As most people know, The Walking Dead is based on Robert Kirkman's comic book series. The comic books do not shy away from brutality, gore, and blood, but if it were not for the producer, Gale Anne Hurd, the show would have been much different.
Due to the plan to incorporate all the violence into the show, many TV networks were not interested, and some suggested to tone it down for them to be onboard.
Gale knew that if the show was to work, it could not deviate from the source material. This led her to turn down offers from both NBC and HBO if they significantly dialed down the violence and gore.
These requests ultimately led them to AMC, and the rest is history. But it does beg the question: what would the series have been like on HBO, and how many seasons would they have reached?