In our continuing series of conversations with TV network chiefs, ABC's Paul Lee talks about how diversity has become a cornerstone for the company; the Palm Springs Film Festival has become a showcase for foreign films from around the world.
ABC president Paul Lee: 'Least-objectionable television is dead'
With the surge in original programming — and constant innovations in how and when we watch TV — The Frame has been meeting with the people who run networks to get their take on the changing industry, and what they consider when they green-light programs.
Paul Lee is president of the ABC Entertainment Group. Like all of the other TV executives in this series, Lee is a white male. But he runs a network that has put more shows created by and starring people of color in recent years than any other outlet. And those don’t just include the Thursday night line-up courtesy of über-producer Shonda Rhimes.
Unlike other network chiefs, Paul Lee isn’t American. He’s a British transplant who launched BBC America before he became head of ABC’s Family Channel, which then led to the big network job.
John Horn met with Paul Lee in the executive's Burbank office to discuss what's behind ABC's programming choices, and how being British might be a "secret weapon."
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
I’m going to start with a hypothetical. I have a new drama series that’s really good. You’re interested in it. But so are HBO and Fox. Why I should come to ABC?
So, the first thing you should be asking yourself is, What brand does my show fit? If it’s "Game of Thrones," you should go with HBO. But if it’s “How To Get Away With Murder,” you’d do better to come with us.
The ABC brand is very specific. I inherited a couple of wonderful shows, which were “Modern Family” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” And we’ve really built a network around that. The mantra we used — which I always got teased for because of my British accent — was “smart with heart.”
The shows on the ABC network look a lot more like the country than your competition does — in terms of lead [actors], in terms of race. Is that something that has been intentional over the last five years, or is that a consequence of having people like Shonda Rhimes making decisions?
Well, both. It’s been incredibly intentional. We really made a commitment five or six years ago to have a network that reflects the country. And we’re at a time when the technological change is huge, but the demographic change in America is just as real. If you’re a political party, or selling cars, or in our case, if you’re a big broadcast network, it’s critical to reflect the country that’s there.
So we do have an incredibly diverse group of executives around us. And we have a diverse group of showrunners. And the key here was to find voices — authentic, specific voices behind it.
It almost feels like, either by accident or design, you’re fighting against some of the myths of what can and cannot work on network television.
That, I think, is critical. I felt very strongly coming in that, somehow, the rules of broadcast television were written in stone. Somehow procedurals were stronger than serialized shows, that your leads had to be likable — that was the note given by every executive — and square-jawed. And frankly, white. So Starsky and Hutch’s boss could be black, but Starsky had to be white and Hutch had to be very white indeed.
And look at us three years later. We have Kerry Washington, who’s throwing an election in the greatest democracy in the world. And then you have Viola Davis, who’s literally getting away with murder. These are not likable [characters]. They’re just brilliant.
You don’t just have shows that have black or Asian characters. Those shows embrace the fact that the characters are African-American or Asian-American. I’m curious about the conversations you have with your showrunners about how willing you are, and they are, to deal with issues of race, and have conversations that are candid and sometimes a little bit difficult.
My job is to find extraordinary voices and empower them. I’m an ex-showrunner. And my job is to give air cover to extraordinary voices. And I think, hopefully, inclusive voices.
What we’ve found that is so interesting is that you can reach a universal audience with incredibly specific stories. So “Black-ish” is very specific to Kenya [Barris’] life, as “The Goldbergs” is to Adam Goldberg. It’s so specific and yet deeply universal. And those that you try to create that are universal end up being bland. So we back the instincts — comedic and sometimes dramatic — of our showrunners. And we encourage them to take those risks. And I think the success of those shows suggests the audience enjoys that.
In the time you’ve been at ABC, there have been tremendous changes, both technologically and programmatically. In your mind, what are the most meaningful changes that have happened, both for better or for worse?
Well, first and foremost, least objectionable television is dead. So, the broadcast television that we witnessed through much of my youth, and when I was a showrunner back at BBC — the main networks were about creating a piece of television that nobody in the family is going to object to. If you’re an HBO, you’re creating a specific piece of television for a specific audience.
Now, in a world of total choice, what really drives television is passion. So if you have an incredibly passionate audience, who loves the voice of Shonda Rhimes or Adam Goldberg, and who will break down doors to get to those shows — and they can do that now in a world of delayed viewing — then you can create incredibly strong television.
So that, I think, is one of the things that has led to incredible quality in television.
You’re British and you worked in the BBC. And you were also a showrunner. How do those two experiences — even though they’re radically different — inform your approach to running a network?
Well you could see them as great weaknesses! If you weren’t brought up watching American television, you came from outside, how could that help you? I like to see them as secret weapons. Because if you come in from the outside, it gives you the chance to question everything. And if there are some taboos that have stopped certain showrunners or talent [from] getting access to the networks, you can push them aside in the service of great quality.