So... uh... what's up, AMC? First there was that pesky problem with how much money Mad Men showrunner Matthew Weiner's getting—an amount sizable enough that it's causing budget problems for AMC's other shows—and now it comes out that the network fired The Walking Dead showrunner Frank Darabont, who recently left the show under mysterious circumstances (and shortly after talking up the new season at Comic-Con). Say what you will about the show (I'm not too keen on it, myself), but The Walking Dead is clearly Darabont's baby—and with as crazy successful as it's been, you'd think he'd have had a bit of a safety net. Nope.

The craziest part of that story, though, is how the cast reportedly feels in the wake of the firing:

There also have been no public comments from the cast, and a source with knowledge of the situation says AMC has been "terrorizing" them and their representatives to discourage them from speaking out on Darabont's behalf. "They're scared," confirms another insider. "They're on a zombie show. They are all really easy to kill off."

I'd never thought about what it would be like to be on a zombie show before (I guess 'cause there's never really been a zombie show before, with the possible exception of The View... ka-ZING!), but man, actors on a zombie show have no job security whatsoever. Complain about craft services even once and, boom, a zombie's gumming at your eye socket on next week's episode. So the moral, I guess, is don't work for AMC, maybe? Unless you're Matthew Weiner?

(Also, vaguely related: You guys know that Darabont's unused script for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull—then known by the significantly less crappy title Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods—is online, right? 'Cause it totally is. And that's your Vaguely Related Indiana Jones Fact o' the Day™! [Tomorrow I will have a very scandalous one about Short Round.])