<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Frank Darabont has thanked AMC for its commitment to zombie drama The Walking Dead. He told Dread Central that he is grateful to the network for commissioning six episodes rather than a single pilot. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s fantastic,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;These folks committed to production and air and gave us six episodes to prove ourselves. Usually you just get a shot at doing one episode, you shoot the pilot [and] there&amp;#039;s no on-air commitment. At some point they decide whether or not they&amp;#039;re going to air your show or toss it in a dumpster and it&amp;#039;s never heard from again.&amp;quot; Darabont also admitted that he was relieved not to be producing 13 episodes for the first season, in a similar vein to AMC shows Mad Men and Breaking Bad. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m glad the first season isn&amp;#039;t 13 quite honestly because there&amp;#039;s a learning curve in how to prep for [that many] episodes,&amp;quot; he explained. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m glad we&amp;#039;re getting sort of the half measure to start. I&amp;#039;d be feeling a little overwhelmed.&amp;quot; He added that a potential second season could enjoy a longer run.  &amp;quot;If there is a second season, which I believe there will be... [then] we&amp;#039;ll be on the hook for 13 [episodes]. Now I&amp;#039;ll know really how to get started for that.&amp;quot; The Walking Dead will premiere on October 31 on AMC. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/the-walking-dead/news/a268003/walking-dead-exec-happy-with-short-run/>