Showrunner Rules from Jeffrey Lieber: Numbers 151–160

Jeff Lieber is a screenwriter and TV writer. His movie credits include Tuck Everlasting and he is currently an executive producer of the USA Network series “Necessary Roughness.” On Twitter (@JeffLieber), he has run a series of tweets called Showrunner Rules. For background on Jeff and this Twitter series, go here.

Today: Numbers 151–160:

Showrunner Rule #151 (1 of 2): Lead actresses’ seasonal wardrobe is called their “closet”. Costume designers HATE reusing…

Showrunner Rule #151 (2 of 2): …but budget demands you do. Rule of thumb (mine) is 3 eps between generic piece & never w/ signature piece.

Showrunner Rule #152: When interviewing Casting Director ask @ “bald actor w/ accent in FX show.” If CD says Željko Ivanek in

Showrunner Rule #153 (1 of 2): Really only two routes to first staffing job. 1: Come in through side door by making it another medium…

Showrunner Rule #153 (2 of 2): …(web/books/film/graphic novels) or be mentored & promoted by someone who has or is getting their own show.

Showrunner Rule #154: Send vaguely sick writers home. Being shorthanded in room sucks, but staff plague derails material train for weeks.

Showrunner Rule #155: Questions ALWAYS more compelling than answers. The silence after “But do you love me?” will trump any possible retort.

Shorunner Rule #156: No matter how many times you SWEAR you’ll keep THIS outline UNDER 20 pages, sure as gravity, they end up 25 pages long.

Showrunner Rule #157: Never react to BIG notes on call. It takes 24 hours & at least one long shower to get comfortable w/ radical changes.

Showrunner Rule #158: Top of show actors must be treated on set as guests, until they start changing lines, and then they must be slapped.

Showrunner Rule #159: Reserve GREAT compassion for costumer, as every exec who wears clothes thinks they’re qualified 2 give wardrobe notes.

Showrunner Rule #159A (addendum): Also costumer likely told to produce $1000 suits with budget of $197 and change found in car cup holder.

Showrunner Rule #160: Specificity of character means you can tell props red, white, scotch or whiskey when script just says, “she drinks.”

Here is Jeff’s bio:

One day in 1986, after blowing up a glass beaker in a lab in high school, Jeffrey Lieber’s science teacher, Dr. Nagoi, turned to him and said, “Jeffrey… you be an actor… you be a writer… maybe have a family… but please, dear God, don’t be a chemist.” And it was those words that launched a journey that has ended up with Mr. Lieber becoming a screenwriter, showrunner, blogger, father and husband (Credits? Go here). Every day, while pursuing his passions, Mr. Lieber takes a moment to stop and thank Dr. Nagoi for his sage advice.

We can look for more Showrunner Rules from Jeff in the weeks and months to come. You can follow them live on Twitter as Jeff rolls them out. Then with every group of ten, I’ll post them here and add them to the archives.

For all of the Showrunner Rules, go here.