> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://ironicsans.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Showrunners On Couches - URL: https://ironicsans.ghost.io/29-showrunners-on-couches/ - Published: 2024-01-03T22:03:53.000Z - Updated: 2024-01-03T22:03:53.000Z - Description: Nobody taught these people how to sit - Author: David Friedman - Tags: #beehiiv, #david-friedman, #beehiiv-visibility-all-free-subscribers-all-paid-subscribers, #Import 2025-03-30 17:49 At some point I realized that whenever I read an interview with a television showrunner (the person overall in charge of a show), they are often photographed for the interview on a couch, sometimes sitting but often lying down or otherwise draped across it. I suspect this is because the photographer is sent to take a picture in the showrunner’s office or on set, or perhaps their home, and all of those locations are likely to have a couch. The photographer looks for something more interesting than just the person sitting at their desk, and the couch is a natural draw. The search for something that doesn’t feel cliché ends up creating a new cliché. I’ve collected many examples of this over the years. Let’s take a look at some. *Mad Men* showrunner Matthew Weiner is the king of being horizontal on couches. Here’s one such photo by Art Streiber for *Newsweek*: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/08/9908ec0b-b3d5-476b-bc3c-632c5b087809/content/images/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/7111bb05-b074-4560-884e-3690c4aef5c1/3cc6e30b-8fb4-4ef4-8fa5-3273402c27fd_600x403.jpg) And here he is again on another couch, this time photographed by Bryce Duffy: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/08/9908ec0b-b3d5-476b-bc3c-632c5b087809/content/images/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/bb8f8453-6e19-40c0-b6cf-60dd72fa6269/9ee3c040-b9b4-4c12-8562-e37de79ab373_561x385.jpg) And a *third* Matt Weiner on a couch, photographed by Anne Cusack: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/08/9908ec0b-b3d5-476b-bc3c-632c5b087809/content/images/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/1a0b9c0a-37f6-4e21-82a9-d56f3f1ddc5a/b92cfe37-eb58-44e2-b8d0-ea3d3dbe05e0_612x342.jpg) Here’s *Community* showrunner Dan Harmon stretched out on a couch, photographed by Joe Pugliese for *Wired*: ![Harmon works long irregular hours](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/08/9908ec0b-b3d5-476b-bc3c-632c5b087809/content/images/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/e837cabd-651e-4c8b-919c-d5b90c453ad5/882b77bd-a8df-4d2f-bec7-e23b5cfbdf76_660x440.jpg) And a couch for disgraced *Buffy the Vampire Slayer* showrunner Joss Whedon: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/08/9908ec0b-b3d5-476b-bc3c-632c5b087809/content/images/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/062e50c7-1c3d-40f1-892d-50908d34c69f/f3295e03-268d-4ae8-9707-a2ed8dc085da_672x372.jpg) I don’t know if it’s technically correct to say that *Catastrophe* co-star, co-creator, and co-writer Sharon Horgan was the showrunner on that show (can there be co-showrunners?), but this couch photo by Jude Edgington is too good to omit. ![Sharon Horgan](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/08/9908ec0b-b3d5-476b-bc3c-632c5b087809/content/images/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/8df6ebb6-1155-443d-acb4-dba728ed2f97/0d5ab2ee-7bc9-46be-83f6-4e0ed4d9e65b_681x383.jpg) I guess there *can* be co-showrunners. Look, here are *Black-ish* showrunners Kenny Smith and Jonathan Groff on a couch together: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/08/9908ec0b-b3d5-476b-bc3c-632c5b087809/content/images/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/e130d5ef-5dbb-4c41-8109-d48350db5d23/ac10bafc-1749-43eb-a5e4-9c62474625bc_1200x630.jpg) They took over from showrunner Kenya Barris. I don’t have a good photo of Kenya Barris on a couch. But there’s an amazing photo of him sitting in a chair casually as though he doesn’t notice that he’s holding an awesome owl right [here](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/08/9908ec0b-b3d5-476b-bc3c-632c5b087809/content/images/photos/5e28a852007eb90008363c2c/master/w%5F1600-c%5Flimit/vf0220%5Fkenya%5Fbarris%5Fembed03.jpg?ref=ironicsans.ghost.io). A row of connected seats is kind of a couch, right? Here’s *Lost* and *Bates Motel* showrunner Carlton Cuse sitting across a row of seats, by Terence Patrick: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/08/9908ec0b-b3d5-476b-bc3c-632c5b087809/content/images/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/060a6152-3a70-49cb-b28e-bf06ba27d128/417670d7-7929-49e5-ba33-f46deeaf069b_670x377.jpg) Remember *Orange is the New Black*? Here’s showrunner Jenji Kohan, photographed on a couch by Jay L. Clandenin: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/08/9908ec0b-b3d5-476b-bc3c-632c5b087809/content/images/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/bd94f1b6-b4ac-4233-ac0e-ea4680fd8549/85a1a0a1-70e9-4f91-bb55-f4d95be62a0d_1280x707.jpg) Look! Up in a couch! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s *Supergirl* showrunner Greg Berlanti, photographed on a couch by Damon Cesarez: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/08/9908ec0b-b3d5-476b-bc3c-632c5b087809/content/images/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/2695c088-b29c-4edb-912a-f4ce833200ef/def86d9f-792f-4b51-8c2d-8bfb00d8439d_825x464.jpg) And here’s *New Girl* showrunner Elizabeth Meriwether on a couch: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/08/9908ec0b-b3d5-476b-bc3c-632c5b087809/content/images/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/b68b3c16-0c84-4ac6-8acf-a767fc1841db/dfc51002-fdf3-4280-b1d8-14d3cb7ebf2b_349x466.jpg) And *Crazy Ex-Girlfriend* showrunners Rachel Bloom and Aline Brosh McKenna, sitting comfortably on a couch photographed by Emily Berl: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/08/9908ec0b-b3d5-476b-bc3c-632c5b087809/content/images/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/f4912ad8-133a-49fe-a469-a54a82358783/4888bebe-9024-4997-98cd-4b215153078b_960x541.jpg) Jason Katims created the shows *Parenthood, Roswell,* and more. Here he is on a couch: ![Jason Katims Writers Office](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/08/9908ec0b-b3d5-476b-bc3c-632c5b087809/content/images/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/6e6af2e6-cf9d-4f3e-9f5e-413697b8d8e5/6ee731b1-4b79-496b-bc1d-672095a5821d_681x383.jpg) Is a bench with a cushion an outdoor couch? Because here’s *Dead to Me* showrunner Liz Feldman on one: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/08/9908ec0b-b3d5-476b-bc3c-632c5b087809/content/images/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/0bd6806f-fba9-418d-81bd-ed45b50c59c1/504262d3-b557-446b-b666-5bea2a26d6d2_2400x1600.jpg) And finally, Noah Hawley, showrunner for *Fargo*, *Legion*, *Bones*, etc., sitting on various tufted couches: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/08/9908ec0b-b3d5-476b-bc3c-632c5b087809/content/images/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down-format=auto-onerror=redirect-quality=80/uploads/asset/file/13001b16-f550-4d70-b705-479a9f57dded/bae62e8c-1a6d-40c8-baae-e65e77f6f87a_1486x980.jpg) ![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/30eb3d21-bb4f-4ec9-bfd7-f13a61177423/00ae669f-87bd-466a-b089-7f83ee373484.jp2?t=1704319440) I have so many more. Too many. But I’ve hit the length limit for my newsletter. Maybe you’re thankful for that. --- Thanks for looking at my collection of Showrunners On Couches. See you next week! David