The Original pilot for The Walking Dead would have changed the entire series forever.
When the Walking Dead was in pre-production, it is interesting to note that Robert Kirkman, the creator of The Walking Dead was barely involved in the process. Currently, Kirkman has nearly full creative control over the show, but back in 2006, Robert Kirkman was only interested in bringing The Walking Dead to television. Frank Darabont wrote the original pilot, really pushed the series and even pitched the show to NBC – on a side note, NBC later rejected the series and said the following, “This is awesome. I really love this. Does it have to have zombies in it?”
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In the original script for the pilot episode, there was information that was eventually removed from the show. Reddit user InsideMan513 pointed out this exchange when he was reading the original pilot script:
[He (Rick) looks out at the female lying eaten in the street, throws a questioning look to Morgan.
MORGAN: “If they don’t find fresh, they’ll eat one of their own. Take one of the weaker ones.”]
This may not seem like much but, it would have changed the entire concept of the TV series. It would no longer be a fight between survivors and walkers. But, a mission to control walkers and force them to fight themselves. Ultimately, it would allow for survivors to easily survive in the zombie apocalypse. This simple exchange could have also given way to “ultimate zombies” where the zombies that have survived the longest are the strongest zombies.
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As Uproxx pointed out it would have never worked:
It certainly would’ve injected more possibilities into the equation, but it might have also taken away from the brilliance of the simple premise. The Walking Dead, after all, is not a show about zombies. It’s a show about people trying to get by in a world overrun by zombies. Walker-on-walker deaths potentially could’ve changed the entire conception.
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