Creation part 4: stepping stones
The showrunners of Difficult Men all have one thing in common: they didn’t start as showrunners.
That makes sense, I mean who is born knowing how to do a job like that? But unlike musicians who make a great first album, directors who knock it out of the park with their debut film or advertising creatives who win several Pencils with their first commercial, the people entrusted with the job of running a TV series (even a shit one) must have paid their dues elsewhere first.
Each story, whether of David Chase, David Milch, David Simon or Vince Gilligan, begins with some less good TV that they either improved or demonstrated they were much too good for.
The one with the best CV is David Milch, who started on Hill Street Blues before creating NYPD Blue alongside proven producer Steven Bochco. He then started a couple of less successful shows then on to Deadwood.
In his earlier days, David Chase was a cantankerous bastard on The Rockford Files, and Northern Exposure, amongst others. He won an Emmy in 1980, proving his talent, but didn’t end up in charge of The Sopranos for another 15-20 years.
Vince Gilligan was a fan of The X-Files who submitted a script for that series, became a staff writer then executive producer, then supervising producer. But that all ended in 2002 and is followed by a bare patch in the CV until Breaking Bad started in 2008.
David Simon was a journalist who ended up being disillusioned by that career, wrote a book about the crime scene in Baltimore. That got picked up to become a TV series, which led to him writing HBO miniseries The Corner, which then led to The Wire.
So lots of different routes to the privileged position of Showrunner Of Classically Brilliant TV Series. But it’s not just those guys: Danny Boyle started on Eastenders and Casualty before Trainspotting, and even his Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire was intended to be a straight-to-DVD blip until he made it good enough to gross hundreds of millions of dollars and win all the awards going.
Clearly there are certain industries in which you have to start at the bottom, paying your dues and proving yourself. But from what I’ve read, these guys were obviously brilliant in the beginning, allowing them to move faster and higher than their colleagues. However, they still needed a hell of a lot of patience and perhaps a hell of a lot of experience, with every solved problem on Northern Exposure possibly leading to a better situation on The Sopranos.
Maybe, like Alan Parker, you’re taking the first steps on a long and prestigious road.
Maybe, like Joe Bloggs, you will never rise above the mediocre.
Fortunately you can switch paths whenever you like.
I think it’s interesting the swinging it out the park on first effort versus paying your dues to get in a position to swing it out of the park.
I think the difference is in the barriers to entry and support needed to make something.
To write a great novel in theory all you need is a computer. To make a great film or great TV series or film you need to get the backing of a lot of people to fund and support it so you need to prove to them that you can do it and you are the person they should trust their money with. So just writing a fantastic script is not going to be enough for them to let you be a show runner.
Can I throw a few your way, Galton & Simpson, Clement and La Frenais, Alan Bleasdale, Mike Leigh, Paul Laverty, Jimmy McGovern, Paul Abbott, Alan Bennett, Victoria Wood, Elton & Curtis, Jack Rosenthal, John Sullivan, Johnny Speight, Eric Sykes. Disparate back stories?
What is this a list of?
A list of great british writers…
I mean if those at the top think all ‘we’ bother about is American shows then you are deluded.
Could that be a reason why there is a disconnect with the great British public when it comes to Advertising?
‘What happened to UK advertising?…’ – Dave Droga
Life isn’t Hollywood, it’s Cricklewood’ – Eric Morecombe
Almost entirely a list of great British writers of yesteryear.
While you’re watching your Steptoe repeats the world has moved on.
Besides this post is about a book that discusses the current crop of great cable shows. Of course there have been lots of great things outside that, but that’s another post on another blog.
Happy hunting.
Just to clarify, when I say disconnect I’m not talking about the ‘cool’ brands like Apple and Nike which obviously sell bucket loads of product to those that seem to want have a ‘conversation’.
Maybe British Advertising has become emancipated?
‘The world has moved on…’
Great is great no matter when it was done.
A few I threw in were from yesteryear but not all.
You’re rattling off all the current crop of Yanks as if it’s all encompassing.
It’s about time British Advertising we got back to being what it was best at, don’t you think?
John p woods: ’emaciated’, rather than ’emancipated’, I think
Ben, it appears you’ve started attracting Daily Mail readers. This is going to be fun.
Ha…emasculated was what I meant, in the context that advertising seems to be a different animal to what it is today. Maybe there’s something in the water? As for attracting DM readers, chance would be a fine thing. Far better for ad folk to walk amongst the public than get stuck in some ivory or whatever colour tower you want these days, don’t you think? Is it possible to have a debate about what happened to UK Advertising, as Dave Droga asked, without the usual sniping if a hypothetical view coughed up doesn’t sit comfortably with the Guardianistas?
Btw I think Johnny Speight’s creation of a morally compromised hero is as good as it gets. Way before Soprano, McNulty or White.
Similarly to Chase’s quote, wouldn’t you say that in advertising you’re here for two things…selling shit and making Brits feel cosy? And if the most populist newspapers don’t reflect what the Guardian readers think so be it. Advertising isn’t here to lecture.
Correction: Three things…help in selling shit, getting noticed and being liked.
John P Woods: The online equivalent of starting an argument in an empty room.
Let’s call it a heated debate, Ed.