Pushing Daisies

It hasn’t been an easy year for showrunners. From the WGA strike to steepening FCC fines to the rise of reality television, scripted comedy and drama have been taking it on the nose.

In the lead-up to one of the most atypical Emmy seasons in recent memory, The Hollywood Reporter’s James Hibberd brought together five of television’s most stalwart showrunners: Bryan Fuller (ABC’s “Pushing Daisies”), David Shore (Fox’s “House”), Damon Lindelof (ABC’s “Lost”), Matthew Weiner (AMC’s “Mad Men”) and Craig Thomas (CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother”).

The Hollywood Reporter: How has your business changed since the writers strike?

Bryan Fuller: I think the studios are feeling that some of the money that they hemorrhaged during the strike has to come out of their shows a little bit. So budgets are definitely tighter.

David Shore: Didn’t, during the strike, they take the position they weren’t losing any money?

Damon Lindelof: Not only that, I think that it was actually a boon for them.

Matthew Weiner: Yeah, they had a cash windfall in the fourth quarter that turned into poison in January.

Lindelof: We spent 100 days basically carrying signs and saying that these people were exploiting us and taking advantage of us. And then you go back to work on Valentine’s Day, and you’re trying to act like none of it ever happened. So there was a period where it was like, “I used to be in love with you, we had a huge fight, we broke up, and now we’ve gotten back together.”

Craig Thomas: I never stopped sleeping with the executives. (Laughter.)

THR: Ratings in general have been down post-strike. Is that having an impact?

Lindelof: I can’t process the fact that people used to, at 9 o’clock on Thursday night, watch (ABC’s) “Grey’s Anatomy,” and now those people have decided, because it was off the air for 100 days, to play chess instead. They’re still watching it — I just think they’re watching it on their TiVos.

Weiner: “The Sopranos” was off for 18 months. And I know, because I wasn’t paid during that period. (Laughter.) It comes back, and people want to watch it. But I have to say that part of our leverage during the strike was that in the strike of ‘88, people changed their viewing habits. I don’t think they’re playing chess. They’re watching other things. They’re playing video games.

Lindelof: But (Fox’s) “American Idol” wasn’t affected by the strike, and their numbers are down proportionately with everybody else’s.

Fuller: Viewing patterns were already changing before the strike even was a twinkle.

Complete interview is here.

Bryan Fuller, Emmy Watch, Pushing Daisies, David Shore, House, Damon Lindelof, Lost, Matthew Weiner, Made Men, Craig Thomas, How I Met Your Mother