During a roundtable interview with members of the press (including TVBrittanyF), The Librarians: The Next Chapter showrunner Dean Devlin discussed how the show made the leap from the CW to TNT, bringing Noah Wyle into a major behind-the-scenes role on the show, and what longtime fans of The Librarians can expect from the next chapter in the show.
Itself a direct spin-off of the Librarian film series, The Librarians ran for four seasons on TNT before coming to a close in 2018. Reflecting on what it’s like to return to the world of The Librarians, Devlin revealed that “from the day the series had been cancelled, I was trying to make [The Librarian] again. A few years ago, the CW was sold, and when it was sold, it lost the rights to all its DC Comics television shows. They were looking for a new, franchiseable series, and they thought about The Librarians.”
The idea was, if a new take on The Librarians was a success for the network, it could be spun off into different shows and expansions. “In the original Librarians movie, we introduced the audience to the idea of an Annex. That annex was in Portland. We started thinking, well, where else are there annexes? Who were the Librarians who worked there? That led us down a road to 1847 and Serbia.” The premise of the show takes characters from that era and throws them into the modern day.
Midway through development on the season, Devlin was approached by the executives at TNT, who wanted to see if they could bring the new version of the show to their network. Considering that TNT was the home for The Librarians in its previous iterations, Devlin admitted that “I thought I would so long to bring the show back to its original home, where it was born over twenty years ago. But I didn’t know if that was possible. I approached the people at CW, and to my surprise, they were incredibly empathetic about why I would want to take the show home. They were really helpful… TNT was so excited, they green-lit season 2 before season 1 even hit the air!” That’s especially impressive given the current state of television as a medium, something that Devlin is keenly aware of.
“I think the reality of today’s market is that [networks] are making fewer shows, and they’re tightening the budgets on shows they make. This is across the board. This is across our entire industry. I think there was a period of spending an enormous amount of money on everything, and they realized that’s not sustainable. Part of our mission is to make that invisible to the audience. The audience doesn’t care what I spent on [The Librairans], they just care, is it big? Is it good? Is it fun? We try to use every technique we can think of to give a product that feels bigger than the last version, regardless of whatever constraints we have doing it. I’d say the biggest thing about being back at TNT is just the incredible amount of support we’re getting… the support has been tremendous, and it’s great to be back home and working with so many talented people. I mean, it’s very emotional for me to be honest with
Devlin was quick to stress that the new version of The Librarians is “not a remake, it’s not a reboot. It’s really much more in the vein of what Marvel Comics does with a cinematic universe. This is a different story taking place simultaneously with the original Librarians having their own adventures.” Indeed, the show features some returning talent while leaning into the new elements and characters. “Our feeling is that it’s like when you go to your favorite restaurant,” Devilin explained.
“You don’t want them to change too much of the recipe. You’ve gone there because you like the restaurant. If they have something new, so long as it doesn’t like it’s completely different, you might try it out. Our goal with this show was that we wanted an audience that could tune into this show, not haivng seen the original series or any of the original movies, and could still understand it. We wanted that, even if you missed the first two or three episodes, you could still come in and totally enjoy it. That being said, we also wanted to reward our hardcore fans. There are greater easter eggs throughout the entire season, things that only really hardcore fans would know.”
One of the things that got Devlin so excited to return to the franchise was the way that the cast and crew on the project have steadily become a family, a theme that’s resonant with the creative. “Maybe it’s because I’m an only child, but I found my brothers and sisters over the years, a few people I clung on to. I like a found family story, because it’s such a great entryway for exploring a character and showing growth between characters.” That united vibe also came down, in some ways, to the casting on the project. “Many people focus entirely on how famous an actor is. We focus entirely on how good an actor is, and how they behave off camera.“
“You could have the most talented actor in the world, but if they behave poorly on set, then it really does damage to the camaraderie. One of the side benefits of shooting a show in Serbia is that the actors don’t go on other auditions on their day off. They don’t go with other family and friends; they’re together and form these bonds off-camera. It really informs their relationships on camera. As you’ve probably seen in other shows, very often it’s not until the middle of the season do the cast starts to have chemistry. We had it on day one of shooting, because in prep they were spending so much time together. I think getting that feeling doesn’t happen by accident.“
A long-time star of the franchise is Noah Wyle, who actually took on more responsibilities behind the scenes as an Executive Producer, Director, and Writer on The Librarians: The Next Chapter. Devlin reflected how “when we first worked together just over twenty years ago, I didn’t know Noah. It was really TNT who wanted him cast in the show. I was worried about it because I knew him as a dramatic actor. This is a very serious actor who Emmys on ER. I had no idea that Noah had these comedy chops, and then, all of a sudden, on day one, I’ve got him nose to nose with Bob Newhart, and he’s holding his own. He’s with Jane Curtin, and he’s holding his own.
“That’s when I realized this is a really special actor. In the second movie, I began to realize he wasn’t just an actor, he was actually a filmmaker. The way he talked about the scenes and the way he talked about the camera, I saw that he saw the bigger picture. It was not just what his role was. So, when this series happened, we invited him to not only direct on the show but to write on the show. Noah became an integral part of creating this chapter of The Librarians. There is no Librarians franchise without Noah Wyle.”
Looking ahead to the future of The Librarians, Devlin admitted that “it’s the fans who keep us honest. We were getting their posts online. ‘We want this, we want that, we don’t want this.’ We have zero room for error screwing around with the canon.” Luckily, Devlin believes they’ve assembled the strongest writers’ room he’s ever been involved with for the new show, which bodes well for the show’s future. “On a normal TV series, you have your showrunner and then you have a strong number 2. Then you’ve got a staff that comes in and you work with them.
“The Librarians had four showrunners in one room, and that doesn’t even include Tom McCray, a former writer of Doctor Who who wrote the original Librarians. The level of talent in this writer’s room is outstanding. What I love is that they write like the show, but maintain their own voice. A Tom MacRae episode is a very specific kind of episode, a Kate Rorick episode is a very specific kind of episode, Gary Rosen, John Rogers — their own voice is very clear, and yet they all write in the tone of the show.“
Every project comes with surprises to be discovered on set, and The Librarians: The Next Chapter is no different. For Devlin, the biggest surprise during production from how much “the actors themselves elevated the characters. We had very clear ideas of what we wanted to do with each one, but within days of working on the pilot, each actor brought it to another level. It then affected how we were writing these characters. They’re very much jazz musicians, this group. They really listen to one another, they key into each other’s rhythms. Not to push anyone down, but there is a tendency in Hollywood where actors get very concerned about their look or their ego or how they’re perceived. This particular group has no ego about their world. They care passionately about their work, but they don’t mind looking bad. They don’t mind looking goofy. They don’t mind whatever is right for the scene. They push us to push them, and I think that’s the thing I was not expecting. I’m super grateful for that.
The Librarians: The Next Chapter is now airing on TNT
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