Shawn Ryan, the creator of shows like The Shield and S.W.A.T., is heading back to Netflix for a new series.
Ryan, who previously worked on the Baz Luhrmann Netflix show The Get Down, will serve as the showrunner of The Night Agent, an adaptation of author Matthew Quirk’s best-selling 2019 novel. Ryan is an incredibly talented writer/producer and this show has a compelling hook, so I’m excited to see how this one comes together.
The Hollywood Reporter says Netflix has given a ten-episode order to Sony Pictures TV’s The Night Agent, which “centers on a low level FBI agent who works in the basement of the White House. He’s tasked with manning a phone that never rings — until the night that it does, propelling him into a dangerous conspiracy that leads all the way to the Oval Office.”
It’s perfectly reasonable to be hesitant about a show that deals with a conspiracy at the White House, considering the truly insane developments that Americans were forced to experience under the previous presidential administration. But Ryan has an excellent track record as a storyteller, and I trust him to strike a pulpy, propulsive tone on the page that won’t feel bogged down by depressing real-world parallels. Seth Gordon (Sneaky Pete, For All Mankind) will direct the first episode.
In Ryan We Trust
After writing and producing for shows like Nash Bridges and Angel, Ryan established himself as one of the premiere showrunners of the late ’00s with his FX drama The Shield, a gritty, thrilling, boundary-pushing show which centered on a group of insular and corrupt Los Angeles cops who would do anything – including murder other police officers – to protect their way of life. He also served as the showrunner for one of greatest one-season TV shows of all time, FX’s 2010 buddy private investigator drama Terriers, and then followed that up with a fantastic network TV series called The Chicago Code the next year, which was unceremoniously canceled despite being a gripping procedural that checked nearly every box you’d expect a network to want. We’re guessing he’ll have more creative freedom at Netflix with The Night Agent, but since the streamer has been fairly reluctant to extend new shows past three seasons, I wonder if Ryan is already anticipating this to fall within those parameters.
This show is part of an overall deal Ryan has with Sony Pictures TV, and in addition to his duties on The Night Agent, it appears that he will continue to serve as a co-showrunner on S.W.A.T., the CBS crime procedural inspired by the 2003 movie adaptation of the 1970s television series.
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