Zombie Attack on " The Walking Dead Set"
Fearing a zombie attack onto their offices, AMC’s president Charlie Collier and head of programming Joel Stillerman raced to the set of The Walking Dead in Atlanta to meet with a disgruntled cast and crew. Patience was running thin and tempers were flaring, and it wasn’t because of the heat (though I’m sure that didn’t help), it was because of the news that showrunner, writer and executive producer Frank Darabont was fired just days after his public appearance at Comic-Con in July.
The Hollywood Reporter has been investigating the story and created a stir this week when they released this story that detailed what really happened in Darabont’s abrupt departure from the show. Now this follow-up story by THR seems like a feeble attempt by the execs to maintain damage control and prevent a production of malcontents from ruining what remains of the eagerly-anticipated second season of The Walking Dead. A source said that some on the production have been calling for Collier or another AMC exec to “own up to this” adding their displeasure of delaying such a meeting. Collier and Stillerman flew out Thursday morning and came back the same day.
I’ve been following this fiasco from afar, trying to gather some rational thoughts and not let my inner-zombie run wild. But when you compound this with all of the troubles AMC has had in negotiating new deals for Mad Men and Breaking Bad, this latest move shows that the paranoia about the future of The Walking Dead is warranted.
It’s become knowledge that Mad Men and Breaking Bad, both excellent shows that have brought the network Emmy acclaim and attention for smart and edgy original programming only brings in 2.3 million and 4.3 million viewers respectively. The Walking Dead season one finale brought in more than 6 million viewers, yet because of the rising cost of both Mad Men and Breaking Bad negotiating deals for fifth season The Walking Dead season two budget was cut, roughly given a similar budget to its first season despite being expanded from six eps to 13. Throwing gasoline on the fire were the leaks of notes from the studios suggesting cost-saving ideas like reducing the amount of scenes with zombies (to be heard not seen) and film more scenes inside to reduce the limitations of outdoor shoots.
Those suggestions wouldn’t normally surprise me, especially coming from a studio, but it’s clear this bunch is clueless when it comes to understanding what makes The Walking Dead tick. Why not just remake the Blair Witch Project while you’re at it AMC, and slap the The Walking Dead intro because that’s basically what you’re suggesting.
Adding to the complexities of AMC’s problems is that they were sharing the cost on MM and BB with parent studios but those agreements change when shows go into their fifth season of production where the network bears more if not all the costs. The Walking Dead and all of its costs is 100% AMC’s to bear. The same goes for The Killing.
With respect to Glen Mazzara who was promoted to showrunner after the firing, the fear from the cast and crew proves that their trust was given to Darabont, and with his departure so too has the confidence left from the production. There’s no word yet on what Collier and Stillerman said to cast and crew, and whether or not if it made a difference, positive or negative. For everyone’s sake, it had better been good.
There’s no hope of luring back Darabont or having him consult since it appears he’s already moved on to his next project, a hour-long television drama interestingly enough. Let’s hope that AMC pulls it together because we’re fans of all of their television shows, but no one show should be benefitting over the other especially when the numbers speak for The Walking Dead. It’s rare that well-crafted shows on cable get both critical and commercial acclaim; it would be foolish for AMC to destroy this rare opportunity and wipe out the strong foundation that’s been built prior.
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