October 31, 2010: "The Walking Dead" Premieres

October 31, 2010: The Walking Dead premieres on AMC -- appropriately enough, on Halloween Night. It is based on the graphic novel series of the same title, created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore in 2003, and published by Image Comics until 2019.

English actor Andrew Lincoln played Rick Grimes, a Sheriff in Cynthiana, Georgia, who falls into a coma after being wounded in a shootout. Some time later, he awakens to discover that, in his absence, a zombie apocalypse has taken place. He is told his wife Lori and son Carl had been taken to Atlanta for their protection. Carl becomes the leader of a group of survivors, trying to fend off both zombies (known as "walkers") and rival survivor groups, the more evil enemy: Unlike the walkers, who are acting solely on instinct, the other survivors have made choices.

Lincoln left the series during its 9th season, succeeded as group leader by Norman Reedus as hunter Daryl Dixon. But many viewers had already given up on the show by then, saying that the stories had become repetitive. It's inspired several spinoffs featuring individual characters; Fear the Walking Dead, which shows how it all began, but with a separate group of characters; and Talking Dead, a post-show fan-discussion show. The original show's final episode, concluding its 11th season, will air on November 20, 2022.

(UPDATE: The series finale left the fates of both Rick and Michonne Hawthorne, played by Danai Gurira, unclear. On June 18, 2023, another spinoff series began: The Walking Dead: Dead City follows the characters of Maggie Greene, played by Lauren Cohan; and Negan Smith, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, in what remains of New York City. On February 25, 2024, a new series, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, picked up the story of Rick and Michonne.)

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October 31, 2010 was a Sunday. These NFL games were played that Halloween:

* The New York Jets lost to the Green Bay Packers, 9-0 at the New Meadowlands Stadium (now MetLife Stadium). Yes, that's a football score, not baseball.

* The New England Patriots beat the Minnesota Vikings, 28-18 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 20-10 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 22-14 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Washington Redskins, 37-25 at Ford Field in Detroit.

* The St. Louis Rams beat the Carolina Panthers, 20-10 at the Edward Jones Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills, 13-10 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Ryan Succop kicked a 35-yard field goal as time ran out in overtime.

* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Dallas Cowboys, 35-17 at the new Cowboys Stadium (now AT&T Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Arizona Cardinals, 38-35 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Tennessee Titans, 33-25 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Seattle Seahawks, 33-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Denver Broncos, 24-16 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The next night, on Monday Night Football, the Indianapolis Colts beat the Houston Texans, 30-17 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

* And the Atlanta Falcons, the Baltimore Ravens, the Chicago Bears, the Cleveland Browns, the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles had a bye week.

Game 4 of the World Series was played at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium), practically next-door to the new Cowboys Stadium. The San Francisco Giants beat the Texas Rangers, 4-0. Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey hit home runs for the Giants. Madison Bumgarner pitched 8 innings of 3-hit shutout ball. He and Posey were the 1st rookie battery to start a World Series game since 1947, when Frank "Spec" Shea and Yogi Berra did it for the New York Yankees. The Giants took a 3-1 lead in the Series, and won it the next day.

There were no games played in the NHL, but 4 were in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Miami Heat, 101-78 at the Prudential Center in Newark.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 120-99 at the Ford Center (now the Paycom Center) in Oklahoma City.

* And in a doubleheader at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors, 107-83; and the Los Angeles Clippers lost to the Dallas Mavericks, 99-83.