It would be easy to dismiss this apocalyptic zombie drama as a genre show. But Dead's emotional component sliced through viewers' hearts like Michonne's machete. Was there a more powerful scene this year than Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), near death after a gruesome C-section, saying goodbye to her 12-year-old son, Carl (Chandler Riggs)? Only the sock-in-the-gut vignette that followed, when a grim-faced Carl emerged from the room where he'd just shot his mother to ensure she stayed dead. (AMC)