Brandon Tartikoff

Brandon Tartikoff
Tartikoff in 1988
BornJanuary 13, 1949
Freeport, New York, U.S.
DiedAugust 27, 1997(1997-08-27) (aged 48)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education
Occupations
  • Television network executive
  • Hollywood studio chairman
Employers
Known for
OfficePresident of NBC Entertainment
Term1981–1991
PredecessorFred Silverman
SuccessorWarren Littlefield
SpouseLilly Samuels (1982–1997, his death)
Children2

Brandon Tartikoff (January 13, 1949 – August 27, 1997) was an American television executive who was head of the entertainment division of NBC from 1981 to 1991.[1] He was credited with turning around NBC's low prime time reputation with several hit series: Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Law & Order, ALF, Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Cheers, Seinfeld, The Golden Girls, Wings, Miami Vice, Knight Rider, The A-Team, Saved by the Bell, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, St. Elsewhere, and Night Court.

Tartikoff also helped develop the 1984 sitcom Punky Brewster; he named the title character after a girl he had a crush on in school. He was also involved in the creation of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Beggars and Choosers.

Early life and education

Born to a Jewish family[2][3] in Freeport, New York, Tartikoff was a graduate of Lawrenceville School and Yale University, where he contributed to campus humor magazine The Yale Record.

While attending Yale, Tartikoff worked as an account executive and sales manager for WNHC-TV in New Haven, Connecticut, as well as in Hartford, Connecticut. Tartikoff spent vacations in Los Angeles looking for a job in network television. After graduating from Yale, he took a series of jobs in advertising and local television, including WLS-TV in Chicago, Illinois.

Career

Tartikoff was hired as a program executive at ABC in 1976. One year later, he moved to NBC (after being hired by Dick Ebersol to direct comedy programming). Tartikoff took over programming duties at NBC from Fred Silverman in 1981.[4] At age 32, Tartikoff became the youngest president of NBC's entertainment division.

When Tartikoff took over, NBC was in last place behind ABC and CBS, and the future of the network was in doubt. A writers' strike was looming, affiliates were defecting, mostly to ABC, and the network had only three prime time shows in the Top 20: Little House on the Prairie, Diff'rent Strokes and Real People. Johnny Carson was reportedly in talks to move his landmark late-night talk show to ABC. The entire cast and writers of Saturday Night Live had left that late-night sketch-comedy series, and their replacements had received some of the show's worst critical notices (except for fellow cast members Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo who stayed with SNL until 1984). By 1982, Tartikoff and his new superior, the former producer Grant Tinker, began to turn the network's fortunes around.[5]

As head of NBC's Entertainment Division, Tartikoff's successes included The Cosby Show, for which he had pursued Bill Cosby to create a pilot after having been impressed by Cosby's stories when Cosby guest-hosted The Tonight Show. Tartikoff wrote a brainstorming memo that simply read "MTV cops",[6][7][8][9] and later presented the memo to series creator Anthony Yerkovich, formerly a writer and producer for Hill Street Blues. The result was Miami Vice, which became an icon of 1980s pop culture.[7] Knight Rider was inspired by a perceived lack of leading men who could act, with Tartikoff suggesting that a talking car could fill in the gaps in any leading man's acting abilities.[5]

During the casting process of Family Ties, Tartikoff was unexcited about Michael J. Fox for the role of Alex P. Keaton.[5] However, the show's producer, Gary David Goldberg, insisted until Tartikoff relented saying, "Go ahead if you insist. But I'm telling you, this is not the kind of face you'll ever see on a lunch box." Some years later, after the movie Back to the Future cemented Fox's stardom, Fox goodnaturedly sent Tartikoff a lunch box with Fox's picture on it, with a handwritten note reading: "Brandon, They wanted me to put a crow in here, but ... Love and Kisses, Michael J."[10] Tartikoff kept the lunch box on display in his office.[11]

Jerry Seinfeld credited Tartikoff with saving Seinfeld from cancellation during its first four years of struggling ratings.[12] Johnny Carson broke the news of his retirement in February 1991 to Tartikoff at the Grille in Beverly Hills. For several days, only Tartikoff and NBC chairman Bob Wright knew of the planned retirement.[5]

Tartikoff wrote in his memoirs that his biggest professional regret was cancelling the series Buffalo Bill, which he later went on to include in a fantasy "dream schedule" created for a TV Guide article that detailed his idea of "The Greatest Network Ever".[citation needed]

During his time at NBC, he made appearances in several of the network's shows. He was played by David Leisure in "Prime Time," episode five of season two of ALF.[13] In the penultimate scene when ALF suggests a sitcom about a family hosting a lovable alien, he replies "Not in a million years, pal, it's too far-fetched." He hosted Saturday Night Live in 1983 and appeared as himself in an episode of Saved by the Bell, where he briefly entertains the notion of a "show about a high school principal and his kids", before scoffing at the idea. During his 1983 appearance on Saturday Night Live, one skit featured Tartikoff in a black leather ensemble, with the words "Be There" spelled out in rhinestones on the back of his jacket. "Be There" was NBC's slogan during the 1983–84 season. Tartikoff appeared as himself on episodes of Night Court and Night Stand with Dick Dietrick, and in the background of one of the final episodes of Cheers.

On New Year's Day 1991, Tartikoff was involved in a car crash near the family's Lake Tahoe home that injured him and his eight-year-old daughter Calla, who suffered a severe brain injury and received intense therapy in order to walk and speak again.[14][15]

He left NBC, moving to Paramount Pictures to become its chairman from July 1, 1991.[16] His first film was All I Want for Christmas.[17]

Just over a year later, Tartikoff left that post to spend more time with his recovering daughter in New Orleans.[18][19] The biggest hit of his reign was Wayne's World.[18][19] After he left Paramount, he started Moving Target Productions in 1992, and his first work was a joint effort with MCA TV in 1993.[20]

In 1994, he made his comeback to national TV with Last Call, a short-lived late-night discussion show he produced. That same year he also produced The Steven Banks Show for PBS. Later that year, he began a brief run as chairman of New World Entertainment, from 1994 to 1996.[21][22] Shortly after New World bought out Moving Target Productions, he renamed his production company to MT2 Services (short for Moving Target 2), and instrumental in developing Strange Luck for Fox and Second Noah for ABC.[23] Through MT2 Services, he also developed the failed Marvel TV pilot Generation X for Fox.[24]

Just prior to his death, Tartikoff served as the chairman of the AOL project Entertainment Asylum, for which he teamed with Scott Zakarin to build the world's first interactive broadcast studio. He also continued to do on-air appearances on shows such as Dave's World and Arli$$. In 1996, he left New World Entertainment, following the announcement of its purchase by News Corporation, and then subsequently started H. Beale Company.[25][26]

Personal life

In 1982, Tartikoff married Lilly Samuels, and the couple had two daughters, Calla Lianne and Elizabeth Justine. Princess Calla on Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears was named for Calla Tartikoff.[27]

Tartikoff's parents were survivors of the collision of two 747s in Tenerife, Canary Islands, in 1977.[28]

Death

Tartikoff died on August 27, 1997, at age 48 from Hodgkin lymphoma, a disease with which he had three separate bouts over 25 years. He was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. The Deep Space Nine sixth-season premiere, "A Time to Stand", began with a title card reading "In memory of Brandon Tartikoff." A similar card appeared at the end of the ninth-season premiere of Seinfeld, "The Butter Shave". On August 29, 1997, Dateline NBC ran an extended tribute to Tartikoff that featured many famous figures whose careers he had influenced, including Warren Littlefield, Dick Ebersol, Bill Cosby, Michael J. Fox, Ted Danson, and Jerry Seinfeld.[29]

Tartikoff, through H. Beale Company, posthumously produced the TV pilots Blade Squad in 1998[30] and the TV show Beggars and Choosers; it aired from 1999 to 2001.[31]

References

  1. ^ "TV programming wizard Brandon Tartikoff dead at 48". CNN. August 27, 1997. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  2. ^ Norwood, Stephen Harlan; Pollack, Eunice G. (2008). Encyclopedia of American Jewish History. United Kingdom: ABC-Clio. p. 477. ISBN 978-1-851-09638-1.
  3. ^ Brook, Vincent. From Shtetl to Stardom: Jews and Hollywood: Chapter 1: Still an Empire of Their Own: How Jews Remain Atop a Reinvented Hollywood. Purdue University Press. p. 12.
  4. ^ Barbera, Joseph (1994). My Life in "Toons": From Flatbush to Bedrock in Under a Century. Atlanta, Georgia: Turner Publishing. pp. 188–189. ISBN 1-57036-042-1.
  5. ^ a b c d Tartikoff, Brandon (1992). The Last Great Ride. New York: Hyperion Books. ISBN 0-394-58709-X.
  6. ^ Janeshutz, Trish (1986). The Making of Miami Vice. New York: Ballatine Books. p. 12. ISBN 0-345-33669-0.
  7. ^ a b Zoglin, Richard (September 16, 1985). "Cool Cops, Hot Show". Time. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
  8. ^ Boyer, Peter J. (April 19, 1988). "Guiding No. 1: The Man Who Programs NBC". The New York Times. Retrieved February 8, 2008.
  9. ^ "About the Show". NBC Universal, Inc. Archived from the original on April 23, 2008. Retrieved May 28, 2008.
  10. ^ Rose, Lacey (October 17, 2012). "The Private Files of Brandon Tartikoff Revealed". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
  11. ^ Dawidziak, Mark (June 25, 2013). "Gary David Goldberg, who fought to cast Michael J. Fox in 'Family Ties,' dies at 68". cleveland.com. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
  12. ^ The Howard Stern Show, June 26, 2014. SiriusXM.
  13. ^ "Prime Time – ALF (Series 2, Episode 5) | Apple TV (UK)". October 18, 1987.
  14. ^ Carter, Bill (January 3, 1991). "Tartikoff Is Injured in Car Crash". The New York Times. p. C14. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  15. ^ Carter, Bill (April 23, 1991). "Tartikoff Is Reported in Paramount Talks". The New York Times. p. D1. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  16. ^ Carter, Bill (May 2, 1991). "Tartikoff to Run Paramount Pictures". The New York Times. p. D17. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  17. ^ "All I Want for Christmas". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  18. ^ a b Brown, Corie (November 1992). "Who Needs This?". Premiere. p. 22.
  19. ^ a b Weinraub, Bernard (October 30, 1992). "Tartikoff Resigns at Paramount Pictures". The New York Times. p. D1. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  20. ^ "Tartikoff's back, and MCA's got him" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 18, 1993. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  21. ^ "Tartikoff to head New World Entertainment" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 20, 1994. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  22. ^ "Tartikoff to Head Unit of New World : Entertainment: Production company hopes to become force in global television market". Los Angeles Times. June 15, 1994. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  23. ^ "Brandon Tartikoff". IMDb. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  24. ^ Sandler, Adam (February 20, 1996). "Fox Tuesday Night at the Movies Generation X". Variety. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  25. ^ "News Corp. builds syndication muscle" (PDF). Broadcasting. July 22, 1996. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  26. ^ "TV loses Tartikoff touch" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. September 1, 1997. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  27. ^ "Back On Her Feet". Los Angeles Times. March 25, 2007.
  28. ^ Newsweek, March 1977.
  29. ^ "Tartikoff service private; NBC airing tribute tonight". Variety. August 29, 1997. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  30. ^ Hontz, Jenny (January 28, 1998). "Fox sharpens 'Blade' pilot". Variety. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  31. ^ Richmond, Ray (June 14, 1999). "Beggars and Choosers". Variety. Retrieved September 30, 2021.

Further reading

  • Tartikoff, Brandon and Leerhsen, Charles. The Last Great Ride (New York: Turtle Bay Books/Random House, 1992), ISBN 0-394-58709-X
Business positions
Preceded by President of NBC
1981–1991 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of Paramount Pictures
1991–1992 		Succeeded by

Read other articles:

Armenian Apostolic Church

National church of Armenia Armenian Church redirects here. For other uses, see Armenian Church (disambiguation). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: Armenian Apostolic Church – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Armenian...

 

فالو دي نيرا

فالو دي نيرا   الاسم الرسمي (بالإيطالية: Vallo di Nera)‏    الإحداثيات 42°45′19″N 12°51′52″E / 42.755396944444°N 12.864381944444°E / 42.755396944444; 12.864381944444  [1] تقسيم إداري  البلد إيطاليا[2]  التقسيم الأعلى مقاطعة بِرُوجَة  خصائص جغرافية  المساحة 36.22 كيلومتر مربع (9 أكت

 

Stephanie Bice

Stephanie Bice Stephanie Irene Bice (née Asady, Persia: اسدی; lahir 11 November 1973)[1] adalah seorang politikus Amerika Serikat yang menjabat sebagai anggota DPR untuk dapil V Oklahoma. Sebagai anggota Partai Republik, Bice adalah Iran Amerika pertama yang terpilih dalam Kongres. Ia mewakili dapil XXII dalam Senat Oklahoma dari 2014 sampai 2020. Referensi ^ Stephanie Bice. Diakses tanggal January 13, 2021.  Pranala luar Representative Stephanie Bice official U.S. House...

2018 Baltimore Orioles season

2018 Baltimore OriolesLeagueAmerican LeagueDivisionEastBallparkOriole Park at Camden YardsCityBaltimore, MarylandRecord47–115 (.290)Divisional place5thOwnersPeter AngelosGeneral managersDan DuquetteManagersBuck ShowalterTelevisionMASN(Gary Thorne, Jim Palmer, Mike Bordick, Jim Hunter)RadioWJZ-FMBaltimore Orioles Radio Network(Joe Angel, Jim Hunter, Ben McDonald, Mike Bordick) ← 2017 Seasons 2019 → The 2018 Baltimore Orioles season was the team's 118th season overa...

 

Prescott Bush

Prescott S. BushSenator Amerika Serikat dari Connecticut ke-26Masa jabatan5 November 1952 – 2 Januari 1963PendahuluWilliam A. PurtellPenggantiAbraham A. Ribicoff Informasi pribadiLahirPrescott Sheldon Bush(1895-05-15)15 Mei 1895Columbus, OhioMeninggal8 Oktober 1972(1972-10-08) (umur 77)New YorkKebangsaanAmerikaPartai politikRepublikSuami/istriDorothy Walker BushAnakPrescott S. Bush, Jr.George H.W. BushNancy Walker Bush EllisJonathan BushWilliam H.T. BushAlma materUniversitas Y...

 

St. Helena

Para otros usos de este término, véanse St. Helena (California) y St. Helena (Nebraska). St. Helena Villa Ubicación en el condado de Pender y en el estado de Carolina del Norte Ubicación de Carolina del Norte en EE. UU.Coordenadas 34°30′48″N 77°54′53″O / 34.513333333333, -77.914722222222Entidad Villa • País Estados Unidos • Estado  Carolina del Norte • Condado PenderSuperficie   • Total 14.6 km² • Tierr...

Nickelodeon (film)

1976 film by Peter Bogdanovich Not to be confused with the system owned by Paramount Global, Nickelodeon. NickelodeonTheatrical release posterDirected byPeter BogdanovichWritten byPeter BogdanovichW.D. RichterProduced byRobert ChartoffFrank MarshallIrwin WinklerStarring Ryan O'Neal Burt Reynolds Tatum O'Neal Brian Keith Stella Stevens John Ritter CinematographyLászló KovácsEdited byWilliam C. CarruthMusic byRichard HazardProductioncompaniesColumbia PicturesBritish Lion FilmsEMI FilmsDistri...

 

摩洛哥

  提示：此条目的主题不是摩纳哥。 摩洛哥王国المملكة المغربية（阿拉伯語）ⵜⴰⴳⵍⴷⵉⵜ ⵏ ⵍⵎⵖⵔⵉⴱ（柏柏爾語） 国旗 国徽 格言：الله، الوطن، الملك （阿拉伯語）ⵢⴰⴽⵓⵛ, ⴰⵎⵓⵔ, ⴰⴳⵍⵉⴷ（柏柏爾語）“真主，国家，国王”国歌：《谢里夫颂》النشيد الوطني المغربي （阿拉伯語）ⵉⵣⵍⵉ ⴰⵎⵓⵔⴰⵏ ⵏ ⴰⵎⵓ...

 

Etienne Barbara

Maltese footballer Etienne Barbara Personal informationFull name Etienne BarbaraDate of birth (1982-06-10) 10 June 1982 (age 41)Place of birth Pietà, MaltaHeight 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)Position(s) ForwardYouth career QormiSenior career*Years Team Apps (Gls)1999–2003 Floriana 74 (8)2003–2005 Marsaxlokk 43 (21)2005–2007 Birkirkara 59 (31)2007–2008 Sliema Wanderers 23 (8)2008–2009 SC Verl 18 (0)2009–2010 Hibernians 19 (3)2010–2011 Carolina RailHawks 54 (28)2011 → ...

A. Piker Clerk

1903-1904 newspaper comic strip Clare Briggs' A. Piker Clerk (January 19, 1904) A. Piker Clerk was a short-lived yet influential newspaper American comic strip created in 1903 by the cartoonist Clare Briggs. It was syndicated in William Randolph Hearst's Chicago American until June 7, 1904.[1] Characters and story A horseracing-related comic strip seen daily on the sports pages, A. Piker Clerk gave readers a racehorse tip each day. The strip featured the exceedingly thin Mr. Clerk, a ...

 

ستانلى ليفينجستون

هذه المقالة يتيمة إذ تصل إليها مقالات أخرى قليلة جدًا. فضلًا، ساعد بإضافة وصلة إليها في مقالات متعلقة بها. (نوفمبر 2018) ستانلى ليفينجستون   معلومات شخصية الميلاد 24 نوفمبر 1950 (73 سنة)[1]  لوس أنجلوس  مواطنة الولايات المتحدة  إخوة وأخوات باري ليفينغستون  الحياة ال...

 

Benedita da Silva

Brazilian politician Benedita da SilvaFederal Deputy for Rio de JaneiroIncumbentAssumed office 1 February 2011In office1 February 1987 – 1 February 1995Minister of the Special Bureau of Labour and Social AssistanceIn office1 January 2003 – 1 January 2007PresidentLuiz Inácio Lula da SilvaPreceded byOffice establishedSucceeded byOffice abolishedGovernor of Rio de JaneiroIn office6 April 2002 – 31 December 2002Vice GovernorNonePreceded byAnthony GarotinhoSuc...

Harman International

American electronics company This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view. (June 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Harman International Industries, Inc.TypeSubsidiaryIndustryAudio electronicsFounded1980; 43 years ago (1980)FoundersSidney HarmanBernard KardonHeadquarter...

 

University of Yangon

Public university in Myanmar University of Yangonရန်ကုန် တက္ကသိုလ်IPA: [jàɰ̃ɡòʊɰ̃ tɛʔkəθò]Seal of Yangon UniversityLatin: Universitas RangunensisFormer names Rangoon College (1878) Government College (1906) University College (early 1920) Rangoon Arts and Sciences University (1964) Mottoနတ္ထိ သမံ ဝိဇ္ဇာ မိတ္တံ(Pali: natthi samaṃ vijjā mittaṃ)Motto in EnglishThere's no friend like wisdom.Type...

 

Macro (computer science)

Rule for substituting a set input with a set output Macro language redirects here. For ISO macrolanguages, see ISO 639 macrolanguage. Programming paradigms Action Array-oriented Automata-based Concurrent computing Actor-based Choreographic programming Multitier programming Relativistic programming Structured concurrency Data-driven Data-oriented Declarative (contrast: Imperative) Functional Functional logic Purely functional Logic Abductive logic Answer set Concurrent logic Functional logic I...

The Grand Tour Game

2019 video game 2019 video gameThe Grand Tour GameDeveloper(s)Amazon Game Studios Seattle[a]Publisher(s)Amazon Game StudiosEngineAmazon LumberyardPlatform(s)PlayStation 4, Xbox OneReleaseWW: 15 January 2019[1]Genre(s)Racing gameMode(s)Single-player, Multiplayer The Grand Tour Game is an episodic racing video game developed and published by Amazon Game Studios with additional support being provided by Heavy Iron Studios. The title was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One...

 

19th Nervous Breakdown

1966 single by the Rolling Stones19th Nervous Breakdown1966 German single picture sleeveSingle by the Rolling StonesB-side As Tears Go By (UK) Sad Day (US) Released 4 February 1966 (1966-02-04) (UK) 12 February 1966 (US) Recorded3–8 December 1965StudioRCA, Hollywood, CaliforniaGenreRockLength3:56Label Decca (UK) London (US) Songwriter(s)Jagger–RichardsProducer(s)Andrew Loog OldhamRolling Stones UK singles chronology Get Off of My Cloud (1965) 19th Nervous Breakdown (196...

 

Sum coloring

Sum coloring of a tree. The sum of the labels is 11, smaller than could be achieved using only two labels. In graph theory, a sum coloring of a graph is a labeling of its vertices by positive integers, with no two adjacent vertices having equal labels, that minimizes the sum of the labels. The minimum sum that can be achieved is called the chromatic sum of the graph.[1] Chromatic sums and sum coloring were introduced by Supowit in 1987 using non-graph-theoretic terminology,[2]...

Maksimilianus Kolbe

Santo Maksimilianus Maria KolbeMartirLahir7 Januari atau 8 Januari 1894Zduńska Wola, Kekaisaran Rusia sekarang PolandiaMeninggal14 Agustus 1941Kamp konsentrasi Auschwitz, PolandiaDihormati diGereja Katolik Roma, Gereja LutheranBeatifikasi17 Oktober 1971, St. Peter Basilica, Roma, Italia[1] oleh Paus Paulus VIKanonisasi10 Oktober 1982, Roma, Italia oleh Paus Yohanes Paulus IITempat ziarahBasilica of the Immaculate Mediatrix of Grace, Niepokalanów, PolandiaPesta14 AgustusPelindungAbad...

 

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton politikus echte namme Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton nasjonaliteit Amerikaansk bertedatum 26 oktober 1947 berteplak Chicago (Illinois) etnisiteit Frânsk Frânsk-Kanadeesk Ingelsk Skotsk Welsk partij Demokratyske Partij prizen Grammy Award 1997 Amerikaansk minister fan Bûtenlânske Saken amtsperioade 2009 – 2013 foargonger Condoleezza Rice opfolger John Kerry Amerikaansk senator foar New York amtsperioade 2001 – 2009 foargonger Daniel Patrick Moynihan opfolger Kirsten Gill...

 

Strategi Solo vs Squad di Free Fire: Cara Menang Mudah!