Think of it like Lost only in that the first episode draws you in so well and gets you wanting more. From there, the two diverge. TWD wants you to care about the characters and their plight but it's written so poorly that they all come off as fairly one dimensional and uninteresting. Lost achieved the opposite obviously, and flourished for most of it's run. TWD shows a lot of promise, especially if they can bring it back to the source material more closely. Honestly, I'd hold off on watching it until the second season has aired because if it improves that's great but if it dives further then you'd just be setting yourself for disappointment.
But watch it if you want. The pilot is honestly one of the best pilots ever.
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Winter is coming