Today's rant is about the potential dysfunction in the relationship between show runners and numbers one through five (give or take) on the call sheet.Sure, the show's Executive Producers have a hand in choosing the stars of their respective shows. But often it's a marriage arranged by the network. And even when it isn't, like in that perfect world where the EPs and the nets completely agree on casting, the potential for friction that would challenge the world's supply of "Gold Bond" is always there.What's that courting time amount to? A casting session. Perhaps a few callbacks. Maybe even a screen test or two. So even if there is a courtship, say something on the order of an arranged marriage on the Indian subcontinent, how long can we expect the honeymoon to last? After the cows and the rest of the dowry is exchanged and the families (agents and network execs) head back to their dusty villages, hubby and wife are shacked up and expected to produce offspring (TV), and the bedroom wherein they shall copulate is the fishbowl of a film set. And neither of them knows what the other looks like naked.Please excuse the lame parallels but to my mind this is exactly what it is: an arranged marriage between strangers, where the couple is then forced to bump uglies in full view of a large group of people, many of whom they've never met before.So, very soon the greasy veneer of "this is going to be great" and "you're perfect for this" and "it's like you write exactly what I'm thinking" wears off. That's when you get the EPs crowded into a room with their rapidly developing nervous ticks and shallow mouth breathing. They tell the director du semaine, "Jane really isn't that good and you might need to give her line readings." Or, "Bob thinks he's the smartest guy in the room, but whenever there's tension in a scene he does this really annoying thing with his nostrils." Or, "Lou has this big pulsing vein in his forehead that drives me nuts. Can you direct that vein not to pulse anymore."And on the set the director du semaine starts to get slimed with, "I feel like an extra here, I should have known they couldn't write for women." Or, "I wish they actually understood where I'm taking this character." Or, "Fuck that. I'm not saying this shit." Or, "Richard Dean Anderson" used to get every Friday off when he did Stargate; how come I don't get that kind of respect?"And this is where the director du semaine ceases to be a director and suddenly becomes a completely untrained marriage counsellor.
Ken's advice (available by clicking the link above) is priceless. That's all. Enjoy your Sunday.
1 comment:
Maybe because I was an actor before I became an EP, I've never understood why other showrunners have so much trouble with their series leads.
Even on shows where I've been parachuted in to take over, I've never had a problem relating to the concerns of the cast -- and in some cases that was the cause of the previous showrunner's departure.
There's a great book everyone involved in television should read called "The Way of the Actor" which will give you some insight into the psyche and working method.
But the reality is that when there's a creative problem, it's usually the actor who's right.
I know that's a heretical concept. But EP's and actors tend to come at the show from different directions. It's not unlike that model they teach in business schools about the two kinds of CEOs, those who can create a company and those who can run it.
Showrunners know how to create and (usually) how to run a show. But the day to day minutia of staying on creative course is monitored by the actors. When a drift occurs, whether because of network desires, an overworked story department or budget issues, that's when you hear the first complaints from the cast. And it's at that point where the show can be most easily steered back to its heading.
When that doesn't happen -- maybe the showrunner doesn't want to fight with the suits, hire another writer or figure out how to save some money -- then you get to the stage where the guest directors need to be marriage counsellors.
So -- the actors are always right and the showrunners are always the problem. That'll be $100. See you next week.
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