Write On: 'Sirens' Creator/Showrunner Molly Smith Metzler

"Our goal in writing [ Sirens ] was to write something that makes you think, and offers the opportunity to re-examine your own assumptions that you made about these characters. And it's taxing. We ask some difficult questions. It's not The Perfect Couple . It's not a murder show. We're going after something thematically that's really large and really ambitious, and that's why the Greek mythology came to mind. These are epic stories. These are about blood, and moms, and torture, and trauma, and pain. These themes are not tiny. These are complicated, juicy stews," says showrunner and creator, Molly Smith Metzler about why she wanted to invoke big themes from Greek drama in her TV show Sirens . On today's episode, we chat with Molly Smith Metzler, showrunner and creator of the hit Netflix limited series Sirens starring Julianne Moore, Meghann Fahy and Kevin Bacon. The show is based on her stage play Elemeno Pea from 2011. Smith Metzler talks about making the transition from playwriting to television and what she learned about being in the writer's room for Orange is the New Black . "Everything you do in a [writer's] room is an offering. I'm here to serve, I'm here to serve you. Come in with ideas, offer them. If they don't hit, back off of them. You are a sous chef and a waiter," she says. She also talks about writing edgy female characters unapologetically, like the ones in Sirens, and the numerous times she was asked to remove a certain risqué scene from the pilot script – which she refused to do. "We have to write these women in their truest form – they're complicated, and they don't have to explain themselves, either. My job is not to soften her so an audience won't turn off the TV show," she says. To hear more about creating Sirens listen to the podcast.

You can listen to Write On: 'Sirens' Creator/Showrunner Molly Smith Metzler online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Write On: 'Sirens' Creator/Showrunner Molly Smith Metzler is an episode from Write On: A Screenwriting Podcast by Yan Vinterfeld.

This episode is 40:05 long.

This episode was published on Aug 12, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Write On: A Screenwriting Podcast when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.