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4 posts tagged showrunners
“If you have an end to the year that’s satisfying, either by wrapping up some things that have been going on or being titillating about what’s coming next, you get rewarded for it – more so than in years past, when people weren’t so on top of what every episode means, dissecting what’s coming, what’s going to happen next.”
Bill Lawrence, creator of Cougar Town, Scrubs and Spin City, on why now more than ever TV writers need a roadmap for the season — or at least a destination.
Read Ryan McGee’s full interview here.
Source boobtubedude.com
Glen Mazzara Talks Walking Dead, Pushing Limits, and the Art of the Midseason Finale
Showrunner Glen Mazzara is merciful — OK, maybe not to the characters on The Walking Dead, but to fans. His belief is that midseason finales should be managed with care, not leaving too much hanging for too long. “Sometimes I worry about cliffhangers, that they can be frustrating to the audience,” he said.
Which isn’t to say that Mazzara won’t put beloved characters in peril — he’s done it plenty this season, the show’s third, and delivered monster ratings in the process (the midseason finale attracted 15.2 million viewers earlier this month).
We talked with Mazzara shortly before news broke that this season, which resumes in February, will be his last as showrunner and executive producer for The Walking Dead. Be warned, spoilers abound in this interview. Don’t listen or read further until you’re caught up.
Some highlights, including Mazzara’s take on finales, humanity in a zombified world, the freedom the setting provides, and how far he’ll push characters:
Community’s Dan Harmon does his first in-depth interview about being fired from the show he created, and for a special nerd treat, Marc Maron conducts it.
Harmon describes TV as “a populist, derivative, democratic medium. You’re supposed to make a hamburger that everyone wants in their mouth.” As his particular sandwich had a more complicated flavor, something traditional ratings fail to fully appreciate, he started seeking “a good review in the Times.”
What’s next for Harmon? “My idea is to have less ideas, because I want to be successful in television.”
Reblogged from theavc
“A Night in the Writer’s Room”: Variety’s 2012 Comedy Writer’s panel, featuring Mike Schur (Parks and Recreation), Steven Molaro (The Big Bang Theory), Jeff Schaffer and Jackie Schaffer (The League) and Laura Dern and Mike White (Enlightened).
A great quote from Schur on how they keep their show fresh (and if you haven’t seen last season’s finale, you should only read the first two sentences):
Our show is always almost getting canceled, so what happens — and this is not a joke, I’m serious — every year, we’re like, well, this could be it and we just decide to just go for broke and tell the biggest stories. The season finale may be a series finale. This last season, Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) ran for office in her town and at the end, we had to decide whether she won or lost and ultimately, it was like, “She’s gotta win, ‘cause this could be the last time anyone sees this show and it would be too sad if we said “she came super-close, bye!”
