In 1996, about 49 percent of prime-time viewers watched ABC, CBS or NBC, down from roughly 74 percent a decade earlier, according to Nielsen data. 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. During his years as head of Creative Artists Agency, which he built into the most powerful talent agency in Hollywood, Ovitz had mastered the art of extricating clients from long-term contracts and wasn't overly concerned. Tarses helped pave the way for female creatives, as she was the first . Valentine has cast a shadow. In the new show, Tarses explains, Roseanne will be a single mom who relocates to Las Vegas and moves in with a black comedian named Simply Mahvelous. ''It really bugged me. ''I was a little sad when Ted left,'' Tarses said in May. Her last project, The Mysterious Benedict Society, is currently listed as in post-production for the Disney+ streaming service. When Michael Ovitz became president of the Walt Disney Company in August '95, he saw hiring a new programming chief as one of his first tasks. Ms. Tarses resigned last week as president of ABC Entertainment, ending Others stubbornly viewed her as a callous climber. ''Do you want me to use euphemisms?'' To some, she was the victim of a misogynistic television industry. '', This was to be the last season of Roseanne's show, but her producers, Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner, have contacted Tarses about a new version for fall. ABC was a snake pit in those days, said Jon Mandel, who ran MediaCom, a television ad-buying agency. ''Maybe we should get a song,'' she says flirtatiously. '' Jamie Tarses' end, many in the business believe, was written in the beginning -- in how she got her job at ABC. ''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. I want to stand for quality across the board. They are harder on her than they have ever been on me. A Disney+ series, The Mysterious Benedict Society, which Tarses worked on as an executive producer is expected to premiere later this year. Nicholas Rice is an Associate Editor for PEOPLE Magazine. Some people spent more time trying to assassinate internal rivals than actually doing their jobs., After a year at ABC, Ms. Tarses, who had alienated some colleagues by not returning calls and missing morning meetings, gave the journalist Lynn Hirschberg unfettered access for an 8,000-word cover story in The New York Times Magazine. Ms. Tarses attended Williams College in Massachusetts, studying play structure and receiving a theater degree in 1985. Tarses had made it through scheduling and then a meeting with the affiliates in Florida. Jamie Tarses, who helped bring Friends to NBC and broke the glass ceiling in network TV when she became the top entertainment executive at ABC, died Monday after suffering complications from a cardiac event last fall. Her death was confirmed by a family spokeswoman, who said the cause was "complications from a cardiac. Ms. Tarses had a stroke last fall and had been in a coma for an extended period, according to the New York Times. Tarses looks up from the paper and tugs at her hair. As Jeff Bader wanders into her office for the scheduling meeting, Tarses looks blank. She is survived by her partner, Paddy Aubrey, and their two children; her parents, Rachel and Jay; sister Mallory; and brother Matt Tarses, who is also a TV producer. She might sell her house in Pacific Palisades. Brandon Tartikoff, NBCs much-admired entertainment chief, became her mentor. She gave an early voice to some of the industrys most prolific storytellers, and boldly led ABC at a time when the industry saw very few women in leadership roles, Dana Walden, Chairman of Entertainment, Walt Disney Television, said in a statement. Jamie Tarses, Executive in a Hollywood Rise-and-Fall Story, Dies at 56She broke barriers as a woman in the TV industry and turned out hit after hit, only to . She parks outside the sound stage in Burbank where ''Hiller and Diller'' is taping. True or not, it's history. TERI HATCHER WAS ALMOST JAMIE. ), 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. After graduating from Williams College, she became an assistant casting executive on Saturday Night Live before joining Lorimar Television. ''It's a beautiful day,'' flashes on the screen. ''Everyone is concerned with winning,'' says Gavin Polone, a manager who represents, among others, Larry David, a creator of ''Seinfeld.'' Tarses, Morton, her parents -- they ate together in Los Angeles on Sunday, June 22, and they thought the talk about Stuart Bloomberg's being named chairman of ABC was just a recycling of an old rumor. Be patient. The feeling at ABC was that their president for entertainment, Ted Harbert, was impressive at the corporate aspects of the job but not as skilled at developing shows, and the ratings were essentially saying the same thing. He put on ''Home Improvement'' and created ''T.G.I.F.,'' ABC's successful Friday-night family block of shows. The Cast of 'Hanging with Mr. Cooper:' Where Are They Now? Jamie had a remarkable ability to engage writers to understand their twisted, dark, joyful, brilliant complexity and really speak their language and help them achieve their creative goals, said Warren Littlefield, who was NBCs president of entertainment from 1991 to 1998. You have to be so clear on what that network sensibility is that if you wake up your most junior employee at 2 A.M. and say, 'What is this network about?' '', At Williams College, Tarses majored in theater and studied play structure. Be resilient. But being a great developer does not necessarily mean you will succeed as a network entertainment-division president. After graduation, in 1985, she spent a year as a production assistant on ''Saturday Night Live'' in New York, then went back to Los Angeles and joined the casting department at Lorimar, working on shows like ''Perfect Strangers.'' ''It's been a year and there are still the rumors. Jamie was 56 years old at the time of her death. ''TV Is Good'' is a huge departure for ABC, a message likely to be lost on its rural, heartland base. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Be daring. Tarses died of complications from a previous cardiac event on Monday, according to numerous outlets, who cited a statement from her family. And I saw 'The Last Don' promo, which was good, and it scared me.''. After quitting ABC she avoided the spotlight and remade herself as a producer. As Warren Littlefield, her boss there, put it, ''She completely understood the process.''. Tarses was only 32 when she was named president of ABC Entertainment in June 1996. Ms. Tarsess departure from NBC was ugly. '', See the article in its original context from. Tarses is lukewarm about the prospect. Jamie Tarses, the first-ever woman to oversee programming at a major broadcast network, died on Monday, the New York Times reports. Her most recent credits include "The Wilds" (2020) onAmazon and "The Mysterious Benedict Society" (2021) onDisney+. ''. Born in Pittsburgh in 1964, Tarses was a graduate of Williams College. ABC decided to pass on the new version of ''Roseanne'' (and so, eventually, did every other network), and there are very few anchor shows left for the fall schedule. As an executive and producer, she was a champion for storytellers, having been raised by one of the all-timegreats, Burke said. Tarses was born into the industry as the daughter of famed comedy writer-producer . Upstart broadcast competitors the scrappy Fox, UPN, the WB were siphoning young adult viewers away from the Big Three networks. [2], She served on the board of directors and the advisory board of directors for Young Storytellers, an arts education nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles. What she didn't realize was how much she needed him. Jamie Tarses, a fast-rising television executive who shepherded hit NBC comedies such as "Friends" and "Frasier" to prime-time success, then spent three tumultuous years at ABC as the first. She is said to have provided him with the idea, claiming that she had been sexually harassed by Don Ohlmeyer, NBC's West Coast president. Whether or not the charges were true, Tarses' timing smacked of opportunism. She had the ability to make writers feel safe and to get the most out of them. She sounds almost convinced. There wasnt a puzzle, mystery, or riddle she couldnt solve, which made her a brilliant editor, storyteller, and producer.". Perhaps he is right, the show isn't really as good as she imagines. Networks in general have lost their iron-clad hold on viewers. Once Tarses accepted Ovitz's offer to go to ABC, there was the matter of her existing contract. 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. Here, she helped develop Friends, Mad About You, Frasier, NewsRadio, and Caroline in the City. She had two children, Wyatt and Sloane, with her partner Paddy Aubrey, an executive chef and restaurant owner. You will be notified in advance of any changes in rate or terms. ''This means that everything is in flux much sooner than it has to be. A family spokesperson reported that she suffered complications after a recent cardiac event, according to Deadline. axis, which scores in ratings and thrills the sponsors. Can't tell me? https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/13/magazine/jamie-tarses-fall-as-scheduled.html. Tarses broke a Hollywood glass ceiling in 1996 when she became president of ABC Entertainment. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. Laybourne's seeming unwillingness to publicly deny her interest in Tarses' job is suspicious, and Eisner, despite all the turmoil at the network, has never issued a statement of support for Tarses. At NBC, Tarses had forged close relationships with writers and producers and was thought to be brilliant at fixing and polishing a script. 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. ''Why was your TV set on CBS?'' ''You want a letter,'' Bochco told her, ''I'll send you a letter,'' and he did. She began her career in 1985 as an assistant at Saturday Night Live and later became a casting director at Lorimar. Jamie Tarses came to prominence in the 1990s as a wunderkind programming executive at NBC where she helped develop hits such as "Friends" and "Mad About You." She died Monday at age 56. [15], In 2005, Tarses partnered on a production company called Pariah Productions with producer Gavin Polone. He has become increasingly preoccupied with the complaints about Tarses. Tarses has promised Marty Adelstein, Kelley's agent, that she will get him the 10 P.M. Wednesday time slot, but in the end Eisner and Iger do not want to move Diane Sawyer, a co-anchor of ''Prime Time Live.'' You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. ''Bob sent me a funny fax.'' 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. Her ascension to said power was uncommonly fast. ''Roseanne is the lowest-rated show of the time period with blacks. ''Take our picture,'' she shrieks. It is also true that women -- some women -- have succeeded in Hollywood. She worries about who's saying what. He doesn't like the Hollywood angle (no TV show about TV writers has succeeded since ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' in the 60's), and he finds Richard Lewis's character unlikable. did she wind up instead as a case study in dysfunctional corporate Even decades after she had left ABC, Ms. Tarses continued to serve as a lightning rod in Hollywood. At 32 she was named president of entertainment at ABC, the first woman ever to serve as a networks top programmer. Prepares New Rules on Investment in China, Twitters Revenue, Adjusted Earnings Fell About 40% in December, Opinion: Yes, Theres a Housing Crisis. ''We should do something to start building up to the last 'Roseanne,' '' Bader says. Bader, who is rather earnest, isn't certain if Tarses is fooling around or not and says nothing. [26] Tarses also dated Robert Morton, executive producer of Late Show with David Letterman. Just two weeks before, the rumor was that Stuart Bloomberg was being brought from New York to supervise Tarses. I have a job to do, and if I do it well everything should be O.K.'' Jamie Tarses, who in 1996 became the first woman to serve as entertainment president of a broadcast network, died on Monday. That doesn't happen with Les Moonves at CBS'' -- that network's entertainment chief -- ''or Warren Littlefield at NBC. She also put The Practice, a popular legal drama from David E. Kelley, on the ABC schedule. Such was the show business life of Jamie Tarses, who died on Monday in Los Angeles at 56. ''I hear the first run-through went great.''. Bader still looks surprised. Watch TV.'' [2][3] Her younger sister, Mallory Tarses, is a fiction writer and high school English teacher,[4] and a younger brother, Matt Tarses, is a producer and screenwriter (The Goldbergs, Scrubs, Sports Night). he says later. Jamie Tarses, one of the most dynamic television executives of her era who helped build NBC's Must-See TV lineup and went on to become the first woman to lead a Big Three network programming division, died Monday following complications from a cardiac event last fall, according to Tarses' family.She was 56. 2. Getty Images. Morton was reportedly given a two-year, $2-million-a-year production deal, and those in the business were amazed. She is particularly keen on developing some good comedies -- a hit like ''Seinfeld'' might help revitalize an entire schedule. Eisner's standard was always something like ''Happy Days'' during the 70's, because that's when he worked at ABC. It doesn't matter. Tarses' day began with a pile of scripts, breakfast at 8 with an agent at the Peninsula Hotel (''He was 15 minutes late,'' she keeps mentioning) and some talk concerning casting for a pilot about a genie. And the final call on many of these things is her call. 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.''. "She unabashedly loved television and was an executive who made writers feel safe and heard. [2][28] She was a volunteer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Tarses considers this for a moment. She asked why, and Iger told her, simply, that she needed the help. When Tarses took the ABC job, she hated the network's old branding approach and solicited bids from new agencies, eventually choosing TBWA Chiat/Day. woman ever to run a network entertainment division. ''What are you doing outside? Another meeting is about to begin, so she'll have to attend to this Laybourne mess later. Agents and studio heads and prominent producers and even employees of the Walt Disney Company, ABC's parent corporation, have been predicting Tarses' fall from the moment she got the job in June of last year. her, sparking a nasty internal political battle that she lost. She knew how to pull the best out of you without trying to change your writing or make it into something different.. Her agent Rick Rosen confirmed the death, citing a family statement that said the cause was complications from a cardiac event. 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She fought hard for her shows -- lobbying successfully for ''Friends'' when the network failed to see its potential, picking up ''Third Rock From the Sun'' when ABC didn't put it on the air. 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. Shows get less of a chance and executives get less of a chance. ''Oh, look,'' Tarses exclaims to her assistant, Chris von Goetz. ''Bloomberg was being told by the boyfriend how to do his job.''. Jamie Tarses, the first woman to run a network entertainment division, died Monday morning due to complications from a cardiac event she suffered last fall. Gossip swirled in Hollywood that she solved the problem by claiming that she had been sexually harassed by Don Ohlmeyer, a senior NBC executive. After helping launch hits such as Dharma & Greg, Spin City, Sports Night and The Practice, Tarses resigned in 1999 amid high-profile power struggles and corporate restructuring by ABCs parent company, Disney. 'The Last Don.' Writer: The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. She ultimately resigned in 1999. He had his own problems, receiving sometimes 10, 12 calls a day from Eisner asking about this show or that cost. She knows that ABC badly needs a ratings boost -- last week the network nearly sank into fourth place, behind Fox, which has seven fewer hours of prime-time programming each week. The Walt Disney Company had purchased ABC shortly before Tarses arrived, heightening Wall Street scrutiny and intensifying corporate politics. ''He had no place in the process,'' Iger explains. She was 56. He has the confidence of a man who is accustomed to good fortune. Tarses was known as a talented developer of comedies at NBC, and ABC's comedies were either dead or dying and the network desperately needed fresh blood. The Walt Disney Company had purchased ABC shortly before Ms. Tarses arrived, heightening Wall Street scrutiny and intensifying corporate politics. The indiscretion, which was reported on by some newspapers, contributed to a narrative that had congealed around Ms. Tarses: She was too impetuous for such a big job. '', 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. What do you think of 'Hiller and McDiller'? This is not presidential. she asks, regaining her equilibrium. Now, before heading off to a cast run-through of a promising half-hour comedy, ''Dharma and Greg'' -- it's about a mismatched San Francisco couple: she's a free spirit, he's an assistant D.A. He has been known to seem completely uninterested in management discussions. Already, perhaps, she sees that whatever shows she signs up, whatever schedule she devises for the fall, things are not going to work out for her at ABC. Shewas responsible for overseeing shows includingAaron Sorkins Sports Night, The Practice from David E. Kelley;Dharma & Greg; and Ryan Reynolds debut, Two Guys, A Girl, and a Pizza Place. At the time of her departure, the Wall Street Journal recognized her for her "ability to recognize hot ideas, writers and stars.". She suffered a stroke late last year and had spent a long period in a coma. ''Simply Mahvelous?'' But she was under contract at NBC. They have to deal with the affiliates, which own and run local stations. 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. 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. Weeks later, when the network announces that a 47-year-old ABC executive named Stuart Bloomberg will become chairman of ABC Entertainment -- will be put in charge of Tarses and loom as an invitation for her to leave -- she will seem almost relieved. Even so, Ms. Tarses was criticized at times as showing poor judgment. And that's what ABC was after. Jamie Tarses attends the Women In Film 2018 Crystal + Lucy Award at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. Bader asks. A key part of his job would be to guide Tarses. Ms. Tarses in 1997 as president of ABC Entertainment. Newsday, the Long Island newspaper, referred to her as Minnie Mouse in one article and scarily ruthless in another. 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 ''I was popping out a tape,'' Tarses says rather defensively, ''and the dial was on CBS. Jamie Tarses Dies: Trailblazing TV Executive & Producer Was 56 https://t.co . She came in under cruel and unusual circumstances, and TV is still a male-dominated, chauvinistic world, and they just do not want that young, articulate, talented, outspoken woman to succeed. In the last couple months, it has become clear that while Iger is on her side, he is also in New York and is not particularly interested in her pilot whirl. Amanda Peet, who played Jordan McDeere, the head of fictional network NBS on the NBC show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, said her character "is loosely based" on Tarses. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, How NBCs Must See TV risk takers of the 90s are still launching groundbreaking TV. Legal experts weigh in, ChatGPT who? The cause of death was heart complications from a cardiac event last fall, according to a family statement. ''But we live in a universe now where the average household has 50 channel choices, and you need a sensibility. She graduated from Massachusetts Williams College in 1985 with a degree in theater, and quickly scored a low-profile job as an assistant on Saturday Night Live, followed by a stint as casting director for Lorimar Productions. But they were not pleased. Tarses . He has heard the talk -- that Tarses is not up to the challenge. So how All Rights Reserved. She was . ", "We are deeply saddened by the loss of our longtime friend and client," the agency said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. ''In one split second everything changed,'' she says. His coverage of the television industry has appeared in TV Guide, the New York Daily News, the New York Times, Fortune, the Hollywood Reporter, Inside.com and Adweek. People said she was simply setting up her boyfriend, that she wanted him around for reassurance. Disney's original thought had been to give the network a more conspicuously family-oriented identity. Tarses pulls her knees up to her chest and swivels a bit in her chair. he asks. She was a mentor and friend, and many of us owe so much to her. She was a hands-on, deeply involved producer who just so totally got my voice and my sense of humor, Ms. Thomas said. She perfected that understanding as she became a development exec..