Jeff Greenstein prefers to arc out a season by himself or with a smaller group of writers. On Desperate Housewives, for example, four of the upper level writers, including Greenstein, started this season with a "two week boot camp" where they came up with the year's mystery and how to deal with the five-year flashforward, a creative choice they'd made to "reset the predicaments of the women in ways that were very relatable."
After network approval of their overall plans, the full writing staff convenes. At that point, Greenstein feels the showrunner's job changes from "being the person with all the answers to being a facilitator and question asker."
"As the showrunner, you have to be the person who draws on all these talented people you're paying tons of money for. I need to get very good at understanding the ball club I've put together, because I've chosen people for story sense and comedy and character development and point of view and I need to be constantly looking in the eyes of people around the table and checking in on them. I need to stay tuned in to the show's frequency so when the right answer comes in I can recognize it."
Whatever the exact process, each script goes through many hands, from writers to producers to executives, all aiming to make it stronger. (For mind-boggling levels of collaboration, check out how the Hannah Montana writers work.)
"I think people have the idea that the team writing process results in something that is bland and attenuated," the articulate and animated Greenstein said. "If it's working properly, it results in stuff that's better. I've never had a draft of mine go through the room and come out with something that I liked less. That's the secret of the process. If it's working right, you feel like the writers have helped you take the armature that you've built and make it into something that's more funny and more beautiful and more moving."
Get Lucky
Greenstein and Hoselton are both fortunate to be working on hugely successful shows, meaning the network and studio don't interfere much with the creative process. That's probably not true for a struggling show like Friday Night Lights, and wasn't even true for the first half of House's first season.
"When it's a hit show, the network and studio say 'fine,'" said Hoselton, who joined the House staff in season three and has now earned the title of producer. "The notes session is, 'there should be an apostrophe after the s.' I'm not complaining: those are the notes you want. They basically leave us alone."
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