How long producers stay at their hit shows?
The producers of ABC's biggest shows speak openly about their plans to either produce their shows indefinitely or to bail out after a few years.
This is a big deal. Look at how the direction, tone and writing of shows like "Gilmore Girls" and "The West Wing" changed once their guiding forces left.
Damon Lindelof, a creator of "Lost," says he wants to bring the show to an end in a set amount of years. He won't say how many years. It seems unlikely ABC would let this happen.
Regardless, Lindelof wants to negotiate with ABC to name a date for the show's final season several years in advance of its goodbye. And he wants to be there till the end.
"If we get to tell the story that we want to tell in the time we think it should be told, we're the guys that absolutely want to do it. It would be incredibly painful to watch a version of 'Lost' that we had no involvement in."
Meanwhile, Shonda Rhimes doesn't want to ever put "Grey's Anatomy" in the hands of another producer.
"I feel it would be really painful to watch it turn into something that wasn't what I had originally intended."
Marc Cherry claims he will "personally take down the sets" at "Desperate Housewives" after seven years, because he wants to protect it from being run by another producer. Last year, Cherry realized how the show could go off the tracks, because he let others guide the drama's direction.
"I took a little step back in season two, because of exhaustion a little bit," Cherry says. "I don't think I was quite as present there. Things didn't go as well. It kind of really hurt me in a deep place. ABC can't bulldoze me out of that show.
"I'm only going to have one major hit. I'm only going to catch lightning in a bottle once. I wish I had the energy to develop and write at the same time, but I don't. This is going to be on my tombstone. I'll be damned if I don't protect it."
"Ugly Betty" is only in its first season, so producer Silvio Horta hasn't become burned out or fatigued. He says he's up for running the show indefinitely.
"I will be there for as long as they'll have me -- the network and fans," Horta says. "As long as I can contribute."
Bicks eyes her future at "Men in Trees" as never-ending.
"I wouldn't want to hand my baby to anybody. It would be unnerving to do that," she says.
But "Brothers & Sisters" producer Jon Robin Baitz wouldn't mind if the show he created got taken over by someone else.
"I would like my show to turn into something I hadn't intended, whether it's better or worse. I can't imagine doing this for more than four years, really," Baitz says.
"I want to go back to making plays and to the theater," Baitz says. "I can understand Aaron [Sorkin, creator of "The West Wing"] getting on that plane to Vegas." (That was in 2001, when Sorkin was busted at an airport carrying pot, 'shrooms and crack.)
This is a big deal. Look at how the direction, tone and writing of shows like "Gilmore Girls" and "The West Wing" changed once their guiding forces left.
Damon Lindelof, a creator of "Lost," says he wants to bring the show to an end in a set amount of years. He won't say how many years. It seems unlikely ABC would let this happen.
Regardless, Lindelof wants to negotiate with ABC to name a date for the show's final season several years in advance of its goodbye. And he wants to be there till the end.
"If we get to tell the story that we want to tell in the time we think it should be told, we're the guys that absolutely want to do it. It would be incredibly painful to watch a version of 'Lost' that we had no involvement in."
Meanwhile, Shonda Rhimes doesn't want to ever put "Grey's Anatomy" in the hands of another producer.
"I feel it would be really painful to watch it turn into something that wasn't what I had originally intended."
Marc Cherry claims he will "personally take down the sets" at "Desperate Housewives" after seven years, because he wants to protect it from being run by another producer. Last year, Cherry realized how the show could go off the tracks, because he let others guide the drama's direction.
"I took a little step back in season two, because of exhaustion a little bit," Cherry says. "I don't think I was quite as present there. Things didn't go as well. It kind of really hurt me in a deep place. ABC can't bulldoze me out of that show.
"I'm only going to have one major hit. I'm only going to catch lightning in a bottle once. I wish I had the energy to develop and write at the same time, but I don't. This is going to be on my tombstone. I'll be damned if I don't protect it."
"Ugly Betty" is only in its first season, so producer Silvio Horta hasn't become burned out or fatigued. He says he's up for running the show indefinitely.
"I will be there for as long as they'll have me -- the network and fans," Horta says. "As long as I can contribute."
Bicks eyes her future at "Men in Trees" as never-ending.
"I wouldn't want to hand my baby to anybody. It would be unnerving to do that," she says.
But "Brothers & Sisters" producer Jon Robin Baitz wouldn't mind if the show he created got taken over by someone else.
"I would like my show to turn into something I hadn't intended, whether it's better or worse. I can't imagine doing this for more than four years, really," Baitz says.
"I want to go back to making plays and to the theater," Baitz says. "I can understand Aaron [Sorkin, creator of "The West Wing"] getting on that plane to Vegas." (That was in 2001, when Sorkin was busted at an airport carrying pot, 'shrooms and crack.)
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