AMC's The Walking Dead Fires Entire Writing Staff

Could there be another writer’s strike in the making? Deadline reports that the writing staff of the American Movie Classics (AMC) series; The Walking Dead, have disappeared. No, they haven’t been eaten by zombies, they’ve been fired.

The show, which debuted on Halloween night, has been picked up for a second season, but that success didn’t stop writer/executive producer/director Frank Darabont from giving everyone the axe. It’s not often heard of to eliminate an entire writing staff between seasons and the drastic restructuring has left many perplexed.

Interestingly, The Walking Dead is a U.K. based show, and in the U.K. shows are allowed to forego writing staff. But in Atlanta, Georgia, where the show is shot on location, Darabont’s plans to assign the second season’s scripts only to freelance writers may not sit well with the Writer’s Guild. Maybe since Darabont wrote two of season one’s episodes and allegedly rewrote the other four, he’s deemed a writing team unnecessary?

With twice as many episodes scheduled, Darabont may have his work cut out for him.