You don’t fight it.Īlong those lines, Cougar Town has changed a lot … BL: I’m really proud that Cougar Town has turned from a show that I might have written a pilot for and got up and going, and turned it into a show I’m so passionate about. If something’s working, you lean into it. But I think that, more often than not, if you find someone who’s funny and can turn a joke, you take it. Some showrunners would fire Sarah Chalke and then go off to find someone who can play that part in their head. That’s funny - but it’s not Sarah Chalke. Sarah Chalke’s character was just an absolute bitch on Scrubs. But you have to realize you have to cast whoever’s super talented and super funny, and then the character has to become at least partially theirs. I used to search and search for that actor or actress who’s exactly what’s in my head. As writers, we write these characters, and we imagine how they’re going to talk and what they look like. One of the things I’m proud of is my ability to change directions if something’s not working. On every creative aspect, you have to lean into what’s working. Bill Lawrence: The biggest one of mine is: You have to lean into the turn.

Also, you can’t do all the work, so surround yourself with people you trust if this is your show then everything is ultimately your call, but the more faith you have in people who have proven to be capable, the more sane you get to be.

Listen to yourself at the end of the day, but listen to people a lot. We spoke with the two of them about how Cougar Town has changed, the best script you’ve never read about a masturbating time traveler, and Lawrence’s claim that he named Boy Meets World’s Topanga Lawrence.ĭo you have a showrunner philosophy? Kevin Biegel: Listen to people. Two of those people are Bill Lawrence and Kevin Biegel, the co-creators of Cougar Town, which has its season finale next week.

All during upfront week, we’ll be running longer transcripts of these conversations: some will include extended answers to our questionnaire, some will break free altogether, but all will provide a revealing and insightful look into the minds of the people who make our appointment television. In this week’s issue, New York Magazine surveyed fourteen of the top TV showrunners about their process and craft.

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