How this could have worked

Ok, lets imagine, they come to YOU with the idea for this show.
The basics are there; zombies, bunch of people, abandoned mall.
But it is up to you to make this actually work and not a total failure like the show some of us unfortunately have seen.

What would you do?

I'd go back to the ultimate inspiration for this thing; Dawn of the dead.
One of the tricks the production team missed out on is having a nice full mall in stead of an abandoned one.
Because I think everyone has had that fantasy of what you'd do if you were all alone in full shop and no one around to tell you what to do.

So, the people arrive at the mall, it is a great place, at first sight but of course has lots of big windows and glass doors.
First goal is to block them, use the trucks outside, find a way to close the shutters, etc.
Then they have to clear the mall of zombies already there.

Now the place is safe they need to stock up and settle in.
Free shopping spree, sleeping in the bedding department, etc.
Up to now all of the show is just about survival, the personal stories are just extra, not that important, not something we have to listen to for ages.

The important bit is that it does NOT become predictable.
In 'I survived a zombie apocalypse' after 2 episodes you can pretty much guess what every episode will be like and one more episode and you know the rest of the show.
And some viewers will have reached that stage much sooner.

In my version you'd never know what to expect next.

For instance, I'd make one of the participants go in already infected, he or she will have a bite mark they will have to keep hidden from the rest.
There will be breaches when zombies manage to enter the mall, perhaps even making entire wings no-go areas, making it very important if the participants just had a party or if they actually looted and grabbed everything useful from that wing before it got over run.
Or maybe they lose the furniture store... with all the beds.
And the mall could be attacked by other looters, who of course, when they leave with lots of good stuff, leave the doors open...
I'd let them bring their mobile phones, even access to internet on the mall's office computers so they can skype and email home...
And then when they need that contact with their loved ones the most... it gets shut down and replaced by an emergency broadcast.
And how about the electricity is shut off, will they use batteries or properly set up a solar panel on the roof?
How do they survive when things slowly get worse and worse.
THAT is the interesting part of this series, not, with all due respect, if one of the participants has a tattoo, was divorced, has certain political views, etc.

Anyway, the series is about survival, human ingenuity, and managing against all odds.
Don't risk your life for some pillows... but for food, water and love.

This group of people will start out having lots of fun trying to lure zombies out of the mall and feeling rich because they can run around and have so much stuff, food, etc.
It should end with a few of them having lost access to all of the building, stuck in a small storage room on the roof, with zombies banging on the door, while they eat their last food, drink their last water and then wait desperately for that helicopter someone said would come... but does it?

Oh and no stupid 'funny' presenter cutscenes, no 'hilarious' government information films.
How about some serious stuff?
How about we treat all this as a real event.
Show the viewer how the government would really respond to something like this such as a virus outbreak.
Realistic emergency broadcasts, etc.

What would you do differently?