We won’t have Mark Perry to kick around anymore
Looks like some deck chairs are being rearranged behind the scenes at the Walker house, too.
According to TV Guide’s Ausiello Report, Mark Perry, who took over as Brothers & Sisters show-runner at the start of this season so Greg Berlanti could go off and launch Dirty Sexy Money and Eli Stone, is quietly leaving the show. The word is that he will be replaced by someone already on staff, to create a “seamless transition.”
Just as Berlanti got a lot of the credit last year for steering B&S away from heavy drama and toward a more emotional and light-hearted mix, Perry got a lot of the blame for plowing straight into soap territory. With Berlanti’s renewed attention for these next four episodes, there’s reason to hope the Walkers may end the year somewhere in the vicinity of where they ended up last year, with the very strong “Matriarchy” episode.
In Perry’s defense, though, I wonder if there’s a more thankless job in all of show business than being in charge of a popular show’s sophomore season. (Producing the Oscars, maybe.) Once the audience starts to feel ownership of a series, it’s likely that people are going to be unhappy no matter what you do. Bringing in somebody from the outside to absorb all of that dissatisfaction and then disappear isn’t a bad strategy, come to think of it. But for it to work, these next four episodes better be dazzling.
And by dazzling, I mean full of the humor and emotion and character and heart and snark that I believe has marked this show at its best — NOT full of more damn stupid plot twists. That’s why I’m a little worried by Berlanti’s interview from yesterday, and this quote from today’s Ask Ausiello: “If ABC approves all of the ideas being generated by Greg Berlanti & Co., the final four eps are going to be, by no small measure, eventful.”
Oh, goodness. Eventful. Hasn’t this season been eventful enough? We’re lousy with events! I certainly don’t put it past Berlanti to make those events meaningful, and appropriate, and interesting to see. But I can’t help thinking back to that final episode of last season, and how great it was to not have a cliffhanger, but more of a reaffirmation, for that seasonal send-off. We should be so lucky as to have that happen twice.
February 27th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
I disagree about this season being eventful enough. My problem with this season is that nothing’s happened. Rebecca, Saul, Kevin, and Nora have done nothing all season. Tommy, Kitty, Justin, and Sarah have all recovered sufficiently from their problems and are now doing nothing. I think the show needs big events that have repercussions for years to come.
February 28th, 2008 at 11:02 am
I think Perry’s leaving is very good news. I was always nervous about bringing in an outsider for showrunner and he never seemed a good fit for B&S. (We may never know what decisions he was personally responsible for, but the Lena arc always struck me as something you’d see on One Tree Hill.)
I’m extremely happy that Berlanti is at the helm of the final 4 eps–if anyone can bring the show back to its usual high caliber, it’s him. And picking a showrunner from among the current staff writers also seems wise since most have been there since Season 1 and understand who these characters are.