Show Runner: Producing Variety and Talk Shows for Television

The show runner is the television producer who commands a show’s moment-to-moment, day-to-day details. The show runner hires and supervises the staff, decides what will be included in each show, coordinates the casting of each segment, makes sure that a show adheres to its budget, and oversees a production’s flow of activities in conjunction with other producers, staff members, technical crews, and post-production personnel.

The only book to deal with the subject, this lively, wide-ranging, informative book covers all aspects of show running variety and talk shows for television. Filled with examples from actual television shows, it covers

• making, pitching, and selling a pilot show; • production development; • a show runner’s duties and weekly schedule; • working with other members of a production’s staff and crew; • producing a season of shows,

Along the way, it also defines the roles played by the many producers whose credits we see on the screen (line producer, field producer, executive producer, etc.) and their interactions with the all-important show runner.

Additionally, SHOW RUNNER covers show running as a career, discussing the hard realities and many pleasures of the job, including selling oneself, finding work, negotiating for a percentage of a show’s profits, and more.