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 program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon ...
and writer. He has won eight
Emmy awards, and is best known for his work in ''
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' 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 fo ...
''. He is one of three co-creators of ''The Colbert Report'' along with
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program '' The Colbert Report'' from 2005 ...
and
Jon Stewart. Karlin left Comedy Central in December 2006. He has also been a writer for TV show ''
Modern Family
''Modern Family'' is an American family sitcom television series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan for the American Broadcasting Company. It ran for 11 seasons, from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. It follows the lives of th ...
''.
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 (ru ...
'', 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
Paul Andrew Richter (born October 28, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and talk show announcer. He is best known as the sidekick for Conan O'Brien on each of O'Brien's talk shows: ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Late Night'' and ' ...
,
Will Forte
Orville Willis Forte IV ( ; born June 17, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. Forte is known for being a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' (2002–2010), a recurring character on the show leading to a feature film ada ...
,
David Wain,
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program '' The Colbert Report'' from 2005 ...
,
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, 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
Jon Stewart and
David Javerbaum
David Adam Javerbaum (born August 5, 1971) is an American comedy writer and lyricist. Javerbaum has won 13 Emmy Awards in his career, 11 of them for his work on ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He runs the popular Twitter account @TheTweet ...
. He wrote for ''
Space Ghost: Coast to Coast'' and ''
The Onion
''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satire, satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on ...
'' from 1993-1996.
Early life
Ben Karlin was born and raised in
Needham, Massachusetts. He is an alumnus of
University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
, 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
''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satire, satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on ...
'' Karlin is credited with coining the term "Area Man". After leaving ''
The Onion
''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satire, satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on ...
'', he moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
and worked as a
script doctor 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 gre ...
'', ''
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.''.
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 ...
and
Gwyneth Paltrow. 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 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
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
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
Xconomy is a Boston, Massachusetts–based media company providing news on business, life sciences, and technology{{cite web , title=Company Overview of Xconomy, Inc. , url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=3 ...
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
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
Xconomy is a Boston, Massachusetts–based media company providing news on business, life sciences, and technology{{cite web , title=Company Overview of Xconomy, Inc. , url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=3 ...
{{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)