Talk:Showrunner

Name

Is it showrunner or show runner. If it is actually showrunner, then the rediect should go in that direction. I assume that this is an absolute thing, I am sure there is an official spelling controlled by a union or something.

There is not an official spelling, AFAIK, but I believe showrunner to be more common. jengod 23:33, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

Origins

I only remember seeing the phrase pop up in media coverage in the past few years. Does anyone have an idea of when it started to be in common use in the industry? Also sometimes who the showrunner is reflects creative issues--the creator of Brothers & Sisters left during development and Greg Berlanti came aboard to showrun. (Dgabbard 21:55, 5 September 2007 (UTC)).

Examples

This list is way too long and longer than the article itself. Outside of a couple of examples, this serves no purpose and its length does nothing to increase the value of the article.--Crossmr 17:12, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes it was but can I put Russell T Davies back in? As he is the person being talked about in one of the references we are using. --GracieLizzie 19:40, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Maybe there should be a show runner category instead? --TMaccius (talk) 04:17, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

Gene Rodenberry's involvement with the animated Trek was very minimal--D.C. Fontana handled the day to day production/story editing. Should that be corrected? (Dgabbard 22:04, 5 September 2007 (UTC))

I removed the list there is really no reason for it. Mention examples in the prose of the article not in an endless list of names. Ridernyc (talk) 03:47, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: page moved. Propaniac (talk) 17:03, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

---

Requested move

Show runner → showrunner — Relisted. Vegaswikian (talk) 06:10, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

I believe that the term "showrunner" is more common than "show runner". If you look at "What links here", you'll notice that many of the pages which link directly to show runner actually display the word as "showrunner", but pipe the link to avoid the redirect. If this move is approved, show runner should redirect to showrunner, instead of the current situation of showrunner redirecting to show runner. — Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 05:29, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

Survey

Feel free to state your position on the renaming proposal by beginning a new line in this section with *'''Support''' or *'''Oppose''', then sign your comment with ~~~~. Since polling is not a substitute for discussion, please explain your reasons, taking into account Wikipedia's policy on article titles.

Discussion

Any additional comments:

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Showrunner as an official credit

It seems like the position of showrunner is very important, but as far as I know, it's not often listed in the credits. Is there a reason for this? Is the showrunner an informal position? If the position is formal and exists on the books, why is it not credited explicitly? 69.134.51.3 (talk) 06:02, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Actual titles are now pretty much meaningless in TV, and so the term showrunner was created so that people would know who was in charge regardless of their title (Head Writer, Director, Producer, etc). However, it is still usually only titles that are listed in the credits. 70.131.144.42 (talk) 19:11, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

UK usage

The United Kingdom section states that Holby City was the first British TV show to have a showrunner, in 2005, citing a reference. However, the closing sentences which refer to My Family seem to suggest that it had a showrunner in 2000 (the given source certainly implies this). This seems to require clarification. There may be a need to illustrate that two conflicting opinions exist on this point. Alfrew (talk) 23:47, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

I've belatedly noticed that there is a distinction made between these programmes, by genre rather than date. Therefore I have put the earlier programme at the top of the section, so as to make the chronology clear. Apologies for not noticing this distinction originally. I have also made a few adjustments to the My Family section. Alfrew (talk) 01:30, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

Category Showrunner

Are there any concerns if I would make a category for showrunners?--CennoxX (talk) 19:39, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

Ack... so much conflicting terminology, contradictions within contradictions

...if it is just SUPREME BOSS OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS, then somebody go and say it already. In the very first line. (I'm only about 90% sure I understand this, so I'd rather have someone who knows their stuff do the change). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.127.70.219 (talk) 16:39, 5 June 2014 (UTC)

Good Question! Where can we get a good Answer? My impression is that a Showrunner not only has much power-control-authority but also a great deal of responsibility, on a day-to-day level, for actually managing the whole entire circus, making everything work. But maybe this is a mis-impression, maybe they can be somewhat distant and hands-off? Maybe there is much variation? Can anyone clarify this aspect of the article for all of us?-71.174.183.90 (talk) 16:17, 5 June 2016 (UTC)

Line producer

I added Line producer to the "See Also" list but they sound to me like identicle descriptions, albeit one is in television and the other is in film. Could we merge these two? 76.88.3.72 (talk) 09:53, 12 October 2014 (UTC) Sandy

A line producer very rarely participates in creative conversations (such as discussion of casting, as well as theme, and story suggestions). A line producer oversees the budget and scheduling of a feature or television season. On a TV show, the line producer reports to the showrunner and studio production executive, and the studio pays the line producers weekly fee. In other words, not the same job at all. 74.62.196.154 (talk) 00:39, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

history milestone years, term vs role

• www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2011/10/14/showrunner_meaning_and_origin.html

When Did People Start Saying “Showrunner”?

"...So where did the term come from, and when did people start using it?

Most likely, the late 1980s. The rise of the term “showrunner” tracks with the rise of writers in television. Before TV became a “writer’s medium,” it was a studio’s medium. Throughout the ’50s and ’60s, studios controlled all facets of production, from conception onward. Writers were mostly contract workers and did not generally participate in crafting the vision of the show. Studios only allowed experienced executives to pitch new shows, and these executives typically stayed on as the chief producers.

This system broke down in the late 1970s with The Mary Tyler Moore Show. According to veteran TV producer Jeff Melvoin—who has supervised shows from Remington Steele to Army Wives—Mary Tyler Moore was one of the first shows to give writers real creative freedom. “Once you gave writers a sense that they were in control, it was hard to go back,” Melvoin says. At the same time, audiences began to expect richer characters and plotlines. ... As writers became more critical to keeping shows on air, they were given more production responsibilities. Soon, studios even allowed writers to create new shows—and then to stay on to shape the shows they envisioned. The writer-executive producer was born.

But in an era of producer credit proliferation, those on set needed a new, shorter term to separate the person making final creative decisions from other producers. “You needed to know who the person to blame is, and who has the ultimate authority,” says Alex Epstein, author of Crafty TV Writing. “Showrunner” became natural shorthand for the person who literally runs the show. Variety started using “showrunner” to describe producers in 1992.

The New York Times explained showrunning to a mass audience in a 1995 profile of John Wells, the then-showrunner of E.R. Wells was responsible for “all important decisions about the series’ scripts, tone, attitude, look and direction.” Yet, some remained unconvinced about the visibility of showrunners. ...

As these online discussion forums grew, and eventually gained access to showrunners themselves, the media began paying more attention. ... And, as a result, increasing familiarity with—and use of—the term “showrunner.” "

The article is currently very weak on a clear presentation of the history of this term, the years of occurence of major events. The Slate article says it evolved in the late 1980s and entered general usage in the 1990s. I doubt most English-speakers had awareness of the term until after 2000, at the earliest. Whatever the truth, the article should state about what years these things happened. Also, the article needs to try to be clear about the evolution of the term vs. the evolution of the role. Presumably, the change in roles was the driving aspect, and the change in terminology followed but perhaps reinforced changing work relationships? What sources best address this? (Some discussions apply the term retroactively, back into the 1960s, which seems confusing at best.)-71.174.183.90 (talk) 16:12, 5 June 2016 (UTC)

I have noticed the word since only about 2015, so that I find "general usage" in the 1990s insupportable unless among TV workers. (It's also unclear whether Shane Brennan actually said the words indicated in the second block quotation in the "History" subsection or said only the sentence enclosed in quotation marks.)Mucketymuck (talk) 04:48, 10 March 2020 (UTC)

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Search results

Some good search results here. Would like to add to this article. Erik (talk | contrib) ^{(ping me)} 15:55, 14 October 2022 (UTC)