Scott Gimple To Take Over as ‘Walking Dead’ Showrunner

AMC's The Walking Dead has a new showrunner - the show's third in four seasons - and this one has some previous experience in bringing horror comics to the screen. Unfortunately, said experience consists of the movie Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Scott Gimple.Gimple was named as the popular series' new showrunner yesterday by the Hollywood Reporter. He replaces Glen Mazzara, who is leaving the series at the end of the current season due to what has been described as "a difference of opinion about where the show should go moving forward," according to a statement by AMC last week. Mazzara himself replaced the show's original showrunner, Frank Darabont, who was similarly ousted following creative differences in the middle of the second season, suggesting that perhaps Walking Dead showrunners have a shelf-life of a season-and-a-half at best.

The writer has actually been with the show since the second season, working with Mazzara as his second-in-command. In addition to being responsible for the screenplay of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, he's also worked on ABC's FlashForward and NBC's short-lived Life, as well as scripting Marvel Comics' current mini-series Punisher: Nightmare. He'll take over the lead role at Walking Dead for the series' fourth season, which begins production later this year.