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James L. Brooks

James L. Brooks

Production

Biography

James Lawrence Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American director, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of Gracie Films. He co-created the sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, and The Simpsons and directed the films Terms of Endearment (1983), Broadcast News (1987), and As Good as It Gets (1997). He received numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards, 22 Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award. Brooks started his career as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the CBS News broadcasts. He moved to Los Angeles in 1965 to work on David L. Wolper's documentaries. He wrote for My Mother the Car and My Friend Tony and created the series Room 222. Grant Tinker hired Brooks and producer Allan Burns at MTM Productions to create The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970. Brooks and Burns then created two successful spin-offs from Mary Tyler Moore: Rhoda (a comedy) and Lou Grant (a drama). Brooks left MTM Productions in 1978 to co-create the sitcom Taxi (1978-1983). Brooks moved into feature film work when he wrote and co-produced the 1979 film Starting Over. His next project was the critically acclaimed film Terms of Endearment, which he produced, directed and wrote, winning an Academy Award for all three roles. He earned acclaim for his films Broadcast News (1987) and As Good as It Gets (1997). He received mixed reviews for  I'll Do Anything (1994), Spanglish (2004), and How Do You Know (2010). Brooks also produced Cameron Crowe's Say Anything... (1989) and Wes Anderson's Bottle Rocket (1996). In 1986, Brooks founded Gracie Films, a television and film company. Although he did not intend to do so, Brooks returned to television in 1987 as the producer of The Tracey Ullman Show. He hired cartoonist Matt Groening to create a series of shorts for the show, which led in 1989 to The Simpsons. The Simpsons won numerous awards and is still running after over 35 years. Brooks also co-produced and co-wrote the 2007 film adaptation of the show, The Simpsons Movie. Brooks has received 53 Emmy nominations, winning 21 of them. Description above from the Wikipedia article James L. Brooks, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

The Simpsons
8.0

Set in Springfield, the average American town, the show focuses on the antics and everyday adventures of the Simpson family; Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, as well as a virtual cast of thousands. Since the beginning, the series has been a pop culture icon, attracting hundreds of celebrities to guest star. The show has also made name for itself in its fearless satirical take on politics, media and American life in general.

The Simpsons

1989
Saturday Night Live
6.9

A late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. The show's comedy sketches, which parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers an opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, and features performances by a musical guest.

Saturday Night Live

1975
The Andy Griffith Show
7.6

The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960 and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife, a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and a precocious young son, Opie. Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life. Andy Griffith stated in a Today Show interview, with respect to the time period of the show: "Well, though we never said it, and though it was shot in the '60s, it had a feeling of the '30s. It was when we were doing it, of a time gone by." The series never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings and ended its final season at number one. It has been ranked by TV Guide as the 9th-best show in American television history. Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight-season run, series co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The show, a semi-spin-off from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show titled "Danny Meets Andy Griffith", spawned its own spin-off series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D., and a reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry. The show's enduring popularity has generated a good deal of show-related merchandise. Reruns currently air on TV Land, and the complete series is available on DVD. All eight seasons are also now available by streaming video services such as Netflix.

The Andy Griffith Show

1960
Taxi
7.3

Louie De Palma is a cantankerous, acerbic taxi dispatcher in New York City. He tries to maintain order over a collection of varied and strange characters who drive for him. As he bullies and insults them from the safety of his “cage,” they form a special bond among themselves, becoming friends and supporting each other through the inevitable trials and tribulations of life.

Taxi

1978
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
7.6

30-year-old single Mary Richards moves to Minneapolis to start a new life after a romantic break-up. There she reacquaints with Phyllis who rents her a room, and meets her upstairs neighbor and new best friend Rhoda. Mary unexpectedly lands a job as associate producer at the TV station WJM, where she works alongside her bristly boss, Lou; the comical newswriter, Murray; and the newscast's often-incompetent anchor, Ted.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

1970
Lou Grant
7.3

The trials of a former television station manager turned newspaper city editor, and his journalist staff.

Lou Grant

1977
That Girl
6.2

That Girl is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas as the title character Ann Marie, an aspiring actress, who moves from her hometown of Brewster, New York to try to make it big in New York City. Ann has to take a number of offbeat "temp" jobs to support herself in between her various auditions and bit parts. Ted Bessell played her boyfriend Donald Hollinger, a writer for Newsview Magazine; Lew Parker and Rosemary DeCamp played Lew Marie and Helen Marie, her concerned parents. Bernie Kopell, Ruth Buzzi and Reva Rose played Ann and Donald's friends. That Girl was developed by writers Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, who had served as head writers on The Dick Van Dyke Show earlier in the 1960s.

That Girl

1966
Rhoda
6.2

No description available.

Rhoda

1974
Room 222
6.1

No description available.

Room 222

1969
The Tracey Ullman Show
7.1

The Tracey Ullman Show is an American television variety show, hosted by British-born actress and onetime pop singer Tracey Ullman. It debuted on April 5, 1987 as the Fox network's second primetime series after Married... with Children (1987–1997), and ran until May 26, 1990. The show is produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television. The show blended sketch comedy shorts with many musical numbers, featuring choreography by Paula Abdul. The show also produced The Simpsons shorts before it spun off into its own show, which was also produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television.

The Tracey Ullman Show

1987
The Doris Day Show
6.2

The Doris Day Show is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS network from September 1968 until March 1973, remaining on the air for five seasons and 128 episodes. In addition to showcasing Doris Day, the show is remembered for its many abrupt format changes over the course of its five-year run. It is also remembered for Day's statement, in her autobiography Doris Day: Her Own Story, that her husband Martin Melcher had signed her to do the TV series without her knowledge, a fact she only discovered when Melcher died of heart disease on April 20, 1968. The TV show premiered on Tuesday, September 24, 1968.

The Doris Day Show

1968
Prisoners of Gravity
5.9

Prisoners of Gravity was a Canadian public broadcasting television news magazine program that explored speculative fiction — science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic books — and its relation to various thematic and social issues. Produced by TVOntario, the show was the brainchild of former comic retail manager Mark Askwith and writer Daniel Richler, and was hosted by Rick Green. The series aired 139 episodes over 5 seasons from 1989 to 1994.

Prisoners of Gravity

1989
The Critic
7.3

Jay Sherman is a TV movie critic who is forced to review the most pathetic films which he always rates as "It stinks." In addition to the film parodies, the show also deals with his personal life: working for a tyrannical media mogul boss, his lovelife and his family.

The Critic

1994
The Simpsons Movie
7.0

After Homer accidentally pollutes the town's water supply, Springfield is encased in a gigantic dome by the EPA and the Simpsons are declared fugitives.

The Simpsons Movie

2007
Jerry Maguire
7.0

Jerry Maguire used to be a typical sports agent: willing to do just about anything he could to get the biggest possible contracts for his clients, plus a nice commission for himself. Then, one day, he suddenly has second thoughts about what he's really doing. When he voices these doubts, he ends up losing his job and all of his clients, save Rod Tidwell, an egomaniacal football player.

Jerry Maguire

1996
Big
7.2

When a young boy makes a wish at a carnival machine to be big—he wakes up the following morning to find that it has been granted and his body has grown older overnight. But he is still the same 13-year-old boy inside. Now he must learn how to cope with the unfamiliar world of grown-ups including getting a job and having his first romantic encounter with a woman.

Big

1988
Ella McCay
5.5

An idealistic young politician juggles familial issues and a challenging work life while preparing to take over the job of her mentor, the state’s longtime incumbent governor.

Ella McCay

2025
As Good as It Gets
7.4

A misanthropic author, a single mother and waitress, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.

As Good as It Gets

1997
Say Anything...
7.0

Average student and eternal optimist Lloyd Dobler seeks to capture the heart of Diane Court, a beautiful but unattainable valedictorian classmate. He surprises just about everyone - including himself - when she returns the sentiment. However, Diane's divorced, over-protective father soon begins to disapprove of the match, and Lloyd realises that it's going to take more than just the power of love to conquer all.

Say Anything...

1989
Phenom
5.3

A teenage tennis prodigy tries to balance a social life with her ambition for stardom, under constant pressure from her driven coach, but with lots of support from her mom.

Phenom

1993