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Mike Darnell

January 01, 1970

Michael H. Darnell is an American television executive and is currently the president of unscripted and alternative television at Warner Bros. He spent nearly 19 years at the FOX network as president of alternative entertainment, overseeing the network's reality television division during the genre's rise.[1][2] In 2017, Preston Beckman, a former FOX executive who writes under the pseudonym The Masked Scheduler,[3] called Darnell "the king of reality TV and one of the more interesting, offbeat characters ever to occupy an executive suite."[4]

Mike Darnell
Born
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
EducationCalifornia State University, Northridge
OccupationTelevision executive
Employer(s)Fox (1994–2013)
Warner Bros. Television (2013–present)
Known forReality television projects
SpouseCarolyn Oberman
Children1

Early life and career edit

Mike Darnell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Eileen and Doyle E. Darnell.[5] His father was a policeman, and Darnell was raised and attended public school in Philly's Northeast section. When he was 10, a talent manager saw him singing at a Police Athletic League event and encouraged him to do commercials.[6] When he was 12, his family moved to California, where he eventually appeared in, or voiced-over, some sixty commercials. He also appeared in TV episodes such as Sanford and Son, Welcome Back, Kotter and Kojak.[5][6] Later he worked as a bank teller to help pay his way through Cal State-Northridge. He also played piano at a night spot.[5] Soon after graduating, he had an internship at Entertainment Tonight, which he says he "hated",[5] before he started working at Fox's West Coast flagship station KTTV, within their news department.[7]

Darnell is married to Carolyn Oberman, a public relations executive who works for the Emmy Awards,[8] and they have a daughter.[9] As of 2018, he lives in Calabasas, California.[9]

Fox Broadcasting Company edit

Darnell became an executive at FOX in 1994, initially under the title "director of specials,"[9] and during his 19 years at the network he rose through the ranks to become President of Alternative Entertainment.

He quickly made a name for himself with one of his first hits that came to broad attention in 1995 when a producer brought Darnell black-and-white footage that appeared to portray an alien being dissected. As the network feared accusations of propagating a hoax, the show was broadcast with the title Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction; it drew an audience of nearly twelve million viewers and was rebroadcast several more times.[10][11][12] At one point, he produced over sixty specials a year for Fox,[13] including: When Animals Attack!, World's Wildest Police Videos, Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed, and Man vs Beast. Darnell's projects were known for their often lurid and controversial nature, leading The New York Times to call him "Fox's point man for perversity" in 2000.[7]

Series that Darnell developed and oversaw included iconic projects such as American Idol, Hell’s Kitchen, MasterChef, So You Think You Can Dance, The X Factor, Kitchen Nightmares, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Temptation Island, The Simple Life, My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé, Joe Millionaire, and the launch of the animated series Futurama and Family Guy.[14]

With more than thirty million viewers at its peak, American Idol helped FOX rise from the last place network to eight consecutive seasons as the number one network.[10] Darnell oversaw American Idol from its creation through its twelfth season.[15]

Darnell told Variety that his proudest achievements during his time at FOX included American Idol, the success he had with Gordon Ramsay, and the season finale of Joe Millionaire, which drew about forty million viewers, outranking that year's Academy Awards, and became the network's most-viewed entertainment telecast.[13][16][17]

Warner Bros Television edit

In 2013, Darnell left Fox and began heading up the Unscripted & Alternative division at Warner Bros. where he is responsible for overseeing development and current programming for alternative broadcast series, high-end documentaries, unscripted streaming and cable series, and first-run syndication. In 2017, Darnell and his team oversaw 35 series across 20 different networks,[14] including primetime series such as Ellen’s Game of Games (NBC), The Voice (NBC), The Bachelor franchise (ABC), Mental Samurai (FOX), The Real, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show, among others.[14] That same year, Deadline reported that in Darnell's first four years at Warner Bros, the studio had twelve unscripted series airing in primetime, more than any of its rivals.[18]

In 2019 The World's Best aired on CBS hosted by James Corden.[19] The series was produced by Darnell and his Warner Horizon Unscripted Television division in association with Mark Burnett and MGM Television and Ben Winston and Fulwell 73.[19]

Darnell also created and executive produced the competition series Mental Samurai on Fox hosted by Rob Lowe. The series was produced by Darnell and Warner Horizon in association with Arthur Smith and A. Smith & Co. Productions and Jeff Apploff and Apploff Entertainment.[20]

In 2021, Darnell launched the much-anticipated Friends: The Reunion, rebuilding the sets and bringing the whole cast back together at Warner Bros Stage 24 where the original show was filmed. Darnell said, “I’m a huge fan of that show, almost everybody is. And I came to Warner Bros., it was the twentieth anniversary of that show, and I was like, “We’ve got to get this done. Why aren’t we doing this?'”.[21] After production was delayed multiple times because of COVID-19 production shutdowns, the special finally aired on May 27, 2021 and was watched by an estimated 29% of U.S. streaming households and became the top special to launch on HBO Max.[22]

Darnell continued to find success with big documentaries and events such as the Emmy-nominated HBO Max doc Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, bringing the famous ensemble cast back together in a grand retrospective celebration of the franchise. In addition, Darnell produced Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses, hosted by Dame Helen Mirren, which launched on TBS and Cartoon Network and was the most watched series across all cable networks for the year 2021.[23]

Darnell’s oversight of his Warner Bros Unscripted division is quite broad with averaging nearly 2,500 hours of programming annually across broadcast, cable, streaming, digital, first-run syndication and podcasts; which has continued to make Darnell’s division the leading unscripted studio in America.[24]

In July 2023, Mike Darnell is resigning from his position as President of Unscripted Television at Warner Bros, after 10 years in that role.[25]

References edit

  1. ^ Lesley Goldberg & Michael O'Connell (May 24, 2013). "Mike Darnell Exits as Fox Reality Boss". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on June 11, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
  2. ^ Friedman, Wayne (August 7, 2007). "Darnell Stays At Fox, But Upped To Prez, Alternative Entertainment". MediaPost News. from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
  3. ^ Rose, Lacey (September 2, 2015). "TV's "Masked Scheduler" Reflects on 35-Year Career: Nabbing Aniston for 'Friends,' Toying with Dick Wolf". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  4. ^ . TV by the Numbers. December 15, 2017. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d Weiner, Jannifer (December 29, 1998). . Philly.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  6. ^ a b Carter, Bill (2007). Desperate Networks. New York, NY: Random House. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-7679-2786-4.
  7. ^ a b Kuczynski, Alex; Carter, Bill (February 26, 2000). "Fox's Point Man For Perversity; 'World's Scariest Programmer,' Starring Mike Darnell as himself". The New York Times. from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  8. ^ Seal, Mark (2003). "The story behind the reality TV golden era". Vanity Fair. from the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  9. ^ a b c Koblin, John (May 13, 2018). "Reality TV Kingpin Mike Darnell Wants One More Hit". New York Times. from the original on October 1, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  10. ^ a b Bradley, Laura. "Meet the Mad Genius Who Invented Reality TV as We Know It". HWD. from the original on July 1, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  11. ^ "How an Alien Autopsy Hoax Captured the World's Imagination for a Decade". Time. June 24, 2016. from the original on January 10, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  12. ^ Carter, Bill (2006). Desperate Networks. Doubleday. p. 97. ISBN 9780385514408.
  13. ^ a b Littleton, Cynthia (May 25, 2013). "Mike Darnell's Greatest Hits: 'Joe Millionaire,' 'Alien Autopsy' and Seth MacFarlane". Variety. from the original on August 31, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  14. ^ a b c "Mike Darnell to enter Realscreen Awards Hall of Fame". realscreen. April 12, 2017. from the original on October 5, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  15. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (April 7, 2016). "'American Idol' Finale: Former Fox Reality Chief Mike Darnell On The Show's Origin Story & If It's The Right Time To Say Goodbye". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on February 12, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  16. ^ Kissell, Rick (February 18, 2003). "'Joe Millionaire' mega-money for Fox". Variety. from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  17. ^ Baker, Katie (May 1, 2020). "'Joe Millionaire' Turned Reality TV Into the Super Bowl. Then It Vanished". The Ringer. Spotify. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  18. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 28, 2017). "Warner Bros' Mike Darnell On Growing Slate, Expanding 'The Bachelor' Franchise, Possible 'American Idol' Return & More". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on October 2, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  19. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (February 7, 2018). "CBS Orders 'The World's Best' Global Talent Competition Reality Series From Mark Burnett & Mike Darnell". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on July 10, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  20. ^ Otterson, Joe (August 2, 2018). "Fox Orders Competition Series 'Mental Samurai' Hosted by Rob Lowe". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  21. ^ "Mike Darnell Reveals 'Friends' Cast Made 'Quite a Lot of Money' from Reunion Show". November 29, 2022.
  22. ^ "'Friends: The Reunion' Was Almost as Big as 'Wonder Woman 1984' on HBO Max". May 29, 2021.
  23. ^ https://www.facebook.com/tony.maglio.7?ref=tn_tnmn (December 2, 2021). "Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses Debut Conjures up Some Ratings Magic". Retrieved July 13, 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help); External link in |last= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ "WarnerBros.com | "Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts" Premiering Jan. 1 on HBO Max | Press Releases". www.warnerbros.com. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  25. ^ "Mike Darnell Departs As President Of Unscripted Television At Warner Bros". Deadline Hollywood. July 13, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.

External links edit

  • "Mike Darnell on ‘Little Big Shots,’ ‘The Bachelor,’ Ellen DeGeneres and ‘Love Connection’" April 3, 2017

January 01, 1970
mike, darnell, michael, darnell, american, television, executive, currently, president, unscripted, alternative, television, warner, bros, spent, nearly, years, network, president, alternative, entertainment, overseeing, network, reality, television, division,. Michael H Darnell is an American television executive and is currently the president of unscripted and alternative television at Warner Bros He spent nearly 19 years at the FOX network as president of alternative entertainment overseeing the network s reality television division during the genre s rise 1 2 In 2017 Preston Beckman a former FOX executive who writes under the pseudonym The Masked Scheduler 3 called Darnell the king of reality TV and one of the more interesting offbeat characters ever to occupy an executive suite 4 Mike DarnellBornPhiladelphia Pennsylvania U S EducationCalifornia State University NorthridgeOccupationTelevision executiveEmployer s Fox 1994 2013 Warner Bros Television 2013 present Known forReality television projectsSpouseCarolyn ObermanChildren1 Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Fox Broadcasting Company 3 Warner Bros Television 4 References 5 External linksEarly life and career editMike Darnell was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania to Eileen and Doyle E Darnell 5 His father was a policeman and Darnell was raised and attended public school in Philly s Northeast section When he was 10 a talent manager saw him singing at a Police Athletic League event and encouraged him to do commercials 6 When he was 12 his family moved to California where he eventually appeared in or voiced over some sixty commercials He also appeared in TV episodes such as Sanford and Son Welcome Back Kotter and Kojak 5 6 Later he worked as a bank teller to help pay his way through Cal State Northridge He also played piano at a night spot 5 Soon after graduating he had an internship at Entertainment Tonight which he says he hated 5 before he started working at Fox s West Coast flagship station KTTV within their news department 7 Darnell is married to Carolyn Oberman a public relations executive who works for the Emmy Awards 8 and they have a daughter 9 As of 2018 update he lives in Calabasas California 9 Fox Broadcasting Company editDarnell became an executive at FOX in 1994 initially under the title director of specials 9 and during his 19 years at the network he rose through the ranks to become President of Alternative Entertainment He quickly made a name for himself with one of his first hits that came to broad attention in 1995 when a producer brought Darnell black and white footage that appeared to portray an alien being dissected As the network feared accusations of propagating a hoax the show was broadcast with the title Alien Autopsy Fact or Fiction it drew an audience of nearly twelve million viewers and was rebroadcast several more times 10 11 12 At one point he produced over sixty specials a year for Fox 13 including When Animals Attack World s Wildest Police Videos Breaking the Magician s Code Magic s Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed and Man vs Beast Darnell s projects were known for their often lurid and controversial nature leading The New York Times to call him Fox s point man for perversity in 2000 7 Series that Darnell developed and oversaw included iconic projects such as American Idol Hell s Kitchen MasterChef So You Think You Can Dance The X Factor Kitchen Nightmares Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader Temptation Island The Simple Life My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance Joe Millionaire and the launch of the animated series Futurama and Family Guy 14 With more than thirty million viewers at its peak American Idol helped FOX rise from the last place network to eight consecutive seasons as the number one network 10 Darnell oversaw American Idol from its creation through its twelfth season 15 Darnell told Variety that his proudest achievements during his time at FOX included American Idol the success he had with Gordon Ramsay and the season finale of Joe Millionaire which drew about forty million viewers outranking that year s Academy Awards and became the network s most viewed entertainment telecast 13 16 17 Warner Bros Television editIn 2013 Darnell left Fox and began heading up the Unscripted amp Alternative division at Warner Bros where he is responsible for overseeing development and current programming for alternative broadcast series high end documentaries unscripted streaming and cable series and first run syndication In 2017 Darnell and his team oversaw 35 series across 20 different networks 14 including primetime series such as Ellen s Game of Games NBC The Voice NBC The Bachelor franchise ABC Mental Samurai FOX The Real and The Ellen DeGeneres Show among others 14 That same year Deadline reported that in Darnell s first four years at Warner Bros the studio had twelve unscripted series airing in primetime more than any of its rivals 18 In 2019 The World s Best aired on CBS hosted by James Corden 19 The series was produced by Darnell and his Warner Horizon Unscripted Television division in association with Mark Burnett and MGM Television and Ben Winston and Fulwell 73 19 Darnell also created and executive produced the competition series Mental Samurai on Fox hosted by Rob Lowe The series was produced by Darnell and Warner Horizon in association with Arthur Smith and A Smith amp Co Productions and Jeff Apploff and Apploff Entertainment 20 In 2021 Darnell launched the much anticipated Friends The Reunion rebuilding the sets and bringing the whole cast back together at Warner Bros Stage 24 where the original show was filmed Darnell said I m a huge fan of that show almost everybody is And I came to Warner Bros it was the twentieth anniversary of that show and I was like We ve got to get this done Why aren t we doing this 21 After production was delayed multiple times because of COVID 19 production shutdowns the special finally aired on May 27 2021 and was watched by an estimated 29 of U S streaming households and became the top special to launch on HBO Max 22 Darnell continued to find success with big documentaries and events such as the Emmy nominated HBO Max doc Harry Potter 20th Anniversary Return to Hogwarts bringing the famous ensemble cast back together in a grand retrospective celebration of the franchise In addition Darnell produced Harry Potter Hogwarts Tournament of Houses hosted by Dame Helen Mirren which launched on TBS and Cartoon Network and was the most watched series across all cable networks for the year 2021 23 Darnell s oversight of his Warner Bros Unscripted division is quite broad with averaging nearly 2 500 hours of programming annually across broadcast cable streaming digital first run syndication and podcasts which has continued to make Darnell s division the leading unscripted studio in America 24 In July 2023 Mike Darnell is resigning from his position as President of Unscripted Television at Warner Bros after 10 years in that role 25 References edit Lesley Goldberg amp Michael O Connell May 24 2013 Mike Darnell Exits as Fox Reality Boss The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on June 11 2013 Retrieved May 24 2013 Friedman Wayne August 7 2007 Darnell Stays At Fox But Upped To Prez Alternative Entertainment MediaPost News Archived from the original on February 2 2014 Retrieved May 24 2013 Rose Lacey September 2 2015 TV s Masked Scheduler Reflects on 35 Year Career Nabbing Aniston for Friends Toying with Dick Wolf The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved September 25 2021 Masked Scheduler Rupert Murdoch may not be done with deals for FOX TV by the Numbers December 15 2017 Archived from the original on August 28 2018 Retrieved October 1 2018 a b c d Weiner Jannifer December 29 1998 Inventing A Fox Formula when Good Pets Go Bad when Stunts Go Bad when Disaster Strikes Critics Cringe But Programmers Love These Profitable Specials Where Do The Ideas Come From Meet Mike Darnell Philly com Archived from the original on April 2 2015 Retrieved May 26 2013 a b Carter Bill 2007 Desperate Networks New York NY Random House p 96 ISBN 978 0 7679 2786 4 a b Kuczynski Alex Carter Bill February 26 2000 Fox s Point Man For Perversity World s Scariest Programmer Starring Mike Darnell as himself The New York Times Archived from the original on June 12 2018 Retrieved October 1 2018 Seal Mark 2003 The story behind the reality TV golden era Vanity Fair Archived from the original on April 13 2016 Retrieved October 1 2018 a b c Koblin John May 13 2018 Reality TV Kingpin Mike Darnell Wants One More Hit New York Times Archived from the original on October 1 2018 Retrieved October 1 2018 a b Bradley Laura Meet the Mad Genius Who Invented Reality TV as We Know It HWD Archived from the original on July 1 2017 Retrieved October 1 2018 How an Alien Autopsy Hoax Captured the World s Imagination for a Decade Time June 24 2016 Archived from the original on January 10 2018 Retrieved October 1 2018 Carter Bill 2006 Desperate Networks Doubleday p 97 ISBN 9780385514408 a b Littleton Cynthia May 25 2013 Mike Darnell s Greatest Hits Joe Millionaire Alien Autopsy and Seth MacFarlane Variety Archived from the original on August 31 2018 Retrieved October 1 2018 a b c Mike Darnell to enter Realscreen Awards Hall of Fame realscreen April 12 2017 Archived from the original on October 5 2018 Retrieved October 1 2018 Andreeva Nellie April 7 2016 American Idol Finale Former Fox Reality Chief Mike Darnell On The Show s Origin Story amp If It s The Right Time To Say Goodbye Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on February 12 2017 Retrieved October 1 2018 Kissell Rick February 18 2003 Joe Millionaire mega money for Fox Variety Archived from the original on July 13 2018 Retrieved October 1 2018 Baker Katie May 1 2020 Joe Millionaire Turned Reality TV Into the Super Bowl Then It Vanished The Ringer Spotify Retrieved September 26 2021 Andreeva Nellie March 28 2017 Warner Bros Mike Darnell On Growing Slate Expanding The Bachelor Franchise Possible American Idol Return amp More Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on October 2 2018 Retrieved October 1 2018 a b Andreeva Nellie February 7 2018 CBS Orders The World s Best Global Talent Competition Reality Series From Mark Burnett amp Mike Darnell Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on July 10 2018 Retrieved October 1 2018 Otterson Joe August 2 2018 Fox Orders Competition Series Mental Samurai Hosted by Rob Lowe Deadline Hollywood Retrieved August 2 2018 Mike Darnell Reveals Friends Cast Made Quite a Lot of Money from Reunion Show November 29 2022 Friends The Reunion Was Almost as Big as Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max May 29 2021 https www facebook com tony maglio 7 ref tn tnmn December 2 2021 Harry Potter Hogwarts Tournament of Houses Debut Conjures up Some Ratings Magic Retrieved July 13 2023 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a last has generic name help External link in code class cs1 code last code help CS1 maint numeric names authors list link WarnerBros com Harry Potter 20th Anniversary Return to Hogwarts Premiering Jan 1 on HBO Max Press Releases www warnerbros com Retrieved July 13 2023 Mike Darnell Departs As President Of Unscripted Television At Warner Bros Deadline Hollywood July 13 2023 Retrieved July 14 2023 External links edit Mike Darnell on Little Big Shots The Bachelor Ellen DeGeneres and Love Connection April 3 2017 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mike Darnell amp oldid 1192411870, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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