Shane Walsh (The Walking Dead)
Shane Walsh was created by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore, the writer and original artist of "The Walking Dead" comic book series. The character first appeared in the first issue of the comic book series in October 2003, but was expanded upon greatly in the television show adapted from the comics in 2010. As a result, Shane lives much longer in the chronology of the story in the show than he does in the comics. Kirkman described the comic book version of Shane's character as a short and quick "wham, bam, thank you ma'am" arc compared to that of his counterpart in the television series. Kirkman said he preferred the show's version of Shane and that the differences between the two versions of the character illustrate the ability to explore and evolve elements from the comic book in different ways on the show.
Days Gone Bye (The Walking Dead)
"The Walking Dead" institutes elements from George A. Romero's horror film "Night of the Living Dead" (1968). Darabont admitted to becoming a fan of the film at age fourteen. He insisted that the film has a "weird vibe", comparing it to that of pornography. He continued: "It had this marvelously attractive, disreputable draw [...] I loved it immediately." Darabont recalled walking into a comic book store in Burbank, California and seeing "The Walking Dead" on the shelf in 2005.
Darabont described the process of developing the series and setting it up at a network as "four years of frustration". He first initiated a deal with NBC to own copyrights to "The Walking Dead", but was later declined. "They were very excited about the idea of doing a zombie show until I handed them a zombie script where zombies were actually doing zombie shit," he stated. Darabont credited Hurd with finally getting the series on AMC. "Gale was tremendously instrumental in jump-starting it at a point where it felt like it was languishing, "he asserted. "I'd gotten turned down enough times, which is no reflection on the material, but no matter what you're trying to sell in Hollywood, you're Willy Loman and it's Death of a Salesman. You're out there trying to sell shit that nobody wants. Even if it's good shit."