History Main / Showrunner

* Creator/MattGroening, Creator/JamesLBrooks & Creator/SamSimon: ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' (season 1 and 2)

* Creator/LarryDavid (seasons 1-7), and Creator/JerrySeinfeld (seasons 8 & 9): ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' (Larry David was the sole showrunner throughout most of it's run. When David left after season 7, co-creator and star Jerry Seinfeld became the showrunner for the last two seasons.)

* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' was also created by Angell, Casey and Lee, but Chris Lloyd was the showrunner in seasons 1-7, Dan O'Shannon was the showrunner in seasons 8-10, while Lloyd retuned in season 11, this time co-running with Joe Keenan. Lee was the most involved out of the creator trio, frequently directing episodes of the show, while Casey and (until his death during 9/11) Angell's role was mostly limited to consulting on storylines.

** Sam Simon: Seasons 1 & 2
** Al Jean & Mike Reiss: Seasons 3 & 4 (although "A Star is Burns" and "'Round Springfield", produced alongside season 6, and "The Springfield Files", "Lisa's Sax", "Simpsioncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious" and "Simpson Tide" , produced alongside season 7, were outsourced to them)

* Patrick McKay and John D. Payne for ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower''

In short, the unofficial title for an executive producer who oversees the creative content of the show, not just the financial aspects. To expand a bit, the showrunner is the person who gives the show its overall tone and direction, making all the final creative decisions about what the identity of the series is. Theoretically, the buck stops here. But in practice, the showrunner is beholden to people higher-up in the studio chain of command, and can be overruled by any combination of the studio producing the show[[note]]this is the role of the "executive in charge of production", who despite the showrunner-sounding title is actually the standard name for the studio liaison[[/note]], the network or service on which the show will be broadcast, and even the advertisers and sponsors.

** Matt Selman: Starting in season 23, a handful of episodes per season are run by him. You can recognize them by the fact that Selman's name is the first to appear in the end credits.

** Creator/RussellTDavies: Series 1-4 + 2009 Specials; 2023 Specials

* Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik: ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon''

** Creator/RussellTDavies: Series 1-4 + 2009 Specials

* Creator/AdamFGoldberg: ''Series/TheGoldbergs'' (seasons 1-6).

** ''Series/ModernFamily'' (initially they served as joint showrunners, with a shared VanityPlate, before deciding that they would each ''individually'' showrun alternating episodes, to prevent their CreativeDifferences from impending production, with individual [[VanityPlate vanity plates]].

For any number of reasons, from the studio/network [[ExecutiveMeddling forcibly removing them from the project]], being [[CreatorBreakdown overwhelmed by the stress of production]], or just wanting to take a break or pursue other ideas, the original showrunner may leave and be replaced by a new one. The new showrunner is usually advancing from the role of head writer, and this changing of the guard can often be a JumpTheShark or GrowingTheBeard moment if their vision for the show differs from that of their predecessor. Creators or showrunners who step down into smaller roles on the production (or even leave the production all together) may continue to be credited as an executive producer for the remainder of the show's run regardless, although sometimes they will be "demoted" to consulting producer or creative consultant.

* Brannon Braga became the showrunner of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' for seasons 5-6, departing in season 7 to develop ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''. Like Freiberger before him, he became a major scapegoat, and is often blamed for ''all'' of the problems with the show's creative direction throughout its entire run. Braga had nothing to do with ''Voyager'' in its first two seasons (as he was still a writer on TNG at the time) and only became a major creative force with Taylor's departure.

* Brannon Braga became the showrunner of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' for seasons 5-6, departing in season 7 to develop ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''. Like Freiberger before him, he became a major scapegoat, and is often blamed for ''all'' of the problems with the show's creative direction throughout its entire run.