5 Reasons It's Time To Let The Walking Dead Die

3. Too Many Cooks In The Kitchen

Glen Mazzara departed as show runner after season 3 meaning that Scott M. Gimple, who can boast a screenwriting credit on Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, will be the show's third show runner in four years. At this point, the average life span of a show runner on The Walking Dead is about 1.5 years, an unnaturally high turnaround for a smash hit TV show. While it's not unusual for show runners to phase in and phase out during a show's tenure (Community, Doctor Who, The West Wing), it is unusual for it to happen more than once, especially in such a short time frame. What could possibly be the cause of the lack of job security? What's afflicting The Walking Dead that hasn't afflicted other hit shows such as Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, or The X-Files? Could it be that the pressure of running such a popular and critically show is just too much pressure to handle? I certainly never read about any trouble Damon Lindelof had with supporting the weight of Lost and, as far as I know, Graham Yost seems to be doing alright. Maybe Mazzara was too pigheaded and arrogant and AMC just couldn't wrangle him in anymore. Except AMC handpicked Mazzara to succeed Darabont and they certainly haven't tried to rein in Kurt Sutter's rants and raves any. No, Mazzara's departure instead stinks to high heaven of interference from AMC executives. The most beautiful jewel in the crown of a network that rose to prominence overnight, AMC executives will do whatever it takes to keep milking this cow until its utters are bruised, bleeding and bone dry and you better believe they don't want anything threatening this goldmine. Much more so than film, TV is a writer's medium and show runners are hired specifically for the vision and creativity they bring to the show (just ask John Landgraf), but when AMC suddenly became the name in basic cable original programming, they scrambled to figure out how to maintain that popularity and esteem: they threw insane amounts of money at Matthew Weiner, almost alienating Vince Gilligan and Breaking Bad; they greenlit and renewed under-performing, mediocre or otherwise poor programming; they stepped into the exploitative and yet cheap world of reality TV. Just as quickly as they gained their prestige, they lost it and to compensate, they've sunk their claws into ensuring that The Walking Dead doesn't slip away and to do that, they won't take risks and they won't suffer creative types who will. Before season 1 even ended, they fired Frank Darabont, the man behind The Shawshank Redemption and The Mist, without explanation. Two years later, Mazzara walks amongst whispers that Robert Kirkman was meddling too much. They may have hung onto their golden calf, but what has it cost them? If you're to believe Kurt Sutter and Shawn Ryan, two guys who know a thing or two about creating great TV, credibility and respect. But I don't think AMC was ever all that interested in what other people thought about them...