Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521956
B O O K R E V I E W 44 C I N E M O N T A G E By Betsy A. McLane T he term "showrunner" came into use in the late 1980s and did not fully take hold in the television industry until the late 2000s. It is now common- ly understood that the showrunner is the SHOWRUNNER SECRETS A NEW BOOK LOOKS AT THE WOMEN WHO WRITE AND PRODUCE SERIES IN THE 'PEAK TV' ERA person with direct responsibility for the day-to-day creative output of a scripted TV show; writer/producer might best de- scribe them. Use of the term was tied to a shift in who controlled the content and look of a scripted episodic series or miniseries. In the early years of drama and comedy TV in the 1950s and into the 1980s, it was pri- marily the studios and their executives that held sway. Whether it was Disney, Desilu, Screen Gems, RKO, Wolper Productions ON WITH THE SHOW: Marta Kauffman (with Jane Fonda, center, and Lily Tomlin) pioneered the way for women showrunners. P H O T O : P H O T O F E S T