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writer-producer Greg Berlanti is ABC's golden boy
September 9, 2007
Writer-producer Greg Berlanti doesn't have children. But
after working on six television shows in the last 10 years
-including "Dawson's Creek," "Everwood"
and "Brothers & Sisters"- he has a pretty good
view of parenthood.
"My sister's had two kids in the time that I've been
running TV shows, and we often compare notes," he laughs.
"I think anybody who's ever had a young child probably
understands what it's like to have a young TV show. You're
worried it's going to get sick. You're always worried you're
doing something wrong, or that you're not doing it well enough.
And it's a period of adjustment before you feel like it's
going to be safe."
Now, Berlanti is father to a year-old drama series - and
he's about to have twins.
At 35, the Rye native is an executive producer of three
ABC series this season: The second season of "Brothers
& Sisters," and two newcomers, "Dirty Sexy Money"
and "Eli Stone."
Prepping for all three at once, he jokes, "nearly killed
me." Even top ABC executives don't know how their boy
wonder is juggling it all. In fact, the network pushed "Eli
Stone" to a spring debut to make Berlanti's schedule
slightly less punishing.
"It's hard enough to run one show," says Morgan
Wandell, senior vice president of ABC's drama series. "But
to do as much as he does, I think he must have quietly figured
out how to clone himself, and he has six versions of himself
stuffed at home."
Not quite. But Berlanti does start his 14-hour day - which
often extends to a six- or seven-day workweek - before 6 a.m.
Early morning is when he rewrites scripts for all three programs.
Midday, Berlanti hops from writing staff to writing staff
to writing staff, overseeing upcoming storylines.
Evenings are usually spent at the "Dirty Sexy Money"
set, going over the day's progress with his co-producers.
Berlanti has been forced to delegate some tasks. He used
to spend hours watching audition tapes. Now, colleagues cull
the crowd and give him their top three picks for a part. And
rather than bang away at scripts by himself, he's learning
to rely more on his staff.
"I'm not David Kelley or Aaron Sorkin, where I can
turn around a script in a night," he says. "I can
come up with 12 episodes of a show and see that in my head,
but I can't hammer out a great 60-page script in a night.
And there are TV geniuses who can."
Still, that reference to David E. Kelley - the brain behind
"Ally McBeal," "Boston Legal" "Boston
Public," "Picket Fences" and other hits - might
not be so far off the mark. After all, Berlanti's only one
show behind Kelley's record of having four original series
on the air at the same time.
The question remains, however, whether Berlanti's programs
will capture the audience's imagination.
"Dirty Sexy Money," for example, is being compared
to '80s soaps "Dallas" and "Dynasty."
It features an idealistic lawyer hired by the ultra-wealthy,
mega-famous Darling family. Though the show's not quite as
campy as its predecessors, it does have moments of twisted
humor.
(We won't spoil it here, but politician Patrick Darling
- Bedford's William Baldwin - has a seedy little secret.)
Baldwin, who has never starred in a TV series, was eager
to join the cast partly because of the leadership involved.
"Greg is extremely talented and successful," he
says, via e-mail. "When I heard that Greg was partnered
with (creator) Craig Wright on 'Dirty Sexy Money,' it was
the best pedigree you could ask for going into the fall schedule
with a new show."
It was Berlanti's idea to ground the show in the character
of attorney Nick George, whose morals offset the sometimes
despicable Darlings. He and Wright desperately wanted Peter
Krause for the lead. But he turned them down four times. Wright,
who'd worked with Krause on "Six Feet Under," eventually
helped change the actor's mind. Berlanti says his job was
to stall an impatient ABC until Krause said yes.
"I've learned that unless you get the right person
in that lead role, ultimately, it doesn't matter if you cast
your show two weeks quicker than everyone else," he says.
Berlanti encountered another headache recently when word
leaked that production on "Dirty Sexy Money" would
shut down for a week after shooting the fifth episode, so
producers could regroup.
Critics immediately wondered if the show was in trouble
before it even premiered, although it was noted that both
"Grey's Anatomy" and "Ugly Betty" did
the same thing in their first seasons.
An ABC Studios spokeswoman downplayed any concerns, explaining
that the break was planned simply to make it easier for the
writers to map out future story arcs.
So far, the only madness surrounding Berlanti's pet project,
"Eli Stone," has been landing pop star George Michael
as a recurring guest star.
Yes, you read that right.
The former Wham! frontman appears as a sort of guardian
angel to the title character (Jonny Lee Miller), a lawyer
having larger-than-life visions.
"If Eli's having a spiritual epiphany, George is very
much the herald," says Berlanti.
After Berlanti wrote the pilot with partner Marc Guggenheim,
he was told there was no way they'd land the singer to play
himself. They wrote a few drafts featuring other artists,
but none seemed quite right.
But Michael loved the script and asked Berlanti to meet
him at his Dallas home. That meeting went so well, Berlanti
was off to London to oversee the shooting of Michael's first
scenes. (He's headed to L.A. this month for more installments.)
He sings in the episodes, too, titled after tunes like "Faith"
and "Freedom."
"When George said yes, we sort of saw that as a sign
that we were on the right track with the show," says
Berlanti.
ABC seems to have already gotten its money's worth in Berlanti,
who is only one year into a three-year deal with its television
unit.
The network scooped him up when his family drama, "Everwood,"
was dropped during the merger of UPN and the WB (now the CW).
Berlanti and Guggenheim were given a year to develop the initial
"Eli Stone" script, but the duo finished that in
a month.
"So I was bored," laughs Berlanti.
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