It’s happened to House of Cards and to Veep, to Vinyl and Narcos, and to countless others: the showrunner switch-up. Beau Willimon, the creative leader and divining voice behind Netflix’s prestige political drama has officially stepped down in advance of Season 5, Veep’s Armando Iannucci took flight last season, and Terence Winter fled Vinyl’s abysmal ratings and iffy critical reception at the end of Season 1 (since then, the show has officially been cancelled). These kinds of changes can (and rightfully do) send fans into tailspins, prompting extensive questioning about what the future of a show might look like without the guiding light of the series’ appointed head.

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But what exactly does a showrunner do? Sharing duties with those of the head writer, executive producer and head script editor, showrunners are arguably the most important driving force behind the creative direction of a show, often becoming the biggest factor in imbuing a show with its own unique style and tone. One of the best-known showrunners of last two decades is Damon Lindelof, showrunner of Lost and now The Leftovers, who was treated to a massive influx of attention as the increasingly-labyrinthine Lost continued its less-than-resolutionary six-season arc. The recipient of fairly equal praise and derision, Lindelof experienced an early wave of our (continuing) cultural obsession with the showrunner. “I think the Internet had to exist in order to create the story of the showrunner,” Lindelof said -- a fact that seems increasingly true in a cultural climate that slings as much praise on our Vince Gilligans as our Bryan Cranstons (and arguably, for good reason).

Despite the fact that cultural obsession with showrunners has seen what could easily be called a “golden age” as television enters its own #PeakTV summit, showrunners have been working quietly since the 1980s after winning creative control from the studios, and breaking free of years of careful supervision from the corporate entities. But it’s within the last two decades or so that we’ve arrived at our current full-scale intrigue with not just television’s most fascinating characters, but the minds behind them. However, with that spike in attention comes even greater pressure on those creative minds behind the operation, spurring on more professional shuffling to ensure the brightest light is on deck for any given show. A showrunner switch-up doesn’t always signal a major sea change in the tone of a specific show, nor does it doom the series to failure. But some of our culture’s most iconic shows have seen series-altering transitions as showrunners are fired and swapped, for better or for worse. Here, we revisit some of the most talked-about showrunner switches of the last two decades of television, and take a peek at each show’s post-transition fate.

Daredevil

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Image via Marvel

Showrunner Swap: Steven DeKnight to Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez

Elevating the superhero series from the serviceable -- and occasionally totally engrossing -- adaptations from outlets like ABC and the CW to the decidedly masterful adult-y heights of Netflix’s best content, Daredevil Season 1 earned a name for itself under Steven DeKnight’s tutelage with its taste for brash violence and brilliantly choreographed action. More Sopranos than The Flash, Daredevil honored its pitch-black comic origins while handedly wiping away any memory of Ben Affleck’s shameful 2003 effort in the process.

So it was of concern, to say the least, when DeKnight (a producer with backgrounds on both Spartacus and various Joss Whedon properties), prepared to depart the series after a breathless first season, with Netflix filling his showrunner seat with a pair of showrunners: Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez. Petrie, who had begun his career on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and went on to work on Bryan Fuller’s oddball Pushing Daisies, was well-primed to take on the show, but Ramirez was a relative newbie, albeit with some writing credits on some of the best episodes of Orange is the New Black and Sons of Anarchy.

But Daredevil’s Season 2 flew in the face of any (now-unfounded) concerns, standing as some of the best television of the past decade, superhero or no. Introducing new characters (in Jon Bernthal’s fantastic Frank Castle specifically) and skillfully allowing other characters to develop in ways that felt almost brazen, Petri and Ramirez quickly earned the faith of fans and critics alike.

Verdict: For the Better

The Walking Dead

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Image via AMC

Showrunner Swap: Frank Darabont to Glen Mazzara to Scott M. Gimple

For its relatively brief six season run, The Walking Dead has had a surprising amount of showrunner switches, with three different creative minds being chosen to lead the series since the show’s premiere in 2010. With a background consistently shrouded in secrecy and constructed impenetrability, The Walking Dead has always been a show that has begged more questions than it’s answered. So perhaps it’s fitting that after the show’s wrenching Season 1, then-showrunner Frank Darabont was booted from the show, despite glowing critical reception and ever-climbing ratings.

Following Darabont’s departure, Walking Dead staff member Glen Mazzara was promoted to Darabont’s position, a move he described as “grab[bing] the wheel as if we were going through a storm.” Mazzara’s reign certainly helped to grow the show’s already massive audience, without necessarily improving the series – in fact, some might say that Mazzara ran the show nearly into the ground. But before Season 5, Mazzara was out and Scott M. Gimple was in – delivering one of the series’ strongest seasons yet and promptly disappointing fans all over again with that highly contentious Season 6 finale. It’s yet to be seen whether or not Gimple & Co. will rebound from that mistake of a season ender, but lest you assume the series has left no mess in its wake, remember: Darabont is still in the process of suing the show for all it’s worth.

Verdict: For the Worse, then For the Better, then Back to the Worse

The West Wing

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Image via NBC

Showrunner Swap: Aaron Sorkin to John Wells

Few shows have been more connected to their showrunner than The West Wing. Aaron Sorkin’s crowning television glory, the meticulous creator made his lasting cultural mark with the political drama that was the toast of the early millennium. Intensely hands-on (even to the point of lurking in online forums and commenting under a pseudonym), Sorkin eventually left the series after four years, leaving the show to John Wells (the current showrunner of Shameless) for the last three seasons. For die-hard Sorkin fans, the transition was understandably hard to take, and the change was certainly felt in the show’s slightly softened writing and use of well-respected Sorkin tropes. But viewed in the style of today’s binge-viewing culture, the show’s transition is less obvious than it might have been at the time of the series airing, making the transition palatable at the very least. (For those that were wondering, no, Sorkin did not watch the new seasons, likening it to watching someone “make out with [your] wife.”)

Verdict: Slightly for the Worse

Supernatural

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Image via The CW

Showrunner Swap: Eric Kripke to Sera Gamble to Jeremy Gamble to Robert Singer and Andrew Dabb

It’s a quiet fact many Supernatural fans might accept: the series ended in Season 5. Concluding original showrunner Eric Kripke’s initial plans for the show and signaling his subsequent departure, Supernatural was handed over to long-time staffer Sera Gamble for Seasons 6 and 7. The results were some of the most famously derided seasons of the show, which shamelessly undervalued the entire foundation of the series (that is, the Winchester brothers) while allowing Gamble’s own writing to buckle under the stress of her new position, despite her initially positive reputation as a writer.

After two seasons, Jeremy Carver took up Gamble’s place and has spent the resulting four seasons slowly improving the show – and delivering a Season 11 finale arguably on par with some of Kripke’s own run. (As of just this month, Carver has officially exited the show and handed it off to two long-time EPs, but the future of the series is anyone’s guess.)

Verdict: For the Worse to For the Better to …?

Gilmore Girls

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Image via WB

Showrunner Swap: Amy Sherman Palladino to David Rosenthal

A famous example of the ill-advised showrunner switch, Gilmore Girls was originally headed up for six seasons by the enigmatic Amy Sherman Palladino – managing to grow from simple female-led dramedy to a full-blown sensation, a reputation undoubtedly helped in the present day by the wildly popular Gilmore Guys podcast and the upcoming Netflix revival, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. But at the end of Season 6, the famously hands-on showrunner departed after a failed contract negotiation, and David Rosenthal (of Jane the Virgin fame) stepped in for Season 7, resulting in such a change of tone that some die-hard fans refuse to even acknowledge the season as anything more than a strange addendum on a series already concluded by Palladino. Clogged with strangely soulless references and mindless fast-talking in the style of Palladino’s Sorkin-esque sensibilities, Season 7 failed to recreate the magic of Palladino’s previous seasons.

Verdict: For the Definite Worse

Community

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Image via Yahoo!Screen

Showrunner Swap: Dan Harmon to David Guarascio and Moses Port to Dan Harmon

Despite never being the strongest in the ratings especially against giants like 30 Rock and The Office, the tirelessly weird and wonderful Community delivered some of the most hilarious, subversive and creative uses of the 30-minute format I’d seen on television then or since. Making stars of its ensemble cast (that included Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Donald Glover and Joel McHale), Community was led into the uniquely comic night by Dan Harmon – a showrunner with as much attitude as talent, whose mouth had a knack for getting him in trouble. (He’s described himself as a “rude asshole,” perfectly exposing his tendency to not mince words.)

After three years of late scripts and an almost flamboyantly dysfunctional lifestyle, the irascible showrunner was jilted by NBC and replaced by dual showrunners David Guarascio and Moses Port (of Happy Endings fame). What followed was a cataclysmically off-base attempt to duplicate Harmon’s unique and often surrealist point of view in Season 4, woefully dumbed down to its lowest common denominator laughs. The cast, previously showcased in ways that played directly to their respective strengths, were squandered in favor of tired call-backs and attempts at catchphrase creation.

Heeding the words of disappointed fans everywhere, NBC made nice to orchestrate a Season 5 with Harmon back in the showrunner seat. By that time though, Chevy Chase and Donald Glover departed from the series for good. The show, under Harmon’s guidance again after being cancelled by NBC, got a (prophetic?) sixth season on Yahoo after being finally cut down by NBC, but the show was arguably never the same after Season 3. (Now if they can just get that movie...)

Verdict: For the Worse

Veep

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Image via HBO

Showrunner Swap: Armando Iannucci to David Mandel

The brainchild of The Thick of It’s Armando Iannucci, Veep is one of HBO’s not-so hidden gems, a sitcom often so sublime it can feel like wonderfully profane manna from Heaven – its unique sense of humor derived straight from the brash and acrid point of view of its original showrunner, whose knack for political satire is nearly preternatural. Veep quickly became a politically comedic juggernaut during four sharply written seasons under Iannucci’s guide, and was kept aloft by its unwavering misanthropist outlook and Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ career-best performance. But Season 5, which just recently concluded with its slightly wavering finale, was not in the cards for Iannucci, who “fired himself” in order to hand the series over to Curb Your Enthusiasm alum David Mandel.

On the surface, Veep’s Season 5 has been just as good as the last four, never straying too far from the blueprint Iannucci left behind. But in light of the season’s finale, which was carefully built up over the course of the past (still very funny) nine episodes, it has set us up for a Season 6 that could be very tricky indeed. Some of the writing, which has recently fallen back on profanity and mildly hacky similes, is beginning to show signs of flagging as well – but Mandel is a tried and true showrunner, who just so happens to be making a political satire during one of the most bonkers elections this country has ever seen – a clear boon to a potentially faltering series.

Verdict: Just Fine … For Now

Seinfeld

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Image via NBC

Showrunner Swap: Larry David to Jerry Seinfeld

A comedy with the kind of staying power most comedy writers could only ever dream of, Larry David’s Seinfeld left a mark on popular culture that’s still intensely felt today -- probably helped along by the titular Jerry Seinfeld’s long-lasting career and David’s own series Curb Your Enthusiasm -- but that doesn’t mean the comedy, which ran for over a decade, didn’t see its share of changes.

After seven seasons of showrunning the comedy, David departed, citing concerns over the show’s ability to remain cutting edge after so many episodes. Star and producer Jerry Seinfeld stepped in to complete the show’s run, but despite the clear blueprint the series’ writers were left with, the show experienced a definite dip in quality, dispensing with the show’s intermittent stand-up bits in favor of more surreal, catchphrase-y content, hoping to cash in on inchoate Seinfeld-isms that could become the next “spongeworthy.” The show never sank to series-killing lows, but even upon rewatch after rewatch, it’s clear that once Larry David left, some of the show’s indefinable magic was gone. (It should be noted: Seinfeld’s run at least gave us Festivus!)

Verdict: Very Slightly for the Worse

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Image via The Movie Database