On (TV) Comedies and Not Messing With the Magic

Except this time, host Ted Fox and his guest do something a little different: a live show during the University’s annual Reunion weekend. An Emmy award-winning movie producer, Michael Swanson is also a television studio executive, serving as a vice president of production at NBCUniversal. He has been involved behind the scenes on some of the most acclaimed comedies in recent years—shows like Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and The Good Place. In this episode, he takes us inside the table reads he remembers most, the studio production system that moves a show from the initial pitch to air, and the evolving TV landscape of broadcast networks and streaming services.