Every week, hosts Lesley Goldberg (West Coast TV editor) and Daniel Fienberg (chief TV critic) break down the latest TV news with context from the business and critical sides, welcome showrunners, executives and other guests, and provide a critical guide of what to watch (or skip, as the case may be).
This week, we’re joined by Simon Rich, the creator of the former FXX comedy Man Seeking Woman and TBS anthology Miracle Workers. Rich, the one-time president of the Harvard Lampoon, is a former writer for Saturday Night Live as well as a published novelist whose collections of short stories had him deemed by NPR as “one of the most talented writers of comedic fiction.” Rich joins the podcast this week to discuss his recent opinion piece for Time, titled “I’m a Screenwriter. These AI Jokes Give Me Nightmares” and his book, I Am Code, which he describes as an “autobiography written entirely by code-davinci-02.”
Other topics discussed in this week’s podcast include reader questions about the industry’s post-strike future and TCA Awards and Critic’s Corner, in which Dan offers a guide to what to watch (or skip) in the week ahead.
Below is an edited and condensed version of our interview with Rich. Listen to the full 30-minute conversation in this week’s TV’s Top 5.
The writers strike has, in its 100-plus days, seen a focus on three core issues emerge — the use of AI, streaming viewership transparency and requirements for the number of writers staffed on scripted shows, otherwise known as room size. Your Time op-ed connected room size requirements to the use of AI. From your view, was the WGA’s room size demands always tied to AI?
Based on my conversations with the WGA, they seem very savvy about AI. It’s just common sense that room size and an AI would be connected. I can’t imagine that…