Did 'The Walking Dead' just kill 'Pan Am'?

The zombie apocalypse was not kind to Wisteria Lane. It showed no mercy to the law offices of Stern, Lockhart &Gardner.

And it just about obliterated those perky Pan-Am flight attendants, sorry, stewardesses.

A look at "Walking Dead's" record-breaking premiere, and what it means for the competition:

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The AMC monster saga's second-season opener averaged a whopping 7.3 million viewers, about the most cable has seen for a drama since the days of Tony Soprano and "The Sopranos."

Among all-important adults 18-49, AMC said, "The Walking Dead" was a basic-cable record-setter. On the night, it outrated every show on broadcast TV, save the zombie-proof Sunday Night Football.

In head-to-flesh competition from 9 to 10:30 p.m., the super-sized episode dropped "Desperate Housewives" to a season low in the demo, bested "The Good Wife," and knocked "Pan Am" below a 2.0 rating.

An even worse sign for "Pan Am"? The struggling retro drama lost even more viewers after "Walking Dead" ended. "Pan Am" wound up as Sunday's lowest-rated broadcast scripted series. On the season, it is the only freshman show that ABC has neither picked up for the full season, nor canceled.

For "The Walking Dead," the performance was a sign that for all the buzz about showrunners, the offseason loss of creator and executive producer Frank Darabont wasn't a buzz-killer.

Then again, zombies are nothing if not resilient.

PHOTOS: Hollywood's Top Monsters—2011 Edition!

Did you watch "Walking Dead" Sunday night? What did you think? Share your thoughts on the Facebook page for our TV blog, The Clicker.