Today brings news of yet another zombie show – five years ago, who would have ever guessed this would ever happen? – getting a pilot, and appropriately, it was one that was previously dead. Babylon Fields is a pilot that was pitched back in 2007/8, way back before The Walking Dead was picked up by AMC, and although it reportedly had good momentum, was never picked up by any network.

The spin on this particular undead story is that yes, the dead inexplicably come back to life, fatal wounds and blown out irises and all, but they’re like their pre-dead selves in every other way. They walk, they talk, and they do not eat living people. The pilot shows the problems caused by their unexpected return, and is similar in that regard to French series The Returned, which A&E is remaking with Carlton Cuse, and ABC’s Resurrection, which premieres March 9.

The pilot was developed by CBS/20th Century Fox and was completely produced, so that, word has it, it became somewhat of an online cult favorite, and starred Ray Stevenson, Jamey Sheridan, Amber Tamblyn and Kathy Baker. In fact, you can watch it right here, right now; we’ve posted it below.

As for today’s news, the word from Deadline who broke it is that the pilot idea has been revived by NBC, with the original writers, Gerald Cuesta and Michael Atkinson, and the original director, Gerald’s brother Michael Cuesta returning to their original roles.

Deadline also reported that, at least in the original treatment, the idea for the season was going to be that the returned would start healing faster and growing stronger than anyone else, leading to the suspicion that they might be the next step in human evolution. Ooo, could be good, kids.

You won’t see that in the original pilot, below, but it’s a pretty good one, with some humor thrown in but never over the top, and definitely worth the time:

We’ll keep you posted on the status of returned-from-the-dead Babylon Fields on NBC.