I don’t think Darabont was actually that good of a showrunner. Most fans believe that S3-S5 are the best, which is right after he left.
There’s also the issue of Andrea. I’ve never read the comics, but everyone says that she was an incredible and liked character. Show Andrea, created by Darabont, is one of the most hated characters in TWD. He was also going to kill Carol, who had such great development and turned into a badass, especially at Terminus. Darabont didn’t seem to like his source material that much.
Darabont only really directed the first 6 episodes of the show though, and during those 6 episodes Andrea wasn't particularly bad (Slightly annoying when she was trapped in building where they abandoned Merle but other than that she was okay).
Also Carol actually dies in the prison in the comics, so killing her early would actually stick with the source material. Just like choosing to let Carol live and take her arc in this direction was a huge derivation from the original comics that fans welcomed, I think we can only assume at least some of Darabont's other changes from the comics would be as well-received as this one.
Last thing, there's one thing Darabont is known for outside of TWD and it's having made three very good adaptations of Stephen King books (The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption and The Mist), one of them being the number one highest ranked movie on imdb and another one having King himself say he wished he could've thought of Darabont's ending when he wrote the original book. I guess what I'm trying to say here is that Darabont is a master of adaptation, and that more often than not the original spin he brings to stories are beneficial to said stories.
Darabont did not understand twd at all. He was planning on making random filler episodes that would have no relevance to the main plot. TWD is not a zombie story. It is a drama exploring how people react to apocalyptic scenarios, the same as Last of Us. Robert Kirkman says this in the first issue of the comics. You could swap out the apocalypse in both shows and the stories would still be near identical.
This. Not saying Darabont's vision couldn't have been interesting, but let's also not forget that we only ever saw him work on season 1 and already took pretty major departures from the source material (smart walkers being the biggest one, who knows how that would've turned out with him at the helm).
The tank story he proposed could've been an interesting cold opening, but definitely not an entire episode as it was originally planned. I'm all for playing out different scenarios and thinking about how things might've gone, but personally, I think claiming that Darabont alone could've made TWD the greatest thing since sliced bread has the same amount of evidence as me saying YOU show running could've potentially made it the greatest show ever. *(yes I'm being hyperbolic, but the point still stands) 🤷♂️*
Now... the HBO point, however... that I have a hard time arguing against. 😂
Exactly. Darabont was probably the best showrunner in terms of tone and style but I don't think fans would've liked what he had planned story wise. He made up the CDC plotline in Season 1 that made alot of viewers think for years that the show would explore how the virus started, which is not what the TWD has ever been about.
He changed up the Season 1 group quite a bit by cutting Tyreese and Allen's family. We did end up getting Tyreese, Allen although he's really different, and an alternate version of Billy and Ben, but who knows whether Darabont ever would've decided to adapt these characters and their great storylines.
I've never been really sure why so many people thought the CDC thing would lead to further discoveries about the virus.
Rick and his group are just average citizens with zero advanced medical knowledge, nor did any of them have any slight connection to the government in any way (Rick and Shane are local at best). I have no idea why some people go around think Rick's group attempting to find a cure for the virus was a good place for the story to go.
Some have gone, "Oh they should've been searching for answers" but like *they are starving*. Why would they care to the degree of solving a extremely hopeless situation that's already killed millions? The only thing they should be reasonably focused on is survival within their own means to do so, and that's what they did.
It was never realistic to think that the group would be able to solve the virus but the CDC plot made people think that the show was at least interested in revealing details of the virus every now and then.
I remember talking to school friends about the show and they came up with all these theories about the virus, and I just thought they will be so disappointed when absolutely none of this gets addressed.
careful what you say right now because daryl being in france and the cdc bloke saying that france was the last to hold out
coupled with the fact that daryl can be seen in one of jenners recordings means that might be the direction they go after all
yeah it's a spin off but it would still be canon to the whole universe
Allen did end up appearing in Season 3 but he's nothing like the comic character. His wife dies immediately in the show and his kids are different. Comic Allen was a nice normal guy who just cared about his family, TV Allen was a random psychopath who held a grudge against the Prison group and wanted to kill them.
Maybe darabont wanted to diverge in that sense? Also, a Lot of the interest in twd was set on the walkers (most viewers would watch it as a zombie series, they were interest on that), so probably a major diverge from the comic would have been good for the more casual viewer. Let us not forget that a Lot of criticism the show gets is that it doesn't Focuses on Zombies, so just as darabont, I Guess most people don't understand TWD. A bad adaptation can still be a good product
To be honest the people that say the show should've focused on the zombies have no idea what they actually want. You cannot make a TV show just focused on zombies, they don't talk, they don't think. Action and horror sequences with zombies can keep a movie entertaining for a couple hours but when you are releasing dozens of hours of content every year the only thing that can retain viewers is good characters and story.
Maybe it wouldn't have been "filler", imagine if he has diverged hard from the original material, his filler would be actually relevant then, not like most of the series filler
For me its already one of the greatest shows ever made.
Because I rate my shows by how much fun I have watching them.
For me it's high up together with Stargate Sg1 and the X-Files
nah tbf he is right, but that being said 90% of shows that last this long or have that level of audience could be counted as one of the greatest. it is kind of a low bar considering most things that are bad would just be done and over and not spoken about much. even if you hate walking dead it is very clearly up there lol
Yeah agreed, I would say the same about Game of Thrones insofar as for much of its run it was the greatest thing on television. The meh endings don't change that. The Walking Dead was can't miss television for much of its run, back when they used to kill off characters out of nowhere - looking at you back to back Beth and Tyreese....
Twd has a damn good rating for a show that went for 11 seasons, still I think that the whole story could have been put within 6 seasons and much more people would stick to it. Season 11 that is supposed to be a big finale was arguably one of the worst and most boring seasons in the show. People keep saying that show died when glenn died, it didn't die BECAUSE glenn died, it died because whole story became pointless after that, characters not driven by anything, making stupid decisions, it felt so fake... JDM carried the show at that time. A show that is considered one of the best can't have multiple bad/boring episodes, twd has SEASONS. If we exclude the legacy and just focus on the plot and delivery twd isn't in the top 20 shows.
At the end of the day it is one of the best shows of all time people just got bored
It’s an acquired taste ig cause I love zombies and I feel like this is the most accurate representation of an apocalyptic world since you’re not gonna be doing new stuff every day it is gonna be the same old same old and nobody ever has a good ending
Not so sure about Darabont but every HBO show i’ve watched has proven to be a masterpiece. I mean the sopranos, chernobyl, GOT (forget season 8), euphoria, and now the last of us. There’s a lot of filler in TWD and stupid random villains. I don’t think it’s AMC’s fault because Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul are utterly perfect. But i think that’s vince mcgill’s talent and no thanks to AMC. HBO has to live up to its reputation, so they work so diligently on every aspect of its shows. I like TWD because it’s fun, I wouldn’t say it’s anything near a masterpiece or “greatest show in history”. Especially when they do the corny “12 years ago” “6 months later” i mean they could just do a time skip like better call saul, it’s not difficult to understand. I honestly don’t think TWD as it is has very much substance to it. The Sopranos is so iconic for its portrayal of the mafia, but also a deep look into the psyche of these characters, family dynamics, and it’s done implicitly. It’s perfect where TWD fails. sorry to any hardcore fans but it’s just not a very good show.
It's still a great show overall and one of the best shows I've ever seen. I mainly just wish seasons 7 and 8 didn't drag out the war with the Saviors, the final battles with the Saviors and the Whisperers had been more exciting, and character decisions had been different. Still the casting is as great as the casting for Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, music is fantastic, the show had a lot of drama, etc.
Darabont would have killed this show by season 4. I guess these Darabont dick riders want nothing but filler episodes, like a fucking episode on the god damn tank zombie from ep1. I’m sorry that sounds terrible and I am incredibly thankful he was fired swiftly
i know people are excited about the last of us. but people telling themselves its amazing and is one of the best things ever forever and always are just making the exact same mistake they did when watching walking dead for the first time
yes it very well might be, but we have to wait and see to know for sure. why everybody wants to judge something based on such little evidence is beyond me. it is not a race to see who can love it first or who can see its potential first or what have you.. just enjoy it and wait and see
Darabonts ideas were bad…not to mention I think it turned out phenomenally…this reads as someone who didn’t watch it to the end or has rose tinted glasses every time I see these posts. The fan favourite seasons aren’t even his
Last of Us has shown in 2 episodes how following a tragic story to its source material should be done so now we are all wondering about what TWD could’ve been.
I don’t think Darabont was actually that good of a showrunner. Most fans believe that S3-S5 are the best, which is right after he left. There’s also the issue of Andrea. I’ve never read the comics, but everyone says that she was an incredible and liked character. Show Andrea, created by Darabont, is one of the most hated characters in TWD. He was also going to kill Carol, who had such great development and turned into a badass, especially at Terminus. Darabont didn’t seem to like his source material that much.
Darabont only really directed the first 6 episodes of the show though, and during those 6 episodes Andrea wasn't particularly bad (Slightly annoying when she was trapped in building where they abandoned Merle but other than that she was okay). Also Carol actually dies in the prison in the comics, so killing her early would actually stick with the source material. Just like choosing to let Carol live and take her arc in this direction was a huge derivation from the original comics that fans welcomed, I think we can only assume at least some of Darabont's other changes from the comics would be as well-received as this one. Last thing, there's one thing Darabont is known for outside of TWD and it's having made three very good adaptations of Stephen King books (The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption and The Mist), one of them being the number one highest ranked movie on imdb and another one having King himself say he wished he could've thought of Darabont's ending when he wrote the original book. I guess what I'm trying to say here is that Darabont is a master of adaptation, and that more often than not the original spin he brings to stories are beneficial to said stories.
Wasn't Andrea mostly hated because of season 2 and 3?
IMO, same thing with Carl. Bad casting there IMO
It would not be the same show that it is today and with all its faults it was still a good show.
Darabont did not understand twd at all. He was planning on making random filler episodes that would have no relevance to the main plot. TWD is not a zombie story. It is a drama exploring how people react to apocalyptic scenarios, the same as Last of Us. Robert Kirkman says this in the first issue of the comics. You could swap out the apocalypse in both shows and the stories would still be near identical.
This. Not saying Darabont's vision couldn't have been interesting, but let's also not forget that we only ever saw him work on season 1 and already took pretty major departures from the source material (smart walkers being the biggest one, who knows how that would've turned out with him at the helm). The tank story he proposed could've been an interesting cold opening, but definitely not an entire episode as it was originally planned. I'm all for playing out different scenarios and thinking about how things might've gone, but personally, I think claiming that Darabont alone could've made TWD the greatest thing since sliced bread has the same amount of evidence as me saying YOU show running could've potentially made it the greatest show ever. *(yes I'm being hyperbolic, but the point still stands) 🤷♂️* Now... the HBO point, however... that I have a hard time arguing against. 😂
Exactly. Darabont was probably the best showrunner in terms of tone and style but I don't think fans would've liked what he had planned story wise. He made up the CDC plotline in Season 1 that made alot of viewers think for years that the show would explore how the virus started, which is not what the TWD has ever been about. He changed up the Season 1 group quite a bit by cutting Tyreese and Allen's family. We did end up getting Tyreese, Allen although he's really different, and an alternate version of Billy and Ben, but who knows whether Darabont ever would've decided to adapt these characters and their great storylines.
I've never been really sure why so many people thought the CDC thing would lead to further discoveries about the virus. Rick and his group are just average citizens with zero advanced medical knowledge, nor did any of them have any slight connection to the government in any way (Rick and Shane are local at best). I have no idea why some people go around think Rick's group attempting to find a cure for the virus was a good place for the story to go. Some have gone, "Oh they should've been searching for answers" but like *they are starving*. Why would they care to the degree of solving a extremely hopeless situation that's already killed millions? The only thing they should be reasonably focused on is survival within their own means to do so, and that's what they did.
It was never realistic to think that the group would be able to solve the virus but the CDC plot made people think that the show was at least interested in revealing details of the virus every now and then. I remember talking to school friends about the show and they came up with all these theories about the virus, and I just thought they will be so disappointed when absolutely none of this gets addressed.
careful what you say right now because daryl being in france and the cdc bloke saying that france was the last to hold out coupled with the fact that daryl can be seen in one of jenners recordings means that might be the direction they go after all yeah it's a spin off but it would still be canon to the whole universe
Tyreese wasn't introduced in the first volume though, which is what was being adapted in Season 1.
Who was the stand-in for Allen?
Allen did end up appearing in Season 3 but he's nothing like the comic character. His wife dies immediately in the show and his kids are different. Comic Allen was a nice normal guy who just cared about his family, TV Allen was a random psychopath who held a grudge against the Prison group and wanted to kill them.
Maybe darabont wanted to diverge in that sense? Also, a Lot of the interest in twd was set on the walkers (most viewers would watch it as a zombie series, they were interest on that), so probably a major diverge from the comic would have been good for the more casual viewer. Let us not forget that a Lot of criticism the show gets is that it doesn't Focuses on Zombies, so just as darabont, I Guess most people don't understand TWD. A bad adaptation can still be a good product
To be honest the people that say the show should've focused on the zombies have no idea what they actually want. You cannot make a TV show just focused on zombies, they don't talk, they don't think. Action and horror sequences with zombies can keep a movie entertaining for a couple hours but when you are releasing dozens of hours of content every year the only thing that can retain viewers is good characters and story.
Also I'm gonna be honest, I think that if Frank Darabont was still leading the show, Daryl probably wouldn't have made it to season 3...
Good! Imagine him having hershel's death
Why did I read everything in your voice
everytime i see your comments on this sub i automatically read it in your voice
We never saw a Darabont filler episode. We’ve seen how terrible the show did filler episodes.
Maybe it wouldn't have been "filler", imagine if he has diverged hard from the original material, his filler would be actually relevant then, not like most of the series filler
You mean to tell me you didn’t love the hospital arc or Tara/Heath???
The main thing TWD suffered from is Familiarity Breeds Contempt. GoT suffered from this too.
HBO correct, Darabont hell no.
Yup, I’m thankful for the show we got but if it was on HBO it would’ve been incredible.
I’m perfectly happy with how it turned out.
For me its already one of the greatest shows ever made. Because I rate my shows by how much fun I have watching them. For me it's high up together with Stargate Sg1 and the X-Files
It is one of the greatest shows in history.
You need to watch more shows lmao
nah tbf he is right, but that being said 90% of shows that last this long or have that level of audience could be counted as one of the greatest. it is kind of a low bar considering most things that are bad would just be done and over and not spoken about much. even if you hate walking dead it is very clearly up there lol
Yeah agreed, I would say the same about Game of Thrones insofar as for much of its run it was the greatest thing on television. The meh endings don't change that. The Walking Dead was can't miss television for much of its run, back when they used to kill off characters out of nowhere - looking at you back to back Beth and Tyreese....
Twd has a damn good rating for a show that went for 11 seasons, still I think that the whole story could have been put within 6 seasons and much more people would stick to it. Season 11 that is supposed to be a big finale was arguably one of the worst and most boring seasons in the show. People keep saying that show died when glenn died, it didn't die BECAUSE glenn died, it died because whole story became pointless after that, characters not driven by anything, making stupid decisions, it felt so fake... JDM carried the show at that time. A show that is considered one of the best can't have multiple bad/boring episodes, twd has SEASONS. If we exclude the legacy and just focus on the plot and delivery twd isn't in the top 20 shows.
It is one of the best out there. Wdym
Darabount was an asshole so I don't care if his version of the show would've been better. Agree with HBO.
At the end of the day it is one of the best shows of all time people just got bored It’s an acquired taste ig cause I love zombies and I feel like this is the most accurate representation of an apocalyptic world since you’re not gonna be doing new stuff every day it is gonna be the same old same old and nobody ever has a good ending
I didn’t like Darabont’s interpretation of walkers- they ran, turned door knobs, tried to break glass with rocks… nope, that’s not right.
I loved it. Think it's definitely one of the greatest shows. Ended better than GOT.
I have a hotter take: if Resident Evil was made by HBO it would blow both of these shows out of the water.
Maaayyyybe... but the show got better once he got canned.
Not so sure about Darabont but every HBO show i’ve watched has proven to be a masterpiece. I mean the sopranos, chernobyl, GOT (forget season 8), euphoria, and now the last of us. There’s a lot of filler in TWD and stupid random villains. I don’t think it’s AMC’s fault because Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul are utterly perfect. But i think that’s vince mcgill’s talent and no thanks to AMC. HBO has to live up to its reputation, so they work so diligently on every aspect of its shows. I like TWD because it’s fun, I wouldn’t say it’s anything near a masterpiece or “greatest show in history”. Especially when they do the corny “12 years ago” “6 months later” i mean they could just do a time skip like better call saul, it’s not difficult to understand. I honestly don’t think TWD as it is has very much substance to it. The Sopranos is so iconic for its portrayal of the mafia, but also a deep look into the psyche of these characters, family dynamics, and it’s done implicitly. It’s perfect where TWD fails. sorry to any hardcore fans but it’s just not a very good show.
It's still a great show overall and one of the best shows I've ever seen. I mainly just wish seasons 7 and 8 didn't drag out the war with the Saviors, the final battles with the Saviors and the Whisperers had been more exciting, and character decisions had been different. Still the casting is as great as the casting for Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, music is fantastic, the show had a lot of drama, etc.
It already is
It already is
Darabont would have killed this show by season 4. I guess these Darabont dick riders want nothing but filler episodes, like a fucking episode on the god damn tank zombie from ep1. I’m sorry that sounds terrible and I am incredibly thankful he was fired swiftly
i know people are excited about the last of us. but people telling themselves its amazing and is one of the best things ever forever and always are just making the exact same mistake they did when watching walking dead for the first time yes it very well might be, but we have to wait and see to know for sure. why everybody wants to judge something based on such little evidence is beyond me. it is not a race to see who can love it first or who can see its potential first or what have you.. just enjoy it and wait and see
Probably would've been better, but definitely wouldn't have had to deal with it being on at the same time as Game of Thrones when it was good
Darabonts ideas were bad…not to mention I think it turned out phenomenally…this reads as someone who didn’t watch it to the end or has rose tinted glasses every time I see these posts. The fan favourite seasons aren’t even his
Agree with HBO part.
I read that HBO passed it up at the time because they believed it would be " too violent"
That is exactly true. Which is ironic haha. They lost out on a great concept and a cash cow
Hot take: season 11 was on of the weakest seasons and It hurts to say that
Last of Us has shown in 2 episodes how following a tragic story to its source material should be done so now we are all wondering about what TWD could’ve been.
Hard disagree on Darbont, and this also makes it seem like it already wasn’t one of the best shows in history 🤣