The Walking Dead Season 2 – Frank Darabont Discusses Writers

Steve Barton |

Jun 23, 2011

Source Name:

Deadline

Source Url:

http://www.deadline.com/2011/06/emmys-the-walking-deads-frank-darabont/

Post Thumb:

/may11/twdthumb.jpg

One of the things that had fans frazzled after the conclusion of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” Season One was the announcement that the entire writing staff was being replaced. Of course things were blown out of proportion a bit, and now, months later, Frank Darabont sheds more light on the situation.

In an interview with Deadline Darabont dropped the following on hungry fans:

“It was all pretty overblown,” Darabont said of the news. “It left the impression that I walked in one day and murdered 12 people. Would you like to know how many writers we were talking about? Two. My thought had been that they’d under-delivered, and a change was necessary. I had to do too much of it by myself last year, and that was only six episodes. This season, it’s 13 and we’ve hired a fantastic writing staff. We hired Glen Mazzara as our Number Two in the room. We consider him our head writer and he’s just a fantastic asset. We’ve also got three other staff writers in Scott Gimple, Evan Reilly from Rescue Me, and Angela Kang. Plus Executive Producer Robert Kirkman, who wrote the original comic book, is also writing for us.”

Darabont continues, “It’s fair to say that the first six episodes were teeing up a lot of conflicts that will be more fully explored in our second season. We find a growing conflict with our two main guys, Rick [Andrew Lincoln] and Shane [Jon Bernthal]. We’re really excited about putting all of the characters on a chessboard and seeing how wonderfully and effectively we can toss conflict into the game.”

In this latest season of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” TV series, the survivors arrive at Hershel’s Farm, where we will meet Hershel Greene, a vet (as in a veterinarian); his daughter, Maggie; and Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince), the middle-aged ranch foreman who’s such a sweetheart that he all but loses it when he accidentally shoots a fellow survivor.

To stay up-to-the-minute on all things walker related, follow @WalkingDead_AMC on Twitter and visit “The Walking Dead” on Facebook. For more, including online extras for all six Season One episodes, be sure to hit up the official “The Walking Dead” page on AMC.com.