Just after July’s ‘The Walking Dead’ Comic Con panel, AMC announced that showrunner Frank Darabont was out and second-in-command Glen Mazzara was now in charge.
The network didn’t cite any specific reason behind his exit, but now it appears Darabont was fired, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Production for the 13 episode second season started in June and apparently ran into trouble when a director turned in unusable footage. AMC executives then went to Comic Con where Darabont participated in the shows’ panel and then apparently fired him once he was done hyping the show.
AMC’s Ben Davis met with the cast and crew to let them know about firing Darabont but was vague as to the reason. Davis said, “this isn’t working.” And apparently that was it.
Since the firing, the cast and crew have been suspiciously silent about Darabont. It seems that some are worried about repercussions if they say anything to the media. A knowledgeable source has claimed that AMC has been “terrorizing” them and their agents to keep them quiet. Another insider stated, “they’re scared, they’re on a zombie show. They are all really easy to kill off.”
Unfortunately for AMC, they are now getting a bad reputation for dealing with a hot show. ‘The Walking Dead’ makes 3 for 3 when having bad blood between the network and a hit series. Recent problems with AMC’s hit shows ‘Mad Men’ and ‘Breaking Bad’ have surfaced and affected their network’s image for series creators. We will have to wait and see how this plays out.
The second season of ‘The Walking Dead’ will premiere on October 16, 2011.
