Hollywood’s 50 Most Powerful TV Showrunners of 2022

Bisha K. Ali, Jessica Gao

Now in its second year, Marvel’s massive Disney+ push made interesting genre swings with Ms. Marvel, a rare YA effort, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the closest thing to a straight comedy that the 11-figure IP empire has attempted to date. Driven by Ali and Gao, respectively, the pair of series married big-picture comic book arcs with major moves into underrepresented stories — be they Pakistani American teens dealing with adolescence or (6-foot-5 and green) women navigating workplace sexism.

My most embarrassing pitch involved …
Ali: “I operate in a state of perpetual embarrassment, so every moment of my lived reality is an ever-amplifying sine wave of mortification.”

The show I can’t stop thinking about
Gao: “Eastbound & Down, an all-time banger.”
Ali: “Dopesick, The Investigation, Yellowjackets … and I think about Escape at Dannemora at least once a month.”

Since streamers started pulling shows, I’ve hidden old episodes of my work …
Gao: “In the dark recesses of my rotten brain. I’m happy to let go of finished work. I start thinking about the next thing immediately.”

Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky

Defying the near inevitability of a sophomore slump, the second outing of the trio’s Hacks pleased critics and Emmy voters — scoring 17 nominations and another win for star Jean Smart. More important to HBO Max, at a time when the streamer’s identity within the larger Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella is being questioned, married couple Aniello and Downs and collaborator Statsky have given it something every outlet needs: a calling card.

The showrunner who impresses me
Aniello: “Sharon Horgan. Already loved her from Catastrophe, but Bad Sisters is its own brand of biting and brilliant.”
Downs: “Jesse Armstrong. I know many people will share this answer, but I actually like him the most.”

The secret weapon in our writers room
Aniello: “Our 6-month-old is shockingly good at breaking story. The shitting his pants during work hours is unprofessional, though.”

My most embarrassing pitch involved …
Statsky: “A prop, which is one prop too many.”

My biggest concern with TV industry consolidation
Downs: “With fewer places to pitch, fewer shows will be made, which means fewer voices being heard.”

The show I can’t stop thinking about
Statsky: “I Hate Suzie”

Isaac Aptaker, Elizabeth Berger, Dan Fogelman

NBC’s This Is Us, overseen by Aptaker and Berger, and created by Fogelman, ugly-cried its way across the finish line in May as the top-rated network drama among adults 18-49 in each of its six seasons. Elsewhere, the longtime showrunners steered Hulu’s Love, Victor through its final run this year while launching sitcom How I Met Your Father at the streamer. Fogelman, also in the Hulu business, produces the Emmy-nominated Only Murders in the Building.

The showrunner who impresses me
Fogelman: “I accosted Dave Burd [Dave] at an awards show, and then we met up. I drove to Venice in rush hour to meet him. That’s how much I love what those guys are doing.”

The show I can’t stop thinking about
Aptaker: “Black Bird. Those performances were unreal! And six episodes is the new eight episodes.”

Since we’ve been back to an in-person room …
Berger: “We’re all a little more grateful than we used to be … but not so grateful that we don’t all complain about the lunch choice constantly.”

Jesse Armstrong

Still the proverbial toast of the town, Armstrong is three-for-three with Emmy wins for drama writing for Succession. In September, he also earned bragging rights for the second time when he took home the genre’s top prize. Armstrong’s deal with HBO should have him staying put through an expected fifth season of his Shakespearean capitalist takedown, but that doesn’t answer the industry-needling question of how long the consensus favorite will keep going.

Kenya Barris

A year after setting up his Paramount-housed studio, Barris said goodbye to ABC flagship Black-ish after eight seasons and reconfigured spinoff Grown-ish to center on new lead Marcus Scribner. Next up are two serial projects with hip-hop collaborators: animated foray Entergalactic (co-created by Kid Cudi and out now) and a comedy vehicle for Vince Staples — both with his old bosses at Netflix.

My biggest concern with TV industry consolidation
“The streamers haven’t found a true voice yet.”

My most embarrassing pitch involved …
“The white writer doing Black voice as he was pitching characters.”

Alec Berg, Bill Hader

Barry may not have duplicated past successes at the 2022 Emmys, but the dark — make that really dark — HBO comedy still managed to return from a three-year hiatus with its critical fervor intact. The network quickly renewed it for a fourth season, while a busy Hader resurrected dormant IFC comedy Documentary Now! and Berg signaled a possible career shift by moving his overall deal from HBO to Disney’s ABC Signature.

Greg Berlanti

With his years of blanketing the CW schedule likely numbered after the network’s sale to Nexstar, Berlanti remains committed to broadcast with NBC’s Found (his third series with All American showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll) and CW’s Gotham Knights, both due in 2023. With two years remaining on his $400 million Warner Bros. deal, Berlanti has 15 shows in the works and is rapidly growing his streaming footprint beyond Netflix’s You with The Girls on the Bus, Dead Boy Detectives and pricey Green Lantern all in the works for HBO Max.

My most embarrassing pitch involved …
“We literally cyberstalked executives for the You pitch. That was more embarrassing for the execs — but still.”

The show I can’t stop thinking about
“Bluey, because it’s all our kids watch. I’m more aware of when new episodes of Bluey drop than I am our shows.”

Steve Blackman 

After turning comic book The Umbrella Academy into a TV hit for Netflix, Blackman is cementing his status as genre whisperer at the streamer. With the renewal of his overall deal in August, he scored a fourth and final season of Umbrella and turned his eye to the years beyond with video game adaptation Horizon Zero Dawn and sci-fi original Orbital.

The show I can’t stop thinking about
“Industry and Succession. The two bookends of the corporate world.”

Since streamers started pulling shows, I’ve hidden old episodes of my work …
“In an alternate timeline where shows don’t get shelved.”

Quinta Brunson

Going where neither wunderkind nor seasoned entertainment vet has been able to go in years, Brunson delivered TV with something unheard of in 2022: a broadcast sitcom that pleases viewers and critics. Abbott Elementary, created by and starring the 32-year-old comic, has been the success story of the year — bringing a writing Emmy to Brunson (who collaborates with day-to-day showrunners Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker) and desperately needed buzz to ABC.

The showrunner who impresses me
“Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher”

The secret weapon in our writers room
“The fact that anyone can hear us. We’re in an open space, which forces us to be ready for anyone to walk in.”

The show I can’t stop thinking about
“Reboot”

Gloria Calderón Kellett

Successfully parlaying limited series With Love into a serial, the Amazon-based Calderón Kellett is aiming to be one of the more prolific writer-producers set up at the streamer. Next up is an adaptation of podcast The Horror of Dolores Roach starring her One Day at a Time lead, Justina Machado, while a crowded development pipeline includes Taran Killam vehicle Arranged at Amazon’s ad-supported Freevee. (Maybe they’ll even find a good name for that service by the time it premieres.)

The showrunner who impresses me
“Sierra Teller Ornelas — she made the first Native American comedy on Peacock, called Rutherford Falls, and it was such a funny and charming show. She has worked on everything, and is so funny and talented. I’m so sad to not get more episodes of Rutherford Falls, but I know whatever she is a part of next will be fabulous.”

My biggest concern with TV industry consolidation
“It is erasing brown stories.”

My most embarrassing pitch involved …
“I don’t have time to be embarrassed. I’m trying to make up for 500 years of erasure.”

Joanna Calo, Christopher Storer

Originally envisioned as a movie, Storer’s The Bear was held up in development until Calo was brought in as a co-showrunner. With breakout star Jeremy Allen White, the duo made an anxiety-fueled restaurant comedy the unlikely hit of the summer and one of the best-reviewed shows of the year — all with only a modest marketing push. Expect more fanfare from FX and Hulu when season two drops.

The showrunner who impresses me
Calo: “Robert and Michelle King! I’m a huge fan of the Kings and have been trying to get a meeting for years. I don’t have anything to pitch them, I just want to tell them they’re great.”

My most embarrassing pitch involved …
Calo: “Me, not believing in what I was saying and touching my hair a lot.”

Ryan Condal

With an average 29 million viewers tuning in across platforms, HBO’s first Game of Thrones spinoff, House of the Dragon, is an objective smash, led by screenwriter Condal and Thrones director Miguel Sapochnik in season one. Condal will go it alone during the second season — a given after the massive sampling and positive reception from both critics and a very picky fan base. Now all he has to do is not upset any of them for the next eight years.

My most embarrassing pitch involved …
“Retconning Jack the Ripper as a misunderstood vampire hunter?”

My biggest concern with TV industry consolidation
“I don’t want what happened to film to happen to television. We need totally weird originals and more Game of Thrones shows.”

Since streamers started pulling shows, I’ve hidden old episodes of my work…
“On the Apple TV Store! Purchase your favorite, classic episodes of Colony today!”

Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer

Speaking of a billion hours’ worth of views, Stranger Things‘ fourth season enjoyed its strongest opening month in the drama’s history with Netflix when it bowed this summer. The streamer rewarded the brothers by housing their new production company (Upside Down Pictures) with an inaugural development slate including adaptations of Japanese comic Death Note, Stephen King and Peter Straub’s The Talisman, and a Stranger Things spinoff to appease viewers who might be preemptively mourning the series’ upcoming conclusion with its fifth season.

Ava DuVernay

DuVernay delivered two event series in the past calendar year with HBO Max’s DMZ and Netflix’s Colin in Black and White, while the centerpiece of her autumn is the seventh and final season of OWN flagship Queen Sugar. The prolific change-maker, whose family drama leaves a legacy of hiring 42 female directors over its run, returns herself to helm the series finale. But she’s not done with OWN originals. A second season of Cherish the Day is on deck.

The secret weapon in our writers room
“Dismantle the idea of hierarchy. Everyone speaks. Everyone writes. It’s not a pyramid with a top point. It’s a circle with a strong center.”

Dan Erickson

The long, long road to making Severance proved well worth it for Erickson. The scribe’s first series, starring Adam Scott and directed by Ben Stiller, gave Apple another reason to brag about its TV ventures when it premiered to a rapturous critical reception and went on to earn 14 Emmy nominations and a speedy renewal. The dystopian mystery about work-life balance gone horribly awry also made Erickson, who previously kept a low profile in Hollywood, a writer on almost everyone’s list.

My most embarrassing pitch involved …
“A tooth and the grille of a car and the human digestive system. That’s all I can legally say.”

In five years, I’ll probably be …
“Publicly begging some tech company not to release the Severance chip for real.”

Sam Esmail

The auteur turned TV powerhouse executive produced a trio of projects in 2022: Peacock’s Angelyne (starring wife Emmy Rossum), Julia Roberts and Sean Penn Watergate drama Gaslit at Starz, and mystery-comedy The Resort (also for NBCUniversal’s streamer). Up next, Esmail gets back to writing an adaptation of Fritz Lang’s landmark Metropolis for Apple and perhaps that long-gestating Battlestar Galactica reimagining that’s been hanging out in development purgatory.

My biggest concern with TV industry consolidation
“Movies and TV being pulled off services and evaporating into oblivion.”

My most embarrassing pitch involved …
“A confidence game involving identical twins. Too embarrassed to say more.”

In five years, I’ll probably be …
“Showing 2001 to my 6-year-old and praying she likes it.”

Jon Favreau

In between seasons of his Disney+ centerpiece The Mandalorian, Favreau further tested the Star Wars IP waters with The Book of Boba Fett. There are others churning out Lucasfilm series (see Joby Harold’s Obi-Wan Kenobi and Tony Gilroy’s Andor), but it’s Favreau, also the executive producer on forthcoming projects Ahsoka, Skeleton Crew and The Rangers of the New Republic, who’s piloting the X-wing.

Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould

Gould concluded Better Call Saul in August after six seasons of delighting critics. And while the Breaking Bad spinoff is 0-for-50 in Emmy nominations, this beloved Bob Odenkirk vehicle does get one last crack in 2023 for its final batch of six episodes. After 15 years of Albuquerque-set storytelling, Gilligan will next head out on his own with an untitled drama for Apple that is set to star Saul grad Rhea Seehorn — while Gould’s move is not set.

The show I can’t stop thinking about
Gould: “A tie between Éric Rochant’s ocean-deep French spy thriller Le Bureau (check it out if you haven’t seen it!) and Nathan Fielder’s mind-blowing The Rehearsal. Utterly different shows but both moved me, shook me and haunt me.”

The showrunner who impresses me
Gilligan: “Rod Serling. He had it so much tougher than modern showrunners: 36 episodes a season; three sets of notes, not two (the sponsors got to weigh in); hamstrung at every turn by the broadcast standards department. And yet, more than 60 years later, his best work still holds up and remains relevant. Plus, he fought in the Pacific as an Army paratrooper. Man, I would have loved to have met him.”

Scott M. Gimple, Angela Kang

The Walking Dead is far from done. Though the original series concludes with its 11th season, overseen by Kang, the zombie franchise’s chief creative officer is prepping a slew of spinoffs on top of the ones that have already dropped — the latest being this summer’s anthology Tales of the Walking Dead. Franchise alums Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira get a six-episode limited series at AMC in 2023, and fellow familiar faces Norman Reedus, Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan will topline spinoffs as well.

The show I can’t stop thinking about
Kang: “The Boys. It’s TV that’s not trying to be an ‘eight-hour movie’ and is more subversive and interesting than so much of what’s out there as a result.”

My most embarrassing pitch involved …
Gimple: “The survival benefits of garbanzo water.”

Since streamers started pulling shows, I’ve hidden old episodes of my work …
“Disney’s Fillmore!, the Saturday morning cartoon I created for ABC as a wee lad 20 years ago, is, alas, hidden already. It’s currently only available on Disney+ U.K. I want to de-hide it and have it available here.”

Donald Glover 

As Atlanta approaches the end of its beautifully bizarre four-season run on FX, Glover now shifts his focus to his overall deal with Amazon, where he’s readying a series about a Beyoncé-esque figure starring Dominique Fishback — Malia Obama is on the writing staff … no big! — and his serialized spin on Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Glover, who’s already turned in several scripts, will star in the spy comedy alongside PEN15 co-creator and star Maya Erskine.

Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet

This trio is the backbone of the ever-expanding Star Trek universe for Paramount+ and CBS Studios. Under Kurtzman, the franchise features flagship Star Trek: Discovery, Patrick Stewart’s Picard, animated entry Lower Decks, kids’ series Prodigy and recent breakout Strange New Worlds — which Goldsman runs alongside Henry Alonso Myers. 2022 also saw Lumet and Kurtzman launch The Man Who Fell to Earth, while Goldsman recently filmed starry Apple anthology The Crowded Room with Tom Holland and Amanda Seyfried.

The showrunner who impresses me
Goldsman: “Jac Schaeffer”
Kurtzman: “Ron Moore. He sidesteps every trope that genre writing can fall prey to because he’s such a humanist at heart.”
Lumet: “Soo Hugh of Pachinko. You feel her passion in every frame of that show. She’s one of the bravest artists out there.”

My most embarrassing pitch involved …
Goldsman: “The Godfather and meerkats.”
Lumet: “Scales of Justices: Mermaid Cop. I’m kidding. But I do want to do a show where Tom Selleck’s mustache goes out and solves crimes while Tom is sleeping. I really do. It’s a significant mustache.”

The show I can’t stop thinking about
Kurtzman: “Station Eleven and The Old Man. My God, the writing on those…”

Sterlin Harjo 

Topping best-of lists in 2021, FX’s Reservation Dogs brought a first-time overall deal for co-creator Harjo. His first order of business was a fast-tracked second season starring his young (and increasingly in-demand) cast. The return hit another sweet spot with critics — and, for the already ordered season three, the Peabody-, Gotham Award- and Spirit Award-winning series will air exclusively on Hulu.

The secret weapon in our writers room
“Not being precious. I come into the room, and I blow things up. I try to boil each episode down to what is essential. That means almost anything can be killed. Once we boil it down, we then build it back up. That usually happens a couple of times.”

The show I can’t stop thinking about
“The Great British Bake Off. It’s amazingly peaceful. I never thought I could be mesmerized by British people baking.”

John Hoffman

What do you get when you cross two aging icons of physical comedy and a former Disney star with 348 million Instagram followers? A big commercial hit, apparently. Only Murders in the Building, co-created by Hoffman and star Steve Martin, wooed Hulu subscribers to become the biggest comedy launch in platform history and charmed awards voters with its blend of slapstick and true crime. It recently nabbed 17 Emmy nominations and scored an order for season three. Hoffman, who previously worked on Looking and Grace and Frankie, earned an Emmy nomination for co-writing the pilot.

The show I can’t stop thinking about
“What We Do in the Shadows I very much enjoy.”

My most embarrassing pitch involved …
“Oh, this is easy. I once pitched a project at HBO with producers Carolyn Strauss and Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner wherein I chose to keep the meeting even though something was going on with my eyes — meaning, they were so puffy they looked like they were falling out of my head. It was not allergies or Graves disease but it looked like the worst of both, and I do rely a lot on my eyes for pitching. Unbelievably, and to HBO’s great credit, we sold the thing — even though it was bought through the tiniest slits in my eyelids.”

Soo Hugh 

Adapting Min Jin Lee’s best-selling novel Pachinko was no small feat. Hugh spent four years crafting the epic family saga for Apple, with the sweeping series told across multiple timelines and in English, Korean and Japanese. Season two is in the works as Hugh plots a four-season run to tell the multigenerational story. On top of that, the Terror alum is working with Universal Content Productions on an incubator program for Asian writers.

My biggest concern with TV industry consolidation
“Look at what’s happened in features! It’s usually the huge tentpole movies that get the big marketing push and theatrical releases. I fear the same will happen in TV. In fact, it’s already started. ‘Franchise’ is starting to infect the industry.”

My most embarrassing pitch involved …
“In my last two pitches, I’ve had the ugliest cries. I would just like to be able to pitch one project where I don’t leave looking like the scariest clown.”

The show I can’t stop thinking about
“Reservation Dogs. So much heart but also smart and sharp. What an achievement.”

Hwang Dong-hyuk

Boasting a staggering 1.65 billion hours viewed (per Netflix) during its first month out of the gate, Squid Game loudly (and bloodily) asserted what should have always been obvious: Good TV knows no borders. The Korean-language drama from Hwang expanded on its commercial success with 14 Emmy nominations, including a best acting nod for star Lee Jung-jae and a directing trophy for the showrunner. Expectations for season two could not be higher.

Mindy Kaling 

Kaling has entered the mogul era of her TV career, producing two younger-skewing streaming originals: Never Have I Ever, with showrunner Lang Fisher, at Netflix, and The Sex Lives of College Girls, with showrunner Justin Noble, at HBO Max. Her development slate has swelled since she moved her overall deal to Warner Bros. Discovery, where she’s also readying an animated Scooby-Doo prequel, Velma, where she’ll voice the bespectacled mystery solver for the in-house streamer. Next up, the Mindy Project and The Office alum returns to the workplace for a comedy inspired by the front office of the NBA’s L.A. Lakers — yes, there’s another Lakers show! — with team president Jeanie Buss attached.

The showrunner who impresses me
“Joel Fields and Joseph Weisberg. I loved The Americans and now The Patient.”

The show I can’t stop thinking about
“Godless. I wish it wasn’t a limited series.”

David E. Kelley 

Kelley’s fourth decade making TV is easily his busiest. The creator, who previously held the record for the most scripted shows airing at one time, continues to make the most of the streaming wars with a slate that boasts nine shows for five different platforms on top of a pair at ABC (Big Sky, Avalon). The Lincoln Lawyer revved up for Netflix in a big way after CBS passed on the reboot, while the streaming giant is reteaming with the prolific writer-producer of A Man in Full after Anatomy of a Scandal. Peacock has another new entry (The Calling), while Kelley is working with J.J. Abrams at Apple on Presumed Innocent. Hulu, meanwhile, is finalizing deals for a second season of the star-studded Nine Perfect Strangers.

My biggest concern with TV industry consolidation
“Industry consolidation typically does result in less artistic risk taking.”

The secret weapon in our writers room
“It’s Zoom. We’re still working remotely.”

Courtney Kemp

Turning Power into a four-show franchise for Starz, Kemp’s original series essentially keep the lights on at the Lionsgate-owned cable outfit. She remains an executive producer on each title, but the prolific showrunner has spent the past year focused on developing new projects for Netflix — where she signed a rich overall deal in 2021. Power, meanwhile, continues to thrive with three spinoffs (Power Book II: Ghost, Power Book III: Raising Kanan and Power Book IV: Force) all having been renewed despite the network’s perennial public spats with Kemp’s fellow producer, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.

The show I can’t stop thinking about
“WeCrashed. I just think that capturing a folie à deux like that was masterful work.”

In five years, I’ll probably be …
“Less involved with day-to-day showrunning and more invested in supporting newer, underrepresented voices.”

Michelle King, Robert King

Come November, this erudite duo will be without a Christine Baranski vehicle for the first time in 14 years. That’s when The Good Fight, the Kings’ Trump-era-satirizing spinoff of The Good Wife, concludes with its sixth season. But these married showrunners, who signed a new deal with CBS Studios in 2021, still have their hands full. Main gig Evil recently reopened its (virtual) writers room for season four, while Showtime is prepping a sophomore outing of Bryan Cranston starrer Your Honor, and true-crime drama Happy Face is in preproduction for Paramount+.

The secret weapon in our writers room
Robert: “Panic.”

The show I can’t stop thinking about
Michelle: “Hip Hop Uncovered. I just wish they’d do a second season.”

In five years, I’ll be …
Robert: “Worried about Trump running in 2028.”

Eric Kripke

Citing an audience increase of a stunning 234 percent since its first season back in 2019, Amazon renewed Kripke’s The Boys for a fourth run, set to launch on the streamer sometime in 2023. The deeply popular superhero series — which proved to be an unlikely Emmy force with a best drama nomination in 2021, its recent cycle premiering out of this year’s eligibility window — is also getting a spinoff. Sony Pictures Television-based Kripke is executive producing Gen V, from veteran genre storytellers Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters.

The show I can’t stop thinking about
“The Rehearsal. Nathan Fielder starts out with a fairly clean high-concept show, then he loses interest in his own concept by episode three, then wanders off into a bittersweet meditation on life and reality. The stone-cold balls that takes. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

My most embarrassing pitch involved …
“There will be no names. But I pitched to an executive once, and their ear started bleeding during the pitch. But instead of stopping the pitch, they proceeded to jam Kleenex in their ear while pretending nothing was going on. I had to keep going, tap-dancing my horrified heart out, as blood ran down their neck. So I literally made someone’s ears bleed.”

Bill Lawrence, Jason Sudeikis

After back-to-back Emmy comedy series wins, all eyes are on Ted Lasso co-creator and star Sudeikis to see if he’ll stick to his guns in terms of the Apple hit ending with its upcoming third season. In the interim, co-showrunners Sudeikis and Lawrence have both cashed in with massive pay raises from producer Warner Bros. Lawrence is also looking beyond the pitch (soccer metaphor!) and is teaming with Vince Vaughn on Bad Monkey and with Jason Segel and Ted Lasso favorite Brett Goldstein for Shrinking (both at Apple), with a return to short-lived cartoon Clone High in the works at HBO Max.

The showrunner who impresses me
Lawrence: “Damon Lindelof manages to do things that are all extremely different and yet they have such specific voices. It’s really annoying.”

My most embarrassing pitch involved …
Lawrence: “It was the first time I pitched Scrubs, and one of the gentlemen in the room truly fell asleep. Cartoon snoring and everything. I think it was both of our faults.”

Sam Levinson

The lauded showman behind HBO social media darling Euphoria delivered a second season of the gritty teen drama earlier this year and, in September, star Zendaya delivered it another Emmy win for best lead actress. With Levinson credited as directing and writing each episode, one would think Euphoria would be his single focus — but he also executive produced French filmmaker Olivier Assayas’ bonkers Irma Vep remake/miniseries for HBO and co-created The Weeknd’s upcoming music cult drama, The Idol.

Chuck Lorre 

The king of the 21st century sitcom has pulled back in recent years and no longer juggles CBS’ entire two-hour Thursday comedy block, now maintaining a much more manageable slate of just two shows. The enduring Big Bang Theory prequel Young Sheldon celebrated its landmark 100th episode in March, and its fellow half-hour, Bob Hearts Abishola, is not far behind. Lorre, who still pens a new vanity card for each original episode of everything his shingle produces, quietly renewed his overall deal with his longtime partner Warner Bros. There, he’s got several comedies in development.

The showrunner who impresses me
“Taylor Sheridan, Michelle and Robert King and Sam Levinson.”

In five years, I’ll probably be …
“Getting used to a catheter.”

Jonathan Lisco, Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson

Imparting a nostalgic (and cannibalistic) jolt of relevance to Showtime during a period when Paramount brass have taken stock of where and how to best deliver the parent company’s premium content, Yellowjackets proved to be a success on multiple fronts. Critics loved it, viewers made it the network’s most watched freshman season in six years, and the TV Academy showered it with seven Emmy nominations. Married creators Lyle and Nickerson, who partnered with veteran showrunner Jonathan Lisco on the project, earned two of those noms for writing and scored an overall deal with their eager platform.

The showrunner who impresses me
Nickerson: “Rob Thomas. I love his shows, admire his range, and I’m still in utter awe of the first season of Veronica Mars. It might be a perfect season of television.”

The secret weapon in our writers room
Lyle: “Our horrifying search histories. We are definitely on a lot of watchlist.”

My biggest concern with TV industry consolidation
Lyle: “We actually once had to pass a bunch of laws about this (I’m looking at you, Sherman Act). I guess we didn’t learn anything from the railroad tycoons and oil barons after all.”

Since streamers started pulling shows, I’ve hidden old episodes of my work…
Lisco: “In the Blu-ray box sets, which I hear are still getting released, but mysteriously never get sent to me.”

In five years, I’ll probably be …
Lisco: “Answering these questions again, because as we all know, your star in Hollywood never fades.”

Patrick McKay, J.D. Payne

Debuting atop Nielsen’s admittedly nebulous streaming ratings chart and boasting generally favorable reviews from critics (that’s critics, not sad racists who can’t handle nonwhite performers playing elves), The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (see cover story, page 48) is both a mouthful and, initially, a success. Time will tell if the record-setting $1 billion price tag proves worthwhile for Amazon, but showrunners McKay and Payne have thus far delivered on their end of the bargain. They moved to the United Kingdom to film season two in October, with many, many more seasons (and spinoffs) likely on deck if the streamer wants to justify its investment.

The showrunner who impresses me
Payne: “Ron Moore. He’s done fantastic work in both episodic and longform television. Early in his career, he wrote many of my favorite episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation — episodes I’m still thinking about and rewatching 30 years after they aired.”

The show I can’t stop thinking about
McKay: “Twin Peaks: The Return. All the king’s men and horses will never put my mind back together again after it was blown by “Part 8”… and all the rest of it. A masterpiece.”

My biggest concern with TV industry consolidation
McKay: “Joan Didion comes to mind. ‘We tell ourselves stories in order to live,’ and more stories, and a greater variety of them, is not just better but necessary.”

Liz Meriwether

Long associated with broadcast comedies, care of Single Parents, Bless This Mess and seven seasons of New Girl, Meriwether took a hard turn in 2022 by making disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes the subject of watercooler conversations once again with The Dropout. Hulu’s take on the Silicon Valley scandal earned an Emmy win for star Amanda Seyfried and a nomination for Meriwether. The writer, still at 20th TV, has since gotten the limited series bug — and that’s where she’s now focusing development efforts.

My most embarrassing pitch involved …
“No laughter for the entire pitch, and, at the end, the executive smiled and said, ‘Thanks for coming to the Valley.'”

In five years, I’ll probably be …
“Auditioning for Disney on Ice”

Bruce Miller

The end is near for The Handmaid’s Tale, with Hulu’s Emmy-winning drama renewed for its sixth and final season. But showrunner Miller will remain in his white-wimpled dystopia for a bit longer. After he and author Margaret Atwood conclude the flagship series, which has gone way beyond Atwood’s original story at this point, he’ll begin work on follow-up series (and fellow Atwood adaptation) The Testaments. Disney and Hulu have him signed through at least 2024.

The show I can’t stop thinking about
“My So-Called Life. I’m a slow thinker, I guess.”

Since streamers started pulling shows, I’ve hidden old episodes of my work…
“I’ve got some treasured VHS copies of Higher Ground in a box hidden away safely.”

Ryan Murphy 

While the world (read: Hollywood) waits to see what transpires when Murphy’s landmark Netflix deal ends in 2023, he’s still churning out content for the streamer. September brought Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (eviscerated by critics but, by all accounts, a hit) and October marks the arrival of the similarly creepy The Watcher. But Murphy’s executive producer credit can most often still be found on other platforms, such as FX (American Horror Story‘s 11th cycle is up next), Fox (9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star) and Hulu (anthology American Horror Stories). He’s even finally getting around to that second season of FX’s Feud. This one, focused on the famous women burned by Truman Capote, recently cast Calista Flockhart, Chloë Sevigny, Demi Moore and Naomi Watts.

Tyler Perry 

In 2021, the ever-involved Perry told THR that he planned to eventually relinquish control of some of his series to more writers and directors. Well, in 2022, he’s still the lead writer and director on a dizzying slate that includes BET’s Assisted Living, All the Queen’s Men, Bruh, The Oval, Ruthless, Sistas and Zatima and Nickelodeon’s Young Dylan. Ever the slacker, Perry released his latest film in September: A Jazzman’s Blues, now streaming on Netflix, premiered to a warm reception at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Issa Rae

Forgoing a deserved vacation after the end of her landmark comedy Insecure, Rae wasted little time churning out her follow-up. She and showrunner Syreeta Singleton delivered Rap Sh!t to HBO Max in July, quickly earning a second-season order. Under her latest overall deal with Warner Bros., Rae is also developing an adaptation of Octavia Butler’s Fledgling and documentary Seen & Heard. Her unscripted series Sweet Life: Los Angeles recently dropped its second season.

My biggest concern with TV industry consolidation
“Less risk-taking, fewer decision-makers and fewer options for creators.”

Since we’ve been back to an in-person room …
“[We have] a renewed appreciation, more focus and individual snacks.”

Shonda Rhimes

A year into her second deal with Netflix, Rhimes produced Inventing Anna — the first project she optioned for the streamer and her first piece of writing since Scandal wrapped in 2018. Arguably TV’s most recognizable behind-the-camera personality (see her recent turn as an Emmy presenter), Rhimes also boasts megahit Bridgerton and next launches a prequel spinoff based on the romance drama’s queen character (that’s also the name of the show). Queen Charlotte will join White House murder mystery The Residence at Netflix, while ABC seems happy to renew her enduring hit Grey’s Anatomy (and spinoff Station 19) in perpetuity.

The show I can’t stop thinking about
“Dark. I still cannot get over Dark.”

Stefani Robinson, Paul Simms

Turning out not one but two seasons of What We Do in the Shadows since this list last published, Robinson and Simms scored seven Emmy nominations for the series and a three-season renewal. The vampire comedy, which earned Atlanta scribe Robinson her third Emmy nomination for writing, has become an unlikely flagship for FX (and FX on Hulu), so while the commitment is significant … it did not come as much of a surprise.

The showrunner who impresses me
Robinson: “Mickey Down and Konrad Kay”
Simms: “Lorne Michaels”

The secret weapon in our writers room
Robinson: “Taking frequent breaks to dissect our favorite Sex and the City.”

The show I can’t stop thinking about
Simms: “Every Alan Partridge show, including the most recent one, This Time With Alan Partridge.”

Michael Schur

How many other showrunners published best-selling books on morality this year — anyone? Didn’t think so. Schur, who was inspired by his time on The Good Place to pen How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question, may have lent his talents elsewhere in 2022, but he’s still very much a TV writer. There have been ups — he’s an executive producer on Hacks — and downs — he saw the demise of Rutherford Falls and his planned Field of Dreams series — but one of NBCUniversal’s most favored comedy scribes has already turned his attention to his next gig: Freevee (yes, that Freevee) comedy Primo, created by Shea Serrano.

My biggest concern with TV industry consolidation
“Nothing good has ever happened to either consumers or labor when massive companies consolidate.”

The show I can’t stop thinking about
“The Great“

Taylor Sheridan 

Paramount’s most valued showrunner, Sheridan has parlayed ratings hit Yellowstone into what may be entertainment’s first ranch-based franchise. Spinoff 1883 arrived earlier this year, and 1923 and 6666 (the former starring Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford) are both on deck. After signing a nine-figure overall deal extension that locks him down through 2028, Sheridan is also bulking up other new potential franchises with the likes of Sylvester Stallone’s Tulsa King, David Oyelowo in Bass Reeves, Zoe Saldaña in Lioness and Billy Bob Thornton vehicle Land Man joining the already renewed Jeremy Renner drama Mayor of Kingstown — all for Paramount+.

Darren Star 

Star’s deal may be at Paramount, where he wrapped a seven-season run of Younger in 2021, but he’s increasingly becoming a Netflix guy. The icon of youth-skewing TV continues to light up Pinterest boards with his sartorially minded Emily in Paris. A third season of the cult hit comedy arrives Dec. 21, just in time for holiday viewing. Meanwhile, in Star’s more familiar setting of New York, he also produced Neil Patrick Harris vehicle Uncoupled for — you guessed it — Netflix.

My biggest concern with TV industry consolidation
“Less buyers, less risk, more homogenization.”

Danny Strong

With an eclectic résumé whose highlights include writing Jay Roach election dramas Recount and Game Change and sharing a creator credit on Empire, Strong took his first solo outing as a showrunner on a show that proved to be a major boon — albeit a bummer as well. Opioid crisis miniseries Dopesick wowed critics, took home 14 Emmy nominations and even earned a handsome statuette for star Michael Keaton. The 20th TV-housed producer has yet to formally set a follow-up, not that his bosses at Disney aren’t already asking for more.

The showrunner who impresses me
“Hwang Dong-hyuk”

In five years, I’ll probably be …
“Shorter.”

Krista Vernoff

The Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19 showrunner is charting a future beyond the Rhimes-produced broadcast dramas. Under her lucrative overall deal with ABC Signature, Vernoff recently partnered with Octavia Spencer (who also has Apple’s Truth Be Told) to develop Ashley Elston’s forthcoming novel First Lie Wins at Hulu. Should it go to series, it will be Vernoff’s first project made exclusively for a streamer and, presumably, not another grueling order for 20-plus episodes per season.

The showrunner who impresses me
“I am consistently in awe of Sharon Horgan.”

In five years, I’ll probably be …
“Surfing and writing children’s books in Hawaii.”

Mike White 

The wild success of The White Lotus couldn’t have been scripted better if it were written by, well, Mike White. Part character actor and part auteur, the Enlightened creator wrote and directed all six episodes of his Emmy-dominating series after HBO boss Casey Bloys called him up to see what he could potentially do with a little money and a lot of pandemic restrictions. And while its Emmy haul may have been in the limited race — see wins for performers Jennifer Coolidge and Murray Bartlett, along with three trophies for White in writing, directing and series — any limit has yet to be reached. A sophomore run set in Italy, with only Coolidge returning, bows Oct. 30.

Dick Wolf 

The procedural king currently boasts three franchises with three series apiece. That’s nine shows! NBC’s Law & Order and Chicago and CBS’ FBI all regularly put out three hours of original programming each week during the broadcast season. That’s more hours of scripted programming than exist on most networks. Ever growth-minded, Wolf is expanding to international formats through a partnership with his longtime home at NBCUniversal to adapt his popular procedurals for foreign audiences. But his next act is for the U.S., when he attempts a half-hour procedural with On Call for — cue Law & Order “dun-dun!” — Freevee.

The show I can’t stop thinking about
“Euphoria“

Ramy Youssef

With acclaim and attention out of the gate, Youssef took a long break between seasons two and three of his eponymous comedy, Ramy. The Hulu half-hour returned in September with cast addition Bella Hadid. The co-creator has not been singularly focused on his own vehicle, however. He also partnered with fellow Muslim stand-up Mohammed Amer for Netflix’s Mo. Not unlike Ramy, it’s a loosely self-referential riff on what it means to be othered in the United States of America.

The secret weapon in our writers room
“No lunch. We start at 11, so people have time to eat beforehand. Then we end around 4:30, so people can go eat. I think lunch ruins writers rooms. I don’t like how much time it takes to decide on a menu. Then, after we order, everyone’s distracted. We think every noise by the door is our delicious food arriving. Then the food does come, and we have to stop to eat. Theoretically, we could be bouncing ideas while we eat, but mostly we’re just talking about the food. Then we finish and there’s the food coma… so yeah, we just put out snacks and keep it moving”

The show I can’t stop thinking about
“Severance. Easily one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.”

Methodology: THR selected its 2022 Power Showrunners from all writer-producers with live-action scripted series that aired original episodes between August 2021 and September 2022. With acknowledgment that roles and duties can vary significantly, each entrant is judged relative to slates, deal size, ratings, value to platform and studio, cultural impact and awards.

A version of this story first appeared in the Oct. 5 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.