Zombie boss explains 'Walking Dead' exit

Frank Darabont, former king of the zombies, has a interview in TV Guide with L.A. bureau chief Michael Schneider in which he finally explains his surprise exit from "The Walking Dead" last summer - quite the surprise considering this was AMC's biggest hit. Most surmised that Darabont - show's EP with a long list of big screen credits  - was shown the door over budget issues; he does not dispute this. (Darabont's about to shoot a pilot for TNT called "L.A.Noir").

  Says he:

It was, for the sake of my cast and my crew, a tremendously regretful thing to face, to have to leave. But I was really given no choice. I don't understand the thinking behind, "Oh, this is the most successful show in the history of basic cable. Let's gut the budgets now." I never did understand that and I think they got tired of hearing me complain about it. It's a little more complicated than that, but that's as far as I want to go with it because otherwise it's just provoking more controversy and that's not really of interest to me. I just want to keep my head down and do my job and be allowed to do my job, that's key, and continue to, hopefully, enjoy it and do good work.