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Notes -
Nothing stops us from concluding that BOTH the execs AND the writers are overpaid considering their actual role and the value they bring to the table.
I'll go a step further and say that all the people involved in creating most TV shows are overpaid, except probably the day-to-day hands-on workers handling all the technical aspects of production (lighting, camera work, set-building, audio mixing, etc. etc.) that actually allows the production to function.
Being maximally uncharitable to the writers and execs, I'm saying that most short-form media these days seems extremely 'paint-by-numbers' where the actors show up for a couple hours and do some easy line reads, any mistakes can be fixed in post, cinematography and audio choices are generally rote and uninspired, and as mentioned elsewhere, the writing is either bland or actively bad.
Big names get paid well because they draw eyeballs, that's fair enough, but so many productions end up giving a 'going through the motions' feeling, as though everything is being produced on an assembly line, with the only major difference being what coat of paint gets slapped on the end product.
Maybe the pay for the professionals involved should reflect that of factory workers.
I dunno.
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