AMC Confirms new Showrunner for THE WALKING DEAD

Earlier this week we reported that that Frank Darabont surprising stepped down as the showrunner for the hit zombie series The Walking Dead, which was pretty sad news. Without Darabont's involvement I'm not sure if the series would have been as awesome as it was. Shortly after he stepped down is was reported that his number two guy, writing executive producer Glen Mazzara (The Shield), would take his place. This news was confirmed by AMC earlier this morning with the following statement,

The Walking Dead’s Glen Mazzara, writer and executive producer, is expanding his responsibilities to assume the role of showrunner. AMC is grateful to executive producer, writer and pilot director Frank Darabont whose contributions to the success of The Walking Dead are innumerable.  We continue to discuss his ongoing role with the series.

Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead graphic novels, executive producer and writer on the series, will remain in this role and will continue to steward the brand.  Gale Anne Hurd will remain in her role as Executive Producer. The production continues on schedule for an October 16th premiere.

So there's a chance that Darabont will still have a role in the production of the show, but that role has yet to be decided. Apparently he just grew tired of the daily commitment of running series such as this. It will be interesting to see how this show ends up doing without Darabont. I hope it stays just as good and survives.