Michael J. Weithorn

Michael J. Weithorn (born December 17, 1956) is an American writer, director, and producer known for his works including the long-running sitcom The King of Queens.

Michael J. Weithorn
Born (1956-12-17) December 17, 1956
Queens, New York, U.S.
OccupationWriter, director, producer

Career

Weithorn was born in Queens, New York City, and attended high school in Port Washington. He attended and graduated Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania in 1978[1] with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science.[2] Weithorn was one of several friends that met at Swarthmore and went out west in 1978 to join the entertainment industry: Neal Marlens and Carol Black (The Wonder Years, Growing Pains) and the late film producer Robert Newmyer (Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Training Day).[3] After arriving in Los Angeles and teaching high school for three years, Weithorn's first major writing opportunity was an episode of the television series Benson in 1981. In 1982 he passed up an opportunity to become part of the original writing staff of Late Night With David Letterman to work with producer Gary David Goldberg on Goldberg's new series Family Ties. From 1982 to 1986 Weithorn was a story consultant and then producer on 102 episodes of Family Ties, writing 26 of the episodes during his tenure on the show. During that same time, he also wrote episodes for other TV shows, including Cheers.

He began creating TV series of his own after leaving Family Ties in 1986, including The Pursuit of Happiness (1987), True Colors (1990-1992), South Central (1994) and Ned and Stacey (1995-1997).

In 1998, he created The King of Queens with David Litt. The show ran until 2007, when Weithorn wrote the finale hour-long episode, "China Syndrome".

In 2006, he co-created (with Nick Bakay) the Comedy Central animated web series The Adventures of Baxter and McGuire, an episode of which was also shown at the Sundance Film Festival.

In 2010, he wrote and directed the feature film A Little Help, which stars Jenna Fischer, Chris O'Donnell and Rob Benedict.[4]

In 2015, Weithorn created and executive produced the short-lived Fox midseason sitcom Weird Loners, which stars Becki Newton and Zachary Knighton.

Awards

Weithorn has been recognized several times for his work, including five Emmy nominations. In 1984, he was nominated for an Emmy for his work on Family Ties along with the show's other producers. One year later, he was nominated again for Family Ties, both times in the category of "Outstanding Comedy Series". In 1986, Weithorn was nominated for two Emmys for Family Ties, one for producing and the other for "Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series". In 1989, he was nominated for another Writing Emmy for his work on the TV series The Wonder Years. In 2007, he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for "Best Outstanding Broadband Program – Comedy" for The Adventures of Baxter and McGuire. In 2010, Weithorn's film A Little Help was the winner of best feature at several major film festivals.

Weithorn won a "Writer's Guild of America" award in 1985 for his work on an episode of Cheers.[5]

Filmography
Year Title Role Note(s)
1981BensonWriterEpisode: "Stress"
1982Making the GradeWriter/Story Editor2 episodes
1982-89Family TiesProducer/Supervising Producer/Writer/Story Consultant170 episodes
1983CheersWriterEpisode: "Summer's Return"
1985Family Ties VacationTV movie
1987-88Pursuit of HappinessCreator/Executive Producer15 episodes
1988The Wonder YearsWriterEpisode: "Our Miss White"
1990-91The RockCreator/Executive Producer20 episodes
1990-92True ColorsCreator/Executive Producer95 episodes
1993-94The Sinbad ShowExecutive Producer/Writer9 episodes
1994South CentralCreator/Executive Producer21 episodes
1995-97Ned and Stacey99 episodes
1998-2007The King of QueensCreator/Executive Producer/Creative Consultant/Executive Consultant/Director219 episodes
2006The Adventures of Baxter & McGuireWriter
2008The Adventures of Baxter & McGuire: The BossShort
2010A Little HelpWriter/Director
2013The SidekickCo-Executive Producer/DirectorShort
2013-14The GoldbergsConsulting Producer/Writer24 episodes
2015Weird LonersCreator/Executive Producer16 episodes
2019SchooledWriter/Consulting Producer14 episodes
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References
  1. "Straight Time (payment required)". nytimes.com. 1978-06-10. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
  2. "The King of Queens - Official Site - About the Show". thekingofqueens.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-23. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
  3. Amon, Rhoda (1986-09-28). "PROFILE Two young Long Islanders, Michael J. Weithorn from Port Washington and Neal Marlens from Huntington, friends since college, went to Hollywood, and, against all the odds, made a phenomenal success writing TV sitcoms. Now, they're laughing all the way to the bank Local Boys Make Funny". newsday.com. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
  4. Fretts, Bruce (2007-05-14). "The Secrets to the King of Queens' Long Reign". tvguide.com. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
  5. "Michael J. Weithorn Awards". Internet Movie Database.
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