I spent a lot of time
during the WGA strike both praising the cause of the writers and berating them for
a fight that I thought most people would not care about. But now that we are at
the midst of awards season and are recognizing the best and brightest among the
past year I find myself reflecting how little even those of who love what they
end up writing really appreciate them.
I imagine without much
thought even a casual filmgoer could name five or six of their favorite directors.
I doubt even the most devoted cinephile could name four or five of their
favorite screenwriters and I’m positive those they could name are directors
themselves. I count myself among those even during this year: Christopher Nolan
and Alexander Payne write all their own movies and I doubt I could name any of
their many collaborators, Greta Gerwig is a hyphenate herself and the only
reason I know who Noah Baumbach (who she shares screenplay credit with for Barbie)
is because he himself writes and directs his own films. This extends to so many
films that win Academy Awards for Best Picture; I know that Jonathan Demme won
an Oscar for directing Silence of The Lambs but while I know the writer
also won the Oscar for adapting Thomas Harris’ novel, I have no idea who it is
any more than I do who the writer of The King’s Speech or Argo was
even though they won Best Picture. This is sadly something that I think all
film lovers are guilty of. If a film gets nominated for Best Picture by the Oscars
but not Best Director, it’s an unthinkable outrage. If it does not get a
nomination for Best Screenplay, no one takes note.
It's admittedly not quite
the same thing when it comes to television. The showrunner has gotten their
share of glory, particularly in the era of Peak TV. But since we’ve just gone
through a strike where TV was at the center, it got me to thinking: in the era
of Peak TV, who are the best writers in that same era?
I don’t necessarily mean
showrunners, though I won’t deny that’s a major factor. I mean the kinds of
writers who have worked in television for decades and who have been part of not
one, but many of the greatest shows of all time. As someone who has been writing about television
for more than a decade and watching for more than thirty years, I think I have
a certain level of authority.
I’m not going to use
some kind of ranking like you might find on imdb.com for shows to determine it;
I actually have what I think might be a more impartial standard. In this
series, I intend to give my choices for some of the best creative forces that I
have seen since the era of Peak TV began in 1997. (I date it’s arrival with the
debut of OZ and Buffy the Vampire Slayer rather than 1999 with The
Sopranos.)
I will not rank them
because I don’t consider it fair and really it isn’t even among those who write
in the same field. What I do consider important when it comes to considering
the true geniuses as opposed to one-hit wonders are three factors:
1. Their work in television
prior to the coming of Peak TV in the mid-1990s.
2. Their roles in running
at least one major classic
3. If they helmed a series
considered one of the all time greats, how many follow-ups they did afterwards
and if any of them were quality.
The third rule is mainly
why I don’t consider David Chase eligible: after writing The Sopranos he
basically stopped writing, period. (Full disclosure I was originally going to
write this piece about Chase entirely but I’m going to save that article for another
day.) This would not apply to many of the writers who worked under him, most notably
Matthew Weiner who has written other television series.
Similarly those writers
must also have a critical role in multiple shows beyond the pilot, which is why
J.J. Abrams won’t get listed because after co-writing the pilot of Lost, he
basically stopped writing the series altogether. Spinoffs are a harder decision
to make but unless the spinoff series is truly brilliant (i.e. Better Call
Saul ) it probably won’t be a contributing factor.
I’m going to divide this
list among drama, comedy, and shows that don’t quite fit easily in either
category. (Much of the work in Showtime and I suspect Netflix will fit this
determination. I’m going to start with drama because for me these choices are
far easier. The listing will make it very clear why.
Note: these are just my
personal preferences and if you’ve read my columns over the years, you know why
some of your favorites may not be on the list. Conversely, if there are any
obvious showrunners you think I’ve left out, let me know and I might include
them in a future article.
Tom Fontana: Fontana is the king of
the under-watched masterpieces. He was one of the head writers behind St.
Elsewhere (yes he’s the guy who made the most infamous finale until…most of
the other writers on this list) and was one of the lead writers for Homicide:
Life on the Street, which TV Guide called at least twice when it was on the
air ‘The Best Show You’re Not Watching”) He then went to HBO, created and wrote
every single episode of OZ and then watched as The Sopranos officially
became known as the show that started the revolution.
He has not had many subsequent
successes but his failures are interesting. The most compelling was Copper, a
BBC America police procedural set during the Civil War and Borgia a series
that aired at the same time as the Showtime one and was their overshadowed by
it . He was also the executive producer of the underrated City on A Hill which
I personally thought was a masterpiece
Aaron Sorkin: I don’t think I need to
say much more than what you already know. Sports Night and The West
Wing have earned him as the inventor of the walk-in-talk. There have been
some admirers of Studio 60 and The Newsroom who think they were
underrated gems. I am not one of them but I do give him credit for trying after
creating a masterpiece.
David Milch: Milch’s very first
script for Hill Street Blues ‘Trial By Fury’ earned him an Emmy and a Peabody.
He kept writing for the landmark series, eventually becoming the showrunner in
Season 6. He was the driving force behind NYPD Blue for seven seasons
far more than Steven Bocho his collaborator. The decline in quality became
clear after he left.
He was the creator of
the incredible Deadwood and two fascinating failures: John Fron Cincinnati
and Luck. He also wrote a single episode of True Detective and
completed Deadwood: The Movie before sadly dementia ended his career.
David Simon: He wrote the book Homicide
was based on as well as the Emmy winning mini-series The Corner. Then
he became the single greatest force HBO has ever seen. While none of us his follow-ups
to The Wire could compare as a masterpiece, none of them were
uninteresting: Treme and The Deuce were both undervalued and he
wrote several of the most underappreciated limited series HBO did: Generation
Kill, Show Me A Hero, The Plot Against America and We Own This City. He
has the sad distinction of having the fewest rewards for his great work: only
two Emmys and none of them for anything after The Corner. That is one of
the Emmys greatest shames in my opinion.
Howard Gordon: Gordon spent his early
years working on Beauty and The Beast (the 1980s version with George
R.R. Martin as the head runner) and the first four seasons of The X-Files. He
also did a couple of scripts for Buffy and Angel. Then he got
serious.
He spent four seasons as
a staff writer on 24. When he became showrunner, the series won its sole
Emmy for Best Drama for Day 5 one of the greatest TV seasons of all time. He
later developed Homeland another masterpiece and won an Emmy for its
first season. He’s had some fascinating experiments between most notably Awake
an NBC series I loved, Legends an undervalued TNT series and the
intriguing Tyrant for FX. That lasted three season. His most recent
adaptation Accused was one of the more fascinating series last year.
Vince Gilligan: Gilligan was the best
single writer The X-Files ever had and perhaps the most important lesson
he learned at Chris Carter’s feet was how not to do a serialized story.
We all saw how brilliantly that played out on both Breaking Bad and Better
Call Saul. He’s working on a series for Apple. I don’t even have to know
what it is to know I’ll watch it.
Shawn Ryan: Ryan came from humble
beginnings (Nash Bridges) worked his way up to a few scripts on Angel
and then he created The Shield, the first Peak TV masterpiece that
didn’t come from HBO. He’s worked consistently since it ended, often with
brilliant work that never quite gets it due: Terriers, The Chicago Code, Last
Resort, Timeless. Now he’s back on top with S.W.A.T. and the
incredible The Night Agent.
Carlton Cuse: I know recent reports
reveal he’s a wretched human being. He’s still a great writer. And it goes back
to Brisco County Junior and then on to Lost. He’s made some very brilliant
follow-ups, most notably Bates Motel, Locke and Key, and the just departed
Jack Ryan.
Damon Lindelof: Lindelof has a similar
origin and detoured into movies before returning with a vengeance in The
Leftovers, Watchmen and the incredible Mrs. Davis. I still
want a second season of The Watchmen by the way.
Matthew Weiner: Weiner’s career was
mostly in comedy before he joined The Sopranos, but I’ll give him credit
for an episode of Andy Richter Controls the Universe. He wrote several
of the best episodes of the last several seasons of The Sopranos (including
the penultimate episode ‘The Blue Comet) before writing Mad Men. The
Romanoffs was an interesting attempt.
Todd Kessler: It’s worth repeating:
Kessler’s experience under David Chase was so scarring he probably wrote Damages
out of revenge (or maybe therapy) He’s been one of the most undervalued
writers in television ever since. Bloodline may be the greatest series
on Netflix that was watched by the fewest people but the work was worth it. I
can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.
Ronald D. Moore: The king of genre TV He
wrote some of the best episodes of Star Trek: TNG and helped helm DS9.
His work on the criminally undervalued USA satire G Versus E led him
to helm the remake of Battlestar Galactica. He’s now at the helm of For
All Mankind where, among many, many other things, he’s decided which Star
Trek’s exist in this alternate universe. He also created Outlander which
many people love; I don’t.
Jason Katims: Most of the great dramas
in Peak TV are incredibly dark. Katims specializes in being life affirming.
Starting with his tenure on My So -Called Life, we’ve born witness to
his work on Roswell (the WB version) and some interesting failures
before Friday Night Lights. He followed up that cry a minute series with
the joyful Parenthood. And he’s tried some experimental works in the meanwhile from About a Boy to Rise to Dear
Edward.
Sarah Watson: I know, this list has
been a sausage fest. Don’t worry what I lack in quantity I make up for in
quality (and trust me the next two categories will makeup for it a little.)
Watson spent a lot of time following Katims in shows like Parenthood, About
A Boy and Pure Genius. Then she created The Bold Type one of
the finest series of the last decade and surely one of the most female
empowering. She hasn’t written TV in awhile because she spent the last year
writing a novel which I named for my book club. I wait eagerly for her next
work.
Marti Noxon: She was one of Buffy the
Vampire Slayer’s most prolific writers. She spent the next decade writing
for most of the better network television series from Brothers and Sisters to
Glee. Finally in 2015, after several failures in network TV she created
UnREAL one of the most brilliant satiric dramas I’ve ever seen that told us
everything we already suspect about reality TV but didn’t know for sure. She
followed that up with Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce on Bravo, the
intriguing Dietland which I still wish AMC hadn’t cancelled and
the incredible Sharp Objects. Her last project as a producer was another
parody: The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the
Window.
Robert and Michelle
King: Sometimes
a collaborator helps. Robert King worked in television for years but never had
a hit. Then Michelle joined him and they’ve never stopped working. The Good
Wife was a brilliant show on its own but they’ve created a universe that
keeps on giving. The incredible spinoff The Good Fight just ended, their
next chapter in the saga Elspeth debuts at the end of February. They’re
still working on the incredible horror series Evil and in between became
the now eerily accurate political satire Braindead in which the idea of
aliens invading to destroy politics as we know it now seems more logical than
what is happening in it today (and just for the record they wrote it before Trump
became President) There are almost no writers today whose next work I gleefully
anticipate more (and that includes Gilligan.)
I think this list is as
far as I’m willing to go for drama. As I said anyone else occurs you let me
know and I might include them in a future article.
The next article in this
series will deal with comedy. I’m going to need more time to reflect on that
one.
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