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The Walking Dead Creator Talks Showrunner Shake-Up: "The Show Is Always Going to Be in Good Hands"

Exclusive! Cast and creator drop scoop on the return episode of the AMC hit

By Jenna Mullins Feb 06, 2013 10:18 PMTags
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The Walking Dead has had two constants since premiering back in 2010: The zombie drama is plentiful, and the behind-the-scenes situation is constantly changing.

Back in December, AMC renewed The Walking Dead for a fourth season but without showrunner Glen Mazzara. Instead, supervising producer Scott Gimple will take over after season three. This marks the second time the series has changed showrunners (Mazzara replaced Frank Darabont), and fans have voiced fears over their show suffering because of the revolving door of people in charge. So we asked creator Robert Kirkman about the showrunner switcheroo last night during Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' "An Evening With The Walking Dead," and here is what he had to say:

"I don't think an official announcement has been made yet. I've heard some rumors that seem pretty sound," he says. "I'm not going to confirm or deny anything. I can say the show is always going to be in good hands. That's something that is very important to me and something that I spent a good deal of time making sure that that's the case."

Until the regime change, Mazzara is still running the show. And according to Kirkman and the cast, it's going to be an explosive show revolving around the Governor (David Morrissey) and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) finally meeting.

"I think everything in season three has been building up to this," Kirkman tells us. "It's been putting the Governor in place, putting Rick in place, putting the groups around them and now we're going to see them go head to head. We're going to see a lot of confrontation. It's going to be big, explosive, and action-packed. There's going to be all kinds of cool stuff."

What kind of cool stuff? Kirkman stayed mum on details, but he did mention that "a lot of machine guns" will be involved.

To get more Walking Dead scoop from Lincoln, Laurie Holden, Norman Reedus and more, watch our exclusive interviews with cast below!

Watch: Andrew Lincoln on "The Walking Dead" Twists
Watch: Actresses Dish on "The Walking Dead"

—Reporting by Will Marfuggi