"The Walking Dead" - Frank Darabont, AMC (1 Viewer)

[cineMANIAC]

Darabont reportedly couldn't handle the television series format and burned out. I'm not concerned about it - the show may have been his baby but he only directed the pilot. His role was largely as executive producer: making decisions, hiring writers, just hanging back really. I doubt he'll be completely out of the picture, though. He's got some clout - enough to be able to throw hissy fits, walk off and come back when he calms down.

 

[joshEH]

Maybe, in the wake of the Bag of Bones announcement, he decided it was finally time for someone to take Mick Garris down. I don't really buy the "workload-was-too-big" stuff. After being more or less hands-off for the first season, he pretty much got rid of half of the writing staff, and stepped up his role for the second. Then, a month-and-a-half after shooting starts, he suddenly decides that this passion-project he's been pushing for years is just too much, and steps back down? We're not talking about some dude straight out of film school that gets overwhelmed. Darabont probably knows his shit. Anyway, AMC should give this to Veena Sud as a reward for The Killing.

 

[joshEH]

According to TV Line, Darabont was fired. Strange things afoot at AMC.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Well-written, well-researched piece from the Hollywood Reporter on the Darabont situation It uses more anonymous sources than I'd like, but it's definitely the most substantial look at the situation we've gotten so far. It sounds like AMC pulled the same ballbusting shit they tried on Matthew Weiner and Vince Gilligan, but Frank didn't have a production studio in his corner the way they did.

 

[TravisR]

Maybe I'm reading between the lines too much but I think it's pretty obvious that AMC's current problems are due to spending so much on Mad Men. While I love Mad Men, it seems pretty stupid to give MM everything and then try to compensate for that by slashing the budgets (Darabont's paycheck and attempting to cut Breaking Bad by 1/3 or 1/2 means a huge savings for AMC) on all their other shows.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

Check out this extended trailer for season two courtesy of Darkhorizons.com


http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/21468/extended-walking-dead-season-two-promo

 

[joshEH]

Maybe I'm reading between the lines too much but I think it's pretty obvious that AMC's current problems are due to spending so much on Mad Men. While I love Mad Men, it seems pretty stupid to give MM everything and then try to compensate for that by slashing the budgets (Darabont's paycheck and attempting to cut Breaking Bad by 1/3 or 1/2 means a huge savings for AMC) on all their other shows.

Kurt Sutter agrees with this. Also, let's not forget that AMC recently went public. Shareholder demands frequently tend to fuck up art.

 

[mattCR]

It's hard to blame Mad Men though. It's not Mad Men's 'fault'. As a show, they did what all shows do: they throw out the budget they want and they argue with the network to get it. AMC agreed. If AMC made a bad deal, it's AMC's fault, not Mad Men's fault.


I've seen Ken Sutter's argument and frankly it's garbage. Breaking Bad gets lower ratings then Mad Men and it's key audience isn't nearly as lucrative. You won't see Rolex put an ad on during Breaking Bad, etc.

These are shows that have fairly low ratings and they have to rely on what audience gets attracted. AMC is producing "Walking Dead" all on their own, while Mad Men comes to them from a studio. That studio is going to promo the hell out of them and help get them carried on more cable companies. That is worth it's weight in gold. AMC is producing and airing Walking Dead. So there isn't an outside engine throwing money and advertising support at it.


Those things matter.


And the most horrible thing is the most obvious: if AMC cut the budget to next to nothing, it's a zombie show, people would still tune in and watch.


If AMC cut the budget of Mad Men and January Jones or Jon Hamm, Christina Hendrix, Vincent Kartheiser, Elisabeth Moss can I go on? Then the show would drop off seriously in viewership.

 

[TravisR]

Kurt Sutter agrees with this.

If it's good enough for SAMCRO, it's good enough for me.

It's hard to blame Mad Men though. It's not Mad Men's 'fault'. As a show, they did what all shows do: they throw out the budget they want and they argue with the network to get it. AMC agreed. If AMC made a bad deal, it's AMC's fault, not Mad Men's fault.


I've seen Ken Sutter's argument and frankly it's garbage.

Based on that article, it seems obvious to me that he's not blaming Matt Weiner directly but is essentially blaming AMC for making a deal with him that damages their other shows. EDIT: Looking at his Twitter feed, he said a few hours ago "this not me vs. matt. the issue is that amc should not have made a deal that compromised their other shows to appease his $$ demands. it was bad business." and "the blogosphere is getting so lazy. c'mon kids, make an attempt to see the point."

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The flip side is that AMC gets all of the profits from "Walking Dead", whereas it doesn't from "Mad Men" -- and roughly double the number of viewers per episode. "Walking Dead" is also at the beginning of its run, whereas "Mad Man" is a couple seasons away from the end of its run. If they had to circle the wagons around one show, it should have been "Walking Dead." Losing "Mad Men" would have cost them prestige, but its loss wouldn't hurt them like losing "Walking Dead" would.

 

[mattCR]

I think what's funny is that Weiner getting $3M an ep is making people lose their mind about how it's squeezing AMC. Charlie Sheen was making $2M on his own per episode for "2.5 Men". An ensemble drama at $3M? It's not the most ridiculous figure ever. If AMC finds themselves desperately cashed strapped due to it, then they have other issues.

 

[TravisR]

I think what's funny is that Weiner getting $3M an ep is making people lose their mind about how it's squeezing AMC. Charlie Sheen was making $2M on his own per episode for "2.5 Men". An ensemble drama at $3M? It's not the most ridiculous figure ever. If AMC finds themselves desperately cashed strapped due to it, then they have other issues.

$3 million an episode is huge for basic cable.

 

[EricSchulz]

Just finished watching Season One on DVD. Absolutely riveting! The public library has the TPB for checkout, but I'm thin king it's gonna be a long wait before I get my hands on it!