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"Fox chairman of entertainment Kevin Reilly has claimed that The Walking Dead would only work on cable. Reilly - who originally purchased a pilot script for the zombie drama from Frank Darabont while working at NBC - told Deadline that the series &amp;quot;would have probably been a little less intense and a little less interesting to the audience&amp;quot; if it had aired on a broadcast network.  &amp;quot;When you put on a thriller you have to compete at that level\u2026 We must match the intensity, otherwise we&amp;#039;ll pale in comparison,&amp;quot; he suggested. Speaking at this year&amp;#039;s TCA press tour, Reilly elaborated: &amp;quot;The Walking Dead is an extraordinary thing. I bought the script at NBC from Frank Darabont. I developed it. I loved it. &amp;quot;[But] I was absolutely at the bottom of the ratings at NBC, and I just was like, &amp;#039;Really, Frank? A zombie thing?&amp;#039; - I thought it was good, but it was an early draft. And then, when I left and I heard it went over to AMC, there was just a lot of serendipity involved.&amp;quot; The network boss added that Fox itself has &amp;quot;never left the genre business&amp;quot;, despite &amp;quot;some bad false starts and broken... hearts&amp;quot; with ratings-challenged shows such as Fringe.  &amp;quot;It was great to finally see [a series] through and finish it in a great way for the fans and to not leave them hanging,&amp;quot; he admitted. &amp;quot;But, we&amp;#039;ve never left that business, and we always look for it. We set the standard, many years ago, with The X-Files.&amp;quot; The Walking Dead - which was recently renewed for a fourth season - returns to AMC on February 10. The series airs on FX UK - to be rebranded Fox from January 11 - in the UK. &amp;gt; Walking Dead exec: &amp;#039;Series almost aired on NBC, HBO&amp;#039; Watch a promo for the return of The Walking Dead below:      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/the-walking-dead/news/a449563/the-walking-dead-was-turned-down-by-nbc-it-was-an-early-draft/>