EXCLUSIVE: This is a quite a bombshell — I have learned that Frank Darabont, the creator, executive producer and director of AMC’s smash hit The Walking Dead, is stepping down as showrunner of the series, which is now in production on its upcoming second season. The news is even more surprising given the fact that Darabont was on hand for Walking Dead’s Comic-Con panel just this past Friday alongside fellow executive producers Robert Kirkman, on whose graphic novel the series is based, and Gale Anne Hurd and appeared excited about Season 2. There is speculation that Darabont might be off the show completely, but I hear talks are still ongoing about him possibly staying on in some capacity. Darabont, who spent five years trying to get a TV version of the zombie saga off the ground and wrote and directed the AMC pilot, hails from the feature world, and I hear that he never quite adjusted to the daily grind of producing a TV series. Last December, he considered forgoing a writing staff for Season 2 and assigning scripts to freelancers but ultimately went for the traditional writing staff model recommended by the network and tapped Glen Mazzara as an executive producer and his No. 2. It is unclear if The Shield alum Mazzara, who has showrunning experience, would now step in to run Walking Dead. I hear that the behind-the-scenes turmoil has not affected production on the show, which continues as scheduled. Season 2 of Walking Dead is slated to premiere Oct. 16. In addition to huge ratings, the series has garnered awards recognition for its freshman season, including a best drama series Golden Globe nomination as well as DGA and WGA noms. In a Deadline Emmy Q&A last month, Darabont raved about his transition to television. “In TV, you have to get ideas across in a more economical way,” he said. “But the process is fundamentally the same (as features), just accelerated. There’s no time for second guessing. The wheels are in constant motion. I love that about television. If I’d known how much fun it was, I’d have done it years ago.” 
 
 TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here. ||||| Many of you became hooked on AMC’s rather zombierific The Walking Dead last season and at WhatCulture! we are addicted by the show more than most. Our very own Simon Gallagher has been reminding how awesome it was with his episode by episode retrospective recaps and just last week we heard the second series would premiere two weeks earlier than expected on October 16th, rather than the Halloween weekend when the show debuted last year. 
 
 Things were certainly shaping up well for the new, bigger sized season but shocking and disturbing news comes through the wire today as Deadline are reporting that the genius and mastermind of the show Frank Darabont has decided to step down as show runner and although it’s not explicitly stated, he will probably end his writing/directing/consulting duties too. Talks are desperately on-going at AMC to keep him involved in some way with the show but I think his time looks to be done. 
 
 Now we’ve been following the production trouble of The Walking Dead’s highly anticipated second series quite closely here since last fall, the most worrying sign was when Darabont fired the entire writing staff, and made it known he was going to hire freelance writers to script the 13 episodes of season 2 along with himself and comics creator Robert Kirkman. We reported last year this was because he pretty much wrote or re-wrote the entirety of the first seasons scripts anyway but it turns out AMC didn’t go the freelance route in the end and just made up the scripts from within. But along with the constant battles over money and censorship with the network and the daily grind of producing, writing, directing & making the major decisions on the show, he is probably exhausted and done with it now. 
 
 Plus he’s a film director by choice and is probably getting the itch for the big screen again, his last movie being The Mist in 2007 with Deadline saying “Darabont hails from the feature world and… never quite adjusted to the daily grind of producing a TV series.” 
 
 Then came the revelation back at the end of May that AMC was looking to trim the budget on their hit series, which naturally troubled Darabont. Just the same, he was at Comic Con just the other day promoting season 2 of the series and they even debuted a cracking trailer; 
 
 So things look like thery’re going well, right? Mmmm, maybe not. 
 
 Darabont’s replacement is likely to be The Shield’s Glen Mazzara who previously showran the notoriously awful Crash series at Starz, and was hired as Darabont’s second-in-command for the second series and as it’s probably chaos right now at The Walking Dead offices – he will probably get the promotion rather than hiring from the outside. 
 
 The great horror/drama series focuses on survivors in a post apocalyptic, zombie-infested world. Based on “The Walking Dead” graphic novel, created by Robert Kirkman, the story centers around lawman Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), his wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), his best friend and in his absence, wife’s lover Shane (Jon Bernthal) and a ragtap group of survivors – the cable network’s original series broke records when it premiered last Halloween garnering 5.3 million viewers from the 90 minute pilot. This helped cement AMC’s reputation for quality programming alongside other standouts like “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men”. 
 
 Darabont sounded enthusiastic about the new season and new writers last week saying “The first six episodes, nobody knew what the hell they were dealing with, except me,” and revealed how 6 years ago he unsuccessfully proposed the series to NBC. 
 
 While season 2 begins October 16th after nearly a yearlong wait, it is troubling when there are all these changes made. And it’s also quite peculiar that the show’s creator was at Comic Con just recently hyping his show and talking about his hopes for it’s second season, and then drops out early in it’s production. But hey, at least a lot of his work will go into the second series and then there’ll be a long break before a proposed third season so plenty of time to take a stab back and make the right decision in hiring new faces. In the mean time we look forward to Darabont’s new venture. 
 
 (Article co-written by Matt Holmes)
– Can the Walking Dead survive without its head? Frank Darabont—creator, executive producer, and director of the critically acclaimed AMC hit series—has stepped down as its head honcho, reports Deadline Hollywood. It's unclear whether Darabont will depart the zombie show entirely or remain in another role. Darabont—who made his name directing features like the Shawshank Redemption and the Green Mile—spent five years trying to bring Robert Kirkman's graphic novel to TV. This real-life drama isn't expected to delay the premiere of the second season on Oct. 16. WhatCulture! has more background on the production troubles heading into the second season.