TV’s Top Scribes on the ‘Suits’ Boost, IP Envy and Burner Social Media Accounts

The intent of THR‘s annual list of the 50 Most Powerful Showrunners is to provide an accurate state of the TV union — a rundown of the writer-producers selling in an increasingly fraught media climate, making culturally relevant and awards-friendly shows and serving the masses at a time when consensus entertainment has all but vanished. It’s also a great opportunity to pick some brains.

Those showrunners who made the 2023 list were polled on a variety of subjects. If Suits can become a streaming hit years after ending, what other shows deserve a similar fate? What IP are they dying to get their hands on? What’s already a pressing issue for the next WGA contract negotiation with the studios? And if they found themselves with a burner social media account, what would they do with it?

Here are some of the best answers to those and more questions.

If I had a TV compound like Taylor Sheridan‘s Yellowstone ranch, I’d put it…

“Next to Taylor’s ranch in Texas, then start a land war with him, then adapt my own life story with Taylor played by Taylor and George Clooney playing me.” 
— Lee Eisenberg, Lessons in Chemistry 

“On the moon. With only one-sixth the gravity, the canvas director’s chairs would be more comfortable, and I could sit in them longer.”
— Vince Gilligan, Better Call Saul 

“Near LaColombe Coffee.” 
— Miles Millar, Wednesday

“On the bottom of the ocean, like Curt Jürgens in The Spy Who Loved Me.” 
— Patrick McKay, The Rings of Power

“‘Memphissippi.’ I’d love to have a production hub extending from my hometown Memphis down across the Tennessee state line into Southaven and Tunica, Mississippi.”
— Katori Hall, P-Valley 

“The English countryside.”
— Jenny Han, The Summer I Turned Pretty

“Inside Taylor Sheridan’s compound. No one would think to look for me there!”
— Ryan Condal, House of the Dragon 

“In 2014.”
— Noah Hawley, Fargo

The IP I’m dying to get my hands on…

“The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, but as a show.”
— Sterlin Harjo, Reservation Dogs

“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. That film deserves an update.”
— Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary

“Dragon Ball.”
— Lee Sung Jin, Beef

“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon. Three stellar lead roles, an iconic mid-century setting, jazz, nazis, superheroes, Salvador Dali…. It’s amazing and criminal that this hasn’t made it to the screen yet.”
— Patrick McKay, The Rings of Power

“Anything related to Tonya Harding. There’s a limited series with her name on it. Or Amy Talkington’s and mine (we’ve developed one once before and won’t rest until it’s on the air).”
— Liz Tigelaar, Tiny Beautiful Things

“Practical Magic”
— Akiva Goldsman, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

“Mike Mignola’s Hellboy is perfect for TV. He’s an X-File who investigates X-Files. Brilliant. There’s a mystery-of-the-week element to sustain the narrative while our hero, the good-hearted harbinger of the apocalypse, resists the very reason he was brought to Earth: to end it.”
— Ryan Condal, House of the Dragon 

“Dr. Katz Professional Therapist.”
— Cody Heller, Jury Duty

“Donald E. Westlake’s series of Dortmuneder novels. I can’t get enough of Westlake’s loser criminal mastermind. I’d watch the hell out of the TV drama.”
— Peter Gould, Better Call Saul

“Suits!”
— John Hoffman, Only Murders in the Building

Well, that was a popular one, so here’s who else deserves a Suits boost…

“Aaron Sorkin’s Sports Night. I used to watch it live and then immediately play it back on my VCR.” 
— Dallas Jenkins, The Chosen

“30 Rock.”
— Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary 

“Psych. Bring back all the blue skies, baby!”
— Ashley Lyle, Yellowjackets

“Firefly and Freaks & Geeks. Both are classics, both were under-appreciated in their time — and both ended far too soon, exiting the stage with much of their music still inside them.”
— J.D. Payne, The Rings of Power

“St. Elsewhere.”
— David E. Kelley, The Lincoln Lawyer

“My So-Called Life. It’s still so crazy to me that the show only ran for one season.”
— Nkechi Okoro Carroll, All American

“Huh, if only there were a law show with an ensemble cast that dealt with office politics and the love lives of lawyers.”
— Robert King, The Good Fight

My priority issue for the next WGA contract is…

“Making sure emerging writers get experience.”
— Charlotte Stoudt, The Morning Show

“I would do away with mini rooms entirely and demanding a second episode for a standard episodic fee without the benefit of an actual real 20-week writing staff.”
—Liz Tigelaar, Tiny Beautiful Things

“The under-compensated work done by writers in prep, shooting and post-production.”
— David Zabel, Daryl Dixon

“The myriad of tech advances between now and then. And let’s show some love to the writer’s support staff.”
— Jenny Lumet, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

“Official Showrunner mentoring between new and established showrunners.”
— Noah Hawley, Fargo

“Kill off mini-rooms forever.”
— Michelle King, The Good Fight

“Figuring out how to codify diversity. It has been a huge concern for my fellow writers-producers of color as many of us see our shows getting the hatchet during this ongoing contraction.”
— Katori Hall, P-Valley