spainlinx0

Wow Sutter's comments were pretty brutal. That was fun to read.

pelenor

Taking the Showrunner job on "The Walking Dead" is as sure as a job death knell as taking the job of Defense against the Dark Arts teacher position at Hogwarts.

chowderhead

TWD is probably so big now it *should* survive these internal changes due to momentum. However, the point that Ryan was making is that AMC's cheapskate nature i.e. cutting budgets to give to low rated MadMen, firing showrunners, etc will affect future shows. Producers with new shows to pitch may go to other networks that will support them over AMC and that is a good thing.

PhantomStranger

AMC is now going to have overpay top-notch creative talent to run their shows. Their status in Hollywood has been trashed again and again by everyone that works for them.

Abob Teff

Don't you pay any attention? Even if it dies, slowly or quicky, it will just come back!

Abob Teff

Wow ... three pages in and nobody has figured out that Kirkman will be the next showrunner?

I'm not saying it's a good choice ... I'm saying it's pretty damned obvious.

Dragon Tattoo

Not really. Kirkman has his hands full getting the comic out on time. I doubt he has time to become a full-time showrunner.

DJariya

You need someone experienced in TV to be a show runner. Kirkman doesn't have the day to day experience. It's a grueling job with tight deadlines.

bluetoast

Besides, as we know, it's a volatile position, and it would be better for all parties if he were in a stable role on the show, being the creator of the damn thing.

RocShemp

Not if they aim for the head. Always aim for the head, man.

Navinabob

Of the best I can think of who are unattached to other projects, I'd pick between: Kevin Falls, J. Michael Straczynski, and Kyle Killen.

JMS is writing comics right now so I'm not sure he could do it. Anyways... Its a fun game to guess

Supermallet

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Outside of the pilot, season three is the only Walking Dead content that actually feels like The Walking Dead. I can't even tell what AMC wants at this point. Darabont was too slow, so Mazzara steps things up...do they want it to be slow again? Is he killing too many leads? This is the fucking Walking Dead, for christ's sake. Leads should be dying! If they don't, then there's no real danger. No real danger, no interest. It's sad that The Vampire Diaries takes more chances than The Walking Dead.

Also, I don't care if Kirkman is an asshole, The Walking Dead is one of the best comics being published right now, and Thief of Thieves is pretty damn good, too.

Navinabob

The gossip I heard was he wanted them out of the prison at the end of the season and AMC wanted them there for one more. I'm guessing it was to cut costs since they already have the sets and interior shots costs much less to produce then outside ones. It sounds plausible, but who really knows for sure unless they start talking about it?

Michael Corvin

I'm just now going through the comics (I'm just after them leaving the prison) and I'm amazed at how brief the show stayed at the prison. It seems like they could have stretched this locale for an entire season or more based on how long they were there in the comic.

bluetoast

But they're still at the prison in the show.

GreenMonkey

JMS has a show with the Wachowskis (Sense 8) that was picked up to Series last month.

http://www.facebook.com/StudioJms/posts/427501543969679

and a pandemic show in development:

http://www.deadline.com/2012/08/abc-...andemic-drama/

He's my favorite TV guy (Babylon 5 being my favorite show) and he can handle a cast, and he's got comic book background...but my sense is right now he's got enough movie scripts and TV shows in development to keep him busy.

And he definitely likes creative control...from the above, it doesn't sound like AMC is playing nice with regards to showrunner creative control on The Walking Dead.

mhanlen1

This.

I finally got my girlfriend to watch the pilot, and she became addicted. So I basically rewatched the entire series in about two weeks. It's not a popular opinion, but I also like the second season. There's a lot of slow-burning tension, and I found myself missing some of the departed characters this season. I don't much care for Michonne up until this point, and I prefer Shane as a villain more so than the governor. The sections that take place in Woodbury drag a bit especially because there isn't any person to like or hate. The prison stuff is always good, but I sure hope the governor ups the asshole-ante because so far Shane was much more compelling. Maybe because David Morrissey doesn't quite have the range Jon Bernthal does?

RocShemp

I've yet to watch season 3 but did watch seasons 1 and 2 back-to-back on BD and enjoyed season 2 a great deal. I actually enjoyed the slower pace (though it didn't feel all that slow at all). However, I can imagine it might have been a chore waiting a week between each episode.

Draven

I too enjoyed Season 2. I still don't understand the complaint that they spent too much time on the farm. I wouldn't have left there doing the zombie apocalypse, that's for sure.

I'm too lazy to look up who this would be, but my guess is that they'll simply promote someone from within to run the show. They've canned too many showrunners to get anyone interesting in there. It'll be someone who already works on it.

Rob V

Season 3.1 is head and shoulders better than either S1 or S2.

Matthew Chmiel

Disagree about S1, completely agree about S2.

With the exception of the gang members with hearts of gold episode, season one balanced action, character development, and plot/story progression quite well whereas season two was a complete mess. It felt more like a work in progress than anything else.

Season three has been a complete step up since the debacle of last season, but there have been episodes where either of two major plots have brought down the entire episode.

Supermallet

Other than the pilot, the writing in S1 was abysmal. Season 3 is the first time that The Walking Dead felt like a real TV show.

PhantomStranger

Yep, season three is the only season that feels like a well-oiled television machine. The first season is nothing more than a mini-series and the second season was interminably slow for anyone that watched it as it was broadcast. People need to realize that watching something on DVD or Blu-ray in the matter of a few days is not the same experience as watching from week to week.

Dragon Tattoo

Agreed. I tolerated this show in S1 and 2 for the zombies. S3 is the only one that's felt like it could come close to competing with other shows of actual quality.

MBoyd

S3 has felt like the comic. I was very disappointed in the other two seasons. There's a wide range of opinions on this show here at DVDtalk. Lots of folks not familiar with the comics. I'd guess they could put some ABC Family sitcom show runner in the position and the show would be a hit with the general public for at least another season and a half if not two.