The Reason Season 2 Of 'The Walking Dead' Was Set Entirely On Hershel's Farm Has Been Revealed!
I'm a pretty big fan of
The Walking Dead, but even as a fan I can still admit that Season 2 was definitely a low point in the series. After an explosive first season (including one of the best pilot episodes in television history) expectations were high for Season 2. But rather than seeing our crew run around in a post-apocalyptic world fighting zombies, we ended up stuck on a farm for the better part of 13 episodes.
So why did it happen? After all, in
The Walking Dead comic series the gang was only in the farmhouse for just five issues. Well,
according to Cracked, it was all down to production budget cuts imposed by AMC.
Apparently before the pilot episode had even aired,
AMC had already planned budget cuts for Season 2, slashing the budget about $650,000 per episode, from $3.4 million down to $2.75 million. And, in addition to the budget cuts, AMC also requested that half the show be shot indoors to keep the costs down. What the heck?!
With budget cuts in place, and the network cutting in on the creative process, patience was boiling over for show creator Frank Darabont, and after much arguing (
which is still ongoing) he was fired as showrunner by AMC, and replaced mid-season.
So there you have it, the weirdness of Season 2 explained. And who knows what might have happened if AMC had stumped up the extra cash, and hadn't made such weird rules about filming indoors. Thankfully though, four seasons on it looks like AMC has relaxed its grip on the series, leading the way for showrunners like Scott Gimple to turn the show into a truly amazing viewing experience.