| Mr. McKay's partner in a new company known as Hyperobject Industries, Kevin Messick, is also an EP. Then we have a name some might recognize from his newspaper and magazine columns, Frank Rich—an EP because he presumably contributes insight about the tangled world of mainstream media. There are five others, including the one fellow who most deserves the title, Jesse Armstrong, the program's creator.
The EP fixation has spread in TV and film because of two things that matter most in Hollywood: money and ego. Many stars covet the cachet of an EP credit, but they also seek the dual fees that often come with being both a performer and producer on a project.
The Producers Guild of America has a long and detailed set of rules for what constitutes being an executive producer, including "final responsibility for the creative and business aspects of producing the series." In TV's early days that generally meant the creative master, such Norman Lear ("All In the Family") or Sheldon Leonard ("The Dick Van Dyke Show"). Today, an EP can be a producer, performer, manager, agent, head of a production company or even a network boss.
Multiple credits drive up costs and devalue creative currency. If everyone's an EP then at some point Hollywood will need a new title, such as Super EP or KP (King of Production).
I asked my friend Mark Itkin, a television veteran who was co-head of television at William Morris Endeavor, about the EP muddle. "It's ludicrous," he said. "You watch for three minutes or more just to get through the on-screen EP credits."
Mr. Itkin recalled a game-show idea that was brought to WME by a Beverly Hills car salesman. "I packaged the idea and sold it to a network. The salesman demanded an EP credit and a per-episode fee plus a production company logo credit." Really? Did the guy have a production company? "No, he designed a logo with his name and it ran at the end of every episode." Was he involved in any way with the production? "No, he went back to selling cars."
When it comes to such negotiating who could be better than the people behind ABC's series about deal-making, "Shark Tank." For years the series had four EPs, including one guy who acquired U.S. rights to the series years ago, assuring him an EP credit for life. But eagle-eyed viewers will notice that the show's current list of EPs has expanded, with the addition of sharks Mark Cuban, Daymond John, Lori Greiner and Kevin O'Leary. Apparently not satisfied with millions made through deals with contestants, they demanded and received EP credits to boot.
Note to Jesse Armstrong: It's time to launch the cutthroat drama, "EP." Of course, for the idea you'll make me an executive producer.
(c) Peter Funt. This column originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal.
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