#David crane and marta kauffman series#

Crane rented an armful of teen-age movies, including “Risky Business” and “Say Anything.” They started to watch the Fox series “Beverly Hills 90210,” trying to discern what it had that attracted so many teen-agers. Kauffman interviewed several of the twentysomething babysitters who care for her two young children. To prepare for writing the script for the NBC pilot, Ms. Yes, that’s Les Moonves, from when he was Warner Television’s President and soon before he became the head of CBS Entertainment. “We felt cutting-edge-wise, Fox and NBC probably right now were better for them,” Mr. They decided to pitch the high-school musical to ABC, the teen-age show to Fox and the young-adult show to NBC. In an effort to maximize their chances, they examined each network’s style - although it might not seem so, people in the industry think the four networks have distinguishable tastes and preferences - and which time slots might be available at each. Crane decided to pitch three sitcoms for the fall: the musical, a show about six people in their 20’s making their way in Manhattan and a series about a Staten Island teen-ager with a fertile fantasy life. Here are some great snippets from the article by the always interesting Elizabeth Kolbert….Īfter several consultations with Warners, Ms.

#David crane and marta kauffman tv#

Can you even imagine the luck of picking a production duo and you just happened to pick the year that they created one of the most famous sitcoms in TV history? That’s crazy. What’s amazing, though, is that the New York Times had actually decided to do a piece on Kauffman and Crane’s 1994 pilot season and had a reporter along with them as they developed three new show ideas. Marta Kauffman and David Crane (they added producer Kevin Bright to develop the show, but technically he isn’t a co-creator), created Friends in December of 1993 for the 1994 pilot season, which very quickly became a TV sensation. I know it’s kind of odd to launch a feature with an example that doesn’t quite fit what a typical example of this column will be, but this was too good to not use. Essentially, the “test runs” for future famous characters and stories. This is “Just Like the Time Before,” a feature where I examine instances from pop culture history where creators did early versions of later, notable characters and plot ideas.

Today, we talk about how the New York Times just happened to do a profile on Marta Kauffman and David Crane’s 1994 pilot season, which was, you know, the year they created Friends.