The Showrunners: A Season Inside the Billion-Dollar, Death-Defying, Madcap World of Television's Real Stars

by Wild, David

• ISBN13: 9780060932022
• ISBN10: 0060932023
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-09-15
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

By spending the last full TV season of the twentieth century in the company of television's real stars-the writers and producers of America's most popular shows -bestselling author David Wild got the nittygritty answers to all of these questions, and a few more. Updated to include new material on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" mania, this is a behind-the-scenes look at the top of TV's creative food chain. So tune in as the creators of Party of Five cope with the sweeps week by having Julia (Neve Campbell) kiss another girl, as two former Seinfeld scribes find that there is life after Seinfeld, and as straight and gay pair of buddies bring the world to "Will & Grace."

A gripping, eye-opening book, "The Showrunners" offers a fascinating group portrait of what it really takes to make it in prime-time TV-the Darwinian marketplace where art and commerce butt heads.

Author Biography

David Wild is a senior editor at Rolling Stone, where he has written about pop culture since 1986. A graduate of Cornell University, Wild is the author of the New York Times bestseller Friends: The Official Companion. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Fran, his son, Andrew, and a player to be named later.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
A Scene from the Preseason	ix
August: Pride Goeth Before the Fall	3	(34)
September: Ready, Aim, Misfire	37	(30)
October: A Chill in the Smog	67	(26)
November: First Sweeps and the Well-Timed Death	93	(24)
December: Comfort, Joy, and Cancellation	117	(24)
January: Cupid Goes to Hades	141	(28)
February: Love, Sweeps, and Maggots	169	(26)
March: They Shoot Pilots, Don't They?	195	(26)
April: Finales, Flame-Outs, and the Future Tense	221	(26)
May: All-You-Can-Eat Shrimp in Spin City	247	(32)
February 2000: Is That Your Final Chapter?	279