Andrew Ross Breckman (born March 3, 1955) is an American television and film writer and a radio personality on

WFMU WFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station, licensed to East Orange, New Jersey. Since 1998 its studios and operating facilities have been headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. It broadcasts locally at 91.1 Mhz FM, i ...

. He is the creator and executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning television series ''

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

'' on the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

, and is co-host of

radio's long-running conceptual comedy program ''

Seven Second Delay ''Seven Second Delay'' is a comedy radio show broadcast on radio station WFMU. It has been hosted by Ken Freedman and Andy Breckman since the early 1990s. The show is self described as "on air radio stunts." In March 2022, as part of a radio sta ...

''. He has written screenplays for a number of comedy films including '' Sgt. Bilko'' (starring

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...

) and ''

Rat Race A rat race is an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit. The phrase equates humans to rats attempting to earn a reward such as cheese, in vain. It may also refer to a competitive struggle to get ahead financially or routinely. The term is ...

'' (directed by

Jerry Zucker Jerry Gordon Zucker (born March 11, 1950) is an American film producer, director, and writer known for his role in directing comedy spoof films such as ''Airplane!'' and '' Top Secret!'', and the Best Picture-nominated supernatural drama film ' ...

), and is frequently hired as a " script doctor" to inject humorous content into scripts written by other

screenwriters A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. T ...

Television work

Breckman wrote for '' Late Night with David Letterman'' from 1982 to 1984, and contributed sketches to ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'' from 1983 to 1996. One of his most well-known vignettes was a ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch called "White Like Me" (which he also

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

), in which Eddie Murphy disguises himself as a

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

for a day. In 2003 he served as a jokewriter for comedian

's stint as host of the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. Breckman's biggest success, ''Monk'', was a

murder-mystery Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

with a humorous edge. Breckman told '' New Jersey Monthly'' that he was a voracious reader of the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, John D. MacDonald, and other authors of “solvable” mysteries, as well as being a big fan of the TV series '' Columbo''. “In a way, it’s similar to comedy writing,” he says. "It's puzzles and puzzle solving. Very logical." In August 2009, USA Network launched ''

Little Monk The following is a complete episode list for the criminal dramedy television series ''Monk''. It premiered on the USA Network on July 12, 2002 in the United States and ended with a two-part series finale on November 27 and December 4, 2009. The c ...

'', a spinoff series that portrays the main character, detective

Adrian Monk Adrian Monk, portrayed by Tony Shalhoub, is the title character and protagonist of the USA Network television series '' Monk''. He is a renowned former homicide detective for the San Francisco Police Department. Monk has obsessive–compuls ...

, as a child. Breckman was part of the show's team of writers. He wrote seven episodes of the 2000-2001

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...

series ''

TV Funhouse ''Saturday TV Funhouse'' is a segment on NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' featuring cartoons created by ''SNL'' writer Robert Smigel. 101 "TV Funhouse" segments aired on ''SNL'' between 1996 and 2008, with one further segment airing in 2011. It also ...

'', and in 2015 wrote "Dog Show" for ''

The Jack and Triumph Show ''The Jack and Triumph Show'' is a television sitcom from Universal Television for Adult Swim that premiered on February 20, 2015, and ended on April 3, 2015, with a total of 7 episodes. The live-action series was created by Robert Smigel, Michae ...

''. In July 2016 he was part of a team of writers for

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog Triumph the Insult Comic Dog is a puppet character created, puppeteered and voiced by Robert Smigel. As his name indicates, Triumph's comedic style is almost exclusively insult comedy. A Montenegrin Mountain Hound, Triumph often puffs a cigar ...

's coverage of the Republican National Convention in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

and the Democratic National Convention in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. '' The Good Cop'', another humorous murder-mystery series created and written by Breckman, debuted on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

in September 2018. (It ran for ten episodes before being cancelled.) The show starred

Tony Danza Tony Danza (born Anthony Salvatore Iadanza; April 21, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for co-starring in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983) and '' Who's the Boss?'' (1984–1992), for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award a ...

as Tony Caruso Sr., "a disgraced, former

NYPD The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

officer who never followed the rules," and

Josh Groban Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, wi ...

as his son, Tony "T.J." Caruso Jr., a squeaky-clean homicide detective. About the series, Breckman said, "Many cop shows feature dark and provocative material: psycho-sexual killers, twisted, grim, flawed detectives. Many address the most controversial issues of the day. I watch a lot of them. God bless 'em all. But the show I want to produce is playful, family-friendly, and a celebration of old-fashioned puzzle-solving." In October 2018, TBS announced it would be launching a new TV series, '' The Misery Index'', starring members of the Tenderloins comedy troupe, based on Breckman's card game, "Shit Happens". Breckman developed the TV version with Ben and Dan Newmark of Grandma’s House Entertainment. The series premiered on October 22, 2019. On December 3, 2019, it was announced the series was renewed for a second season. In 2021 it completed its third season. Breckman is professionally represented by

Creative Artists Agency Creative Artists Agency LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. It is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous clients. In March 2016, CAA had 1,800 emplo ...

and

3 Arts Entertainment 3 Arts Entertainment is an American talent management and television/film production company founded by Erwin Stoff, Michael Rotenberg and Howard Klein in 1991. The company has gone on to produce TV shows such as '' King of the Hill'', ''The Of ...

Profile

Breckman was born in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, United States, to a middle-class Jewish family. He grew up in

Haddonfield, New Jersey :''Not the fictional Illinois town from the Halloween film series.'' Haddonfield is a borough located in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough had a total population of 11,593,

and attended Moorestown Friends School and

Haddonfield Memorial High School Haddonfield Memorial High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade from Haddonfield, in Camden County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary sch ...

. Breckman dropped out of

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

in his freshman year, and despite an admitted lack of musical ability, he launched a brief career as a satirical

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

. He released two albums of original songs, ''Don't Get Killed'' and ''Proud Dad''. Breckman lives in

Madison, New Jersey Madison is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 16,937. Located along the Morris & Essex Lines, it is noted for Madison's historic railroad station becoming on ...

with his wife, documentary filmmaker Beth Landau, whom he met on the dating pages of Nerve.com and who is nicknamed "Boo." They have two children, Molly and Evan. In 2011, Andy and Beth were a featured couple in the documentary ''When Strangers Click'', a film about internet dating. As an engagement present, Breckman applied his fiancée's name (spelled "Beth Landow") to the murder victim in ''Monks season two (2003) episode, " Mr. Monk Goes Back to School". He honored his wife again by naming a murder victim after her in ''The Good Cop,'' season 1, episode 6, "Did the TV Star Do It?". Breckman has three children, Josh, Rachel, and Julie, from a previous marriage.

Radio

Since 1992, Breckman and WFMU station manager

Ken Freedman Ken Freedman (born February 18, 1959) is general manager of WFMU, a freeform and independent radio station. He co-hosts the comedy program Seven Second Delay with Andy Breckman, as well as hosting his own freeform radio program. Freedman is a r ...

have co-hosted a weekly one-hour comedy radio program, ''

''. The premise of the program seems to be a never-ending series of dead-on-arrival concepts, with the comedic value hinging on Breckman's recurring acknowledgment of failure and his desire to go home as quickly as possible. Breckman has described his co-host as "a sad, bitter little man and WFMU's fundraisers are a good time to humiliate him and exploit his willingness to do just about anything, including prostituting himself, to raise money for his adorable little public hippy noise radio station." From 2009 to 2012, ''Seven Second Delay'' broadcast remotely from the

Upright Citizens Brigade Theater The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (shorter UCB Theatre) is an American improvisational theatre company and training center founded by the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe members Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh. Prior t ...

comedy club in Manhattan. In 2011 the UCB shows went

bi-weekly A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days," since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights). Astronomy and tides In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is ha ...

. Guests on the program included Dick Cavett,

Joe Franklin Joe Franklin (March 9, 1926 – January 24, 2015), born Joseph Fortgang, was an American radio and television host personality, author and actor from New York City. Franklin is noted for having the first talk show and inventing the format. His te ...

Amy Sedaris Amy Louise Sedaris (; born March 29, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Most recently, she has appeared in both ''The Mandalorian'' (2019–2020) and '' The Book of Boba Fett'' (2022) as Peli Motto. She played Jerri Blank in the ...

Peter Stampfel Peter Stampfel (born October 29, 1938, in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin) is an American fiddle player, old-time musician, and singer-songwriter. Stampfel is best known as a member of the Holy Modal Rounders, a psychedelic folk band that he founded with ...

Jules Feiffer Jules Ralph Feiffer (born January 26, 1929)''Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; Page 107 is an American cartoonist and author, who was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 as North- ...

, Andrew VanWyngarden (of the band MGMT),

Dan Okrent Daniel Okrent (born April 2, 1948) is an American writer and editing, editor. He is best known for having served as the first public editor of ''The New York Times'' newspaper, inventing Rotisserie League Baseball, and for writing several books ( ...

Nora Ephron Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for her romantic comedy films and was nominated three times for the Writers Guild of America Award and the Academy Award for ...

Wallace Shawn Wallace Michael Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, playwright, and essayist. His film roles include Wally Shawn (a fictionalized version of himself) in '' My Dinner with Andre'' (1981), Vizzini in ''The Princess Bride'' (1987), ...

, Jim Downey, and numerous other celebrities with whom Breckman is familiar, as well as lesser-known fringe figures, whom Breckman ridiculed on the air for not being well-known celebrities. In 1998, Gadfly Records released ''Death-Defying Radio Stunts'', a CD of outrageous moments from ''Seven Second Delay'' studio broadcasts.

Other projects

In 2003, Breckman took part in a

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

tour to US military war zones, contributing material for his former ''Saturday Night Live'' colleague, comedian

Al Franken Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American comedian, politician, media personality, and author who served as a United States senator from Minnesota from 2009 to 2018. He gained fame as a writer and performer on the television comed ...

. In 2014 he launched a line of unusual toys under the brand name Uncle Andy Toys. Products which have reached the consumer market include ''Real Life Travel Bingo'', ''Who Tooted?'', and ''Rigged Trivia''. In 2015 he launched "Feed a Puppy," a live-streaming interactive animal app featuring real rescue puppies, in which users purchase treats to feed the puppies, with a portion of sales receipts donated to rescue shelters. In 2016, he funded his new card game, ''Shit Happens'', with a successful Kickstarter campaign. Breckman taught a weekly course on television comedy writing at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

in 2016.

Feud with Don McLean

Early in his singing career, Breckman was given the opportunity to perform as opening act for " American Pie" singer

Don McLean Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1971 hit song " American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minute folk rock "cultural touchstone" about the loss of innocence of the early ...

, with whom he shared management. The two did not get along, and a feud developed that has persisted to the present day. Andy Breckman wrote about the feud and Don McLean responded to Breckman's claims on WFMU's website.

Filmography

Films

* '' Moving'' (1988) * '' Arthur 2: On the Rocks'' (1988) * ''

Hot to Trot ''Hot to Trot'' is a 1988 American comedy film directed by Michael Dinner, written by Hugo Gilbert, Stephen Neigher, Charlie Peters and Andy Breckman and stars Bobcat Goldthwait (credited as Bob Goldthwait), Virginia Madsen, Jim Metzler, Dabney Co ...

'' (1988) * ''

True Identity ''True Identity'' is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Charles Lane and starring Lenny Henry, Frank Langella and Anne-Marie Johnson. The plot revolves around a black man (Henry), who disguises himself as a white man to escape the mob. Plo ...

'' (1991) * ''

I.Q. An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence. The abbreviation "IQ" was coined by the psychologist William Stern for the German term ''Intelligenzq ...

'' (1994) * '' Sgt. Bilko'' (1996) * ''

'' (2001)

TV and video

* ''Hot Hero Sandwich'' (1979) * '' Late Night with David Letterman'' (1982) * ''

'' (1983–1996) * ''Tourist Trap'' (1998) * ''

'' (2000) * ''

'' (2002–2009) * ''The 75th Annual

'' (2003) * '' The Good Cop'' (2018) * '' The Misery Index'' (2019)

Discography

* ''Don't Get Killed'' (Gadfly Records, 1990) * ''Proud Dad'' (Gadfly Records, 1994) * ''Death-Defying Radio Stunts'' (Gadfly Records, 1998)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Breckman, Andy 1955 births American comedy musicians American male screenwriters American television writers Boston University alumni Fast Folk artists Haddonfield Memorial High School alumni Jewish American screenwriters Jewish American comedians Living people People from Haddonfield, New Jersey People from Madison, New Jersey Radio personalities from Philadelphia American radio DJs Showrunners American male television writers Comedians from Pennsylvania Screenwriters from Pennsylvania Screenwriters from New Jersey 21st-century American Jews