Joint Statement from AMC and Glen Mazzara:
Today, AMC announces the season 4 pick-up of The Walking Dead.
AMC also jointly announces with Glen Mazzara today that for future seasons, the two parties have mutually decided to part ways. Glen guided the series creatively for seasons 2 and 3. AMC is grateful for his hard work. We are both proud of our shared success.
Both parties acknowledge that there is a difference of opinion about where the show should go moving forward, and conclude that it is best to part ways. This decision is amicable and Glen will remain on for post-production on season 3B as showrunner and executive producer.
Individual statement from Glen Mazzara:
My time as showrunner on The Walking Dead has been an amazing experience, but after I finish season 3, it’s time to move on. I have told the stories I wanted to tell and connected with our fans on a level that I never imagined. It doesn’t get much better than that. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this journey.
And a statement from producer Gale Anne Hurd
“I am appreciative and grateful to Glen for his hard work on ‘The Walking Dead.’ I am supportive of AMC and Glen's decision and know that the series is in great hands with one of the most talented and dedicated casts and crews in the business. I look forward to the show's continued success.”
Who wants another statement? This time it's from Robert Kirkman:
I am in full support of both AMC and Glen Mazzara in the decision they have come to and believe the parties came to this decision in the best interest of the future of the show. I thank Glen for his hard work and appreciate his many contributions to The Walking Dead and look forward to working with him as we complete post production on Season 3. I am also excited to begin work on another spectacular season of this show that I know means so much to so many people. This show has always been the result of a wide range of extremely talented men and women working tirelessly to produce their best work collectively. I believe the future is bright for The Walking Dead. Thank you to the fans for your continued support.
@Ali Sabir…it’s sarcasm, brah.
since Glen will exit the show as Producer my guess is his beloved Carol will be dead the first chance possible in S4 lol
Episode order? 16? 18? 30?
How many episodes were ordered. 16 is a great number but becuase of its incredible success AMC certainly ordered a full season of 22 or 24 episodes. If so, it’ll kill the Show.
Oh I didn’t notice the -;p- under the comment
Oh no, Mazzara has been great. What is AMC’s problem?
@Peace Love Apple Pie
The reason why there is such high turnover of creatives at AMC shows is because of Joel Stillerman. From Mad Men to the other series at the network, they are abusive on their hits. Hell on Wheels can’t even find a person to run the series, and it is a modest hit.
Something is wrong with AMC, from its high turnover of show runners to constant legal issues.
No big surprise. They should renew it for another or maybe two extra seasons.
Agreed that there is something wrong with AMC. First the direcTV thing, now there’s Verizon, plus the curiously high turnover rate for showrunners… what the hell goes on over there?
Uh-oh
Something tells me its because Glen didn’t want to expand the episode order and wanted to end it by season 6 or 7.
My guess is that Mazzara wanted to repeatedly kill the black guy and constantly replace him with a new black guy, and AMC disagreed.
@Ali Sabir – I was obviously being sarcastic, the show was easily going to get renewed but AMC needed to work out a good deal to make it happen.
Next we need to know the episode amount, AMC probably doesn’t want to compromise the show’s creativity but we know that The Walking Dead like Mad Men and Breaking Bad has a long life on AMC.
Who runs AMC? A monkey?
I can’t understand why they aren’t giving Glenn Mazzara EVERYTHING he asks for.
@Dan
AMC does not cares about The Walking Dead’s creativity. It is AMC’s biggest hit ever. No doubt AMC wants to exploit the show to its fullest, paying the showrunners and actors less while expanding the episodes count per season. I expect that it all boils down to money with Stillerman believing that he is the real reason for the show’s success and that showrunners can come and go as long as Kirkman stays.
What The Hell are AMC doing are they trying to kill there biggest hit to me it seems that way
AMC needs to be careful with their figgin’ about. The Walking Dead is a special show but it’s easy to funk it up and turn fans away. Then again, everyone said Darabont was king and that the show would die after he was was turned out, but Mazzara did right and the show flourished.
Probably no need to panic, as the source material is already there to build on anyway, so as long as the writers get it, the show will be fine. Really hope the talk of 22 episodes is false though, that’s network TV style overkill blandness that leads to complacently.
As long as Kirkman sticks around the basic material will be solid. He is getting a major payday and obviously does not care about the showrunners coming and going.
This cannot mean anything good for the cast demanding new contracts. Andy Lincoln is the only one who has any leverage against AMC as everyone else can be killed off at some point.
Sorry to hear Mazzara is leaving. I hope AMC’s PTB know what they are doing. This is my favorite show. I look forward to it like no other.
On a side note, the actors who portray Daryl, Glenn, and Maggie, along with Greg Nicotero are coming to a city nearby. A whole group of family members are giving each other the gift of the Walking Dead for Christmas and plan to go together. I think the event is right around when season 3B picks up. I’m so excited!
@Oliver:
Lol, yes, they’ve certainly taken the ‘token black guy’ to it’s extremes. Someone needs to die for dramatic tension, let’s kill the token black guy.
We need a new token black guy, let’s introduce one.
Someone needs to die for dramatic tension, let’s kill the token black guy.
We need a new token black guy, let’s introduce one.