It’s been reported that Frank Darabont, executive producer of AMC’s hot new show, “The Walking Dead,” has fired — or “let go” to put it more politely — the entire writing staff. What’s more, he’s apparently considering not replacing them for Season 2, instead assigning scripts to freelancers. So what’s up? While writer turnover between seasons is not unusual, even for a hit show, mass culling on this scale is distinctly unusual. However, according to the episode breakdown, the Season 1 staff writers may not have been earning their keep. Out of the total six episodes, Darabont wrote two — the pilot and follow-up — and either co-wrote or re-wrote the other four. And of those four, one was written by exec producer Robert Kirkman and the other by “HawthoRNe” alum, writer/producer Glen Mazzara. The system of using freelance TV scriptwriters is commonplace in the UK, where the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain is not as ubiquitous or powerful as its US counterpart, The Writer’s Guild of America. “The Walking Dead” execs may have a fight on their hands with the Writer’s Guild if they try to forgo a writing staff. With Season 2 not premiering until October 2011 there’s plenty of time for prospective writers to get to know their zombies and polish those resumes!
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