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| Showrunners – TV's lords and creators | Showrunners – TV's lords and creators |
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| During the summer of 2009, I hosted a packed Q&A with visiting Americans Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse and Jack Bender, at which fans of their long-running ABC drama Lost queued patiently, proffering posters and DVD inserts to be signed and requesting photos. It was as if these middle-aged back-office executives were as famous as Lost's nubile stars. At this moment I began to understand the importance of "showrunners" in the imagination of US audiences. | During the summer of 2009, I hosted a packed Q&A with visiting Americans Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse and Jack Bender, at which fans of their long-running ABC drama Lost queued patiently, proffering posters and DVD inserts to be signed and requesting photos. It was as if these middle-aged back-office executives were as famous as Lost's nubile stars. At this moment I began to understand the importance of "showrunners" in the imagination of US audiences. |
| The "showrunner" has achieved cult status in America, thanks to our ever-deepening appreciation of how TV works, through fansites and box-set extras, brand loyalty to long-running franchises nurtured at fan conventions such as San Diego's Comic-Con, and the global watercooler of social media. (While Bender was busy shooting in Hawaii, Lindelof and Cuse appeared on ABC's official Lost podcast, forging a direct link with the geeks through self-deprecating in-jokery.) | The "showrunner" has achieved cult status in America, thanks to our ever-deepening appreciation of how TV works, through fansites and box-set extras, brand loyalty to long-running franchises nurtured at fan conventions such as San Diego's Comic-Con, and the global watercooler of social media. (While Bender was busy shooting in Hawaii, Lindelof and Cuse appeared on ABC's official Lost podcast, forging a direct link with the geeks through self-deprecating in-jokery.) |
| Inevitably, in an ever-shrinking TV world of co-productions, US terminology is creeping into the British TV drama conversation, arguably muddying the distinction between the more industrial production infrastructure of the 23-episode US network behemoth and our own "authored" tradition of TV fiction. Because who wants to be thought of as simply "the writer", hovering like a spare part behind the monitor, when you can be elevated, semantically, to "showrunner"? | Inevitably, in an ever-shrinking TV world of co-productions, US terminology is creeping into the British TV drama conversation, arguably muddying the distinction between the more industrial production infrastructure of the 23-episode US network behemoth and our own "authored" tradition of TV fiction. Because who wants to be thought of as simply "the writer", hovering like a spare part behind the monitor, when you can be elevated, semantically, to "showrunner"? |
| Entertainment orthodoxy states that film is a director's medium and TV is a writer's medium. Increasingly, TV is a showrunner's medium. It's an appealingly blunt job description that bespeaks supreme executive power. "It's not accurate, of course," says Chris Chibnall, who "show-ran" ITV's appointment-to-view whodunnit Broadchurch, as well as Law & Order: UK and Camelot. "Any drama is the product of a team." More of an industry term than a credit – as it's never used onscreen – showrunning is, he says, really about "the writer having a voice throughout the process, not just handing over a script". He refers to Mark Catley's recent stint as writer-producer-consultant on Casualty as an experimental example of showrunning that "utterly reinvigorated that show". | Entertainment orthodoxy states that film is a director's medium and TV is a writer's medium. Increasingly, TV is a showrunner's medium. It's an appealingly blunt job description that bespeaks supreme executive power. "It's not accurate, of course," says Chris Chibnall, who "show-ran" ITV's appointment-to-view whodunnit Broadchurch, as well as Law & Order: UK and Camelot. "Any drama is the product of a team." More of an industry term than a credit – as it's never used onscreen – showrunning is, he says, really about "the writer having a voice throughout the process, not just handing over a script". He refers to Mark Catley's recent stint as writer-producer-consultant on Casualty as an experimental example of showrunning that "utterly reinvigorated that show". |
| By my reckoning, the concept initially crept over the Atlantic in 1999 when Fred Barron, a seasoned writer-producer on Larry Sanders and Caroline in the City, launched the sitcom My Family, with a large, American-style writing staff. (The vulgar notion must have appalled Roy Clarke, who wrote all 295 episodes of Last of the Summer Wine.) But it was Russell T Davies who popularised it when he took control of the rebooted Doctor Who brand in 2003. At the end of his reign in 2009, he coyly described his role to Mark Lawson as "that sort of American 'showrunner' position", but provided a helpful job description: "To establish the tone of the show." His successor, Steven Moffat, is probably British telly's best known showrunner. | By my reckoning, the concept initially crept over the Atlantic in 1999 when Fred Barron, a seasoned writer-producer on Larry Sanders and Caroline in the City, launched the sitcom My Family, with a large, American-style writing staff. (The vulgar notion must have appalled Roy Clarke, who wrote all 295 episodes of Last of the Summer Wine.) But it was Russell T Davies who popularised it when he took control of the rebooted Doctor Who brand in 2003. At the end of his reign in 2009, he coyly described his role to Mark Lawson as "that sort of American 'showrunner' position", but provided a helpful job description: "To establish the tone of the show." His successor, Steven Moffat, is probably British telly's best known showrunner. |
| This is an edited list of Chibnall's duties: "I'm across every piece of casting; sign off designs; approve location choices; I watch rushes, assemblies, cuts; give notes; work with the director and editor on each episode; work with director of photography to set the right grade for the series, the colour palette …" It goes on and on, right through to publicity. Dennis Waterman-style, he even wrote the theme tune – well, the lyrics to Ólafur Arnalds's end song. "The showrunner needs to be the voice, the reference point, the vision." | This is an edited list of Chibnall's duties: "I'm across every piece of casting; sign off designs; approve location choices; I watch rushes, assemblies, cuts; give notes; work with the director and editor on each episode; work with director of photography to set the right grade for the series, the colour palette …" It goes on and on, right through to publicity. Dennis Waterman-style, he even wrote the theme tune – well, the lyrics to Ólafur Arnalds's end song. "The showrunner needs to be the voice, the reference point, the vision." |
| Michael Oates Palmer, staff writer on The West Wing, applied less reverence when he said: "They're the ringmaster, the elephant tamer and the people who clean the cages." | Michael Oates Palmer, staff writer on The West Wing, applied less reverence when he said: "They're the ringmaster, the elephant tamer and the people who clean the cages." |
| At last month's Guardian Edinburgh TV festival, a "masterclass" with unassuming, downhome Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan was the biggest draw. In a forthcoming, illuminating feature from Irish film-maker Des Doyle, the Kickstarter-funded Showrunners: A Documentary Film, the august likes of Joss Whedon (Buffy and soon-to-air Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Shawn Ryan (The Shield) and Terence Winter (Boardwalk Empire) take centre stage, with Spartacus's Steven S DeKnight describing a panel at Comic-Con being "a little bit like a rock concert". | At last month's Guardian Edinburgh TV festival, a "masterclass" with unassuming, downhome Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan was the biggest draw. In a forthcoming, illuminating feature from Irish film-maker Des Doyle, the Kickstarter-funded Showrunners: A Documentary Film, the august likes of Joss Whedon (Buffy and soon-to-air Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Shawn Ryan (The Shield) and Terence Winter (Boardwalk Empire) take centre stage, with Spartacus's Steven S DeKnight describing a panel at Comic-Con being "a little bit like a rock concert". |
| You can see why British writers might hanker after such superstar status. But do we really need it in British drama? Dennis Potter was never a showrunner. Troy Kennedy-Martin didn't exec-produce Edge of Darkness. Isn't this just another example of us emulating the Yanks, showing off by saying "season" for "series", and "sizzle reel" for "trailer"? | You can see why British writers might hanker after such superstar status. But do we really need it in British drama? Dennis Potter was never a showrunner. Troy Kennedy-Martin didn't exec-produce Edge of Darkness. Isn't this just another example of us emulating the Yanks, showing off by saying "season" for "series", and "sizzle reel" for "trailer"? |
| After all, they do things differently there. Compare the credits of current gothic ITV procedural Whitechapel and Channel Five's high-concept US import Under the Dome. The former lists one producer and two writers (the show's creators, Ben Court and Caroline Ip); the latter, one writer, three producers, two co-producers, one co-executive producer and eight executive producers. Such a large circus cries out for a ringmaster. | After all, they do things differently there. Compare the credits of current gothic ITV procedural Whitechapel and Channel Five's high-concept US import Under the Dome. The former lists one producer and two writers (the show's creators, Ben Court and Caroline Ip); the latter, one writer, three producers, two co-producers, one co-executive producer and eight executive producers. Such a large circus cries out for a ringmaster. |
| Chibnall thinks our adoption of the showrunning ethic can improve British TV by "putting the creative vision at the heart of a show". He refers to the first scene shot in the police interview room in Broadchurch, which was "essentially a square box. I'd wanted windows and a curve to connect the interior and exterior worlds, so that we could have all kinds of light variations. An extra wall was added in. As a writer, I wouldn't have had that clout – as a showrunner, I do." | Chibnall thinks our adoption of the showrunning ethic can improve British TV by "putting the creative vision at the heart of a show". He refers to the first scene shot in the police interview room in Broadchurch, which was "essentially a square box. I'd wanted windows and a curve to connect the interior and exterior worlds, so that we could have all kinds of light variations. An extra wall was added in. As a writer, I wouldn't have had that clout – as a showrunner, I do." |
| RUN TELECINE! US television jargon explained | RUN TELECINE! US television jargon explained |
| What they say … and what we say | What they say … and what we say |
| Network TV … Terrestrial TV | Network TV … Terrestrial TV |
| Cable … Satellite | Cable … Satellite |
| Teleplay … Script | Teleplay … Script |
| Nielsen ratings … Barb ratings | Nielsen ratings … Barb ratings |
| Season … Series | Season … Series |
| Miniseries … Series | Miniseries … Series |
| Air date … TX | Air date … TX |
| Showrunner … Chief writer | Showrunner … Chief writer |
| Executive producer … Writer (or lead actor, in lieu of payrise) | Executive producer … Writer (or lead actor, in lieu of payrise) |
| Writers' room … Caffe Nero | Writers' room … Caffe Nero |
| Cancelled … Shunted to 10.30 slot | Cancelled … Shunted to 10.30 slot |
| Sizzle reel … Trailer | Sizzle reel … Trailer |
| Spot … Advert | Spot … Advert |
| Talk show … Chat show | Talk show … Chat show |
| Game show … Quiz show | Game show … Quiz show |
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