would be over. ;o)

[miliantnutcase]

The comic takes place over a couple years just like the show. The zombies don’t die they just slow to a state of suspended animation to conserve themselves.