Why ‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Season 3 Is Dave Erickson’s Last As Showrunner

Dave Erickson, who developed “Fear the Walking Dead” alongside “Walking Dead” creator Robert Kirkman, is set to vacate his position as showrunner at the end of the upcoming Season 3. But what was the reason behind his decision to exit the zombie drama?

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Erickson revealed that he decided to step down from his role as showrunner to spend more time with his children. “It’s something that’s been on my mind for a time,” he told the news outlet. “When you’re running a show, inevitably it’s all-consuming. Frankly, you end up not spending as much time with your kids as you would like. You sacrifice quite a bit to keep all of these balls up in the air.”

Writing on Season 3 is now finished, but the production on the installment won’t end until mid-July. We wrap in July, but I’m still delivering and won’t be done until August or September,” Erickson said. “I’m looking forward to September and October as a time where I can refill the well a little bit and make plans for the next thing.”

READ: “Fear the Walking Dead” EP teases Dayton Callie’s Season 3 role

Although Erickson will be replaced by incoming showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg in Season 4, Erickson will remain as an executive producer for the AMC series. Erickson will also segue to a multiple-year development deal with AMC, in which he will develop new projects for AMC Studios and other networks in the AMC Networks portfolio, including Sundance TV.

“We’re beyond grateful for Dave’s amazing work on the first three seasons of ‘Fear the Walking Dead,’” said AMC and Sundance TV president of original programming Joel Stillerman in a statement last March. “With Dave as showrunner, the series fulfilled its creative promise to expand the ‘Walking Dead’ universe in a way that was totally unique from the original series and has gone on to become the No. 2 drama series in ad-supported cable, behind only ‘The Walking Dead.’ We are also incredibly excited that Dave has chosen to stay in the AMC family to pursue his next passion project. We look forward to many more successful collaborations.”

“Fear the Walking Dead” Season 3, which stars Kim Dickens (Madison), Cliff Curtis (Travis), Frank Dillane (Nick), Alycia Debnam-Carey (Alicia), Colman Domingo (Strand), Mercedes Mason (Ofelia), among many others, premieres on Sunday, June 4 at 9 p.m. EDT on AMC. Watch the trailer for the new season below: