AMC has announced that it will air a special "black-and-white" version of The Walking Dead pilot as a tribute to Robert Kirkman’s comic book series, which is published in black-and-white.  The B&W pilot, which was included as an extra on the First Season Special Edition DVD release but never broadcast, will air at the conclusion of a two-day marathon during which all 19 episodes of the zombie series will be broadcast.

The marathon will conclude on Sunday night July 9th with a one-two punch.  First at 9pm (ET, PT) AMC will air a special primetime episode of Talking Dead, which will include a scene from season three, cast interviews, and a tour of the new season three sets (including the prison, see "'The Walking Dead' Season 3 Video").  Then at 10pm comes the black-and-white pilot episode in which The Walking Dead pays homage not just to the comic book, but also to those great B&W zombie movies like George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead.

Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick will also introduce each episode in the marathon, and every episode will have some accompanying content like behind-the-scenes footage or interviews that have not been seen before so fans of the series might want to set the DVRs.