Which people in the TV world (real or fictional) would you classify as a genius?

Submitted by unitedfan6191 t3_11705cu in television

Hi.

Hope you’re doing well.

Let’s get right into it, as the title says, who in the industry or the characters on screen are the epitome of exceptional creative intellect?

I don’t just hand out the title of “genius” freely and it’s all a matter of opinion but I’m fair,y confident this list is full of real and fictional people who are amazingly gifted people who also relentlessly put in overtime to make their shows or roles or fictional communities a success.

You can name show creators, writers, directors, actors, producers, characters. Anyone really who has had a big impact and, in your eyes, has had a genius level impact on the industry. This list isn’t exhaustive, but some notable names.

There are probably so many more I could name including other writers, actors, producers and directors who worked with these people who had fairly big involvement with many of these same shows that the people in my list are associated with, but “genius” cannot just be handed out to just every smart person; it’s reserved for the select few who transcend the medium and their genre, in my opinion.

In no particular order, but I think there are some standouts:

Aaron Sorkin

Greg House

Greg Daniels

Tina Fey

Dan Harmon

Lisa Simpson

Professor Farnsworth

Temperance "Bones" Brennan

Vince Gilligan

Jordan Peele

Keegan-Michal Key

Steven Levitan

Christopher Lloyd

Which people in the TV world (real or fictional) would you classify as a genius?

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anasui1 t1_j99yqxv wrote

real: Benny Hill. He created, wrote, directed and starred in one of the funniest comedy shows ever and he did it for decades, hundreds of sketches. Enormous talent and craftsmanship, often forgotten which is why I want to remember him

fictional: Stringer Bell

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yodimboi t1_j9a2aan wrote

Stephen Hawking was on The Big Bang Theory so him. There’s also a show about Einstein.

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GCGS t1_j9ck2ma wrote

Lieutenant Columbo

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Magnet5150 t1_j99jygx wrote

Real: Joss Whedon

Fictional: Spencer Reid

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bigfootsabio t1_j99tvoc wrote

Jonathan Nolan

His shows are usually spot on and have great intelligent characters

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Owasso_Landman t1_j99j19x wrote

Prepared for the down votes, but JJ Abrams

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mrburns904 t1_j99gj6t wrote

There was a very stable genius in the political landscape for a while, having trouble remembering has name at the moment.

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draxenato t1_j99fyfy wrote

Derren Brown, hands down. He's the real deal. No one, and I mean no one else comes close to him. Just watch a couple of his shows and you'll see what I mean.

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Interesting-Turn9046 t1_j99pcma wrote

How? He is just a good illusionist who created an even better patter and brand. All of his TV shows are staged as well

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draxenato t1_j99xzk2 wrote

That's the thing, they're *not* staged. I worked in broadcast television in the UK a while back, and I know people who've worked on his shows, they're not staged.

I myself was an audience member pulled up on stage during one of his tours. I've seen him at work literally inches away from me.

Many years ago I found a video "while sailing the salty seas of the internet". It was a semi-private video (ie not intended for retail) made by the Magic Circle. It was a 3 hour lecture by Derren Brown to the Magic Circle where he demonstrated all his then current material, looked to have been filmed in the early 2000s. He explained everything to a room full of his peers and experts, who were just a few feet away from him, there was no chance of deception and that was the point of the lecture. He used to give similar explanations to his audience in his earlier stage shows, he's open about what he does and how he does it.

He's just very very smart with an incredibly disciplined memory.

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Interesting-Turn9046 t1_j9a5d70 wrote

>I myself was an audience member pulled up on stage during one of his tours. I've seen him at work literally inches away from me.

I never said his stage shows were staged, they are all legit 'magic'. I said his TV shows were staged. The ones where he makes someone believe they are in a zombie apocalypse, like, come on... I've also spoken to people involved in making those shows who corroborated that the people on it were aspiring actors. They never actually said it was staged, but they sent links to the actors pages online.

Derren Brown is basically just a normal illusionist / magician who made an incredibly powerful brand / patter. He will do a normal force to get you to pick a card but then convinces the audience that the reason you picked the card is that he set up a street food vendor outside your apartment building 3 months ago called 'the 3 of clubs' or something and has actually personally served you 12 times hypnotising you each time without you knowing. It is all nonsense, he is just using slight of hand, forces, props etc. like every stage magician for the past 100 years. He has just managed to convince the layman that he is doing it all through things like 'the power of suggestion' etc. which to his credit is a fucking great brand to build and has made him a lot of money. But it is all nonsense, the whole 'power of suggestion' shtick only works if you are manipulating people for months or years, it doesn't work over an afternoon.

Let's put it this way, there is a 0% chance that Derren will ever get a stage trick wrong. That is because it is all traditional magic, he knows he can't get it wrong because he is using props and or slight of hand to make sure he always gets it right. The man would never risk a trick going wrong because the person in the audience sneezed when they walked past the giraffe statue in the lobby and didn't see it ruining his psychological re programming. If that happens a handful of times, his career is over and having read up on the psychology he attributes to his tricks, there is no way he is actually doing it that way, it is FAR to risky for him

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