The recent slew of canceled projects coming from the WarnerMedia and Discovery merger has caused quite a stir online as multiple movies and series are tossed onto the cutting room floor.
But as Scrubs showrunner Bill Lawrence told Zach Braff and Donald Faison on their podcast, Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald, it’s just a by-product of the industry.
“People like to say things are changing, but they aren’t changing. It’s just more of the same,” said Lawrence. “The one truth is that the businesses and powers that be in Hollywood will always do, understandably, I’ll be careful, what’s right for them until then end of time.”
The TV producer went on to explain that the story of Batgirl, a nearly complete movie recently canceled by WarnerMedia executives, is one of a thousand expensive projects that have been shelved, canceled, or completely redone.
“That’s what Donald was saying last week,” Braff said. “Donald last week was saying ‘Think about pilots. It may not be as much money but it’s still a (ton) of money.”
“Think about the amount of movies and TV shows that were completely reshot,” said Lawrence. “I could add up TV pilots that were made, invested in, shot, and never allowed to be shown to anybody. I personally have made, I am just counting them, a cool $75 million worth of pilots that were never seen by a single person.”
Lawrence added that a bonus for content creators is that once they make something that is well received, it becomes easier for them to create future projects on their own without as much interference from studios or executives. In the Netflix model, most shows only last for two to three seasons, but hits like Stranger Things allow creators to decide when and how the show will conclude.
Listen to the full discussion with Lawrence on Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald, the official Scrubs rewatch podcast. The latest episode, “My Point of No Return with Bill Lawrence,” is available on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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