According to The Hollywood Reporter, Frank Darabont was fired from AMC’s highest rated series (which sounds like shooting oneself in the foot, if you ask me).  The reasoning appears to be that he resisted a cut in the series budget, though one has to ask why, and it bears repeating,  you fire the man behind the most successful show on your network.

Some theorize that shows like “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead” had to have their budgets cut because AMC, in negotiations with the creator of “Mad Men,” Matt Weiner, had to pay, and pay big, to keep him with the show.

But sacrifice the shepherd of your most successful show for one that, while successful critically, wasn’t necessarily so ratings-wise?