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The original cast of AMC's "The Walking Dead."

(AMC)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - "The Walking Dead" may be the biggest show in the history of cable television. But it could have just as easily been the biggest show in the history of TV, period.

That's because NBC had first crack at the zombie thriller, but decided to pass. This probably isn't the first time you've heard this story, but NBC's dismissal of "The Walking Dead" re-entered the spotlight over the weekend during a SXSW showcase hosted by The Daily Beast.

The talk focused primarily on the forthcoming "Walking Dead" companion series (or spinoff) set to premiere this summer. However, things got sidetracked when executive producer David Alpert recalled the struggles the show runners had when they approached NBC back in 2005.

"I remember sitting down with the president of NBC at the time and saying, 'You want to put this on your network?' and I held up the book and it has a picture of a zombie with blood all over his face and scared Rick holding a gun," Alpert said during the SXSW talk. "'This is never going to go on NBC.' The exec said, 'No, we're going to do something different and really shake things up!' So we delivered the script exactly the way we said we would, and they passed."

At the time, Frank Darabont (director of "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile") had the rights to "The Walking Dead" TV series and produced a pilot with Alpert. According to Alpert, the NBC exec simply said the network couldn't put zombies on TV.

But NBC wasn't the only network to pass. As the story goes, several cable networks turned down a TV adaptation of "The Walking Dead," including HBO. The rejection by HBO is especially surprising, considering the premium cable network thought the concept featured too much violence and gore.

Clearly, HBO changed its mind heading into "Game of Thrones."

"The Walking Dead" eventually found a home on AMC and the rest is, well, TV history.

"Thank goodness we wound up at AMC," makeup artist Greg Nicotero told Huffington Post back in 2012. "They totally get this show. Right from the beginning, they've been completely trusting and supportive of what we've been trying to do with this series."

Does NBC regret its decision? Sort of, but not really.

During a 2013 interview with Entertainment Weekly, NBC entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt called "The Walking Dead" a ratings anomaly. He also said if broadcast networks could put as much effort as AMC does into one show, "it would be the best show you ever saw."

Maybe that's true, or maybe NBC should have just picked up "The Walking Dead."