‘The Walking Dead’: Former showrunner Glen Mazzara inks deal with Fox TV

Three months ago, AMC managed to enrage most of “The Walking Dead’s” enormous fandom with the news that despite improving the show by leaps and bounds in his one and a half years on the job, Glen Mazzara was going to be let go over what amounted to creative differences. Luckily (and as teased in our “Justified” interview with Walton Goggins), he has now moved on to greener pastures.

Multiple sources have confirmed that Mazzara has inked a new deal with Fox Television Studios to help develop new original projects for cable TV. While this is not solely exclusive to him returning to FX (where he worked on “The Shield”), there are obviously more established connections between one branch of the 20th Century Fox banner and the other than to other networks. (Plus, network president John Landgraf has been known to be very good to his own.)

In a statement, here is what Mazzara had to say about returning to a studio that he knows rather well at this point:

“I’ve had a long history with Fox Television Studios, and it feels good to set up shop at a studio that I respect and trust, especially with [studio head] David [Madden] leading the charge. FTVS is giving me the opportunity to develop my own projects and to shepherd other writers on their own shows. This is where I want to be, and I couldn’t ask for a better partner as I take the next step in my career.”

Mazzara clearly built a devoted following with his “Walking Dead” run, and such showrunners as Shawn Ryan and Kurt Sutter (who both worked with him on “The Shield”) were both very quick to publicly chide AMC for their move. Scott M. Gimple will run season 4 of the zombie drama, while it will likely be at least several months (if not longer) before we hear about the first fruits from Glen’s new deal.

Are you happy to see this done for a very deserving creative mind? If you want to see some more “Walking Dead” scoop, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: AMC