Some interesting news from the world of The Walking Dead. Apparently writer/director/producer Frank Darabont has decided to send away his entire writing staff, and will not be replacing them with a new writing staff for season 2 of the show, which was recently announced by AMC.
No word on exactly why the writing staff was fired, but it’s assumed that they just weren’t getting the job done. Darabont himself penned the first two episodes, and he did touch-ups and rewrites on the last four of this six-episode first season run.
Instead of the usual replacement of said terminated staff, it sounds as if Darabont is planning to just put the jobs out to freelance writers while continuing to ensure that the quality is up to par himself. This wouldn’t be the first time this strategy has been attempted: Starz and the BBC also uses freelance writers for Torchwood, which was the method used by their UK counterpart. Though this is okay with the BBC, it’s expected that issues might arise with the Writer’s Guild.
It’s also noted that this could change, and that it’s not guaranteed that the show will go into production without a writing staff. There’s the possibility of having a staff/freelancer mix, or if things get messy, you might just see a full staff after all.
With plans for the second season not set to debut until next fall, there’s more than enough time to figure things out. So long as Darabont is willing to go workaholic and makes sure every script is a good as possible, things should be fine, but this does seem a little risky, especially considering that season 2 will have thirteen new episodes instead of just six.
What do you think?
[Source: Deadline]
I am always weary of new writing, I really liked Chuck for the first two seasons but I felt 3 and 4 have fallen flat. A little off topic I know, but that is when the writing staff changed I believe. But, if as the article suggests, Darabont himself has been carrying the whole show all along then pehaps my fears can be allayed.
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Dude. Please agree with me here: Walking Dead could’ve been Season 7 of LOST if Locke had come back as a zombie. I’m not digging on WD…I LOVE it, but have you seen the preview for the season finale? They come across a huge barricaded structure, run by ONE man…and when the doors open up…SURPRISE! A bright light turns on! lol…I guess if the writing staff had any intentions of making the show a hit, they used a few out of JJ’s Playbook. But all in all, both awesome shows, and hey, I say start penning some scripts Movie God…I know you got it in ya! :D
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I think this is a great idea. I have had the thought in the back of my head that the show was getting gimmicky in the dialogue and was worried that this will turn into another heroes scenario before the season even ended.(RIP HEROES SEASON 1)For example in the last episode did we really need the light of salvation spilling out when the door opens to the cdc building? I get it, they were being saved but did we really need all that cheesiness. They should have just added some doves flying out while they were at it.So yes Frank fire them all and lets hope they don’t come back as the lovable zombies we are trying to be entertained by.Oh yea and more blood and guts please :)
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