The Walking Dead: 12 Moments That Pissed Off The Fans

12. Changing Showrunner...Twice

The Walking Dead came bursting out of the gates in its first season, a short-but-exciting run that showed just how gripping, gory, and great this series could be. Heading it all up was Frank Darabont, director and writer of the likes of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.

With the show winning a legion of fans and already starting to smash records, hopes were high for Season 2. Halfway through production, however, Darabont was surprisingly fired from the show, with initial reports suggesting he couldn't work with a TV schedule. However, it later emerged that he'd clashed with network execs, who wanted him to make more episodes on a lower budget than Season 1 had.

He was replaced with writer/producer Glen Mazarra, who oversaw the show until the end of Season 3, before he himself left, citing a lack of control over the direction the show was headed in.

While Scott Gimple has managed to stay the course so far, the first two showrunners departing, each after successful seasons, and the idea of executive meddling did nothing to endear the show to fans.