The management of AMC’s hit show ‘The Walking Dead’ has been changed more times than there has been complete seasons of the show. First, it was Frank Darabont who left the show during the second season. Now, it’s Glen Mazzara who will be stepping down to make room for supervising producer Scott Gimple to take over as showrunner for the next season. The reason given for both departures was creative differences, but we don’t know much more than that. However, it appears that Mazzara doesn’t know more than that either.

According to Deadline, Mazarra appeared on a National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) panel with ‘Lost’ co-creator/showrunner Damon Lindelof and spoke about his departure from the zombie series based on the Image comics of Robert Kirkman. From the sounds of it, he wasn’t really given a straight answer from his superiors:

“When people involved with the show are looking at the long-term plan, you know, they want something different. And what those differences are, you’d have to ask AMC. I was a hired gun coming in to support the creator of the show and, through odd circumstances, I ended up becoming the showrunner. I was just glad that I was able to contribute and not mess up the show, I see that as a win.”

Some reports noted that Kirkman, who acts as an executive producer on the show, might have been influential in the decision to relieve Mazarra of his duties. Though he didn’t name names, the former showrunner briefly mentioned the conflict:

“When you are the creator you can say this is what the show is. I didn’t create the show, I didn’t create the comic book so I was just glad I was able to contribute.”

Though preparations are already being made for Gimple to take over the post, Mazarra isn’t done just yet. We still have the rest of season three to get through before his duties are completely fulfilled.

What’s your take on this whole showrunner situation with ‘The Walking Dead’? Do you think Robert Kirkman is more involved in all of this than we may think? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

‘The Walking Dead’ returns on February 10th at 9/8c on AMC with a new episode titled ‘The Suicide King’.