Earlier than AMC picked up The Walking Dead, it was pitched to a handful of different networks — together with HBO — however it might’ve been a totally totally different present. When Robert Kirkman’s Walking Dead comics got here to the eye of Frank Darabont and Gale Anne Hurd, they promptly acknowledged the potential for a TV adaptation and went round city to pitch it.
The Strolling Useless has grow to be a profitable franchise for AMC, operating for a whopping 11 seasons and spawning an eye-watering six spinoff exhibits. Nevertheless it virtually ended up on a special community. If the producers might’ve negotiated what the tone can be, The Strolling Useless would possibly’ve been an HBO show airing alongside True Detective and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Why HBO Handed On The Strolling Useless
Based on The Huffington Post, earlier than The Strolling Useless was pitched to AMC, each HBO and NBC had been within the sequence. However they didn’t need the precise present that Darabont and Hurd had been pitching; they’d one situation for selecting it up. These networks each needed to tone down the gore and violence of the supply materials.
Hurd wasn’t keen to compromise on Kirkman’s imaginative and prescient. She was dedicated to translating the brutality of the comics to the display.
However Hurd wasn’t keen to compromise on Kirkman’s imaginative and prescient. She was dedicated to translating the brutality of the comics to the display, and didn’t need to sanitize it. When this notice got here up, Hurd merely mentioned, “No, thanks,” and began procuring the mission round different networks. The present they needed to make clearly wasn’t a great match for these networks.
Finally, AMC — the house of two of the best TV exhibits on the air on the time, Breaking Unhealthy and Mad Males — not solely agreed to make the present, however agreed to make it as ugly and bloody as Kirkman’s coronary heart desired. Darabont was appointed as the initial showrunner and the sequence was picked up for one of the cinematic pilot episodes ever produced.
It appears uncommon that HBO would need to tone down the violence. It’s a bit extra comprehensible with NBC, since they’re a daily broadcast community and subsequently beholden to the iron claw of Requirements and Practices. However as a premium cable community, HBO has no such restrictions, and so they’re famend for gritty, violent exhibits like The Sopranos and The Wire.
In fact, the violence in The Walking Dead isn’t the identical as The Sopranos or The Wire. Horror violence is its personal beast — nobody will get eviscerated by the undead in The Sopranos. HBO had different horror exhibits, like Tales from the Crypt and True Blood, however they weren’t as centered on blood and guts as The Strolling Useless.
A Much less Violent Strolling Useless Would’ve Been A Utterly Totally different Present
If Hurd had caved to HBO’s calls for and toned down the violence of The Strolling Useless, it might’ve been a very totally different present. In simply the second episode of The Walking Dead, Rick and Glenn cowl themselves within the visceral entrails of the undead to disguise their scent amongst a horde of walkers — HBO in all probability would’ve vetoed that scene.
HBO’s mandate would’ve put extra of an emphasis on the characters and their interpersonal drama. However what made The Strolling Useless so profitable was its stability of interpersonal drama and surprising gore. Its distinctive promoting level was that it was a zombie-infested cleaning soap opera. With out the gore, it might simply be a cleaning soap opera.
HBO Would Finish Up Having An Even Darker Present Much less Than A Yr After TWD
Inside one yr of The Strolling Useless premiering on AMC, HBO would have a fair darker, bloodier, and extra horrifying present on its airwaves. In 2011, Sport of Thrones debuted on HBO. By the tip of the primary season, the lead character can be publicly beheaded — and that was simply the tip of the iceberg.
|
Premiere Date |
|
|---|---|
|
The Strolling Useless |
October 31, 2010 |
|
Sport of Thrones |
April 17, 2011 |
Shireen was burned on the stake, Pedro Pascal had his eyes gouged out, a pregnant lady acquired stabbed within the womb, and a 10-year-old lady acquired crushed to loss of life by an enormous. Even in its most annoying moments, The Strolling Useless didn’t maintain a candle to Game of Thrones’ violence.
What An HBO Model Of The Strolling Useless Would Look Like In the present day
If The Strolling Useless was made by HBO as we speak, it might in all probability be a extra simple adaptation of the comics. Based mostly on the present TV panorama, it might possible have shorter seasons — and fewer seasons — a bit like Sport of Thrones. However there can be two or three years between seasons, and possibly delayed gratification on the largest payoffs.
In exhibits like Home of the Dragon, HBO retains laying aside the payoffs. HBO’s The Strolling Useless would in all probability promise the arrival of Negan on the finish of 1 season, and nonetheless haven’t any Negan by the tip of the following season. It might’ve positioned extra emphasis on character growth, and far much less on the horror and gore.
If HBO Picked Up The Strolling Useless, It May’ve Handed On Its Personal Hit Zombie Present
If HBO had picked up The Strolling Useless in 2010, and it had been as massive of a success because it was on AMC, then the community would possibly’ve handed by itself hit zombie present greater than a decade later. In 2023, HBO debuted The Last of Us, based on the Naughty Dog video game franchise.
It takes place in an analogous zombie-infested world to The Strolling Useless, it makes use of the identical trope of territorial communities, and it carries the identical message that human survivors are the actual monsters. If HBO had The Strolling Useless, it in all probability would’ve turned down The Final of Us.
Supply: The Huffington Post
