11 Things AMC Wants You To Forget About The Walking Dead

9. Glen Mazzara's Departure

With Darabont out, someone needed to step up to the position of showrunner, and that job fell to Glen Mazzara, who was already part of the crew as a writer and executive producer.

Mazzara had to steady the ship, and sailed it through Seasons 2 and 3, before he himself parted ways, described as a mutual agreement between him and AMC.

After leaving, he outlined that he and AMC had a difference of opinion over the direction to take the show in and, while not naming names, did suggest that one of the big issues was with Robert Kirkman's influence over the series, and that meant he didn't have total control over it. Back in 2013, he said:

“When you’re the creator, you can say, 'This is what the show is'. I didn’t create the show. I didn’t create the comic book, so I’m just glad I was able to contribute.”

Not quite as contentious as Darabont, but still not something that reflects well on AMC, and at this point it seemed the showrunner gig was a poisoned chalice - although Scott Gimple has rebuked that idea, having held the reigns since Season 4.