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Should TV series listen to their viewers? Wednesday and Smallville co-creator Miles Millar says it’s complicated
Smallville and Wednesday co-showrunner Miles Millar believes fan feedback is important, but it shouldn’t guide your decisions
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As a television showrunner, you have an interesting relationship with your audience. The viewers are your target demographic, and they can make or break your show. They are also your toughest critics, and will not hesitate to tell you what they think you’re doing wrong.
So, as a television creator, should you listen to fan criticism? According to Miles Millar, who partnered with Al Gough to showrun Smallville and Wednesday, the answer is complicated.
“We were in the early days of fan boards for Smallville, but we did listen in terms of we didn’t listen, but we read and acknowledged,” Miles Millar says during an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “We got a lot of criticism early on about the ‘freak of the week.’ And when you’re doing network, it’s very hard to pivot if you’re 10 episodes in. It’s like, ‘We agree, but you can’t really do a lot.’ And the first season of any show, whether it’s streaming or network, it’s just so insane.”
“You don’t want to be slavish to it or overreact to fan comments, but you do take note of things that resonate with you. Things and ideas or criticism. That’s fair enough. It does allow us to shape what we’re going to do in the future. It doesn’t mean we’re going to freak out, but it’s good and honest. I think the important thing is to be honest as a writer and as a creator.”
“It’s like, okay, this is fair. How do we change and how do we improve? I think it’s always about never settling, never being complacent, and always being open. I think being open and listening is two traits that we really aspire to.”
Wednesday is currently streaming on Netflix.
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