EDITION: U.S.
ShowRuners
FX showrunners take turns tearing NBC a new one - TCA Report
by Joel Keller, posted Aug 8th 2009 7:01AM

FX held panels for Archer and Sons of Anarchy on Friday morning, but by then press tour fatigue had set in, and the energy in the room was low for both. It was especially low for Archer, a Adult Swim-esque spy cartoon by the creator of Sealab 2021 that most of the critics hadn't yet seen. The panel seemed to be more content with answering with wise-ass remarks that made themselves laugh but the just served to make us tired masses annoyed.
Things perked up, though, when the network presented five of its show-runners to talk about what it's like to develop edgy dramas for basic cable. But since the theme of the week has invariably been "Leno at 10," the questions often came back to the fact that NBC with one fell swoop wiped out five hours of scripted drama per week. And the show-runners took every opportunity to bash the Peacock for it.
And it got ugly: "I feel they should take the American flag down in front of the building and just put up a white one," said Rescue Me's Peter Tolan, "because they've clearly given up."
TV Squad Hot Topics
Most Popular Articles
From Our Partners
- Summer Cookout: Recipes from Our Favorite Cooking Shows
- From Kelly to Candice: Ranking the 'American Idol' Winners
- 'The Vampire Diaries' Rankings: Who Was the Baddest Character in Season 4?
- 'American Idol': Ranking the Winners' Coronation Songs
- 'How I Met Your Mother' Promotes Cristin Milioti to Series Regular
- More From BuddyTV
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2013: Ann and Nancy Wilson bring the Heart
- 'American Idol' runner-up Kree Harrison to make her Grand Ole Opry debut on June 4
- Mariah Carey did not lip-sync on 'American Idol,' according to her rep
- TV ratings: 'Nikita' finale rises slightly while 'Shark Tank' dominates a night of news and reruns
- 'Doctor Who' Season 7 finale: Watch Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman introduce 'Name of the Doctor' and the prequel episode
- More From Zap2it
- What to Watch This Weekend: The Doctor Is Out, Ben Affleck on SNL, Simpsons Finale and More
- Exclusive First Look: The Goodwin Games Cast Takes Part in a Violent Beatdown!
- TVLine's Performer of the Week: Nikita's Maggie Q
- Exclusive First Look: AMC's New Showville Puts Spotlight on Townie Talent
- Mike & Molly Creator Steps Down as Showrunner
- More From TVLine
