‘The Walking Dead’: Former Showrunner Refuses To Watch The Series

The Walking Dead is still going strong for the folks over at AMC. However, former showrunner Frank Darabont said he simply refuses to watch the show he helped launch.

The man who brought Stephen King’s The Shawshank Redemption to the big screen was reportedly forced to leave the show during the second season of the zombie-oriented drama. Since Darabont still harbors some strong emotions about his former employers, watching The Walking Dead is simply out of the question.

When Entertainment Weekly asked if he still tunes into the series, the former Walking Dead showrunner offered up the following reply:

“No more than I would go to the wedding of somebody who broke my heart and left me for the Pilates instructor. One does become very emotionally attached to the things that one does. I get tremendously invested. Why would I do that? Absolutely not, I won’t.”

According to Yahoo! TV, Frank Darabont’s experience with AMC and The Walking Dead made him very hesitant about returning to the small screen for another go-around. However, the filmmaker recently decided to take a chance with TNT. His new series Mob City debuts on December 4.

Darabont explained:

“I had to take some time off after that to really reassess everything, to really get over the emotional devastation of having some truly malevolent people tear asunder a brilliant family that had gathered to create this hit for them. It was a very, very deep and loving family, the cast and the crew, and to have that torn apart was… when somebody throws a hand-grenade into that situation, it’s tremendously emotionally trying.”

Why did Frank Darabont and The Walking Dead part ways? Screen Rant reports that the showrunner and the cable network couldn’t see eye-to-eye on the show’s budget. Despite having a major hit on their hands, the bosses at AMC wanted Darabont to cut roughly $500,000 out of each season two episode.

Although reports originally suggested that the filmmaker stepped down, it was later revealed that AMC had fired Darabont as The Walking Dead showrunner. Glen Mazzara soon joined the production as Darabont’s replacement, though he would end up leaving the show as well. Scott Gimple is presently calling the shots.

When one fan asked The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman if Gimple would stick around longer than his predecessors, he gave the inquisitive individual a non-answer.

“I’m sure Scott will do just fine. But if he doesn’t, they’ll get rid of him,” Kirkman said.

Are you surprised that Frank Darabont doesn’t watch The Walking Dead?

[Image via AMC]