John Wells was in the midst of explaining why he didn’t feel envious towards other writers’ work when Tracey Wigfield burst into laughter. “John,” she interjected, halting him. “I’m not just envious, I’m jealous of every TV show I watch.
Mindy Kaling found herself in the average category. “When I watch TV,” she stated, “I simply want it to be well-done. The envy kicks in when something that I believe is mediocre receives a lot of acclaim. Why are they saying it’s so great? It’s just average!
All participants at THR’s Producers Emmy Roundtable shared a common sentiment: admiration. The lively discussion, hosted on May 28 at Soho House West Hollywood, brought together the creative forces behind some of the most highly-praised comedies and dramas from the previous year. Attendees included Kaling (Running Wild), Wells (The Pit), Wigfield (The Four Seasons), Paul W. Downs (Hacks), Brett Goldstein (Shrinking), Stephen Graham (Adolescence), and Liz Meriwether (Dying for Sex). For an hour filled with laughter, these writer-producers reminisced about the script notes they received, contested, and sometimes still regret not disregarding.
In the series you produce, there are elements such as thoughts of suicide, murder between children, humor related to terminal illness, and arguably the most explicit birth scene ever shown on television. Can you tell me about the last scene you wrote or filmed that caused you or your team some genuine apprehension?
PAUL W. DOWNS (PARAPHRASING) Writing the final episode of Hacks this season was a nerve-wracking experience, especially since Deborah [Jean Smart] finally lets go of her long-sought goal – but beware, there’s a spoiler ahead!
LIZ MERIWETHER What!? (Laughter.)
For FOUR YEARS We had been working on something new, unsure of how it would be received. At the same time, we were grappling with all the transformations in our field. Our goal was to present these changes in a way that was humorous, heartwarming, and logically sound – a task that proved both difficult and nerve-wracking.
Brett, it seems you played the role of the intoxicated driver in the movie “Shrinking,” which led to the character portrayed by Jason Segel becoming a widower.
Brett Goldstein chuckled as he admitted, “I didn’t create it with myself in mind, but I did perform it instead.” (Laughs.) Then, you understand that it serves as a shortcut because you are familiar with the character. Dealing with themes like suicide and death requires caution when writing such material – particularly in comedy. You delve deeply into research, read numerous firsthand accounts, and strive to ensure your work isn’t insensitive.
JOHN WELLS We aimed to portray the authentic experience of working in an emergency room as a physician or healthcare provider. It’s raw, real-life footage, and we weren’t sure if our audience would continue watching due to its intensity. To make it more accessible, we gradually increased the graphic nature, similar to how medications are administered in smaller doses, hence the term “titrated.” It’s less intense at first, but as the scene progresses, you become accustomed to what follows – which we described as a beautiful and empowering moment for all women. They should look at their children and partners, realizing that they went through this incredible ordeal for them.
MERIWETHER I make my husband watch it every morning. (Laughter.)
STEPHEN GRAHAM A crucial aspect is being truthful. My writing partner Jack Thorne was taken aback when I mentioned that by the end of the initial episode, we learn who has carried out the act. This isn’t a “whodunit” mystery. Instead, it delves into the reasons behind such a heinous deed and investigates the idea that each of us might bear some responsibility. However, it was the nerve-wracking moment when I stated, “No, no, no. We already know he’s done it. You see it at the end of the first episode.
MERIWETHER: I delayed penning the final installment of Dying for Sex quite extensively. I wasn’t prepared for her character to meet her end. For a brief moment, I thought I held some power over that outcome. However, it became unsettling, and others encouraged me, “You must complete that task.
TRACEY WIGFIELD “It’s shooting tomorrow.” (Laughter.)
MERIWETHERThe tone of the email became more terse. Writing without feeling apprehensive is unfamiliar to me, but this task was especially challenging – figuring out how to inject humor while maintaining coherence.
In a surprising plot twist reminiscent of a spoiler alert: We wrote Steve Carell’s character off our show. Since Tina Fey, Lang Fisher, and I were the creators, and our team was composed entirely of comedy writers, we had never tackled the subject of death before. As such, the challenge was to depict how other characters learn about his demise in an authentic way. Their first choice was to inform his ex-wife, who was in the midst of an intimate moment with her new partner. This scene required a raw and emotional response from her. Initially, when you watch the cut, it might seem like there are many unexpected twists and turns. Some viewers may react with confusion or anger, wondering if we had pushed boundaries too far with this unconventional approach.
MINDY KALING I’ve created shows centered around teenagers and the Indian diaspora. Missteps in these areas are quickly pointed out, and as my ego is rather delicate, I don’t take criticism well. When I decided to work on a series about a basketball team, I knew it would require extensive research, as authentic basketball dialogue was essential. In the past, I’ve preferred projects focusing on ambitious women, their dating lives, marriage endeavors, and seeking acceptance. However, this new project pushed me out of my comfort zone and into learning something unfamiliar, which was initially uncomfortable but ultimately rewarding.
Hey Liz, when FX requested you to tone down the explicit male frontal nudity only a bit, it got us thinking. As this is your initial project delving into sexual themes, what took you aback during the process of including intimacy and nudity? Also, could you describe what “just slightly” might entail in this context?
MERIWETHER I initially intended to include an explicit scene in the script of The Dropout, but was informed that for legal reasons, any sexual content had to be tastefully portrayed as “positive” or “good sex.” I’m unsure how to write a scene where characters express their pleasure in an overt way, like saying, “This is fantastic!” (Laughter).
KALING You mean the quality of the sex, like no one would regret it?
MERIWETHER I attended a Zoom session with the Writers Guild on the art of penning intimate scenes. I jotted down some pointers as I was rather inexperienced in this area. It turned out to be quite helpful. The advice was to be precise and matter-of-fact, describing the scene exactly as intended. In my work on Dying for Sex, I followed this guidance, though I must admit I felt a slight flush. I am pleased, however, that FX eventually requested us to tone it down, which meant carefully monitoring how many instances of male genitalia were shown on screen.
GRAHAM Frame by frame?
MERIWETHER: Exactly, it’s all about American values. (Laughter.) But what we had to omit, which I’ll always regret, was the scene where the character’s penis transformed into butterfly wings. In a playful manner, it fluttered towards the camera before gracefully flying away.
WIGFIELD I find that legal notes can be more challenging than creative ones. An instance from our show, “The Four Seasons”, involved a humorous scene where turning on a TV revealed explicit adult content. We were informed by the studio – due to licensing issues – “We cannot use licensed pornography; you must film it yourself.” As a devout Catholic, I was taken aback at this request since it felt inappropriate. The rule stems from concerns about the consent and legitimacy of pornographic material. After some back-and-forth discussions, we were provided with a list of approved pornography from a trusted producer. During our time filming in Puerto Rico, I was often seen on set, engrossed in my phone.
OR
WIGFIELD Legal notes can be trickier than creative ones at times. A humorous situation arose during the production of “The Four Seasons” where we had to depict explicit adult content playing on a TV. The studio informed us that they couldn’t use licensed pornography; instead, we had to film it ourselves. As a devout Catholic, this request made me uncomfortable. The rule was implemented due to concerns about the legality and consent of pornographic material. After some back-and-forth discussions, we were given a list of approved pornographic content from a trusted producer. During our time in Puerto Rico, I could often be found on set, preoccupied with my phone.
GRAHAM You picked the scenes?
As a gamer, I’ve been checking out this content creator’s portfolio, and I’ve found his best work. The attorney mentioned, “This theme appears in many productions, and they usually handle it themselves. This shift is going to make quite an impact.” Indeed, it seems like a major change for the pornography producer. He can hardly contain his excitement.
KALING I love that you keep calling him “the gentleman.”
MERIWETHER I had to send reference photos for the prosthetic penis. That was a weird email.
GOLDSTEIN Where did you find your photos?
MERIWETHER Gentleman.com.
Stephen, Adolescence has a mysterious allure. It might not seem destined for box office gold, but it’s the second most-watched English-language series on Netflix, ever. What insights can we draw from this unexpected success?
GRAHAM The tale is quite casual. Let me clarify that I’m not trying to offend, but we weren’t aiming for success. We didn’t have any duty to achieve success. Instead, we crafted a delightful little masterpiece. And it was an enjoyable summer for us. It felt like a vacation. We limited ourselves to just two takes per day, which made it more about the performance. I believe it managed to capture something of the times. Many parents found resonance in it. I hoped it would foster discussions between parents and children.
Let’s focus on: Spending a significant amount of time debating whether something will succeed or not. Instead, let’s invest our efforts into creating something truly meaningful. Our audience is highly perceptive, both in terms of visual and narrative sophistication. They are capable of understanding and supporting our journey.
GRAHAM It’s having that respect for your audience as well. You don’t have to spoon-feed them.
Brett and Liz, welcome! You’ve come for comedies that tackle the topic of death. How do you manage to balance humor, given the sensitive nature of your subject matter, and especially in light of ongoing discussions about what constitutes a ‘comedy’?
GOLDSTEIN When Bill Lawrence, Jason, and I initially made the show, we followed a firm guideline: it’s a comedy. However, it seems to me that, subconsciously, we compose it as a drama and intersperse it with humor. The mood, it arises intuitively, or perhaps we have an unspoken understanding about the ideal balance of tragic and comedic elements. There exists a middle ground, and locating it isn’t overly difficult. It’s our perspective on the world: a blend of humor and sadness. (To Meriwether) Is this an accurate representation?
MERIWETHER Yeah, that was great. He was speaking for both of us. I really nailed that. (Laughter.)
Hey there! It seems like you’re a thriving actor, yet you haven’t been seen in any shows that you’ve produced since “The Mindy Project.” I can only assume this isn’t due to a shortage of invitations. Could you share with us how you set those boundaries for your career?
KALING It feels like I made a deliberate choice when I expressed my enjoyment. (Laughs.) Acting is my passion, but after our show, “Never Have I Ever,” where I didn’t have a role, I started wondering if I should even be in shows at all, given it was simpler to include me there. However, it’s not that I don’t ponder over this. On the set of “Running Point,” the camaraderie and fun are so infectious that I often find myself envious, watching from the sidelines wishing to be on-screen instead. In response to your query, I must admit I harbor some frustration. Occasionally, I’ve felt like Alfred Hitchcock might, wanting to introduce the themes of the show, make a brief appearance, and then fade away.
Hey there! As a gamer, I’d rephrase that sentence like this: “Back when I wrote an episode for Cher to guest star, her manager said she decided against it because she wasn’t feeling it. Now that she’s gone, folks seem to think I get all the hot invitations, but the truth is, it’s not just about incoming calls anymore.
She flat-out refused us twice – once in season three and again this current season. She owns an ice cream brand named Cherlato. Her manager indicated that if we mentioned the brand, she would participate. So, we created a commercial for Cherlato. Deborah visited the Cherlato factory to sample the products. In the end, Cher was supposed to say something like, “I just wanted those extra calories. I’m not joining your show because you used my backup dancers in the ’80s. Go away.” However, we usually receive polite declinations instead.
Who else has had a guest star ovation gone wrong?
WIGFIELD I remade ‘Saved by the Bell’ and it seemed like Universal wanted us to invite someone from ‘The Voice’. Unfortunately, Adam Levine wasn’t available, so we offered it to another person. The offers kept decreasing until they said, “Alright, no one wants it. We can give you the chair.” Yes, folks, we wrote a character based on ‘The Voice’s chair! The chairs are quite heavy, so we had to construct a special stage for it, which was a bit costly. On the day itself, we got a call from ‘The Voice’: “The chair isn’t coming.” (Laughter.) The chair backed out! That moment in Hollywood was my darkest.
KALING Real diva behavior from the chair.
WIGFIELD But look at me now!
As a Game Developer: The most frustrating dialogue I’ve had this year was when I proposed creating an open-world game set in a modern city like Los Angeles. Every time, someone would respond with, “We’re not even willing to budget it.” It seems like a common belief that it can’t be done. But here we are, developing Urban Quest right in the heart of Los Angeles. The challenge is to show everyone that we can pull it off, despite the initial skepticism about affordability.
MERIWETHER New York, too. Same thing.
What concerns me the most is the possibility that many skilled teams, who are relocating elsewhere, might find themselves without much work or opportunities here.
GRAHAM ‘Cause they can’t work in the place where they live? Doesn’t make any sense.
In discussing our production plans, we propose creating a show that can be filmed locally. What’s the budget for this project? We aim to structure both the design and script around this budget so that we can produce the show as envisioned, within the chosen location. On ‘The Pitt’, there were 325 speaking roles in the first 15 episodes. Such a scale wouldn’t be feasible in Atlanta or Toronto for instance.
Hey Brett, I remember our previous conversation where you mentioned that many scripts are not up to the mark. Could you elaborate on the common pitfalls and cliches in screenwriting that particularly irk you?
GOLDSTEIN I’m going to let Liz answer this one. (Laughter.)
MERIWETHER Yeah, I hate writers.
GOLDSTEIN When I go through many screenplays, I find the quality ones stand out because they feel genuine and authentic. They focus on well-developed characters and dialogue that sounds like everyday conversation. This might seem simple, but it’s incredibly challenging to accomplish. We have a large team of writers striving to create engaging scripts, and it’s no walk in the park. However, when you come across numerous poor quality scripts, even a merely competent one can be a breath of fresh air. I apologize for any harsh language, but let me emphasize that writing is tough!
MERIWETHER What I’m searching for is a unique tone, and I’ve found it in the writing of Noah Garfinkel, a writer from ‘New Girl’. When I brought him on board, he had already written a script titled ‘Horny Ghosts‘, which was about teenagers who became horny ghosts after death. (Laughs.) Despite its unconventional structure, it had a certain magic to it that made me think, “I need to meet this person.” I believe that anyone who completes a script is somewhat extraordinary.
GOLDSTEIN (PARAPHRASED) Fundamentally, each television series revolves around a family. The key lies in whether or not you’d choose to spend time with this particular family. When examining the characters, it’s crucial that they are individuals you’d enjoy spending time with.
MINDY Typically, by the time scripts reach our level, they’ve become…not exactly terrible. They’re simply routine or commonplace, right?
WIGFIELD And boring a lot of times.
MINDY What I find uninspiring often is when something seems familiar or reminds me of something else. However, when a piece is truly insightful, an accurate observation, that’s what feels fresh and exciting.
MERIWETHER I enjoy the feeling of having butterflies in my stomach, as if to say, “I’m frustrated because I didn’t create it myself.
In discussions about eliminating cherished ideas, what are the concepts that you chose to keep? Can you share a minor issue where you stubbornly defended your point despite it being insignificant in hindsight?
KALING I frequently find myself feeling agitated throughout the day. Yet, in the evening when I’m with my kids, I often find myself reflecting…
KALING I tend to get easily worked up during the day. However, as the evening comes and I’m with my children, I often find myself pondering…
WIGFIELD Who cares?
KALING Why did I do that? Because I want to win all the time.
In Shameless, there was a major dispute for me. It’s not one of my favorite moments, really. One character was caught stealing a library book, and the network warned us, “Characters can’t steal library books.” This happened in an episode where someone urinated on another person’s head. (Laughter.) I stood firm on that issue, but it eventually went through. However, it was a three-week long battle, and entirely unproductive.
WIGFIELD Are librarians often prone to lawsuits? Real estate agents have that tendency, as I’ve been cautioned before not to make fun of them. They seem almost defensive about it, exclaiming, “Not them!” (Laughter).
DOWNS That executive was in escrow.
MERIWETHER I frequently discuss rules and guidelines, yet they keep track of how often the word “vagina” is used. An episode of New Girl featured so many euphemisms for vagina that it was more inappropriate than just saying the word directly. At times, one can’t help but delve deeper into the subject matter before realizing, “I should focus on other things instead.
WIGFIELD With age comes a change, as I no longer struggle on hills. Perhaps this is a testament to growing up. When I was 28 and this was all I had, I found myself exclaiming, “She must go to the circus!” (Laughter.) She’s not genuine! I created her. Why worry?
What’s the professional call that you still dream of getting?
KALING I’d love to step into the world of The Gilded Age. Although Indians weren’t present in the United States during that time, I imagine myself as one of the women who weren’t wealthy enough to associate with the high society.
WELLS I’d like to have a call that started with, “We have no notes.”
KALING Do you receive feedback? Oh, that’s fantastic! I’m almost constantly in meetings about notes, thinking, “John Wells certainly isn’t privy to these!” (Laughter.)
I CONSTANTLY FIND MYSELF REFERRING BACK TO YOU IN MY MIND. In moments when I’m struggling in the writers’ room, I often find myself saying, “What would John Wells do?
WELLS No, you fail all the time. That’s how you know the writer’s room is kind of working.
WIGFIELD Do you really feel that? Still? When you can’t break something?
I find it tough to recall, yet I’m determined to return. The journey will undeniably be challenging. It requires traversing through despair to reach the transformative moment. Oh, how arduous it feels!
Then off you go home. Or perhaps, “I might pick it up tomorrow, or maybe someone else will find a solution!
DOWN Should we talk about something else?
WELLS Yeah, because we all suck right now. We’re all terrible.
MERIWETHER (Gesturing to Goldstein and Graham) They’re not joining in.
GRAHAM We suffer! It’s the art of living, suffering. (Laughter.)
This tale was initially published in a special June edition of The Hollywood Reporter’s magazine. To get the magazine delivered to you, simply click [here] to subscribe.
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2025-06-18 16:27