Author: Robert Greenberger

The Hollywood Reporter named its top 40 showrunners with genre mastermind Joss Whedon heading the list. The role of showrunner has evolved through the years but is the producer charged with making the television series hum, from concept to airdate.  They tend to direct the creative process and are involved in every aspect such as the stories, casting, and post-production. Whereas the director has the final say on a movie set, the showrunner is the voice on a television production.

Whedon’s choice is interesting considering he has not produced a television series since the failed Firefly in 2003 and there’s been much controversy surrounding his next show, January’s Dollhouse.

Here’s what the trade says about the top ten showrunners.

Joss Whedon, Dollhouse (Fox)

Whedon believes in the power of the writers room so much that after filming three episodes of his forthcoming midseason drama Dollhouse, he shut down production because he hadn’t spent enough time there. "I use the room for (script structure) and then I send people off on their lonesomes to write," he says. Whedon prefers that approach for himself, too; he’ll head to a restaurant with his Pilot Razor Points and listen to movie soundtracks while composing scripts by hand. He is a showrunning vet (at one point he was in control of Angel, Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer), but Whedon says that doesn’t make him experienced. "The thing about showrunning is you never learn anything," he admits. "The biggest part is to surround yourself with smart people and then take credit for it." (more…)

Now that Quantum of Solace is open, all eyes are turning to next week’s release of Twilight.  Summit Entertainment has begun putting the pieces in motion to adapt the second of Stephenie Meyer’s novels, New Moon. No final decision will be made until the dollars hit the box office but the worldwide reaction is expected to be intense and profitable.

Melissa Rosenberg has been signed to return and adapt both New Moon and Eclipse as screenplays. That just leaves the final volume, Breaking Dawn, to be assigned.

Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson)’s tragic romance continues through the two books with the introduction of other vampires and a werewolf who tugs at the teen’s heartstrings.

Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster has signed to direct World War Z for Paramount Pictures. The movie will adapt Max Brooks’ novel about “a researcher for the U.N. Postwar Commission [who] interviews survivors from countries all over the world, 10 years after the [zombie] crisis, to gather a first-person post-mortem on a war that obliterated every country on the map”, according to Variety. The adaptation has been written by J. Michael Straczynski with Brad Pitt’s Plan B is producing.

"The genre always fascinated me, and when they pitched it to me, it reminded me of the paranoid conspiracy films of the 70s like All the President’s Men," Forster told Variety.

The studio optioned the book in 2006 for Pitt. Brooks is the son of Mel Brooks and the late Anne Bancroft. He first came to attention as author of 2003’s The Zombie Survival Guide. He’s also acted on shows like Roseanne and has done voice work on Batman Beyond and Justice League.

Actors working on Fox’s Prison Break, were told that there may be only two episodes left to the once hot series. There are six remaining episodes of the series for the total season and the series did not appear on the revised midseason schedule released last week.  As a result, the final two hours may be combined into a series-ending finale to air in December or as a spring special.  The series launched four years ago and was considered a daring change of pace for a drama.

The Sci Fi Channel announced that its latest drama, Sanctuary, has been given a second season, bucking a trend of high-profile one-season wonders. The next season of the series, starring Amanda Tapping, will consist of thirteen episodes. The series is expected back some time in 2009. The series, also starring Robin Dunne, Ryan Robbins, Emilie Ullerup and Christopher Heyerdahl, debuted in October to the highest-rated original series premiere ratings since Eureka debuted in July 2006.
 

George Takei has flown Down Under to become the oldest contestant on the British edition of I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here. “I’m physically fit. I used to run marathons, now I work out every day,” he told the Daily Mirror.

Of the grueling challenges awaiting him in the Outback, he noted, “I’m Japanese and love sushi. I’ve even eaten live fish. It was delicious.”

His arrival got off to a shaky start when no one from the show was present to meet him at the airport. “I’ve been left wandering the airport for 30 minutes. They assured me there would be someone to meet me,” Takei said. A gaggle of reporters, on hand for the celebrity’s arrival, guided him to his destination.

His fellow contestants include local politician Robert Kilroy-Silk., ex Met deputy Brian Paddick, former tennis champ Martina Navratilova, Carly Zucker, fiancée to soccer’s Joe Cole, former EastEnder actor Joe Swash, former Blue singer Simon Webbe, TV host Dani Behr, Esther Rantzen, and glamor girl Nicola McLean.

Takei, 71, recently wed his partner Brand Anderson and has been a vocal critic of California’s Proposition 8 which has now outlawed gay marriage. He will be one of three gay contestants on the show’s eighth season..

The series begins airing Sunday night on ITV at 9 p.m..