Jeffrey Lewis (writer)

Last updated

Jeffrey Lewis (born 1944), also known as Jeff Lewis, is an American novelist and screenwriter. He has published eight novels, most notably the four novels of The Meritocracy Quartet. [1] In television, as a writer-producer of Hill Street Blues , he earned 12 Emmy Award nominations, eight for writing and four as a producer, winning Emmys twice. Additionally, he received eight Writers Guild of America Award nominations and won once in 1984. [2] He was a showrunner of Hill Street Blues during its sixth season and co-showrunner with his Yale University roommate David Milch, whom he recruited to join Hill Street Blues, during its seventh season. [3] [4]

Contents

Published works

He has published nine novels: [5]

In addition, the first four novels, being interlinked, have been published in an omnibus edition, The Meritocracy Quartet (Haus, 2011).

Early career

During the 1970s in New York City, Lewis took part in the collaborative staff that produced The Real World magazine. From 1974 to 1977, he was an assistant district attorney in Manhattan, an experience which informed his contributions to Hill Street Blues. [1]

Family and education

Jeffrey Lewis was born in New York City to Richard Lewis and Alice Lewis née Lisson. He has two sisters, Kathryn Lewis and Constance Dévanthery-Lewis, and a brother, Kip Lewis. He is married to Gayle Lewis and has a daughter Sarah Lewis.

He received a B.A. degree from Yale University (1966) and a J.D. degree from Harvard University (1970). [1]

Reception

Lewis's books have been widely reviewed. Samples of reviewers' comments indicate a largely favorable reception.

For Meritocracy: A Love Story:

“Meritocracy is a short novel...but what makes it big - and what makes it great - is its historical perspective and reach....While it is a reminiscence about what was, it’s ultimately a tragic story about what could have been and what wasn’t.” - Daniel Septimus, The Jerusalem Post [6]

For Theme Song for an Old Show:

“Highly intelligent...subtle, mordant, ironic...a work of literature.” - Brandon Robshaw, The Independent. [7]

For Adam the King:

"Lewis’s gripping fourth novel (after Theme Song for an Old Show ) traces one man’s heroic but flawed attempt to make good of past mistakes." - Publishers Weekly. [8]

For Berlin Cantata:

“Lewis employs thirteen different voices to tell an astonishing story that raises unsettling questions about cultural and personal identity, desire across time, conspiracies of silence, exile and return, and problematizing the notion of home itself...a brilliantly conducted work by a master storyteller.” - Gary Percesepe, The Nervous Breakdown [9]

For The Inquisitor’s Diary:

“A succinct gem of literary fiction that asks which of us are entitled to salvation.” - Evan Rodriguez, Kirkus Reviews. [10]

For Bealport: A Novel of a Town:

“Lewis has created a rich tapestry of life. In lean, poetically precise prose he lays bare the realities of a town in decline and reveals the fears, secrets and aspirations that animate ordinary lives. This highly accomplished short novel is a moving and humane portrait of small-town contemporary America.” - Simon Humphreys, Irish Mail on Sunday. [11]

“Comparisons between Jeffrey Lewis's deft, bittersweet portrait of a Maine community and Thornton Wilder’s 1938 stage classic Our Town are inevitable. Both vividly evoke the interwoven lives of individuals with an easy, down-home style that masks something larger and darker. In Wilder’s case, it’s the inevitability of death. In Lewis’s, it’s the destructive force of greed... [Lewis's] prose is fluent and beautiful with a light, witty touch and he can evoke a character in just a few lines.” - Nick Curtis, Evening Standard. [12]

Other Television Work

Lewis was the co-creator (with Steven Bochco) of Bay City Blues, the co-creator (with David Milch) of Beverly Hills Buntz, and the creator of Lifestories, the latter show in particular earning recognition for the episode "Steve Burdick," during the AIDS crisis. [13]

Awards

The following is an award summary for Lewis. [2] Primetime Emmy Award (All for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series)

YearShowEpisodeWriter(s)Network
1982Hill Street Blues"Freedom's Last Stand"Steven Bochco, Michael Kozoll, Jeff Lewis, Michael Wagner, Anthony YerkovichNBC
Hill Street Blues"Personal Foul"Steven Bochco, Jeff Lewis, Michael Wagner, Anthony YerkovichNBC
1983Hill Street Blues"Eugene's Comedy Empire Strikes Back"Steven Bochco, Karen Hall, Jeff Lewis, David Milch, Anthony YerkovichNBC
"A Hair of the Dog"Steven Bochco, Jeff Lewis, Anthony Yerkovich
"No Body's Perfect"Steven Bochco, Jeff Lewis, David Milch, Michael Wagner, Anthony Yerkovich
1984Hill Street Blues"Doris in Wonderland"Steven Bochco, Jeff Lewis, David Milch, Peter SilvermanNBC
"Grace Under Pressure"Steven Bochco, Mark Frost, Karen Hall, Jeff Lewis, David Milch, Michael Wagner
1987Hill Street Blues"It Ain't Over Till It's Over"Jeff Lewis, David Milch, John Romano NBC

Also credited for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series nominations in 1984, 1985, 1986, with 1984 being a win.

Humanitas Prize for 60 Minute Network or Syndicated Television
1985 Ceremony (11th annual): Hill Street Blues - Teleplay by David Milch & Roger Director Story by Steven Bochco, Jeffrey Lewis, David Milch for "Watt a Way to Go" - Nominee

Writers Guild of America Award (all Best Screenplay – Episodic Drama)

1982: Hill Street Blues - Jeffrey Lewis for "Fruits of the Poisonous Tree" - Nominee
1983: Hill Street Blues - Teleplay by Anthony Yerkovich, David Milch, Karen Hall Story by Steven Bochco, Anthony Yerkovich, Jeffrey Lewis for "Eugene's Comedy Empire Strikes Back" - Nominee
1983: Hill Street Blues - David Milch, Jeffrey Lewis, Michael Wagner for "Gung Ho!" - Nominee
1984: Hill Street Blues - Teleplay by Jeffrey Lewis, Michael Wagner, Karen Hall, Mark Frost Story by Steven Bochco, Jeffrey Lewis, David Milch for "Grace Under Pressure"
 1984: Hill Street Blues - Teleplay by Jeffrey Lewis, Michael Wagner, David Milch, Mark Frost Story by Steven Bochco, Jeffrey Lewis, David Milch for "Parting Is Such Sweep Sorrow" - Nominee
1985: Hill Street Blues - Teleplay by David Milch & Roger Director Story by Steven Bochco, Jeffrey Lewis, David Milch for "Watt a Way to Go" - Nominee
1986: Hill Street Blues - Teleplay by Walon Green Story by Jeffrey Lewis, David Milch, Walon Green for "Remembrance of Hits Past" - Nominee
1987: Hill Street Blues - Teleplay by Jeffrey Lewis Story by Jeffrey Lewis & Jerry Patrick Brown for "Fathers and Guns" - Nominee

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Wilk, David. "Jeffrey Lewis: The Meritocracy Quartet (four novels)". WritersCast. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  2. 1 2 "The Writers Guild Foundation Library Catalog". Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on February 26, 2012. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  3. ↑ Champlin, Charles (February 25, 1988). "Passing Along His 'Street' Luck". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  4. ↑ Wolf, Dick (April 4, 2018). "Dick Wolf on Meeting Steven Bochco at Age 5 and Reuniting on 'Hill Street Blues'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Jeffrey Lewis". Haus Publishing. Haus Publishing. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  6. ↑ Septimus, Daniel (August 31, 2006). "Reading Between the Lines: What was and what wasn't". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  7. ↑ Robshaw, Brandon (October 31, 2010). "Theme Song for an Old Show, By Jeffrey Lewis". The Independent. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Review: "Adam the King"". Publishers Weekly. March 24, 2008. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  9. ↑ Percesepe, Gary (April 26, 2012). "From Emmy Winning Screenwriter to Novelist: An Interview with Jeffrey Lewis". The Nervous Breakdown. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  10. ↑ Rodriguez, Evan (October 17, 2013). ""Who Is Entitled to Salvation?"". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  11. ↑ Humphreys, Simon (May 13, 2018). "Review: Bealport". The Irish Daily Mail. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  12. ↑ Curtis, Nick (April 5, 2018). "Bealport by Jeffrey Lewis - review: Trump looms over this tale of smalltown US lives". Evening Standard. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  13. ↑ O'Connor, John (December 18, 1990). "Review/Television; AIDS Story Is Fiction But It's Full of Facts". The New York Times. Retrieved April 14, 2023.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Bochco</span> American television writer and producer (1943–2018)

Steven Ronald Bochco was an American television writer and producer. He developed a number of television series, including Hill Street Blues; L.A. Law; Doogie Howser, M.D.; Cop Rock; and NYPD Blue.

<i>Hill Street Blues</i> American police drama television series (1981–1987)

Hill Street Blues is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the Metropolitan Police Department staff of a single police station located on Hill Street in an unnamed large city, although the opening credits show scenes from the city of Chicago, contrasted with New York City inferences, including: a discussion, at the start of the eighth episode, of the police department running a summer camp for juvenile delinquents in New York's Allegany State Park; a stolen police vehicle being found in the East River in the 11th episode; and a mention, in the 13th episode, that Detective LaRue lives on the Lower East Side. The "blues" are the police officers in their blue uniforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Milch</span> American TV writer and producer (born 1945)

David Sanford Milch is an American writer and producer of television series. He has created several television shows, including ABC's NYPD Blue (1993–2005), co-created with Steven Bochco, and HBO's Deadwood.

Gregory Hoblit is an American film director, television director and television producer. He is known for directing the feature films Primal Fear (1996), Fallen (1998), Frequency (2000), Hart's War (2002), Fracture (2007), and Untraceable (2008). He has won nine Emmy Awards for directing and producing, an accolade which includes work on the television series Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, L.A. Law, and Hooperman, and the television film Roe vs. Wade.

Walon Green is an American documentary film director and screenwriter, for both television and film.

Matt Olmstead is an American writer and producer for television shows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Mills (TV writer)</span> American journalist and TV writer (1961-2010)

David Eugene Mills was an American journalist, writer and producer of television programs. He was an executive producer and writer of the HBO miniseries The Corner, for which he won two Emmy Awards, and the creator, executive producer, and writer of the NBC miniseries Kingpin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Allen Bernero</span> American screenwriter

Edward Allen Bernero is an American television writer, producer, and director. He co-created the series Third Watch and has worked as an executive producer on Criminal Minds. He co-created the spin-off Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, which premiered on February 16, 2011, and was canceled on May 25, 2011, due to low ratings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Wagner (writer)</span> American screenwriter

Michael Bill Wagner was an American television writer and producer who worked on several television shows between 1975 and 1992, and won an Emmy Award in 1982 for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series for his work on the television show Hill Street Blues. He co-created, produced and wrote several episodes for the one-season ABC series Probe.

Ted Mann is a Canadian born television writer and producer. He has worked in both capacities on the series NYPD Blue, Deadwood and Crash. In 1995 he won the Emmy award for Best Drama Series for his work on the second season of NYPD Blue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Channing Gibson</span> American television writer and producer

Richard Channing Gibson is an American screenwriter and producer. He worked in both capacities with St. Elsewhere and NYPD Blue. He is one of the creators of the drama series Murder One and The Byrds of Paradise.

Michael S. Chernuchin is an American television writer and producer. He has worked on the NBC crime dramas Law & Order and Brooklyn South. He has won a Producers Guild of America (PGA) Award and an Edgar Award.

Doug Palau is an American television writer and producer. He has worked on the ABC crime drama NYPD Blue and has been nominated for an Emmy Award and an Edgar Award.

Scott A. Williams is an American television writer and producer, as well as co-founder of Shane's Inspiration, a non-profit that builds playgrounds for kids of ALL abilities. Scott has worked on the NBC crime dramas Brooklyn South and Third Watch. He worked as a co-executive producer and writer for the Fox police procedural Bones from 2006 to 2009. He was nominated for an Edgar Award for his work on the series Brooklyn South. He is now a writer and executive producer on NCIS.

Bonnie Mark is an American former television writer and producer. She worked on the ABC crime drama NYPD Blue and the NBC crime dramas Third Watch and Homicide: Life on the Street. She was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for her work on Homicide.

Jody Worth is an American television writer and producer. He has worked in both capacities on Deadwood and has been nominated for an Emmy Award and a Writers Guild of America Award for his work on the series. He is the son of producer and screenwriter Marvin Worth.

"Hill Street Station" is the first episode of the first season of the American serial police drama Hill Street Blues. "Hill Street Station" originally aired in the United States on NBC on Thursday January 15, 1981, at 10:00 pm Eastern Time as part of a two-week five-episode limited-run pilot airing on Thursdays and Saturdays. The episode won numerous Primetime Emmy Awards, a Directors Guild of America Award, a Writers Guild of America Award, and an Edgar Award as well as Emmy Award nominations for film editing, music composition, and art direction. The episode was directed by Robert Butler and written by Michael Kozoll and Steven Bochco.

"Hearts and Souls" is the fifth episode of the sixth season and 115th overall of the American crime drama NYPD Blue. "Hearts and Souls" originally aired in the United States on ABC on Tuesday November 24, 1998, at 9:30 pm Eastern time as a 90-minute special. The episode was directed by Paris Barclay and written by Steven Bochco, David Milch, Bill Clark and Nicholas Wootton. It was the culmination of months of public speculation on the method of closure that would be employed to write Jimmy Smits's critically acclaimed Bobby Simone character out of the regular cast and clear the way for Smits' replacement, Rick Schroder. "Hearts and Souls" was a critical and commercial success, achieving both high ratings and positive critical feedback and is now regarded as one of the greatest episodes in television history. It marked the second high-profile replacement of the partner for lead character Detective Andy Sipowicz, played by Dennis Franz.

Michael Kozoll is an American screenwriter. He is perhaps best known for creating the police procedural television series Hill Street Blues along with Steven Bochco. Kozoll wrote for television programs including Delvecchio, Quincy, M.E., McCloud, Richie Brockelman, Private Eye and Kolchak: The Night Stalker. He won two Primetime Emmy Awards, and was nominated for two more, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for his work on Hill Street Blues. In 1981 he won an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series, along with Bochco and Gregory Hoblit.

Raymond L. Daniels Jr. was an American film editor.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.