When she arrived at ABC in the spring of 1996, Tarses was the second-youngest person to be the lead programmer of a network. Her age, along with her status as the first woman to have that prestigious job, resulted in an unusual amount of scrutiny, often negative. Tarses interrupts herself. After leaving ABC, Tarses worked on several other series over the years, including Happy Endings and most recently Amazon's The Wilds. February 27, 2023 endeavor air pilot contract No Comments . Sara James Tarses was an American television producer and television studio executive. Michael Ovitz, the polarizing former power agent, had become Disneys president. 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. (Neither Ohlmeyer nor Tarses will discuss the allegations for the record.) ''I can't exactly say it was fun while it lasted. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Jamie Tarses, the first female president of a broadcast network, died Monday followingcomplications from a cardiac event last fall, her family confirmed in a statementprovided by Sony Pictures Television, where she had a production deal. 'Hiller and Diller.' It was the professional thing to do. Legal experts weigh in, ChatGPT who? "She was never happier than when she was with Wyatt and Sloane. (Ohlmeyer blamed Ovitz for the rumour and publicly called him the Antichrist, leading to a media frenzy.) I'm new. And, finally, ''Hobbies, schmobbies. The agents and studios take over entire floors of hotels, set up conference rooms, install extra phone lines and lobby for their shows, new and old. She joined NBC in 1987 in the current comedy programming division (shows already on the air), where she monitored scripts for shows like Cheers and A Different World, starring Lisa Bonet. ABC has settled on 30 pilots for the fall season, 17 half-hour comedies and 13 hourlong dramas. When Eisner would finally agree to put something on the air, he would harangue Harbert about the price for the number of episodes ordered. Then Tarses adds, backtracking a little, ''We are trying to move into the future, and this is not indicative of the future.''. Tarses held several executive producer roles throughout the 2000s. She might try magazines. While at ABC, she helped develop and greenlight Dharma & Greg. Tarsess departure from NBC was ugly. Under the terms of her release from NBC, Tarses, who left in the middle of development season, could not begin at ABC for four months. She was the first woman and one of the youngest people to hold such a post in an American broadcast network. ''We break Roseanne and Dan up, we get them together -- nobody cares.''. Whether Tarses' style bothered Harbert is hard to say. they can tell you in their sleep.''. Michael Ovitz, the polarising former power agent, had become Disneys president. Tarses stares a second, as if to say, What did I do now? ), 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. Jamie Tarses Children. Tarses had made it through scheduling and then a meeting with the affiliates in Florida. LOS ANGELES A young, female executive arrives in the mens locker room that was broadcast television in the 1990s and snaps a few towels of her own, working with writers to shape juggernaut comedies like Mad About You and Friends. She is so good at spotting hits that she becomes, at 32, the president of entertainment at ABC, the first woman ever to serve as a networks top programmer. Her death was confirmed by a family spokeswoman, who said the cause was "complications from a cardiac. Jamie was a trailblazer in the truest sense of the word, Karey Burke, current president of Disneys 20th Television and previous president of ABC Entertainment, told the Hollywood Reporter in a statement. [7], Tarses left NBC in 1996 amidst a significant amount of press coverage. Tarses looks up from the paper and tugs at her hair. The work is a blast, she told the Los Angeles Times after her departure from ABC in 1999. ''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. ''It's a beautiful day,'' flashes on the screen. ''. She seems surprisingly calm discussing this a few days later over dinner at Gabriel's, not far from ABC's offices in New York. Will Dominion-Fox News lawsuit be different? (if applicable) for The Wall Street Journal. During the 1996-97 season only 49 percent of prime-time viewers watched the big three, down from 73.5 percent in 1986. It is an afternoon in early may, near the end of pilot season, the frantic time when TV executives decide on their schedules of shows for the fall, and Jamie Tarses, the 33-year-old president of ABC Entertainment, is driving her Range Rover from her office in Century City to a meeting across town. he says later. 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. But she fizzles in epic fashion, brought down by corporate dysfunction, unvarnished sexism, self-sabotage, weaponized industry gossip and scalding news media scrutiny. Gossip swirled in Hollywood that she solved the problem by claiming that she had been sexually harassed by Don Ohlmeyer, a senior NBC executive. prodigy whose instincts for hip prime-time shows might revive the Walt Disney Upstart broadcast competitors the scrappy Fox, UPN, the WB were siphoning young adult viewers away from the US Big Three networks. Once Tarses accepted Ovitz's offer to go to ABC, there was the matter of her existing contract. The Walt Disney Company had purchased ABC shortly before Ms. Tarses arrived, heightening Wall Street scrutiny and intensifying corporate politics. It doesn't matter. I gave Jamie the keys and I have no plans to ask for them back. But Ovitz had been Eisner's choice, and this was Ovitz's first big hire, and Eisner was willing to go with his choice. Women are emotional, and Jamie is particularly emotional, one male agent, speaking anonymously, was quoted as saying. She seems to trust no one and is tense nearly all the time. No, You Cant Build Here, Opinion: About Those Free Tickets to Hong Kong, Opinion: China Remains the Worlds Pandemic Risk. 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. We are delighted that you'd like to resume your subscription. She was eventually hired back by NBC as manager of creative affairs for NBC Productions, Deadline reported. ''The Laybourne rumors created something of a backlash,'' she says. The role of Jamie Buchman ultimately came down to two people: Hunt and Teri Hatcher. He is also the author of three books about television, including a biography of pioneer talk show host and producer David Susskind. Tarses walked into a mess at ABC. Her brother, the comedy writer Matt Tarses, has credits like Scrubs and The Goldbergs.). When she can't reach him she stares into the middle distance, looking worried. (''What am I going to do, lie?'' Her client's room choice surprised Shamshiri. Tarses' brother, Matt Tarses, reflected on his sister's life in a statement released on Monday to The Wrap. She shattered stereotypes and ideas about what a female executive could achieve, and paved the way for others, at a cost to herself, said Karey Burke, a friend and former colleague who now heads 20th Television. As an executive and producer, she was a champion for storytellers, having been raised by one of the all-time greats. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much She had shepherded the cuddly Mad About You and the neurotic Frasier to NBCs prime-time lineup. '', The fact that Tarses is a woman, the first woman ever to be an entertainment chief at one of the big three networks, did not concern ABC, although, not surprisingly, her being a woman has turned out to be a complicating factor. 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It wasn't a dictatorship. Jamie nods, clearly annoyed. Tarses died of complications from a previous cardiac event on Monday, according to numerous outlets, who cited a statement from her family. 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. Sara James Tarses (March 16, 1964 February 1, 2021) was an American television producer and television studio executive. 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 had invented a new. Customer Service. ''Because I'm really rooting for CBS.''. Eager to talk about Laybourne and Newsweek, Tarses dials Morton's cell-phone number. Jamie Tarses attends a 1998 screening of From The Earth To The Moon in Century City, California. Tarses was only 32 when she was named president of ABC Entertainment in June 1996. 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. Be competitive, but don't be arrogant. Tarses was restless, anxious to do the job she had been promised, but she genuinely liked Harbert. Tarses was involved in various charitable organizations, including Young Storytellers, which reaches out to youths by promoting the power of storytelling. ''It's emasculating,'' she says at one point, choosing a strange word. It's no wonder I feel a little paranoid and beat up.''. ''What are you doing outside? A veteran television executive, Stuart Bloomberg, was installed above Tarses. In particular they are frantically searching to hold on to the 18-to-49-year-olds that advertisers want most to reach. Hunt won out when she "brilliantly" imitated Reiser trying to decide what to . She was a hands-on, deeply involved producer who just so totally got my voice and my sense of humor, Ms. Thomas said. Disney's original thought had been to give the network a more conspicuously family-oriented identity. 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. Biz Markie, DJ And 'Just A Friend' Rapper, Dies After Stroke In April July 17, 202111:19 AM ET Heard on All Things Considered Andrew Limbong Rapper and DJ Biz Markie has died. ''You'd think a company this big could end this,'' Tarses says of the article, sounding despondent. We'll have a meeting and I can tell if she's hurt by something, like I've wounded her personally. Ms. Tarsess departure from NBC was ugly. 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. Sara James Tarses was born in Pittsburgh on March 16, 1964 to Jay and Rachel (Newdell) Tarses. As president for entertainment, Tarses must oversee the development of 40-odd pilots, prime-time shows that she hopes will plug ABC's ratings holes. And then, Tarses had Morton attending network promo meetings in New York. My entire existence has been about defending myself. ''What would the premise be?'' ", Women:50 most powerful women in entertainment, In 1996, Tarses was appointed president of ABC Entertainment, one of the youngest executives to lead a large network entertainment division. It is hip and self-referential, while ABC's new shows are not. At a time when all of the big networks were losing young viewers, Ms. Tarses seemed to speak the language of that coveted audience,the Wall Street Journalwrote at the time. 2. [18][19] Tarses was a consultant for Studio 60. (Sweeps are the thrice-yearly, monthlong periods that establish advertising rates for the local stations.) To ABC, Tarses represented youth and, more important, a key to the secrets of NBC, the No. 4 Jamie Tarses has passed away after a cardiac arrest Credit: GETTY IMAGES Jamie Tarses, Trailblazing TV Exec, Dies at 56 By the end, ABC had changed 13 hours out of a 22-hour schedule. Sara James Tarses was born in Pittsburgh on March 16, 1964 to Jay and Rachel (Newdell) Tarses. What do you think of 'Hiller and McDiller'? Talking this spring with Iger about Tarses, he seems supportive but vague about her. More from Variety. ''It was better than we thought it would be,'' says Betsy Frank, an advertising executive and close observer of the television business. [20] Later, she had a company called FanFare Productions at Sony Pictures Television. ''I don't want to sound silly -- this will be difficult. Brandon Tartikoff, NBCs much-admired entertainment chief, became her mentor. 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. A scene is played; Tarses studies one of the monitors and then sends Bukinik with her desired changes to the director. Tarses returns to her seat below the monitor. Jamie Tarses died in Los Angeles on February 1, 2021, at age 56, according to Tarses' family. 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. And he had, in Tarses' case, an explosive means of setting her free: sexual harassment. 1 among 18-to-49-year-olds. he repeats. We will miss her greatly.. It's the worst trait you can have. ''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. She suffered a stroke late last year and had spent a long period in a coma. Blue.'' So were cable channels. They divorced in 1996. [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 was busy defending himself. ''You can discuss the pros and cons of every show only so many times, and then you have to render a decision. A kind of last straw may have come when Tarses gave the go-ahead to a fall pilot -- which Eisner and Iger had turned down for the schedule -- as a midseason replacement show; furious, Iger ordered her to cancel the show. Tarses, who is avoiding the agent-producer hard sell by spending most of her free time at Morton's apartment, rather than at her suite at the Four Seasons, actually seems to be, for the first time in nearly a year, happy. She plays the girl.'' 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. A lot of it was pure sexism, said Betsy Thomas, a screenwriter and friend. woman ever to run a network entertainment division. ''Bob sent me a funny fax.'' Tarses is pleased with her response. 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. And yet, there are those, like Ovitz, who underestimated Iger's corporate savvy. Tarses decides to call Iger in New York for his advice. She was 56. A tendril has come loose and Tarses is fussing with it, tugging at the stray hair, distracted by it and by other things. She left ABC with one popular sitcom, Dharma & Greg, and one comedy that was a hit with critics, Aaron Sorkins Sports Night. Paramount to pay $122.5 million to settle lawsuit over CBS deal. She is survived by her partner Paddy Aubrey; their children, Wyatt and Sloane; her parents, Jay and Rachel Tarses; her siblings, Matt and Mallory Tarses; her sister-in-law, Katie Tarses; three nieces; and a nephew.