The title of this article from IndieWire asks a question that many TV writers, especially writer-producers, are asking these days. Or, as our Beloved Leader, Larry Brody, would say: “Sigh….”
by Libby Hill
At first it seemed a bit like a mistake that Marvel wasn’t using the world showrunner. Television was a medium that the Marvel Cinematic Universe hadn’t much traversed in and a few growing pains are to be expected. After all, this is the same monolith that made the decision to enter “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” into Drama Series competition at the Emmys, based on tone and not content, flying in the face of conventional wisdom which sees those determinations made based on the continuing or concluded nature of a narrative.
“[The decision] came about sort of as the series was launching, but it was something we were thinking about even as we were making it — not because we think, ‘Oh my God, it’s so great,’ but because it does feel a bit more dramatic than some of our typical stuff,” Marvel Studios VP of Production & Development and “Falcon and Winter Soldier” executive producer Nate Moore told IndieWire in April. “As this is sort of our first foray into television, even if it’s Disney+, we thought [the category placement] was appropriate for what the show is trying to tackle.”
But over time it became clear that the MCU knew exactly what a showrunner was and how vital the role is to making television shows. They just… didn’t care.
That’s an unfair statement, obviously. It would be more accurate to say that the MCU isn’t interested in how traditional TV is made because it isn’t actually interested in making TV at all….
Read it all indiewire.com