How many shows are on TV? I was getting the feeling it wasn't the "Top 40 Showrunners" as much as "All of the Current Showrunners We Could Think Of".

I was wondering why they didn't include the actual Dollhouse show runners, Fain & Craft, but I guess under the criteria given Whedon made the cut and they didn't. Any idea how they are handling the show rumors, Friday time slot, production delays, etc.?

OneTeV | November 13, 13:55 CET

I thought Tim Minear was the showrunner for Firefly?

Simon | November 13, 13:58 CET

Plenty more where those came from, would've expected to see Shawn Ryan of The Shield and The Unit on the list as well.

jpr | November 13, 14:11 CET

Shawn Ryan's on page 1.

And yeah, that list seems long enough to be basically meaningless (especially given their criteria).

Saje | November 13, 14:22 CET

Oops sorry, reading page numbers are much to difficult for me :)

jpr | November 13, 14:28 CET

Well since they have Tim Kring on the list, they obviously haven't been watching Heroes lately...

adastra | November 13, 14:33 CET

Heroes is one of the number one worldwide TV series in recent years, so he's pretty influential overall.

Although I think I'm the only person in the universe who still likes Heroes.

gossi | November 13, 14:41 CET

No you're not gossi, I still like Heroes. It has been floundering a little but I really enjoyed this weeks episode.

Aviva | November 13, 15:23 CET

Top 40? Talk about diluting the influence of your list. It’s nice to see Joss at number one, though.

*list starts at page two like others have said. I need coffee*

I swear to god my car insurance agent is Bill Lawrence’s (Scrubs) twin. Unbelievable resemblance lol.

I'm still enjoying Heroes, too. But it's getter harder...

[ edited by EvilElecBlanket on 2008-11-13 16:12 ]

Eric_Curtis | November 13, 15:51 CET

The link takes you to page 2, which happens to list Joss at the top. Page 1 had other show-runners.

But there is nothing to suggest that the list is in any particular order. (Sometimes the difference between 1 and 40 is much smaller than the difference between top 40 and not-top-40.)

OneTeV | November 13, 16:07 CET

Gosh, I feel sorry for those showrunners who were left off of this list. They must be feeling pretty unimportant. :)

jcs | November 13, 16:49 CET

Gosh, I feel sorry for those showrunners who were left off of this list. They must be feeling pretty unimportant. :)

The good news is that it would only be one or two. ;)

Eric_Curtis | November 13, 16:55 CET

I'm trying REALLY hard to still like Heroes. I still like some of the characters and I still see so much potential in what the show could be. Just wish it was remotely as good as it deserves to be. The occasional flash of brilliance that I see now and again keeps getting lost in a mess of badly planned plot lines and poorly thought out character development. Any respect I had for Hiro was lost in episode one when he basically chose to endanger the world just so that he would be able to try and save it again. Add that to all the contrived interactions and coincidental connections between the characters and you have me finding it really hard to keep defending the show anymore. I'm giving it until a few episodes of the next arc (because what I've heard of what will happen after Villains does sound kinda interesting) but if by then I see no improvement then I'm done.

And I'd have to agree that this list seemed kinda pointless. Top 40 in no particular order of any subject strikes me as someone at The Hollywood Reporter having a bit of a slow day.

Highlander | November 13, 17:01 CET

After reading the criteria, I certainly understand why some showrunners get put on the list...but where are Cheryl Heuton and Nicholas Falacci, who created and currently run Numbers (starring David Krumholtz)? I certainly think they should be on the list, since they are a big Friday night ratings draw. Friday night is the death night for TV shows, yet they've managed to capture a very devoted audience.

It seems to be that though Joss was showrunner for Buffy, Angel and Firefly (do they mean all at once? Because I thought he gave some showrunner status to David Greenwalt and Tim Minear), he was in the same boat as J.J. Abrams, who was showrunner for Alias and Lost, and the quality of one suffered while the other was being developed.

I understand why they didn't add J.J. Abrams, but I would've liked to see him on this list, as frivolous as it is. He did oversee Alias and Lost, and AFAIK, he only runs Fringe now.

YellowBear | November 13, 18:56 CET

My Aunt used to date David Shore.

True story.

Nolan | November 13, 19:05 CET

Even with the talented staff of right-hand men and women Joss had back in the day (regardless of his daily presence on any given set), I think it's kind of remarkable he didn't drop dead of exhaustion when all three shows were running at the same time. Wasn't one of his kids born around then, too? Amazing, the stamina of the guy!

Also, Pilot Razor Points are the best :)

Wiseblood | November 13, 20:54 CET

gossi - I am hanging in there with Heroes. You are not alone.

ruthless1 | November 13, 21:15 CET

My great aunt used to date Hoagy Carmichael. I know it's irrelevant, but I just wanted to say it. She stopped seeing him because she was young and her father "forbade" her, saying Hoagy was a musician and would therefore never amount to anything. This story could have been so much cooler, although it would still be off-topic & irrelevant. (Sorry, Nolan - yours was apropos.)

""The biggest part is to surround yourself with smart people and then take credit for it." - Joss

Yes. This should be our business slogan. We should put it on the letterhead. The second part of that is: "and don't micro-manage them or think you know better about stuff you know nothing about..."

Of course, you know I'm not talking about Joss here, right? I've a feeling he mostly hires good folks and then lets them do their thing, within the bounds of reason.

That's why he's such an ace showrunner, and #1 on this list. (Whew. Back on topic. That was close...)

QuoterGal | November 13, 21:26 CET

.....he was in the same boat as J.J. Abrams, who was showrunner for Alias and Lost, and the quality of one suffered while the other was being developed.

Actually, YellowBear, JJ Abrahms was never the showrunner on Lost (he is an executive producer). He originally was brought a concept and brought Lindelof in and they co-created what the concept ended up being. I believe they co-wrote the pilot and JJA directed the pilot but at the very beginning of the show Lindelof was showrunning by himself until Carlton Cuse came onboard.

DaisyButtercup | November 13, 21:37 CET

I'm hanging in there with Heroes as well. It would be nice to see something in this genre do well on TV.

Spacegirl3200 | November 14, 02:24 CET

It would be nice if Heroes were an example of something in the genre that DESERVED "doing well" on TV.

The One True b!X | November 14, 02:27 CET

That's my thinking too. I'm just not entirely sure that Heroes has done anything to deserve good ratings in the last two seasons. Actually I'm not sure the last few episodes of season one were all that brilliant either. To be honest, if any other show had gone down in quality as much as Heroes has done I doubt I'd still be watching now, regardless of it being genre or not.

Highlander | November 14, 10:49 CET

I'm guessing there are lots of writer/showrunners, on both network and cable. If someone is a showrunner who even occasionally writes, or a writer who has ever done a stint as a showrunner, that should qualify for this list's criteria.
I didn't realize that Brad Grey hasn't ever done any writing for any of his shows (which I'm assuming to be the case, otherwise there's no way they could leave him off).

So yay Joss! Also Ron Moore and David Eick. :)

Shey | November 15, 13:28 CET