Mitchell Hurwitz | |
---|---|
Born | Anaheim, California, United States | May 29, 1963
Alma mater | Georgetown University |
Occupation(s) | Television writer, producer, actor |
Years active | 1989–present |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Mitchell Donald "Mitch" Hurwitz (born May 29, 1963) is an American television writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator of the television sitcom Arrested Development as well as the co-creator of The Ellen Show . He is also a contributor to The John Larroquette Show and The Golden Girls .
Hurwitz was born in 1963 [1] to a Jewish [2] family in Anaheim, California. In 1976, when Hurwitz was 12, he co-founded a chocolate-chip cookie business, [3] called the Chipyard on Balboa Boulevard in Balboa Fun Zone [4] in Newport Beach, California, [5] in a former taco place, [6] with his older brother, Michael, [7] and his father, Mark. The Chipyard is still in operation in Boston. [8] [9] He graduated from Estancia High School in Costa Mesa, California, and from Georgetown University in 1985 with a double major in English and theology. [10]
Hurwitz worked on several sitcoms in the 1980s and 1990s, including Nurses , The Golden Girls , The Golden Palace , The John Larroquette Show , The Ellen Show and the Michael J. Fox-produced pilot Hench at Home. He created Everything's Relative , a midseason comedy starring Jeffrey Tambor and Jill Clayburgh for NBC in 1999. [11] [12]
Hurwitz was chosen by Ron Howard to create a sitcom about a rich dysfunctional family, which eventually turned into Arrested Development . Hurwitz wrote the pilot in 2002, which was filmed in March 2003. Fox added the show to its schedule in May. Despite laudatory reviews by television critics, Arrested Development received low ratings throughout its three-season run. In July 2004, the show was nominated for 7 Primetime Emmy Awards and won 5, including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series.
In the second season, ratings decreased further and the show was cut down to 18 episodes instead of the planned 22 episodes. Nevertheless, the show was still critically acclaimed and was nominated for 11 Emmy Awards. In the show's third and final season on Fox, Hurwitz tried to keep Arrested Development on the air, but did not have the advertising funding to promote the series. The show was again cut down, from 18 episodes to 13. Fox announced the cancellation of the show before the production of the final five episodes.
After seven years off the air, Arrested Development returned for a fifteen-episode fourth season on the online movie and television streaming service Netflix on May 26, 2013. After yet another multi-year hiatus in which there was uncertainty of future seasons being developed, Netflix and the show's producers announced the development of a fifth season. The release was heralded by a re-edited twenty-two-episode version of the fourth season titled Season Four Remix: Fateful Consequences, released on Netflix on May 4, 2018. The fifth season consists of sixteen episodes, 8 of which were released simultaneously on May 29, 2018. The remaining 8 episodes were released simultaneously on March 15, 2019.
Hurwitz created Fox's animated comedy Sit Down, Shut Up , based on an Australian TV series of the same name, for the 2008 season.[ citation needed ]
Hurwitz created Running Wilde , which aired for one season from 2010 to 2011. It was a collaboration with Arrested Development star Will Arnett. [13]
Hurwitz signed a multiyear deal with Netflix in 2014. [14] He executive produced Flaked starring Will Arnett [15] and produced/co-created Lady Dynamite starring Maria Bamford for the network. [16]
Among Hurwitz's projects have been the US television adaptations of the British comedy shows The Thick of It [17] (which was not picked up in the running for ABC's 2007–2008 TV season, though other networks such as HBO, Showtime and NBC have expressed interest) [18] and Absolutely Fabulous . [19]
My World And Welcome To It was a 2009 CBS television pilot, executive produced by Hurwitz, Jay Kogen, Kim Tannenbaum, and Barry Sonnenfeld. It was a comedy based on an earlier series My World and Welcome to It about being a dad in the 1960s which, in turn, drew material from James Thurber's collection of essays of the same name. Happiness Isn't Everything was also a 2009 CBS pilot, written by Hurwitz and Jim Vallely, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Jason Biggs, Ben Schwartz and Mary Steenburgen. [20]
Hurwitz co-starred as "Cool Eric" in an episode of Workaholics titled "Dry Guys". Hurwitz plays a human resources representative who is aiding them in their pursuit of sobriety.
Hurwitz starred as "Koogler" in the Community episode "App Development and Condiments" (season 5, episode 8), which aired on March 6, 2014. He reprised the role in "Modern Espionage" (season 6, episode 11), which aired on May 19, 2015. [21]
Hurwitz is married to actress Mary Jo Keenen. [22] They have two daughters; May Asami, born in 2000, [23] and Phoebe Hitomi born in 2002. [24] The name of Arrested Development character "Maeby" was the result of combining the names of Hurwitz's daughters. [24]
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
1989 | Heartland | Co-associate producer |
1990 | Empty Nest | Writer |
1990–1991 | Nurses | Writer and producer |
1990–1992 | The Golden Girls | Story editor, writer and executive producer |
1992–1993 | The Golden Palace | Writer and supervising producer |
1993–1996 | The John Larroquette Show | Writer and executive producer |
1999 | Everything's Relative | Creator, writer and executive producer |
2001–2002 | The Ellen Show | Co-creator, writer and executive producer |
2002–2003 | Less Than Perfect | Consulting producer |
2003 | Hench at Home | Pilot; co-creator, writer and executive producer |
2003–2006 2013–2019 | Arrested Development | Creator, writer, executive producer and co-director of season 4 |
2007 | The Thick of It | Pilot; developer, writer and executive producer |
2009 | Sit Down, Shut Up | Developer, writer and executive producer |
2009 | Happiness Isn't Everything | Pilot; co-creator, writer and executive producer |
2009 | Waiting to Die | Pilot; executive producer |
2009 | The Bridget Show | Pilot; executive producer |
2009 | Bless This Mess | Pilot; executive producer |
2009 | Absolutely Fabulous | Pilot; executive producer |
2009 | Brothers | Executive producer |
2010 | Wright vs. Wrong | Pilot; executive producer |
2010 | Team Spitz | Pilot; executive producer |
2010 | Lee Mathers | Pilot; producer |
2010–2011 | Running Wilde | Co-creator, writer, executive producer and directed "Basket Cases" |
2011 | In the Flow with Affion Crockett | Executive producer |
2016 | Flaked | Executive producer |
2016–2017 | Lady Dynamite | Co-creator, writer, executive producer and directed "Pilot" |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1993 | Surf Ninjas | Surf Dude #2 | |
2007 | Clark and Michael | Ramsay | 2 episodes |
2011 | Workaholics | 'Cool' Eric | Episode: "Dry Guys" |
2013 | Kroll Show | Jason Richards | 2 episodes |
2014–2015 | Community | Koogler | 2 episodes |
2016–2017 | Portlandia | Various roles | 4 episodes |
2016–2017 | Animals. | Larry / Dad (voices) | 2 episodes |
2018 | A Futile and Stupid Gesture | Time-Life Publisher |
Arrested Development is an American television satirical sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz. It aired on Fox for three seasons from November 2, 2003, to February 10, 2006, followed by two seasons on Netflix; season four being released on May 26, 2013, and season five being released on May 29, 2018, and March 15, 2019.
Jason Kent Bateman is an American actor and director. Widely known for his roles as Michael Bluth in the Fox / Netflix sitcom Arrested Development (2003-2019) and Marty Byrde in the Netflix crime drama series Ozark (2017–2022), as well as hosting the podcast SmartLess, alongside Will Arnett and Sean Hayes. Bateman is known for his numerous comedy films, and has received numerous awards including a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Jessica Ann Walter was an American actress who appeared in more than 170 film, stage, and television productions.
William Emerson Arnett is a Canadian and American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix sitcom Arrested Development and the titular character in the Netflix animated series BoJack Horseman (2014–2020). He has received nominations for seven Primetime Emmy Awards and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Nichael "Michael" Bluth is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American television sitcom Arrested Development, created by Mitchell Hurwitz, and portrayed by Jason Bateman. Michael serves as the series straight man, and leads his family through its many crises.
James Edward Burrows, sometimes known as Jim "Jimmy" Burrows, is an American television director. Burrows has received numerous accolades including 11 Primetime Emmy Awards and five Directors Guild of America Awards. He was honored with the Directors Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 and NBC special Must See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows in 2016.
Mike Royce is an American screenwriter and television producer.
"Motherboy XXX" is the thirteenth episode of the second season of the American television satirical sitcom Arrested Development. It is the 35th overall episode of the series, and was written by series creator Mitchell Hurwitz and co-executive producer Jim Vallely, and directed by Joe Russo. It originally aired on Fox on March 13, 2005. The episode received mostly positive reviews from critics, with it being Hurwitz's fourth favorite episode.
"Righteous Brothers" is the eighteenth and final episode of the second season of the American television satirical sitcom Arrested Development. It is the 40th overall episode of the series, and was written by series creator Mitchell Hurwitz and co-executive producer Jim Vallely, and directed by Chuck Martin. It originally aired on Fox on April 17, 2005.
"Pilot" is the first episode of the first season of the American television satirical sitcom Arrested Development. It was written by series creator Mitchell Hurwitz and directed by producers Anthony and Joe Russo. It originally aired on Fox on November 2, 2003. An uncensored, extended version of the episode was released as a special feature on the DVD home release.
"Development Arrested" is the thirteenth and final episode of the third season of the American television satirical sitcom Arrested Development, and is the 53rd overall episode of the series. It was written by co-executive producers Chuck Tatham and Jim Vallely from a story by co-executive producer Richard Day and series creator Mitchell Hurwitz, and was directed by John Fortenberry. It was the final episode to air on Fox before the series was cancelled. The episode originally aired on February 10, 2006, along with the three previous episodes in a two-hour block against NBC's coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony. The series was later revived by Netflix for a fourth and fifth season.
David Trainer is an American television director. He is perhaps best known for directing every episode of the Fox sitcom That '70s Show, with the exception of "That '70s Pilot", which was directed by Terry Hughes instead, and every episode of the Netflix sitcom The Ranch. He also directed the first two seasons of the television show Boy Meets World, the 4th and final season of the John Larroquette Show, and 63 episodes of Designing Women.
James Vallely is an American television producer, and screenwriter. He has written and produced for The Golden Girls, Two and a Half Men, My Wife and Kids, The John Larroquette Show, and Ladies Man. as well as Arrested Development, a multiple Emmy Award-winning television show on the Fox network, and was an executive producer and co-creator of Running Wilde, also on Fox, along with Mitchell Hurwitz and Will Arnett.
Running Wilde is an American sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz, Jim Vallely and Will Arnett for Fox. It stars Arnett as Steve Wilde, a self-centered, idle bachelor and heir to an oil fortune. The series follows Wilde's awkward attempts to regain the affection of his childhood sweetheart, Emmy, an environmentalist who had been living in the South American jungle, but whose young daughter does not want to return there and who secretly enlists Steve's help to keep Emmy at his mansion, leading to farcical situations and misunderstandings.
The first season of the American television satirical sitcom series Arrested Development aired on Fox from November 2, 2003, to June 6, 2004. It consisted of 22 episodes, each running approximately 22 minutes in length. The first season was released on DVD in region 1 on October 19, 2004, in region 2 on March 21, 2005, and in region 4 on February 23, 2005.
The second season of the American television satirical sitcom series Arrested Development aired between November 7, 2004, and April 17, 2005, on Fox in the United States. It consisted of 18 episodes, each running approximately 22 minutes in length. The second season was released on DVD in region 1 on October 11, 2005, in region 2 on January 23, 2006, and in region 4 on March 15, 2006.
The third season of the American television satirical sitcom series Arrested Development aired between September 19, 2005, and February 10, 2006, on Fox in the United States. It consists of 13 episodes, each running approximately 22 minutes in length. The third season was released on DVD in region 1 on August 29, 2006, in region 2 on April 23, 2007, and in region 4 on December 6, 2006. This was the final season of Arrested Development to be aired on Fox, as they had decided to cancel the series. However, Netflix revived the show in 2013 for a fourth season.
The fourth season of the American television satirical sitcom series Arrested Development premiered on Netflix on May 26, 2013, and consists of 15 episodes. It serves as a revival to the series after it was canceled by Fox in 2006.
"Flight of the Phoenix" is the first episode of the fourth season of the American television satirical sitcom Arrested Development. It is the 54th overall episode of the series, and was written by series creator Mitchell Hurwitz, and directed by Hurwitz and executive producer Troy Miller. It originally released on May 26, 2013 with the rest of the season, and was distributed by Netflix.