Boom! Deadline reports that, despite the show's high ratings, Frank Darabont has canned the entire writing staff of his AMC zombie-apocalypse drama, The Walking Dead, and plans to have freelancers script next year's already-ordered second season. Darabont — who wrote, co-wrote, or rewrote all six episodes of the show's current first season — may face resistance from the sticklers at the Writers Guild (right now, the only show on American TV to rely on freelance scribes is Torchwood, which it can get away with because it's produced by the BBC), but if this means less Merle and T-Dogg, we're totally cool with it.

'The Walking Dead' Lets Go Of Writers; Considers No Writing Staff For Season 2 [Deadline]