Showrunners the unseen stars of television

By Ray Richmond and Matthew Belloni

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The showrunner is the workhorse of the television business, acting as the head writer, producer, casting director, editor, sound mixer, studio liaison, network communicator, hand-holder and surrogate parent.

The Hollywood Reporter recently gathered six of the best in the business -- Alan Ball (HBO's "True Blood"); Greg Daniels (NBC's "The Office," "Parks and Recreation"); Katie Jacobs (Fox's "House"); Jenji Kohan (Showtime's "Weeds"); Shonda Rhimes (ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," "Private Practice"); and Matthew Weiner (AMC's "Mad Men") -- to explain how they wear so many different hats.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: WHAT DO YOU TELL PEOPLE WHO AREN'T IN THE BUSINESS WHEN THEY ASK WHAT YOUR JOB IS?

Matthew Weiner: I tell them I'm a writer -- the head writer, sometimes. And I tell them that I basically have a job where I get to oversee the writing and control all aspects of physical production, from casting to editing to sound mixing. And while any show requires hundreds and hundreds of people to put it together, I see myself as the guiding taste on the show.

Jenji Kohan: We are the big casting agents for our show. We cast our writers' room. We cast our crew. We cast our department heads. There's a skill there for understanding who will be good at their jobs.

THR: SO YOU'RE BASICALLY SAYING IT'S THE PERFECT JOB FOR A CONTROL FREAK.

All: Oh yeah. Absolutely.

Weiner: When people ask me, "What do you think of this?" I enjoy giving the answer -- and then changing my mind.

THR: GREG AND SHONDA, YOU'RE NOW RUNNING TWO SHOWS SIMULTANEOUSLY. HOW MUCH MORE CREATIVE ENERGY GOES INTO A

SERIES AT THE BEGINNING COMPARED TO ONE THAT'S BEEN ON FOR AWHILE?

Greg Daniels: At the start, a show is way more in play. So something that might get a good laugh in the second episode could grow later into a huge part of things. For example, on "The Office," we did a joke early on about how Dwight (Rainn Wilson) had a 60-acre beet farm. That wound up getting woven into several episodes.

THR: AT WHAT POINT DO YOU THINK A SHOW'S PATH IS PRETTY MUCH SET?

Weiner: If they let a show get to Episode 5 before they take it away from us, I think by then it has found what it is, the way it's going to be every week. When I was working on "The Sopranos," Episode 5 was the "College" episode, the one where you realize, "Wow, Tony isn't just a kingpin, he actually kills people." In "Mad Men," it was the episode where Don Draper's (Jon Hamm) mysterious brother comes back to see him. When I want to give a show that I'm watching a chance, I make sure I get through the fifth installment.

THR: IS THERE A PERIOD, ESPECIALLY AT THE BEGINNING OF A SHOW, WHERE YOU HAVE TO TEACH YOURSELF TO BECOME AN EFFECTIVE MANAGER?

Shonda Rhimes: Well, for "Grey's" it's a lot easier now (because) most of the writers have been with the show almost from the beginning; it's a well-oiled machine. The scripts hardly ever need to be rewritten anymore. "Private Practice" is newer, and like any new show there's a lot of rewriting and blood coming from your fingertips. It's a lot more exhausting.