The Walking Dead is amongst the most-watched cable shows in television history due to its chaotic, serialized zombie-killing adventures of Rick and the gang. Before it became a phenomenon, series creator Frank Darabont pitched the series to NBC. What were the networks notes? No zombies.
Variety spoke with TWD executive producer Gale Ann Hurd, who explained NBC wanted a very different version of the show than the one which ended up on AMC.
Before the show was picked up by AMC for domestic and Fox for international, its creator Frank Darabont presented the first version of the script to NBC, with whom he had an overall deal. According to Hurd, their response was, “Do there have to be zombies [in it].” NBC then asked Darabont if the show could be a procedural in which the two main protagonists would “solve a zombie crime of the week,” she said.
It’s both shocking yet totally unsurprising NBC wanted to dramatically shift The Walking Dead dramatically away from its comic book roots.
NBC was long the mainstream audience’s choice to get their fix for crime drama procedurals like Law & Order and it’s multiple spinoffs. The Peacock Network’s current offerings Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D. and The Blacklist all recent spins on the genre. Hell, NBC made the one-and-done Hellblazer based horror drama series Constantine have procedural elements. It’s the network’s bread and butter. The Walking Dead being a crime procedural wouldn’t have made a lick of sense. It needs to be serialized. The story can’t be self-contained.
As for the “do there have to be zombies [in it]” question? Of course, it has to. It’s The Walking Dead, not The Walking. NBC was looking to make CSI: Zombies. Everyone should be grateful Darabont and the network didn’t find common ground, otherwise, we’d still be waiting for a faithful adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s iconic series and stuck with a terrible, what-if show.
[HitFix]
