''I'm cautiously optimistic,'' Iger will say. Her father is veteran TV producer Jay Tarses, who created such shows as The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. Her brother, Matt, is also a writer-producer. Perhaps he is right, the show isn't really as good as she imagines. ''Bob sent me a funny fax.'' Co. network. Jamie Tarses, the first woman to head a network entertainment division, has died. And she is not wrong to be worried. That automatically created jealousy and resentment., He continued: Yes, she made mistakes. It was that accusation again: girl. During Tarses tenure at ABC, the networks successes included hit sitcom Dharma & Greg, writer-producer Aaron Sorkins Sports Night, The Practice from David E. Kelley and Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, which introduced actor Ryan Reynolds. Jamie Tarses, the first female president of a broadcast network, died Monday following complications from a cardiac event last fall, her family confirmed in a statement provided by Sony. [22] In 2010, she produced several television series, including Mr. Sunshine, Happy Endings, and Franklin & Bash. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. They divorced in 1996. The rest of the room is spare -- the chairs and tables are light-pine country-cozy, there are two overstuffed couches covered in pink chintz and there's a very big TV. He swiftly promoted Ms. Tarses to the networks comedy development department, where she worked on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which turned Will Smith into a household name; the oddball Wings, set at a New England airport; and Blossom, centered on a teenage Mayim Bialik. I think. Her client's room choice surprised Shamshiri. It is also true that women -- some women -- have succeeded in Hollywood. The network executive played by Amanda Peet in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, a short-lived 2006 NBC series from writer-producer Aaron Sorkin, was loosely modeled on Tarses, who served as a consultant. ), After graduating from Williams College, she started her career in 1985 as an assistant at "Saturday Night Live" andmoved to NBC Entertainment two years later, where she helped developiconic TV shows including "Friends" and "Mad About You. I'm new. '', At the party after the announcement, in the American Festival Cafe in Rockefeller Center, Tarses is beaming. Writer: The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. Prepares New Rules on Investment in China, Twitters Revenue, Adjusted Earnings Fell About 40% in December, Opinion: Yes, Theres a Housing Crisis. A huge screen spreads the ABC message, ''TV Is Good.'' She was a mentor and friend, and many of us owe so much to her. But their job descriptions overlapped, and in January of this year Harbert decided to exercise his six-month option. Be daring. It is not a surprise that the producer has accumulated a net worth of multi-million dollars. Jamie Tarses, who broke the glass ceiling for female TV executives as the first woman to run a network entertainment division, passed away this morning from complications stemming from a. She was a production assistant on Saturday Night Live in New York for a season before returning to Los Angeles in 1986 to become a casting director for Lorimar Productions. At one promo meeting, Morton is said to have told Stuart Bloomberg, then president for creative services at ABC Inc. and the person running the meeting: ''The spot should go like this: 'ABC's new. She had shepherded the cuddly Mad About You and the neurotic Frasier to NBCs prime-time lineup. Tarses interrupts herself. Jamie Tarses Death. '', ''Oh, good,'' Tarses says. There is something distinctly feline about her. In 1996, Michael Ovitz recruited Tarses to be president of ABCs entertainment division, making her the first woman to hold that title. TERI HATCHER WAS ALMOST JAMIE. Tarses looks relieved, and she and Bader begin discussing the May sweeps. Tarses became president of ABC Entertainment in 1996, following a successful run as a comedy development executive at NBC, where she participated in the launch of Friends, Frasier and other popular sitcoms during the networks Must-See TV heyday. Then Tarses adds, backtracking a little, ''We are trying to move into the future, and this is not indicative of the future.''. 3. She joined NBC in 1987 in the current comedy programming division (shows already on the air), where she monitored scripts for shows such as Cheers and A Different World, starring Lisa Bonet. He should have studied Iger's ascent at ABC -- how, in 13 years, he went from working in sports for Roone Arledge to being named president of the entertainment division. Tarses is lukewarm about the prospect. She unabashedly loved television and was an executive who made writers feel safe and heard, the agency said in a statement. Several television pilots failed, but she ultimately found a few modest hits, including My Boys, a comedy created by Ms. Thomas and centered on a female sportswriter, and Happy Endings, a sitcom that dusted off the Friends formula. Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. She is small and dark and is wearing black pants and a tan blazer, the sleeves of which have been hastily hemmed with safety pins. (Tartikoff was 31 when he took over at NBC.) It should be an easy day, a typical pilot-season day like the ones she had, and was fond of, at NBC. Tarses smiles. She was 56. Jamie Tarses was the first woman to be made president of a network's entertainment division (NBC) and the youngest--she was a huge driving force behind the success of "Friends" and "Mad About You." Despite her awful hairdo in this photo, she was quite attractive, and had affairs with TV stars like Matthew Perry and Ryan Reynolds. '', At least publicly, Iger is, at this point -- just months before bringing in Bloomberg above her -- a huge supporter of Tarses. ''. '', The ABC announcement is held at Radio City Music Hall and begins with several staged tableaux -- two kids watching ''Home Improvement,'' some guys in a bar staring at ''Monday Night Football,'' a young couple enjoying ''The Drew Carey Show'' and an executive in a high-backed leather chair watching ''N.Y.P.D. Tarses was a consultant on another Sorkin show, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, a 2006 NBC drama set inside a Saturday Night Live-type sketch comedy show. She will be remembered as a mentor and role model for many, including myself, and an inspiration to the entire creative community for generations to come. William Morris Endeavor, which represented Tarses, called her a pioneer in every sense who always fought for strong creative work. ''It was lonelier than I thought,'' Tarses says afterward. Vicious infighting ensued in what The Wall Street Journal later deemed a case study in dysfunctional corporate relationships.. By the end, ABC had changed 13 hours out of a 22-hour schedule. She spots Dean Valentine, the president of Walt Disney Television and Disney Television Animation. She sounds almost convinced. ''I didn't get Wednesday night at 10, and ABC will be blocked from being a very successful network until they launch another 10 P.M. hit. As Jeff Bader wanders into her office for the scheduling meeting, Tarses looks blank. He was busy defending himself. [25][29], "At Lunch With: Jamie Tarses A Soap Opera Ends: Let the Comedies Begin", "Jamie Tarses, Pioneering Television Executive, Dies at 56", "Faculty and Staff Upper School English", "Tabloids' Obsession With the ABC Exec Rewrites the Script: Tarses Saga Redefines Frenzy", "Strange reign of Jamie Tarses at ABC comes to a sudden end", "The Media Business; Amid Changes, ABC's Top Programmer Quits", "TV Executive: Young, Female and Unemployed (Published 1999)", "Network Drama at ABC: Jamie Tarses' Fall, as Scheduled", "More than meets the eye in Tarses-bashing", "NBC's 'Saturday Night' Fever: How Many Series About a Sketch Show Can It Run? She plays the girl.'' After working as an assistant on NBC's Saturday Night Live, Tarses went on to a role as casting director for Lorimar Productions. WME, the agency that represented Tarses, said in a statement: "We are deeply saddened by the . Let's try and embrace as many families viewing as we can, but let's embrace quality.'' 'The Last Don.' Once someone is typecast in Hollywood, even as an executive, getting people to see that person in a different light can be a never-ending battle. ''I can't exactly say it was fun while it lasted. Despite her tinkering, Tarses is pleased with ''Hiller and Diller. The cause of death was heart complications from a cardiac event last fall, according to a family statement. The traditional way is to develop a show that catches on with this group. During meetings, she will pull her knees up to her chest and curl her body into a ball, and when particularly agitated she will perch in a chair with both feet underneath her, like a cat about to leap. Eisner seemed pleased, and so did Iger. Look, he needs the schedule to work. Networks, especially third-place networks, are impatient. Newsday, the Long Island newspaper, referred to her as Minnie Mouse in one article and scarily ruthless in another. Tarses served as manager of current comedy programming where she oversaw series such as Cheers and A Different World before she continued to earn various promotions, eventually becoming involved in the development of series such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Blossom, the outlet reported. A superstar TV executive, Tarses was instrumental in developing such iconic shows as NBC's Friends and Frasier and reached the pinnacle of the network . "She unabashedly loved television and was an executive who made writers feel safe and heard. '' Bloomberg was angered by Morton's nerve. That's O.K.''. Michael Eisner, the head of Disney, needed to be reassured in the wake of the sexual-harassment leak, and is said to have never been fully convinced that Tarses belonged at ABC. Asked about this, Tarses says: ''People truly believe that Iger is going to program the network. ''Jamie was an excellent developer of shows,'' says Littlefield, her former boss. he says later. [1], Tarses was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of television writer Jay Tarses and Rachel Tarses (ne Newdell), on March 19, 1964. Still, Jamie Tarses is not just any woman, and the criticisms of her are personal and specific: it is this 33-year-old, this woman, with her mix of insecurity and ambition, confidence and self-destructiveness, brilliance and lack of executive skills, who has them wondering. ''What,'' she says, ''you were expecting someone else?''. Even so, Tarses was criticised at times as showing poor judgment. She is so good at spotting hits she becomes, at 32, the president of entertainment at ABC, the first woman to serve as a networks top programmer. But I put her in that job because I believe she has taste that's consistent with what this company would expect and stand for. ''It was: 'We're not messing around here. A Disney+ series, The Mysterious Benedict Society, which Tarses worked on as an executive producer is expected to premiere later this year. In the last five years the business has become increasingly competitive, demanding instant results. She had shepherded the cuddly Mad About You and the neurotic Frasier to NBCs prime-time lineup. She had smarts, drive, family connections, money, the mentor everyone wished they had, very good looks, absolutely everything going for her, Mr. Mandel said. Some things are her fault. She was 56. I had anticipated that he was going to come in and wipe the board off and say goodbye. [18][19] Tarses was a consultant for Studio 60. By far, the most important aspect of any network executive's job is developing shows for the fall lineup. Tarses looks up from the paper and tugs at her hair. With Harbert gone, Tarses was now clearly in charge of the entertainment division -- but she was also, for the first time, without protection nearby. After quitting ABC in 1999, Tarses avoided the spotlight and remade herself as a producer. '', Iger, or What It Means to be Presidential. Jamie Tarses, the first-ever woman to oversee programming at a major broadcast network, died on Monday, the New York Times reports. Tarses was not consulted on this deal. ''When I was president of entertainment, I learned that the worst thing I could be was arrogant,'' he says. This story has been shared 137,985 times. FRIENDS executive Jamie Tarses has died at just 56 after reportedly suffering from complications following a cardiac event. Less than 24 hours after dining with her parents and Morton, Tarses got the news that Bloomberg was being brought in above her. My father hated executives, Tarses said. [15], In 2005, Tarses partnered on a production company called Pariah Productions with producer Gavin Polone. Which was about 2 1/2 years longer than most observers expected her to last.Tarses came over from NBC, where she was credited with helping to develop hits like "Friends." ''Bob'' is Robert A. Iger, the president of ABC Inc. and Tarses' boss, and he has faxed her about a man who swallowed a fish and died -- wouldn't this make a great premise for a mini-series? TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. And sometimes she hates my advice, but it's her division to run. She accepted, but some of the fizz had gone out of it all. Tarses was restless, anxious to do the job she had been promised, but she genuinely liked Harbert. Jamie runs and hides. She might sell her house in Pacific Palisades. They joked about it at dinner. [8], In September 1987, Tarses was hired by NBC Productions' Brandon Tartikoff as the manager of creative affairs. did jamie mcmurray have a stroke. Sitting at the dinner table in Woodland Hills, a San Fernando Valley suburb of Los Angeles, Jamie would dissect her father's scripts and critique his jokes. But she is worried that she may need the show. [2][28] She was a volunteer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. ''We should do something to start building up to the last 'Roseanne,' '' Bader says. She suffered a stroke late last year and had spent a long period in a coma. Jamie nods, clearly annoyed. ''Look,'' she says, putting out her cigarette, ''I come to the party not being the most trusting person in the world, but I have to believe in the work. ''It really bugged me. Watch TV.'' Then, as part of a restructuring, yet another manager, Lloyd Braun, was placed over her in what was essentially a demotion. She left ABC with one popular sitcom, Dharma & Greg, and one comedy that was a hit with critics, Aaron Sorkins Sports Night. A scene is played; Tarses studies one of the monitors and then sends Bukinik with her desired changes to the director. Tarses says the play is not autobiographical--he has been married for 30 years and has three grown children--but that he had wanted to write for some time about marriage and mortality. Tarses issued a news release saying that she thought highly of Bloomberg and looked forward to working with him. She has just heard that Newsweek is planning to run an article claiming that Geraldine Laybourne, the former president of Nickelodeon and the current president of Disney/ABC Cable Networks, will be brought in to supervise her. True or not, it's history. In particular they are frantically searching to hold on to the 18-to-49-year-olds that advertisers want most to reach. Eisner's standard was always something like ''Happy Days'' during the 70's, because that's when he worked at ABC. Tarses ponders a moment and then writes her fax reply: ''We already have a mini-series about a guy who swallows a penny and dies and a woman who takes too big a bite of steak and dies, but if you want this, too, we'd be happy to do it.''. As the evening wore on, reporters witnessed Tarses and Reynolds go outside and become amorous. ''This is the first time since I've taken this job that people, on the whole, were impressed. (Ohlmeyer blamed Ovitz for the rumour and publicly called him the Antichrist, leading to a media frenzy.) [23][24][25], Tarses married DreamWorks SKG television executive Dan McDermott in 1993. Valentine, who is smart and is responsible for the biggest hit on ABC, ''Home Improvement,'' is said to have problems with Tarses, to think she is unfit for her job. No, You Cant Build Here, Opinion: About Those Free Tickets to Hong Kong, Opinion: China Remains the Worlds Pandemic Risk. But she was under contract at NBC. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. When they have, the cliche holds: they have to be better than their male equivalents to end up equal. Around the same time, Warren Littlefield renewed his contract with NBC for five years, thereby blocking Tarses' path to that network's top programming rung. ''I know that people are gunning for Jamie. and then realizes this is silliness, nothing to worry about. The industry trailblazers family confirmed her passing, Deadline reported. Jamie had a stroke during the fall of 2020 and died in Los Angeles.