"The Walking Dead" - Frank Darabont, AMC - Page 9

I think that if it were carried by insects mankind might as well just pack it in because we'd be pretty thoroughly screwed.

If anyone is in the Atlanta area this weekend, a lot of the "walkers" will be at the Wizard World Atlanta show 12/4/2010-12/5/2010 at the Cobb Galleria centre.

http://www.wizardworld.com/home-atlanta.html

In this "world" I guess contact with the blood of the walkers doesn't infect you, but a bite does. Is this true? The Living sure do get a lot of blood splatter on themselves. I would think that could cause infections as well. I thought in the first few episodes they made it sound like they couldn't touch the blood. But then we see them use a bat to kill the walkers, getting splattered themselves... This doesn't make sense to me.

According to Deadline Hollywood, Frank Darabont has just fired the entire Walking Dead writing staff, which has already been renewed for a second season. That includes Darabont's No. 2, writing executive producer Charles "Chick" Eglee.

Writer turnover on series between seasons is commonplace, but wholesale overhauls are pretty unusual. What's more, it's being reported now that Darabont is looking to forgo having a writing staff for the second season of The Walking Dead altogether, and simply assign scripts to freelancers.

Darabont (who hails from the feature world) ended up writing two of the first season's six episodes credited -- the pilot and the second episode -- and co-writing/rewriting the other four uncredited. Two of those four were written by non-staff writers; one by executive producer Robert Kirkman, and one by Glen Mazzara.

Interesting to have confirmed that Darabont is such a strong driving force behind the show, and not just cashing in a paycheck. Since his involvement and his alone was the main reason for my interest in this, him being that much more hands-on in the second season is actually quite good news.

Not sure about the freelancer model, though -- aren't there any good showrunners available? I hear Bryan Fuller's looking for work...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott-S 

In this "world" I guess contact with the blood of the walkers doesn't infect you, but a bite does. Is this true? The Living sure do get a lot of blood splatter on themselves. I would think that could cause infections as well. I thought in the first few episodes they made it sound like they couldn't touch the blood. But then we see them use a bat to kill the walkers, getting splattered themselves... This doesn't make sense to me.

 

 

I imagine it's a bit like AIDS - sure, touch the infected blood all you want, but if you have an open wound, youre boned. A scratch, a drop in the eye, any means of transmitting fluid from the host would do the job.

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshEH 

According to Deadline Hollywood, Frank Darabont has just fired the entire Walking Dead writing staff, which has already been renewed for a second season.

If (and that's the key word) Frank Darabont thinks he can write/rewrite 13 episodes essentially solo in addition to his duties as executive producer, he's either fucking crazy or the biggest egomaniac alive.

Well from what it said he's planning to hire outside talent so I don't think he plans to write the eps himself.

He's one crazy son of a bitch nonetheless lol.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TravisR 

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshEH 

According to Deadline Hollywood, Frank Darabont has just fired the entire Walking Dead writing staff, which has already been renewed for a second season.

If (and that's the key word) Frank Darabont thinks he can write/rewrite 13 episodes essentially solo in addition to his duties as executive producer, he's either fucking crazy or the biggest egomaniac alive.

Or both. Which, in a sense, would be awesome.

And if it remains like this, that's great, but it's unusual in Hollywood for big directors doing TV to remain this hands-on, because sooner or later they'll be deep in production on something else big-screen-related. That said, Darabont seems to be absolutely in love with the show on every level, and has his hands in everything as it is, so I don't think he'll mind being the showrunner. Plenty of time in the future for other movies.

I'm sure Season 2 will still have more than its fair share of, "Hey, who's that moanin' around outside the tent? Wife? Is that you? Aw, dammit, wife! Quit pawin' around and get in here! Hold on while I open the tent flap with the soft part of my neck."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inspector Hammer! 

Well from what it said he's planning to hire outside talent so I don't think he plans to write the eps himself.

 

He's one crazy son of a bitch nonetheless lol.

Darabont said he's going to be meeting with Kirkman over the break to create an entire series-wide arc, as well as a likely ending for the series. Presumably, these freelancers are just going to be writing around that arc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshEH 

 

 

Or both. Which, in a sense, would be awesome. 

Yeah, I've certainly enjoyed what he's done so far and it's a ballsy move to take on that much work but he better have a highly trusted team of people at every level of production because if he's writing or rewriting every episode, that's where he'll be forced to spend the bulk of his energy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TravisR 
If (and that's the key word) Frank Darabont thinks he can write/rewrite 13 episodes essentially solo in addition to his duties as executive producer, he's either fucking crazy or the biggest egomaniac alive.

Eh, RTD did it for five years on Doctor Who (a show that has to nave a lot more going on behind the scenes, I'd wager) and Steven Moffet seems to be handling the task just as well. So it could be done.

^ I could be wrong but I believe that in English TV production, the scripts are generally written before they begin shooting and Darabont wouldn't have that luxury. I don't know who RDT is but if he was able to write or rewrite all the episodes of a TV season while simultaneously producing, editing, directing, casting, scoring, sound mixing and generally overseeing the entire production, that's an incredible accomplishment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony J Case 

I imagine it's a bit like AIDS - sure, touch the infected blood all you want, but if you have an open wound, youre boned. A scratch, a drop in the eye, any means of transmitting fluid from the host would do the job.

This is my understanding too. The virus (or whatever it is), essentially operates like a venereal disease, except that for obvious reasons blood to blood contact is far more common than other body fluids for transmission.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshEH 

Not sure about the freelancer model, though -- aren't there any good showrunners available? I hear Bryan Fuller's looking for work...

Darabont is the showrunner. That holds true whether he has a full time writing staff working under him or not. A creative force like Bryan Fuller is the last thing the show needs, because then you have these two conflicting visions grappling with each other. This is Darabont and Kirkman's kingdom, and any and all other writers have to color within the lines Darabont and Kirkman have drawn for them.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshEH 

 

And if it remains like this, that's great, but it's unusual in Hollywood for big directors doing TV to remain this hands-on, because sooner or later they'll be deep in production on something else big-screen-related. That said, Darabont seems to be absolutely in love with the show on every level, and has his hands in everything as it is, so I don't think he'll mind being the showrunner. Plenty of time in the future for other movies.

Yeah, I think when he took this project on he had no intention of being a Steven Spielberg kind of vanity producer. I can't imagine any other scenario than him looking to this as a full-time job. We've got to keep in mind that he was a series writer before, scripting several episodes of the "Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" for George Lucas. Besides, he's had a few disillusioning experiences with Hollywood in recent years, that probably make television -- a medium where the writer is god -- seem especially attractive.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by TravisR 

Yeah, I've certainly enjoyed what he's done so far and it's a ballsy move to take on that much work but he better have a highly trusted team of people at every level of production because if he's writing or rewriting every episode, that's where he'll be forced to spend the bulk of his energy.

I can't imagine he'll be writing every episode, though as showrunner he probably has (and will continue to) rewrite every episode that comes down the pipe. I read an interview with the girl who plays Sophia, and in it she mentioned that she's only met Darabont once because she came onto the show in episode three, after the pilot he directed. This tells me that after the pilot, Darabont has pretty much trusted his production team on location, and he's slipped into a fairly traditional showrunner role.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony J Case 

Eh, RTD did it for five years on Doctor Who (a show that has to nave a lot more going on behind the scenes, I'd wager) and Steven Moffet seems to be handling the task just as well. So it could be done.

While both Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat have written an insane number of episodes for "Who", they leaned heavily on freelancers for episodes too. Which is what I'm sure Darabont will do as well. It seems like more of a union wage issue to me; obviously the WGA wants a full writing staff for all shows since that's where the money is. Obviously AMC (and all channels) want to keep their overhead as low as possible.

What you lose creatively by dumping a writing staff is that echo chamber to bounce ideas around. But from the sound of things, most of the creative back and forth was confined to between Darabont and Kirkman anyhow. If they sit down and map out the season in detail, they can hire decent one-off writers to flesh episodes out to full scripts as needed.

I could be wrong, but I think you're getting more from that article than was said in it. Let's focus on what was said:

1) The current writing staff was fired (this says nothing about editing, directing, casting, scoring, sound mixing, etc.)

2) Freelance writers will be used for Season 2

I don't see how that's a significant amount of extra work. In fact, I see some ways where it could be less work because it sounds like as things were for Season 1, he ended up going back and redoing significant portions of the work the writing staff came up with. Somehow, I think it's also possible you end up with people who have a bit more passion about getting the job and telling the story.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikah Cerucco 

1) The current writing staff was fired (this says nothing about editing, directing, casting, scoring, sound mixing, etc.)

2) Freelance writers will be used for Season 2

 

I don't see how that's a significant amount of extra work.

 

I realize that only the writers were canned but Darabont still oversees all facets of the show as the showrunner. If (and that's still the key word) he adds becoming the only regular writer on the show into the mix, I don't know how that wouldn't result in more work for him. Freelance writers probably aren't going to know the material or what Darabont wants from it as well as a staff of writers who live and breath with the show and Darabont's tastes all day for months at a time so most likely there will be more work needed to be done on scripts than would be needed with a writing staff.

"If (and that's the key word) Frank Darabont thinks he can write/rewrite 13 episodes essentially solo in addition to his duties as executive producer, he's either fucking crazy or the biggest egomaniac alive."

The creators of The Tudors, The Wire and Brotherhood wrote a significant amount of episodes for those shows.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonZ 

"If (and that's the key word) Frank Darabont thinks he can write/rewrite 13 episodes essentially solo in addition to his duties as executive producer, he's either fucking crazy or the biggest egomaniac alive."

 

The creators of The Tudors, The Wire and Brotherhood wrote a significant amount of episodes for those shows.

I don't know about The Tudors or Brotherhood but The Wire had a core writing staff mostly consisting of novelists or journalists so it wasn't one guy and freelancers doing all the scripts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshEH 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucia Duran 

Not sure if someone already mentioned this or not...... WHAT ABOUT THE GRENADE? This has been driving me crazy! Rick gets the grenade from the soldier in the tank and we never see it again. Is he hiding it away for a special moment?

Hah, you beat me to it, Lucia. Was just about to ask the same thing myself in one of my next posts. Still, I'll be a lot more bothered by a lack of payoff for the grenade than not addressing the tin cans.

 

At least with the shot of the cans, you can argue that the setup achieves something even without a payoff -- establishing a false sense of security in the viewer, or demonstrating the (ultimately futile?) rules and survival strategies of the camp -- but the grenade is worse, because there's currently NO other reason for them to show Rick finding it.

 

That said, I reeeaally think the grenade will come into play at some point. I'll be shocked if it doesn't.

 

Still, if the grenade doesn't come get used in the finale, I'm going to be full of violent nerd-rage. You can't dangle the possibility of a bunch of zombies being blown into Campbell's Chunky Soup in front of my face and then take it away; that's just mean. Damn you, Darabont! Satisfy my blood lust!!

I hear ya! I will be beyond ticked off if nothing comes of that grenade.  Was just listening to DEAD CHATTER PODCAST and they mentioned it as well. Seems other people are wondering the same thing I was.....

Maybe, just maybe, Rick will learn of Shane banging his wife and then lead him out into the woods where he will proceed to pull the pin and shove it up his...... well you get the idea!
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt 

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshEH 

Not sure about the freelancer model, though -- aren't there any good showrunners available? I hear Bryan Fuller's looking for work...

Darabont is the showrunner. That holds true whether he has a full time writing staff working under him or not. A creative force like Bryan Fuller is the last thing the show needs, because then you have these two conflicting visions grappling with each other. This is Darabont and Kirkman's kingdom, and any and all other writers have to color within the lines Darabont and Kirkman have drawn for them.

Actually, there I was referring to more of a line-producing co-showrunner to replace Eglee -- i.e., someone who presumably wouldn't interfere 100% with Darabont's vision -- but that's basically what I was getting at, yeah. Granted, he already has Gale Hurd onboard, but she's more of a nuts-and-bolts manager/producer overall. (The Fuller-thing was thrown in there mostly as a joke.)

Episode 2.6 - "The Maine Attraction" (Writer: Stephen King)

Rick and the gang arrive in Maine, where they discover Mrs. Marmody, a woman who may be a prophet of God. Meanwhile, zombies from what remains of the local circus cause trouble for the group -- and a funny, undead clown stalks Glenn through the streets. As Rick ponders whether Mrs. Marmody may be a danger, as she begins talking about sacrificing members of the group to appease God, Shane begins to notice the disturbing graffiti found everywhere. Just who is "The Crimson King"? Also, some more zombies attack people somewhere.

Not to derail the thread but....that....was....awesome!!  HAHAHA!  It really felt like a plot summary for a Stephen King episode.

To keep this on track, if they can pull it off like Doctor Who can then I'm all for a new writer of the week.

JMS on B5?

So, my wife told me the writing staff for this show was fired? I have not Googled this info yet, cause i thought i would find out the scoop here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg_S_H

Go up to post 244 on this page. I'd recap for ya, but I took some medicine and have a brain cloud right now.

LOL, done. Thanks for the post number. I guess when i went to "first unread post", it really wasn't the first unread post!

Glad this was not the result of some AMC network guy. Hey, if the guy running the show doesn't like how the team is working, and he is redoing their work anyway...cut 'em lose!

PS hope you get to feeling better Greg!

Only in Hollywood can you get pink slipped for helping create a hit show. What a screwy town!

Awkwardness could ensue if there are some emmy nominations later on.

ok before i get flamesprayed,  yes writing 13 ep plus producing, is a lot but not impossible, also with Darabounts talent for adaptation, it might come more inline with the graphic  version, also fresh perspective, this could really become a bigger showcase than it already its

That finale was fuckin' epic!

What a choice to be faced with, either die a quick death or keep hope alive and MAYBE survive what the world has become?

To be honest I'm not sure which I would have chosen in that situation and that's where that finale's greatness came from for me, it got me thinking about it.

The entire time lapse explanation of what happened to the test subject was fascinating stuff, I had a hunch that when someone is reanimated it's only the most primal and animistic traits in our brains that are activated and it was confirmed, with outstanding delivery by Toby Emmerich BTW.

The first season ended the way it began...with a bang and I for one will be counting the days until the second season!

The big question for the off season will be:  what was the secret he was whispered....

The most intriguing statement in the whole episode was that the French were close to a solution when he lost contact with them. Based on what we know from tonight, a solution would not be a cure, since 95 percent of the brain is irreversibly dead. Presumably a solution would target whatever causes the brain stem to reboot, so that the dead stay dead. The remains of humanity, probably somwhere around 1 percent of the pre-zombie total, would therefore be able to start again. The other solution, of course, is that the 1 percent that's made it this far is made of stern enough stuff to keep surviving. And through sheer attrition over the generations, the zombie population can be shrunk down to nothing.

I liked the Dr. Jenner character. He was a villain in the sense that he wanted to kill every man, woman and child that he let inside, but his reasons were compassionate rather than barbaric. He offered an instant, painless death with complete insurance that you'll stay dead since there wouldn't be enough left to reboot. And yet when he saw the survivors flee to their vehicles on the security cameras, the way he said, "They got out" was full of hope. He didn't believe it was possible, and they proved him wrong. If that impossible thing was achievable, maybe other impossible things are achievable as well. He got the best death he could have chosen for himself, dying in the grip of another living breathing human being and having hope as the end came. That's what I like about this show. The scenario is unimaginably bleak, but it never leaves you feeling entirely hopeless.

And for those who wondered about it: The grenade! That beat tells me that this season was planned out from day one. What did Jenner whisper in Grimes's ear? I have a feeling it'll be important come Season 2.

And so the season ends as we knew it must: with our motley band of survivors on the open road against a hostile world.

My guess of what was whispered is a massive spoiler for those who haven't read ALL of the comics.  Even though I'm just guessing, and have no knowledge about it whatsoever, only click the spoiler if you've read the comics.

I bet he whispered that:

Again, just a guess.