The Walking Wounded: Frank Darabont Talks About Leaving The Walking Dead

Those of us who are fans of AMC’s adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead, and who attended the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, were shocked when, just a few days after the convention, showrunner Frank Darabont was fired from the show, after having been a big part of hyping the show at the con. Not only had Darabont’s involvement in the show been a big selling point for fans of the comic (many of who, like me, didn’t think any TV version of the book could capture the bleak near-hopelessness that the story sometimes carried), but giving Darabont the ick right after trotting him out to hype the show in Hall H just seemed crass. And sure, AMC and the production and Darabont himself all said at the time that the split was mutual, but the timing felt less like someone pursuing his future endeavors and more like some party threw some cash on Darabont’s nightstand and told him to clean himself up and watch so the door didn’t hit him on the ass on the way out.

But again, everyone, including Darabont, said at the time that the split was mutual… but that was 28 months ago. Now, The Walking Dead is on its fourth season and third showrunner, Darabont is getting ready to debut Mob City, a new crime show on TNT debuting in December, so… no hard feelings, right?

Yeah, not so much.