Joel Surnow
Joel Surnow | |
---|---|
Surnow in 2014 | |
Born | (1955-12-18) December 18, 1955 (age 68) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
Occupation(s) | Writer, producer |
Spouse(s) | Wendy Cozen Colleen Surnow (1989–present) |
Children | 5 |
Website | joelsurnow |
Joel Surnow (born December 18, 1955) is an American television writer and producer. He is the co-creator of the action series La Femme Nikita and 24.
Life and career
Joel Surnow is of Jewish descent.[1] He was raised in Michigan and later Los Angeles. Surnow attended the University of California, Berkeley for two years, and eventually graduated from UCLA film school in 1976.
Soon after graduation, he began writing for film; he then switched to television. His breakthrough came when he began writing for Miami Vice, in 1984. By the end of the year, Universal Studios, which owned the show, assigned Surnow to The Equalizer, as Supervising Producer, about a CIA officer turned vigilante.
He has five daughters, two from a previous marriage and three with his current wife.
Surnow was the co-creator and executive producer of the 1997–2001 television series La Femme Nikita, which was the top-rated drama on basic cable its first two seasons. In addition to being Supervising Producer and writing for The Equalizer and serving as executive story editor on the first season of Miami Vice, he has written scripts for a number of other TV series, including Nowhere Man and Wiseguy.
Following La Femme Nikita, Surnow's most successful work was on the TV series 24, which he co-created and also executive produced with Robert Cochran. In 2006, 24 won Emmy awards for Outstanding Drama Series, accepted by Surnow and his fellow producers, including Robert Cochran, and Outstanding Lead Actor Kiefer Sutherland, who also won a Golden Globe. Surnow and Cochran had previously won an Emmy for 24 in 2002, for their writing of the series' pilot episode. Surnow quit his role as executive producer of the series on February 12, 2008. His production company was Real Time Productions.[2] In 2006, the duo made partnership with Howard Gordon, another 24 producer to develop projects at Fox under his Real Time Productions company.[3][4]
Surnow also created The 1/2 Hour News Hour, a comedy show described by Surnow as "The Daily Show for conservatives".[5] The first episode aired on February 18, 2007, receiving poor reviews.[6] Although the initial ratings were very good,[7] subsequent ratings dropped dramatically. The show was canceled six months later, after airing only seven episodes.,[8]
Also in 2007, Surnow teamed up with Six Flags to create "Operation SpyGirl", a stunt show made exclusively for Six Flags Great America in association with Asylum Entertainment. The show followed the story of SpyGirl as she attempted to save Gurnee, Illinois (the park's location) from the evil Max Condor in just 24 minutes. Prior to the show's opening, Six Flags had plans to bring the Operation SpyGirl brand to some of its other parks including the now-cancelled Six Flags Dubailand, as well as a possible extension of the IP to television or film,[9] but those plans were canceled once the show proved to be a failure with guests.
Joel made his directorial debut with Small Time; it was released by Freestyle Releasing on April 18, 2014.[10]
Personal life
Surnow identifies as politically conservative and has spoken about being a political minority in Hollywood. His second wife is Catholic and they sent their three daughters to Catholic schools. He has stated, "I decided I liked Catholics. They're so grounded. I sort of reoriented myself".[11]
References
- ^ Michael Aushenker «Time's on his Side»
- ^ Adalian, Josef (February 28, 2003). "'24' creator extends his 20th TV deal". Variety. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
- ^ Adalian, Josef (February 15, 2006). "'24' runner on Fox clock". Variety. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
- ^ Schneider, Michael (February 13, 2008). "Time's up for '24's' Joel Surnow". Variety. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
- ^ "Fox News Preps News Satire Show". Forbes. November 20, 2006. Archived from the original on November 25, 2006.
- ^ 11 Most Disappointing TV Shows of the 2000s – 7.
- ^ "1/2 Hour News Hour: 'Most Watched Program' On Cable News Sunday Night" mediabistro.com Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Half Hour News Hour Shelved" mediabistro.com Archived September 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Six Flags to Launch New Original Stunt Show From the Creator of the Emmy-Winning Drama '24'" (Press release). PR Newswire. November 1, 2006.
- ^ "Small Time". Freestyle Releasing. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
- ^ "Whatever It Takes". The New Yorker. February 12, 2007.
External links
- Joel Surnow at IMDb
- v
- t
- e
- Reginald Rose for Twelve Angry Men (1955)
- Rod Serling for The Twilight Zone (1960)
- Rod Serling for The Twilight Zone (1961)
- Reginald Rose for The Defenders (1962)
- Robert Thom & Reginald Rose for "The Madman" (1963)
- Ernest Kinoy for "Blacklist" / Rod Serling for "It's Mental Work" (1964)
- David Karp for "The 700 Year Old Gang" (1965)
- Millard Lampell for "Eagle in a Cage" (1966)
- Bruce Geller for "Mission: Impossible" (1967)
- Loring Mandel for "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" (1968)
- JP Miller for "The People Next Door" (1969)
- Richard Levinson & William Link for "My Sweet Charlie" (1970)
- Joel Oliansky for "To Taste of Death But Once" (1971)
- Richard Levinson & William Link for "Death Lends a Hand" (1972)
- John McGreevey for "The Scholar" (1973)
- Joanna Lee for "The Thanksgiving Story" (1974)
- Howard Fast for "Benjamin Franklin: The Ambassador" (1975)
- Sherman Yellen for "John Adams: Lawyer" (1976)
- William Blinn & Ernest Kinoy for "Show #2" (1977)
- Gerald Green for "Holocaust" (1978)
- Michele Gallery for "Dying" (1979)
- Seth Freeman for "Cop" (1980)
- Michael Kozoll & Steven Bochco for "Hill Street Station" (1981)
- Steven Bochco & Michael Kozoll & Jeff Lewis & Michael Wagner & Anthony Yerkovich for "Freedom's Last Stand" (1982)
- David Milch for "Trial by Fury" (1983)
- John Ford Noonan, John Masius & Tom Fontana for "The Women" (1984)
- Patricia Green for "Who Said It's Fair, Part 2" (1985)
- Tom Fontana, John Masius & Joe Tinker for "Time Heals, Parts I & II" (1986)
- Steven Bochco & Terry Louise Fisher for "The Venus Butterfly" (1987)
- Paul Haggis & Marshall Herskovitz for "Business as Usual" (1988)
- Joseph Dougherty for "First Day/Last Day" (1989)
- David E. Kelley for "Blood, Sweat, and Fears" (1990)
- David E. Kelley for "On the Toad Again" (1991)
- Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider for "Seoul Mates" (1992)
- Tom Fontana for "Three Men and Adena" (1993)
- Ann Biderman for "Steroid Roy" (1994)
- Lance A. Gentile for "Love's Labor Lost" (1995)
- Darin Morgan for "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" (1996)
- David Milch, Stephen Gaghan and Michael R. Perry for "Where's Swaldo?" (1997)
- David Milch, Nicholas Wootton and Bill Clark for "Lost Israel: Part II" (1998)
- James Manos Jr. and David Chase for "College" (1999)
- Rick Cleveland & Aaron Sorkin for "In Excelsis Deo" (2000)
- Mitchell Burgess & Robin Green for "Employee of the Month" (2001)
- Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran for "12:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m." (2002)
- Mitchell Burgess & David Chase & Robin Green for "Whitecaps" (2003)
- Terence Winter for "Long Term Parking" (2004)
- David Shore for "Three Stories" (2005)
- Terence Winter for "Members Only" (2006)
- David Chase for "Made in America" (2007)
- Matthew Weiner for "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" (2008)
- Kater Gordon & Matthew Weiner for "Meditations in an Emergency" (2009)
- Erin Levy & Matthew Weiner for "Shut the Door. Have a Seat." (2010)
- Jason Katims for "Always" (2011)
- Alex Gansa & Howard Gordon & Gideon Raff for "Pilot" (Homeland) (2012)
- Henry Bromell for "Q&A" (2013)
- Moira Walley-Beckett for "Ozymandias" (2014)
- David Benioff & D. B. Weiss for "Mother's Mercy" (2015)
- David Benioff & D. B. Weiss for "Battle of the Bastards" (2016)
- Bruce Miller for "Offred" (2017)
- Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg for "START" (2018)
- Jesse Armstrong for "Nobody Is Ever Missing" (2019)
- Jesse Armstrong for "This Is Not for Tears" (2020)
- Peter Morgan for "War" (2021)
- Jesse Armstrong for "All the Bells Say" (2022)
- Jesse Armstrong for "Connor's Wedding" (2023)