The intent of THR‘s annual list of the 50 Most Powerful Showrunners is to provide an accurate state of the TV union — a rundown of the writer-producers selling in an increasingly fraught media climate, making culturally relevant and awards-friendly shows and serving the masses at a time when consensus entertainment has all but vanished. It’s also a great opportunity to pick some brains.
Those showrunners who made the 2023 list were polled on a variety of subjects. If Suits can become a streaming hit years after ending, what other shows deserve a similar fate? What IP are they dying to get their hands on? What’s already a pressing issue for the next WGA contract negotiation with the studios? And if they found themselves with a burner social media account, what would they do with it?
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Here are some of the best answers to those and more questions.
If I had a TV compound like Taylor Sheridan‘s Yellowstone ranch, I’d put it…
“Next to Taylor’s ranch in Texas, then start a land war with him, then adapt my own life story with Taylor played by Taylor and George Clooney playing me.”
— Lee Eisenberg, Lessons in Chemistry
“On the moon. With only one-sixth the gravity, the canvas director’s chairs would be more comfortable, and I could sit in them longer.”
— Vince Gilligan, Better Call Saul
“Near LaColombe Coffee.”
— Miles Millar, Wednesday
“On the bottom of the ocean, like Curt Jürgens in The Spy Who Loved Me.”
— Patrick McKay, The Rings of Power
“‘Memphissippi.’ I’d love to have a production hub extending from my hometown Memphis down across the Tennessee state line into Southaven and Tunica, Mississippi.”
— Katori Hall, P-Valley
“The English countryside.”
— Jenny Han, The Summer I Turned Pretty
“Inside Taylor Sheridan’s compound. No one would think to look for me there!”
— Ryan Condal, House of the Dragon
“In 2014.”
— Noah Hawley, Fargo
The IP I’m dying to get my hands on…
“The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, but as a show.”
— Sterlin Harjo, Reservation Dogs
“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. That film deserves an update.”
— Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
“Dragon Ball.”
— Lee Sung Jin, Beef
“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon. Three stellar lead roles, an iconic mid-century setting, jazz, nazis, superheroes, Salvador Dali…. It’s amazing and criminal that this hasn’t made it to the screen yet.”
— Patrick McKay, The Rings of Power
“Anything related to Tonya Harding. There’s a limited series with her name on it. Or Amy Talkington’s and mine (we’ve developed one once before and won’t rest until it’s on the air).”
— Liz Tigelaar, Tiny Beautiful Things
“Practical Magic”
— Akiva Goldsman, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
“Mike Mignola’s Hellboy is perfect for TV. He’s an X-File who investigates X-Files. Brilliant. There’s a mystery-of-the-week element to sustain the narrative while our hero, the good-hearted harbinger of the apocalypse, resists the very reason he was brought to Earth: to end it.”
— Ryan Condal, House of the Dragon
“Dr. Katz Professional Therapist.”
— Cody Heller, Jury Duty
“Donald E. Westlake’s series of Dortmuneder novels. I can’t get enough of Westlake’s loser criminal mastermind. I’d watch the hell out of the TV drama.”
— Peter Gould, Better Call Saul
“Suits!”
— John Hoffman, Only Murders in the Building
Well, that was a popular one, so here’s who else deserves a Suits boost…
“Aaron Sorkin’s Sports Night. I used to watch it live and then immediately play it back on my VCR.”
— Dallas Jenkins, The Chosen
“30 Rock.”
— Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
“Psych. Bring back all the blue skies, baby!”
— Ashley Lyle, Yellowjackets
“Firefly and Freaks & Geeks. Both are classics, both were under-appreciated in their time — and both ended far too soon, exiting the stage with much of their music still inside them.”
— J.D. Payne, The Rings of Power
“St. Elsewhere.”
— David E. Kelley, The Lincoln Lawyer
“My So-Called Life. It’s still so crazy to me that the show only ran for one season.”
— Nkechi Okoro Carroll, All American
“Huh, if only there were a law show with an ensemble cast that dealt with office politics and the love lives of lawyers.”
— Robert King, The Good Fight
My priority issue for the next WGA contract is…
“Making sure emerging writers get experience.”
— Charlotte Stoudt, The Morning Show
“I would do away with mini rooms entirely and demanding a second episode for a standard episodic fee without the benefit of an actual real 20-week writing staff.”
—Liz Tigelaar, Tiny Beautiful Things
“The under-compensated work done by writers in prep, shooting and post-production.”
— David Zabel, Daryl Dixon
“The myriad of tech advances between now and then. And let’s show some love to the writer’s support staff.”
— Jenny Lumet, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
“Official Showrunner mentoring between new and established showrunners.”
— Noah Hawley, Fargo
“Kill off mini-rooms forever.”
— Michelle King, The Good Fight
“Figuring out how to codify diversity. It has been a huge concern for my fellow writers-producers of color as many of us see our shows getting the hatchet during this ongoing contraction.”
— Katori Hall, P-Valley
