Pioneer TV director and producer was 56 – Deadline

Jamie Tarses, who shattered the glass ceiling of female TV executives as the first woman to head a network entertainment division, died this morning of complications resulting from a cardiac event she suffered last fall , according to his family. She was 56 years old.

A superstar television executive, Tarses has been instrumental in the development of iconic shows such as NBC. friends and Frasier and rose to the top of the network programming leadership ladder at age 32, becoming president of ABC Entertainment. Young and phenomenally successful, Tarses has transcended the media industry to become a bona fide celebrity both admired and scrutinized. Enormous work pressure and relentless media attention weighed on her tenure, which Tarses followed with a successful second career as a television producer of popular shows like ABC. Happy endings, TBS ‘ My boys, TNT Franklin and Bash and Amazon Prime Video The Wilds.

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Tarses never regained consciousness after his event and was unable to attend the December debut and renewal of Season 2 of The Wilds or the big pre-launch buzz for The mysterious Benedictine society, solidified with Disney’s recent decision to move the series from Hulu to Disney +.

Tarses was born in Pittsburgh and raised in Los Angeles. Jamie and his brother, television writer Matt Tarses, followed in their father’s footsteps, television writer Jay Tarses, pursuing a career in television.

After graduating from Williams College in 1985 with a theater degree, Tarses got a job as an assistant on NBC. Saturday Night Live. She then worked as a casting director for Lorimar Productions.

In September 1987, Tarses was hired by NBC Entertainment President Brandon Tartikoff as Creative Affairs Director for NBC Prods., Sparking a meteoric rise. Just three months later, in December 1987, she joined the network as head of comedy’s current programming, overseeing series such as Cheers and A different world. By July 1988, Tarses had moved on to development as director of comedy development and became director of comedy development in seven months. She has participated in the development of successful series such as The fresh prince of Bel-Air, wings and Flower.

In 1994, Tarses was promoted to SVP Primetime Series and No. 2 as NBC’s president of entertainment – and Tarses’ mentor – Warren Littlefield. She has played a major role in the development of NBC comedies such as Friends, for which she gets a lot of credit; Frasier; NewsRadio; and Crazy of you.

“Jamie’s development skills were amazing,” said Littlefield. “In the days of NBC, surrounded by superstar executives, she stood out. She had the ability to make writers feel safe and make the most of it. She fought for them. Understanding the wants and needs of writers probably started growing up in a home with her father who wrote and produced comedies. She honed this understanding by becoming Director of Development. When she left NBC we knew she was going to be missed, but an opportunity presented itself to ABC. “

The rising network executive caught the attention of then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner, who contacted Tarses in February 1996 to become president of ABC Entertainment while she was still under contract with NBC.

This decision sparked a corporate intrigue and a media storm. After months of speculation, Tarses was appointed president of ABC Entertainment in June 1996. At 32, she was one of the the youngest executives and the first woman to be named president of entertainment in a major network.

The high-level position cemented Tarses’ celebrity status. It also gained even more media attention, with his every move scrutinized in the mainstream press and his personal connections reported in the tabloids. In this pressure cooker environment, Tarses developed and launched a successful comedy series with Chuck Lorre Dharma and Greg and the Ryan Reynolds with Two guys and a girl, a hit drama starring David E. Kelley’s The practice, and a critical darling with Aaron Sorkin Sports evening. (She also oversaw the launch and growth of Spin City.) But, as ABC’s ratings slipped in Tarses’ first year in office with a slate she inherited, and with Tarses, he struggled to navigate the corporate policy required to the high-level position, but held firm as the network’s fortunes began to improve. . She resigned in 1999 after a restructuring of the Disney business.

The turbulent end of Tarses’ impressive management career launched her second act as a successful television producer. Over the past two decades, she has developed a multitude of projects that have been tested and over a dozen series on her own, through her production banner FanFare, or in tandem with production partners from high level.

After leaving ABC, she was president of James Burrows’ Three Sisters Productions. She then teamed up with Karey Burke, now 20th president of television; with Gavin Polone; and, most recently, with Scott Stuber, now Netflix Film Director. She had global agreements with Universal Television, Sony Pictures Television and ABC Signature.

“Jamie was a pioneer in the truest sense of the word,” said Burke, now president of 20th Television. “She shattered stereotypes and ideas about what a female leader could accomplish and paved the way for others, at a cost to herself. She was a mentor and a friend, and many of us owe her so much. As a director and producer, she was a champion storyteller, having been raised by one of the greatest of all time. His talent and contribution to our community will be missed. “

The Tarses series produced comedies Good end, the mayor and Mr. Sunshine for ABC; Crazy Love, created by his brother Matt, and Made in jersey for CBS; Marry me for NBC; My boys and Men at work for TBS, as well as Hawthorne and Franklin and Bash at TNT.

After a decade and a half of production for traditional networks, Tarses made Champaign, ILL on YouTube, his third collaboration with creator David Caspe after Happy endings and Marry me.

Tarses recently reinvented herself as the producer of the YA streaming series with Amazon Prime Video The Wilds and to come from Disney + The mysterious Benedictine society. She also teamed up with My boys designer Betsy Thomas for Beth and Sam, a half-hour single-camera executive comedy produced by Jim Parsons, in preparation for HBO Max.

“Jamie had a genuine love for movies, television, theater, books and ideas that transcended his work and absolutely inspired him,” Thomas said. “She was the ultimate fan.”

Years after developing and giving the go-ahead for Sorkin’s first TV series, Sports evening, Tarses was a consultant for his NBC drama series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. It starred the character Jordan McDeere, the head of the fictional NBS network and played by Amanda Peet, who was loosely based on Tarses.

In a rare interview with the Los Angeles Times 14 years ago, Tarses admitted that the drama accurately portrayed the world of network television executives during his 11-year tenure as director where in “some areas” there were “mostly men and women and men. only one woman ”.

Whether she broke new ground as the only female executive in the room or produced shows, Tarses has remained a “true fan of the medium,” in her own words.

“I love television, I really love it,” she says.

Tarses is survived by his partner, Paddy Aubrey; their children, Wyatt and Sloane; his parents, Jay Tarses and Rachel Tarses; and his siblings Matt Tarses and Mallory Tarses, his sister-in-law Katie Tarses, three nieces and a nephew.

“For all of his talent and success in entertainment, what Jamie was most proud of and most consumed of were his two children,” said Matt Tarses, with whom Jamie worked frequently. “She has never been happier than when she was with Wyatt and Sloane.”

In addition to her career and family life, Tarses has also been actively involved in many charities including Step Up, Young Storytellers and Save the Children. She also spent many years volunteering at Cedars Sinai Medical Center.

At the request of the family, donations can be made to the young storytellers at http://www.youngstorytellers.com.