Details surrounding Frank Darabont’s abrupt departure from The Walking Dead have been few and far between. Darabont was on hand for the show’s ComicCon panel only to leave a few days later, leading many to wonder exactly why and how he decided to exit.
Now more details on why he left are emerging.
It appears a lot of the decision came down to cost. With the price tag rising for AMC’s Emmy winning hit, Mad Men, the network had to cut its budget elsewhere. Two of the victims appear to be The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad.
AMC slashed the budget on Dead by $250,000 per episode and its speculated by the Los Angeles Times that Darabont refused to go along with the cuts and left the show.
Rumors have run rampant the past couple of days that the cable outlet wants to shorten the final season of Breaking Bad from thirteen to eight episodes as well to help cover the Mad Men costs.
For now, this is all speculation and nothing is confirmed. But it’s ironic that The Walking Dead brings in higher ratings than Mad Men but not the Emmy and critical love.
It’s been rumored that former X-Files writer and Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan could try and sell his show to another network. Could Dead do the same?
“This show gave us out highest ratings EVER! Let’s cut its budget by a quarter million dollars per episode. It’ll be just as good!” *facepalm* F*****g morons.
Good Grief!! These networks are run by complete idiots!! I wish Walking Dead, and Breaking Bad would leave AMC and go to channels that are HD and channels where bad words can be said if the script calls for it without them being blipped out. AMC has truly dropped the ball and has done a diservice to both of these shows.
This is an outrage. The zombies and effects already looked kinda cheap in the show already and now th e cut more. Oh my god while do I still watch tv. And breaking bad should get 50,000 cut from all episodes and give rest back to walking dead. I watch tv at least 40 to 50 hours a week I will not be watching AMC again because of this they have lost my advertising dollars!
If Mad Men is so good (never seen it) why don’t they just raise the price for commercials during the show instead of cannibalizing other shows (is that a pun?)
AMC used to be such an excellent channel too. Did they hire some execs from SyFy?
I do watch Mad Men and I think it’s a good show. What everyone has to remember is that before MM, AMC was just another oldies movie channel. MM brought them critical acclaim, recognition and a whole slew of new audience members. Walking Dead, while popular with most of us, is still a very new show and hasn’t established itself yet. I think this is more of a case of “dance with the one that brought you” than anything else.
It doesn’t matter that Mad Men is “established” if Walking Dead consistently got higher ratings. You’d think they’d give Walking Dead a little more room to maneuver since it’s obviously bringing more eyes to the channel.
What’s happened on Mad Men that the price tag is jumping so high that they have to gut other shows that are doing better in the ratings than Mad Men? Is this a case of all the cast wanting pay raises, like Friends?
IIRC, didn’t Mad Men and Breaking Bad start airing within a few months of each other? I heard buzz about Breaking Bad right when it started, and apparently Mad Men was at the end of it’s second season before I heard boo about it, so finding out both series started airing around the same time surprised me.
I think I was one of the few people who watched that AMC series Rubicon, too bad about that one, too.
I wonder if AMC could raise the money they need by selling Walking Dead to another network. Either way, cutting back on two shows that are watched more than Mad Men boggles the mind.
Mad Men is currently gearing up for season five early next year and Breaking Bad is in season four. Breaking Bad got a chance because Mad Men was such a success for AMC though season one was cut short by the writer’s strike. For this reason alone, I’m against the final season getting cut. Let Gilligan tell his story in the number of episodes promised.
As for MM putting AMC on the map program wise, yes it did. But it and Breaking Bad have cleaned up at the Emmys the past few years. The only reason BB isn’t up for any awards this year was the season didn’t start airing in time under the rules. BB and MM win the acting and writing Emmys…Walking Dead wins technical ones.
Just looked it up on IMDb… Mad Men started in July 2007, Breaking Bad in January 2008 (there’s a “Making Of” special dated 2007). So, they must have started airing Breaking Bad after the Mad Men season was concluded, then continued with one following the other in subsequent seasons.
But if Breaking Bad already had a pre-set end date, why not just let it run to it’s conclusion, be that 8, 10 or however many episodes, then funnel that show’s entire budget to Mad Men when it’s done, and leave Walking Dead be? I can’t believe no one negotiating the contracts threw that idea out on the table. AMC’s people might be new to series work, but I can’t believe their lawyers would be series newbies.