Making Creator Headlines · Page 4
The Chairman Changes Showrunners Before the Chair Is Warm
· New York time
Matthew Weiner has departed as showrunner of The Chairman, the Peacock drama in development starring Eddie Murphy, Deadline confirmed. The Mad Men creator had been tapped as writer, executive producer and showrunner on the project, which comes from 101 Studios and Universal Television. A showrunner holds a central creative role in a television series, making the change notable while the project is still taking shape. The series is getting a new showrunner, but the reported departure does not establish how the eventual program will look or when viewers will see it. Murphy remains the star identified with the drama in development. The shift illustrates the distance between announcing a high-profile project and getting a finished series onto a screen. A famous performer, a well-known writer and a studio partnership can make a compelling initial package, but the people guiding the work may change as development continues. The credits attached to an early announcement are not necessarily the credits that will open the finished show. Television likes to sell a series on the strength of its assembled talent. Here, the assembly has already needed a revision. The Chairman has a star and a title, while one of its most important behind-the-scenes chairs is being handed to someone else. The drama is still in development, but the management change arrived right on schedule.
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