How you know this insipid piece wasn’t written by a critic: You would never work again if you submitted a lede like this. A creator who directs *and* executive produces?!?! Unprecedented!
Mar 30, 2025 20:28Isn't it pretty rare for one person to serve in all those roles?
Not really. This is basically the gist of how I responded to Helen on this matter. We are in the age of "auteur television," when show runners can have a great deal of control over every aspect of production.
Do any of those examples you listed include someone who is the writer, creator, director, and EP of a series over its entire run?
It’s more common in miniseries than full series, simply because the workload is too great. But that’s White’s approach to TWL. Each season is self-contained and years in the making. In that sense, it’s unique. (1/2)
(2/2) But I think the reason why Helen’s lede has been so widely ridiculed by critics is that the *spirit* of her thesis doesn’t pass muster at all. It is simply not abnormal for a showrunner to have control over a series to this degree.
I guess I'm just not seeing the never-work-again crime here, especially because there's some slippage between what she wrote and what you're saying: surely she'd agree showrunners have a lot of control over series, sometimes? But not a big deal
