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February 16, 2005
Key period for 'Wing,' 'Watch'
The Hollywood Reporter
It's a prime-time paradox: Success in the series arena means staying ever vigilant in "balancing the repetition of what the audience tells you they like with the danger that that becomes repetitious and they don't feel like they have to watch it every week," according to John Wells, a man who knows about which he speaks.
Wells is running the uber-showrunners' gauntlet this season. Two established NBC dramas -- "The West Wing," airing at 9 tonight, and "Third Watch," airing at 10 p.m. Friday -- are coming to pivotal pickup junctures. "ER" (9:59 p.m. Thursdays on NBC) needs tender loving care in its 11th season. And a fledgling newcomer, "Jonny Zero" (9 p.m Fridays on Fox) fighting for a back-nine (for a complete season of episodes). Plus, there are the demands of shepherding a hot pilot ("The Evidence") at ABC and all the activity in the feature division at Warner Bros.-based John Wells Prods.
Wells displayed his characteristic indefatigability during an interview last week in his offices on the Warner lot. He reflected on one of the most high-class problems a producer can have: the challenge of keeping a successful show going strong as it gets on in years.
The hardest calls producers and writers have to make is when to close the book on a given character or story line, Wells says. It's tough enough to be a harsh self-critic and decide when the storytelling possibilities have run dry for a given character, but then there's also the personal component, he says.
"These are really difficult conversations to have because you're usually talking about people that you work with that you care a great deal about and who you respect tremendously," Wells says. "Audiences are telling you that they continue to like a character, and yet you're starting to feel creatively that you're writing the same scenes for that character."
Wells undoubtedly faces a few of those tough conversations later this year as "The West Wing" grapples with regime change in the Oval Office, which can't help but affect the supporting players of the Bartlet administration.
Wells was unexpectedly drawn into day-to-day showrunning duty on "The West Wing" last season when its original visionaries -- creator/executive producer Aaron Sorkin and director/executive producer Thomas Schlamme -- decided to bow out after four Emmy-winning seasons.
Posted by Jo at February 16, 2005 07:57 PM