“The Night Agent” has thrilled a lot of folks scrolling through Netflix. But the creator had to learn a few lessons before he launched one of the biggest shows on the streaming platform. In fact, Shawn Ryan credits one of his biggest failures as a teaching moment that prepared him for the first season of “The Night Agent.”
In 2010, “Terriers” was a series on FX with some great talent attached. Donal Logue and Michael Raymon-James starred in a comedic show with some unexpected bite. But “Terriers” only ran for one season before getting canceled. It seems like the 13 episodes gave Ryan something to think about in his future dances with big network series.
Ryan talked to the Television Academy about the road to “The Night Agent” and remembered what went wrong with “Terriers.”
“One of the things that I took after that show was to be at peace with the idea that I controlled what I controlled,” Ryan recalled. “That was the lesson I learned and, in some ways, I think it was really good for me. I would have felt tremendous guilt if I felt like [“Terriers”] wasn’t as good as it could have been, and perhaps that was the reason why it failed.”
Terriers taught Shawn Ryan about the limits of his control
When Netflix came calling for “The Night Agent,” the producer had an entire process already refined from previous failures. As with many creative endeavors, the key is not feeling too high or too low about the possible success of your show.
“So, when I had a hit show like ‘The Night Agent,’ it’s very easy to not let it go to my head, because all I did was — I controlled what I controlled,” said the “Terriers” creator. “I gave my all to each show. The results may have been different, but in many ways, you’re just rolling the dice.”
Shawn Ryan is still proud of “Terriers.” But that pride is tempered by the knowledge that it couldn’t find the audience it needed quickly enough. Instead of stewing in that experience, Ryan used that to move forward.