Frank Darabont finally addresses “The Walking Dead” firing

Acclaimed director Frank Darabont surprised a lot of naysayers when he turned an hour-long drama series about zombies into one of the biggest hits on television. So it came as a huge shock to fans when Deadline revealed in July that AMC was severing ties with The Walking Dead‘s creator/director/executive producer midway through filming Season 2 – only days after Darabont had appeared as part of The Walking Dead panel discussion at Comic Con.

So why did AMC fire Darabont midway through filming Season 2? He and the network have remained eerily quiet about it, but most have speculated it was because of production budget cuts. Now, in a recent interview with Darabont in TV Guide (mostly about Darabont’s latest project, TNT’s L.A. Noir based on John Buntin non-fiction book L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City) Frank Darabont addresses leaving The Walking Dead for the first time, confirming the budget issue rumors.

TV Guide Magazine: What can you say about your departure from The Walking Dead?

Darabont: It was, for the sake of my cast and my crew, a tremendously regretful thing to face, to have to leave. But I was really given no choice. I don’t understand the thinking behind, “Oh, this is the most successful show in the history of basic cable. Let’s gut the budgets now.” I never did understand that and I think they got tired of hearing me complain about it. It’s a little more complicated than that, but that’s as far as I want to go with it because otherwise it’s just provoking more controversy and that’s not really of interest to me. I just want to keep my head down and do my job and be allowed to do my job, that’s key, and continue to, hopefully, enjoy it and do good work.

TV Guide Magazine: From all accounts, your departure was particularly hard on the cast and crew.

Darabont: These people are like family to me. It has not been easy for anybody. Let me put it that way: It was like a death in the family. Only I was the dead guy. I felt like William Holden, face down in the swimming pool, narrating this thing.

TV Guide Magazine: There was never really an official explanation about your exit.

Darabont: It was a lot of obfuscation and on my end just maintaining what I thought was the most dignified silence that I could. Who needs a cat fight in the press, oy vey. There’s plenty of stuff in this world that I’m excited about doing, and how lovely that we’re getting the opportunity to do this with TNT. How great is that.

This whole thing makes me think of Dave Chapelle’s hilarious skit in which he is sitting on the jury at the Michael Jackson child molestation trial:

He made Shawshank. Shawshank.

I find AMC guilty. They are “mad men” who can offer nothing to those lumbering undead calling for “Braaaaaiiinnnns!”