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The Stars of That '70s Show: Where Are They Now? Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Such was the show business life of Jamie Tarses, who died on Monday in Los Angeles at 56. ''I didn't get Wednesday night at 10, and ABC will be blocked from being a very successful network until they launch another 10 P.M. hit. Tarses looks relieved, and she and Bader begin discussing the May sweeps. Despite her tinkering, Tarses is pleased with ''Hiller and Diller. Morton was one of the first people to recommend her to Ovitz for the ABC job. ''Good,'' Valentine says, ever withholding. Blue''). Sara James Tarses was an American television producer and television studio executive. I gave Jamie the keys and I have no plans to ask for them back. He is a writer and producer, known for The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd (1987), Teen Wolf (1985) and Open All Night (1981). Tarses and her staff arrive on May 10 for a series of crucial meetings. ''It really bugged me. She was the president of ABC Entertainment from 1996 to 1999, the first woman and one of the youngest people to hold such a post in an American broadcast network. Jamie's new. axis, which scores in ratings and thrills the sponsors. Her age, along with her status as the first woman to have that prestigious job, resulted in an unusual amount of scrutiny, often negative. ''In one split second everything changed,'' she says. Iger looks the part. Tarses considers this for a moment. A tendril has come loose and Tarses is fussing with it, tugging at the stray hair, distracted by it and by other things. she asks, regaining her equilibrium. Her bosses, including Robert A. Iger, then chairman of the ABC Group, had been applying patches to the situation. ''How's 'Style and Substance'?'' ''Jamie was an excellent developer of shows,'' says Littlefield, her former boss. I want to stand for quality across the board. The Walt Disney Company had purchased ABC shortly before Tarses arrived, heightening Wall Street scrutiny and intensifying corporate politics. One of the big debates during the closed-door Tarses-Iger-Eisner fall-scheduling meetings going on this week is whether to free up Wednesday night at 10, traditionally the hour given to ''Prime Time Live,'' and put in a new drama, ''The Practice,'' a law show created and produced by David E. Kelley (''Chicago Hope,'' ''Picket Fences''). ''You know what looked good?'' '', A Day at the Office, Toying With 'Roseanne' and Others. Others stubbornly viewed her as a callous climber. She has just heard that Newsweek is planning to run an article claiming that Geraldine Laybourne, the former president of Nickelodeon and the current president of Disney/ABC Cable Networks, will be brought in to supervise her. 2 in network entertainment -- though with a better title. (Her brother, Matt, is also a producer. Even so, Ms. Tarses was criticized at times as showing poor judgment. She doesn't want anyone to know she smokes. Amanda Peets portrayal of the character of Jordan McDeere, president of the fictional network where the show airs, was shaped by Tarses and her own experiences as a female executive in a male-dominated business. In terms of the series programming, there will be no change. Ms. Tarsess departure from NBC was ugly. A lot of it was pure sexism, said Betsy Thomas, a screenwriter and friend. Tarses, who is avoiding the agent-producer hard sell by spending most of her free time at Morton's apartment, rather than at her suite at the Four Seasons, actually seems to be, for the first time in nearly a year, happy. She plays the girl.'' If it works, he'll be confident. She was among the young program development executives at NBC who helped create signature comedies such as Friends and Frasier that appealed to young, urban upscale viewers, which led the network to ratings dominance in the 1990s. ''How are you? Letterman soon broke off contact with ABC and Ovitz and eventually fired Morton, telling friends that Morton, who had long wanted to head Letterman's production company, was not supporting Letterman's interests but his own. But she was under contract at NBC. Prominent members of the TV community, along with members of her own staff, have rattled off their grievances to Iger, and he is starting to worry: maybe Tarses is not the one. The family moved to suburban Los Angeles, where her father became a successful sitcom writer (first on The Bob Newhart Show). He wanted to develop shows, particularly comedies, though he had no experience. [2][28] She was a volunteer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Jamie Tarses, a veteran of NBC's Must See TV era who went on to lead ABC Entertainment, died Monday following complications from a cardiac event last fall, according to Tarses' family. Last year, Eisner, who is very hard to please, beat Harbert up about his chosen shows. So were cable channels. And she is not wrong to be worried. I have a job to do, and if I do it well everything should be O.K.'' ''Are you questioning my loyalty, Jeff?'' She was a mentor and friend, and many of us owe so much to her., Jamies creative genius sparked culture-defining shows that have spanned decades. LOS ANGELES A young, female executive arrives in the mens locker room that was broadcast television in the 1990s and snaps a few towels of her own, working with writers to shape juggernaut comedies like Mad About You and Friends. She is so good at spotting hits that she becomes, at 32, the president of entertainment at ABC, the first woman ever to serve as a networks top programmer. A key part of his job would be to guide Tarses. ''And I counseled Jamie, never be arrogant. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. Although popular with writers and producers, Bloomberg can be awkward with more corporate types. He doesn't look left or right and he rarely gestures. 'In Living Color' Cast: Where Are They Now? Sara James Tarses (March 16, 1964 February 1, 2021) was an American television producer and television studio executive. When she returned from Italy early in June, ready to sign her own deal, she was walking into a different plan than what she had in mind before she left NBC. It wasn't a dictatorship. Her client's room choice surprised Shamshiri. Sign up to Stock Advisor for $79 for 1 year, Save 15% on orders of $100+ with Kohl's coupon, How Chilis Is Prepping for Tough Times, Starting With the Fries, Electric Vehicles Are Shattering the Barrier to Adoption that Could Matter Most, The Surprising Ways Walking Delivers a High-Intensity Workout, U.S. Sara James Tarses was born in Pittsburgh on March 16, 1964 to Jay and Rachel (Newdell) Tarses. ", "We are deeply saddened by the loss of our longtime friend and client," the agency said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. Her last project, The Mysterious Benedict Society, is currently listed as in post-production for the Disney+ streaming service. During the 1996-97 season only 49 percent of prime-time viewers watched the big three, down from 73.5 percent in 1986. He was 57 years. ''This may sound sexist, but women are emotional and Jamie is particularly emotional. Katie Couric Calls Barbara Walters 'the OG of Female Broadcasters' in Tribute After Her Death, Paying Tribute to the Celebrities Who Have Died in 2023. ''. Anyone can read what you share. ''I'd never read a script before,'' Iger recalls, sitting in his enormous office near Lincoln Center late one afternoon in March. (Ohlmeyer blamed Ovitz for the rumour and publicly called him the Antichrist, leading to a media frenzy.) ''You can discuss the pros and cons of every show only so many times, and then you have to render a decision. Three years ago, Jamie Tarses arrived at ABC television as a 32-year-old Tarses had made it through scheduling and then a meeting with the affiliates in Florida. ''Style and Substance,'' shooting at a sound stage across the lot, is a highly regarded Disney pilot for CBS with a lead character roughly based on Martha Stewart. She was 56. She is said to have provided him with the idea, claiming that she had been sexually harassed by Don Ohlmeyer, NBC's West Coast president. ABC was a snake pit in those days, said Jon Mandel, who ran MediaCom, a television ad-buying agency. ''But we live in a universe now where the average household has 50 channel choices, and you need a sensibility. Write by: . 'Hiller and Diller.' At NBC, she had had an exacting sense of what an 18-to-49-year-old urbanite would watch. Understanding writers wants and needs probably began by growing up in a household with her dad who wrote and produced comedies. Jamie Tarses Dies at 56: Cause of Death. Already a member? Robert Iger, who had also recommended Tarses, was supportive of the choice. ''He was fun to play with. Tarses resigned in 1999. ''It was a disaster.''. She seems surprisingly calm discussing this a few days later over dinner at Gabriel's, not far from ABC's offices in New York. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. She fought hard for her shows -- lobbying successfully for ''Friends'' when the network failed to see its potential, picking up ''Third Rock From the Sun'' when ABC didn't put it on the air. ''This means that everything is in flux much sooner than it has to be. They joked about it at dinner. He had his own problems, receiving sometimes 10, 12 calls a day from Eisner asking about this show or that cost. My father hated executives, Tarses said. We'll have a meeting and I can tell if she's hurt by something, like I've wounded her personally. Jamie Tarses, Trailblazing TV Exec, Dies at 56 It's no wonder I feel a little paranoid and beat up.''. ''I think this is going really well,'' she says, hoping for some affirmation. She shattered stereotypes and ideas about what a female executive could achieve, and paved the way for others, at a cost to herself, said Karey Burke, a friend and former colleague who now heads 20th Television. Iger knows that turning ABC around will be difficult. ABC was a snake pit in those days, said Jon Mandel, who ran MediaCom, a television ad-buying agency. Before she blasted through glass ceilings for female executives in the TV industry, Tarses played a major role in the development of modern TV. They have three children. She might try magazines. '', ''Oh, good,'' Tarses says. She will be remembered as a mentor and role model for many, including myself, and an inspiration to the entire creative community for generations to come. Even decades after she had left ABC, Ms. Tarses continued to serve as a lightning rod in Hollywood. [2][7][9] In 1991, she passed on her father's pilot about jazz musicians, called Baltimore. There wasnt a puzzle, mystery, or riddle she couldnt solve, which made her a brilliant editor, storyteller, and producer.". In 1996, about 49 per cent of prime-time viewers watched ABC, CBS or NBC, down from roughly 74 percent a decade earlier, according to Nielsen data. '', At the party after the announcement, in the American Festival Cafe in Rockefeller Center, Tarses is beaming. Jamie Tarses came to prominence in the 1990s as a wunderkind programming executive at NBC where she helped develop hits such as "Friends" and "Mad About You." She died Monday at age 56. Then, as part of a restructuring, yet another manager, Lloyd Braun, was placed over her in what was essentially a demotion. Brandon Tartikoff, NBCs much-admired entertainment chief, became her mentor. It sounds too ethnic, too Jewish. Ms. Tarses and NBC denied the story, as did Mr. Ovitz, but it continued to hound her, making the young Ms. Tarses appear as someone who would do anything to get ahead, as Ms. Hirschberg wrote. She joined NBC in 1987 in the current comedy programming division (shows already on the air), where she monitored scripts for shows like Cheers and A Different World, starring Lisa Bonet. Iger tells Tarses to make a low offer and if Carsey and Werner don't accept it, then pass. her, sparking a nasty internal political battle that she lost. A kind of last straw may have come when Tarses gave the go-ahead to a fall pilot -- which Eisner and Iger had turned down for the schedule -- as a midseason replacement show; furious, Iger ordered her to cancel the show. Tarses left ABC in 1999 and went on to become an independent TV producer for a number of networks, turning out such shows as Happy Endings, Franklin & Bash and My Boys. She had a project in production for Disney+ called The Mysterious Benedict Society. She also produced The Wilds for Amazon Prime. She worries that she has earned few allies inside ABC, which, as her first season with the network reaches its end and she prepares her first fall schedule, is still mired in third place behind NBC and CBS -- mired and sinking. But she was under contract at NBC. Jay Tarses was born on 3 July 1939 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. [2][3] Her younger sister, Mallory Tarses, is a fiction writer and high school English teacher,[4] and a younger brother, Matt Tarses, is a producer and screenwriter (The Goldbergs, Scrubs, Sports Night). There is something distinctly feline about her. Vicious infighting ensued, what The Wall Street Journal later deemed a case study in dysfunctional corporate relationships.. Tarses can feel the hate, she says. Michael Jay Tarses (born July 3, 1939) is an American screenwriter, producer, actor. Jamie Tarses attends a 1998 screening of From The Earth To The Moon in Century City, California. And there is, as always, a pilot by a star producer (Steven Bochco), along with a few novelty ideas that are usually too risky or test too poorly to make it onto the schedule. ABC stars were also invited, including a young Ryan Reynolds, then appearing on a sitcom called Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place. With regard to Tarses' often-stated desire to create a network identity for ABC that is younger, more urban, hipper, he says, somewhat surprisingly: ''Jamie doesn't really know. He put on ''Home Improvement'' and created ''T.G.I.F.,'' ABC's successful Friday-night family block of shows. She knew how to pull the best out of you without trying to change your writing or make it into something different.. [26] Tarses also dated Robert Morton, executive producer of Late Show with David Letterman. And they have to negotiate, deftly, the perilous maze that is the TV business -- knowing whom to stroke, when to give up, how to say one thing and then, the following day, precisely the opposite. Jamie had a remarkable ability to engage writers to understand their twisted, dark, joyful, brilliant complexity and really speak their language and help them achieve their creative goals, said Warren Littlefield, who was NBCs president of entertainment from 1991 to 1998. Jamie Tarses died on February 1, 2020. Murdoch has survived scandal after scandal. He also fought for ''Twin Peaks'' and ''N.Y.P.D. Jamie Tarses, the pioneering former ABC Entertainment president, died at 56 after suffering complications from a cardiac event last fall, according to her family. Tarses, Morton, her parents -- they ate together in Los Angeles on Sunday, June 22, and they thought the talk about Stuart Bloomberg's being named chairman of ABC was just a recycling of an old rumor. But the main action is in establishing a strong network identity that entices these viewers to make a habit of tuning in. As a well-reputed producer and TV executive, Jamie Tarses has a beautifully written biography on Wikipedia. In a statement, 20th Television president Karey Burke said, Jamie was a trailblazer in the truest sense of the word. ''Hiller and Diller'' stars Kevin Nealon (of ''Saturday Night Live'') and Richard Lewis (of baggy black, tennis shoes and stand-up) as a comedy-writing team. Tarses had 18 months left on her NBC contract when she started talking to ABC early last year. In 1998, ABC hosted more than 100 television critics and entertainment journalists from across the United States at a promotional event in Pasadena, California. did she wind up instead as a case study in dysfunctional corporate ''And that's her problem. With Jamie, it's more like dating.''. ''It was: 'We're not messing around here. Michael Ovitz, the polarizing former power agent, had become Disneys president. Harbert, who had been at ABC nearly 20 years -- his entire professional life -- immediately called Iger in New York, who reassured him that he was not being fired, but would be moved up. ''But Eisner wasn't bad. Tarses walked into a mess at ABC. 2 in the entertainment division, she was responsible for urban-hip hits like ''Caroline in the City,'' ''Mad About You'' and most of all ''Friends'' -- are saying she is not up to being a president. She picks at her grilled tuna, repeats dutifully that she looks forward to the new arrangement, but spends most of the night talking about a future that has nothing to do with being a network entertainment president. As for the cause of her death, Jamie Tarses died of cardiac arrest. Upstart broadcast competitors the scrappy Fox, UPN, the WB were siphoning young adult viewers away from the US Big Three networks. Even so, Tarses was criticised at times as showing poor judgment. Nicholas writes and edits anywhere between 7 to 9 stories per day on average for PEOPLE, spanning across each vertical the brand covers. Even after leaving ABC in 1999,Tarses went on to pursue a prolificcareer as a producer with hits including "My Boys," "Happy Endings," and "Marry Me," through Sony. ", WME, the agency that represented Tarses, remembered her as a "pioneer in every sense. Perhaps he is right, the show isn't really as good as she imagines. Jamie was a trailblazer in the truest sense of the word. She was 56. The feeling at ABC was that their president for entertainment, Ted Harbert, was impressive at the corporate aspects of the job but not as skilled at developing shows, and the ratings were essentially saying the same thing. Iger, who was in Los Angeles for a Disney board meeting, told her himself, in her office. In the new show, Tarses explains, Roseanne will be a single mom who relocates to Las Vegas and moves in with a black comedian named Simply Mahvelous. Did you encounter any technical issues? And sometimes she hates my advice, but it's her division to run. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. 2. 2. ''I actually like this part,'' she says by phone from her temporary offices at ABC near Lincoln Center. She smiles, stands up and makes her way down some rather steep stairs to a podium on the right of the stage. As president for entertainment, Tarses must oversee the development of 40-odd pilots, prime-time shows that she hopes will plug ABC's ratings holes. We've received your submission. "She unabashedly loved television and was an executive who made writers feel safe and heard.