How The Walking Dead Might Be the Next Van Halen (And That’s Not a Good Thing)

By Damon Martin – Editor/Lead Writer
Follow on Twitter @DamonMartin

July 21, 1998 – the one and only time I saw Van Halen in concert and I even got to meet the band.

Now if you’re a Van Halen fan at all, you’re probably thinking to yourself, that’s pretty awesome that you got to not only see them live, but you got to shake hands with one of the biggest rock gods of the last half century!

Well part of that statement is true – I did get to meet Eddie Van Halen, although my attempt at a hand shake was more like a limp-wristed palming after I was warned by his security guard that when you meet Eddie Van Halen, you do not shake Eddie Van Halen’s hand. (The million-dollar insurance policy and the rings he wears on his fingers prevent anyone from squeezing his hands, so you gently put your hand out and let him do with you as he sees fit).

Working at a record store definitely had its benefits and getting the chance to meet Van Halen was pretty far up on my bucket list, but that day wasn’t very special when it all came to pass because while I did get to meet Eddie and Alex Van Halen (although no hand shaking took place with Eddie) I didn’t come close to shaking hands with Diamond David Lee Roth or sharing a shot of tequila with “I Can’t Drive 55” Sammy Hagar.

No, on that hot afternoon in Cincinnati, Ohio I was greeted by former Extreme frontman Gary Cherone, who belted out the lead vocals for the band’s new album “Van Halen III” after they split with Hagar and Roth within a year’s time.

Now I don’t want to sound ungrateful that I got to meet Gary Cherone, I mean everyone remembers “More Than Words” when he was with his old band Extreme (although I somehow always get this song mixed up with “To Be With You” by Mr. Big, don’t ask me why). But as a lifelong Van Halen fan it wasn’t even about meeting David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar. It was about hearing them belt out their signature tunes like Roth ripping the air on “Panama” or Hagar’s lungs begging for air as he let loose on “Dreams”.

Unfortunately on that day I felt like I was at a bad cover band’s attempt at playing alongside Eddie Van Halen. He was brilliant on guitar, but the vocals sounded like a really experienced karaoke singer who hoped that this would be his big chance to get discovered or at least earn a slot on American Idol.

Then I started to analyze the problem with why Gary Cherone was ruining my Van Halen concert experience in the first place – he was probably the only “famous” singer who would take the gig after both Roth and Hagar left the band in a huff following blowouts with legendary control freak and egomaniac Eddie Van Halen.

That brings me full circle with how my Van Halen concert experience relates back to the blockbuster popular TV show The Walking Dead.

Much like those formative years when I was singing and dancing along with Van Halen whenever they came on MTV (for those of you too young to remember, MTV used to play music videos and not reruns of bronzer addicted Jersey rejects), I was a monstrously huge fan of the zombie filled comic book The Walking Dead.

From the first day I picked up this book, I was enthralled. I grew up on George Romero’s dead films, and this was the best thing to happen to a horror and zombie fan in years. Creator Robert Kirkman crafted an apocalyptic world that seemed really evil and unforgiving with every turn of the page. My good friend Blair Butler, formerly of G4’s Attack of the Show, routinely raved about this comic on her segment “Fresh Ink”, and I equally backed her assessment that this was almost always the best ongoing comic book in the universe.

So when I heard the comic I adored so much was coming to television via AMC, immediately I became a skeptic. How could Kirkman’s blood soaked pages be brought to life on a cable network not named HBO or Showtime?

Luckily, the man who brought The Shawshank Redemption to movie theaters was behind it all, and suddenly my faith was restored. Frank Darabont was the mind behind getting The Walking Dead onto AMC’s radar, and during a six-episode run for their first season, my eyes gaped open as my favorite comic book became flesh and bone on TV.

Unfortunately just days after The Walking Dead previewed their second season at San Diego Comic Con, Darabont was fired and in his place stepped former writer and producer Glen Mazzara. Now admittedly I didn’t have a clue who Glen Mazzara was at the time, but I was shocked and scared at what would become of my favorite zombie kill fest without Darabont leading the ship.

Luckily my faith was restored when my favorite TV writer and showrunner, Kurt Sutter, spoke up favorably about Mazzara after working together on The Shield. Sutter, who helms the greatest show on television currently Sons of Anarchy, spoke Mazzara’s praises and even joked about making an appearance on the show at some point.

The second season of The Walking Dead under Mazzara’s helm did come under some critical fire because of the slow movement during the first half of the show’s run, but personally I thought it was brilliant story telling. I don’t need to see a zombie get its head blown off in 50 different ways to figure out I’m watching a zombie show. I like a good story, and Mazzara certainly knew how to tell it.

So as season three of The Walking Dead picked up, I was on the verge of frenzy when it debuted. My favorite katana wielding character Michonne was going to debut, and The Governor, the most evil sadist this side of Joffrey Baratheon, was going to be the main antagonist for the third season.

Halfway through the season as the show reached its holiday break, I was completely satisfied. Everything was going great until I got a press release from AMC telling me that The Walking Dead had been renewed for a fourth season (celebration!) but Glen Mazzara would not be back as showrunner (crying in my pillow).

What happened with Glen Mazzara? How could any split like this just be two parties who decided to split ways as described in their press release? Why was yet another showrunner being fired from one of my favorite shows on television? Why don’t the characters on The Walking Dead look more like Tom Hanks in Castaway after having no access to showers or razors for god knows how long? (okay that’s more of a story point but I digress).

Immediately I turned to Kurt Sutter to see what he had to say on the matter because he knows Mazzara personally and the now former showrunner would obviously take the high road on the matter (or he’s sworn to secrecy until AMC pays him out his contract). Meanwhile, Sutter feels no such restraints, which is another reason to love this madman.

AMC is run by small-minded, bottom-line thinkers who have no appreciation or gratitude for the effort of its creative personnel. Time and time again we see events like what happened today with Glen Mazzara,” Sutter wrote via Twitter. “They continue to disrespect writers, sh*t on their audience, and bury their network. Mazzara took the work-in-progress that was Walking Dead and turned it into a viable TV show with a future. Without him, that future is dim.

Showrunners are not development executives, we’re not cookie cutter douchebags that you plug into a preexisting model. TWD will suffer. Even Zombies need consistency. Mad Men and Breaking Bad will be gone soon. So will AMC. I hope their f*cking stock takes a dive and the shareholders line up (Josh) Sapan, (Charles) Dolan and (Charlie) Collier and sh*t in their open hands. C*nts.

Wow, Kurt Sutter was pissed, which in turned got me pissed.

So I waited and waited to see what else would come of this unfortunate situation, and then days later reports started to trickle out and rumors started to surface that the heart of Mazzara’s dismissal as well as Darabont’s could fall right in the lap of Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman.

Kirkman has been an executive producer, writer and advisor on The Walking Dead since the first day of production and with good reason – he created the entire universe that was about to end up on TV. Still, it did seem fishy that two very well respected and well known showrunners were canned, while Kirkman’s only response to the situation on Twitter when directing it back at Sutter was, “(Kurt Sutter) is brilliant and Sons is my favorite show on TV. Still, it’s upsetting to see him ranting about things he knows nothing about.”

With Darabont and Mazzara now gone from The Walking Dead, yet another producer and writer Scott Gimple has taken the reigns as the new showrunner while firing up the engines for season 4.

This is where my concern comes in as a fan of The Walking Dead. I appreciate and love Robert Kirkman’s vision, and want him to keep writing comic books like crazy, and I hope he always has a creative influence on the television show as well, but there comes a point when you have to let television people do television. Kirkman is a first time TV guy, yet he knows more than two very successful filmmakers like Darabont and Mazzara?

My biggest fear right now is that Scott Gimple is TV’s version of Gary Cherone. He’s the plug and play producer that Kirkman hopes can replace Darabont and Mazzara without skipping a beat. Of course as a fan I hope for the best, and I want The Walking Dead to succeed like everybody else, but I’m starting to wonder if I met Robert Kirkman that his security guys would warn me not to actually shake his hand in fear of hurting his tremendous ego.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if The Walking Dead stays upright or if a double-barrel shotgun blast to the head really is what’s coming next.

Leave your comments below — still excited about The Walking Dead season 4 or watching with caution?