The Walking Dead (season 1)
Robert Kirkman, who created the comic book series in 2003, says he had considered the idea of a "Walking Dead" television series, but never actively pursued it. "I certainly wanted it to happen, just because I knew it would be good for the book... I'm certainly not against adaptations, like some creators." When Frank Darabont became interested in adapting the comic books for television, Kirkman said it was "extremely flattering" and went on to say that, "He definitely cares about the original source material, and you can tell that in the way he's adapting it. It's an extreme validation of the work... Never in a million years could I have thought that if "Walking Dead" were to ever be adapted that everything would be going this well. I think that that's all because of Frank."
Frank Darabont
Not too long after leaving "The Walking Dead", Darabont struck a deal with TNT to develop a pilot for a new series to air on their channel, titled "L.A. Noir" based on a book by author John Buntin. Darabont discovered the book at LAX Airport and after two days straight of reading it he decided to adapt it for television. Darabont was very passionate about the project as he had always wanted to produce a film noir project. Darabont cast Jon Bernthal, who he had worked with on "The Walking Dead", in the lead role for the series. Other Darabont regulars cast included Jeffrey DeMunn and Alexa Davalos. The series was given a full season order of six episodes in the fall of 2012 and the title of the series was changed to "Mob City". The series premiered in December 2013 and was met with mixed to positive reviews. The series was cancelled after only one season.