Ben Karlin (born c. 1971) is an American

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television net ...

and writer. He has won eight

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

awards, and is best known for his work in '' The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' and ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focuse ...

''. He is one of three co-creators of ''The Colbert Report'' along with Stephen Colbert and

Jon Stewart Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...

. Karlin left Comedy Central in December 2006. He has also been a writer for TV show '' Modern Family''. Karlin was tapped to serve as writer, producer and showrunner of a new TV series set within the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

titled ''

Damage Control In navies and the maritime industry, damage control is the emergency control of situations that may cause the sinking of a watercraft. Examples are: * rupture of a pipe or hull especially below the waterline and * damage from grounding (runn ...

'', based on the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

' team with the same name. The series was ordered by ABC Network for consideration in 2017, but not picked up. His book, released February 2008, is a collection of essays entitled ''Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me''. It contains essays by Andy Richter, Will Forte, David Wain, Stephen Colbert,

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...

Bob Odenkirk Robert John Odenkirk (; born October 22, 1962) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker best known for his role as Saul Goodman on ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and its spin-off ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–2022). For the latter, he has re ...

, and many others. Karlin is also the co-editor of ''

America (The Book) ''America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction'' is a 2004 humor book written by Jon Stewart and other writers of ''The Daily Show'' that parodies and satirizes American politics and worldview. It has won several awards, and gene ...

'' alongside

and David Javerbaum. He wrote for '' Space Ghost: Coast to Coast'' and '' The Onion'' from 1993-1996.

Early life

Ben Karlin was born and raised in

Needham, Massachusetts Needham ( ) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. A suburb of Boston, its population was 32,091 at the 2020 U.S. Census. It is home of Olin College. History Early settlement Needham was first settled in 1680 with the purchase of a ...

. He is an alumnus of

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

, where he majored in journalism and served as a reporter at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

in Barcelona. At '' The Onion'' Karlin is credited with coining the term "Area Man". After leaving '' The Onion'', he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and worked as a

script doctor A script doctor is a writer or playwright hired by a film, television, or theatre production company to rewrite an existing script or improve specific aspects of it, including structure, characterization, dialogue, pacing, themes, and other elemen ...

for movies, including ''

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

'', ''

Monkeybone ''Monkeybone'' is a 2001 American black comedy fantasy film directed by Henry Selick, written by Sam Hamm, produced by Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe, and executive produced by Chris Columbus, Selick, and Hamm. The film combines live-acti ...

'' and ''

Titan A.E. ''Titan A.E.'' is a 2000 American animated science fiction film directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, and starring Matt Damon, Bill Pullman, John Leguizamo, Nathan Lane, Janeane Garofalo and Drew Barrymore. Its title refers to the spacecraft cen ...

''.

Career

In his post-''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...

'' life, Karlin filed a lawsuit against Frappe Inc. for backing out of a book contract connected to a TV show hosted by

Mario Batali Mario Francesco Batali (born September 19, 1960) is an American chef, writer, and restaurateur. Batali co-owned restaurants in New York City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; and Newport Beach, California; Boston; Singapore; Westport, Connecticut; and Ne ...

and

Gwyneth Paltrow Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (; born ) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Paltrow gained notice for her early work in films ...

. In a counter-complaint filed on behalf of Frappe, Inc., e-mails are revealed as court evidence in which Ben Karlin is self-described as an “asshole” and “difficult.” Additionally, Karlin has been involved in public conflicts with creative peers/partners such as Benjamin Wallace over ownership of production rights to a wine-fraud related movie. In August 2007, Karlin signed a deal with

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

to produce series, specials, and telepics under the banner of Picturehouse and Karlin's own company, Superego Industries."Daily Show" writer heads to HBO
from Variety In December 2008 it was revealed that SuperEgo Industries was the company behind WonderGlen, a comedy website purporting to be the company intranet for an eccentric group of Los Angeles TV and film producers.Former Daily Show Producer Karlin is Humorist Behind WonderGlen Comedy Site
from Xconomy

References

External links

* * in 2009
From the Onion to Comedy Central to the Oscars...

* ttp://www.maximumfun.org/blog/2008/03/podcast-ben-karlin-of-onion-daily-show.html Audio interview with Karlinon public radio program

The Sound of Young America ''Bullseye with Jesse Thorn'' (formerly ''The Sound of Young America'') is a public radio program and podcast based in Los Angeles, California, and distributed by National Public Radio (NPR). The weekly show is currently heard on over 50 public r ...

Interview with Karlin about leaving the Daily Show and his 2008 book ''Things I’ve Learned From Women Who’ve Dumped Me''.
From the University of Wisconsin–Madison's alumni magazine.
Interview with Karlin about the WonderGlen project
from Xconomy {{DEFAULTSORT:Karlin, Ben American television writers American male television writers Emmy Award winners Living people People from Needham, Massachusetts University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication alumni Screenwriters from Massachusetts Year of birth missing (living people)