Christine Nee is an American

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television show, television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during ...

screenwriter 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. ...

and producer. Nee is best known as the creator of ''

Doc McStuffins ''Doc McStuffins'' is an American educational computer-animated children's television series created and executive produced by Chris Nee (an Irish-American who was an associate producer for international versions of Sesame Street) and produce ...

'', which she conceived as ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association w ...

'' for preschoolers. She has previously worked as an

associate producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, dir ...

on several

international versions International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

of ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

''.

Career

Nee said that while she did not originally connect with any shows because she did not see herself "represented onscreen," she first tried to be an actor. Realizing she couldn't fit in, she worked on scripts for ''

Blue's Clues ''Blue's Clues'' is an American live-action/animated children's television series, created by Angela C. Santomero, Todd Kessler, and Traci Paige Johnson, that premiered on Nickelodeon as part of its Nick Jr. block on September 8, 1996, and co ...

'' in 2001 and ''Wonder Pets'', continuing to work as a producer, the latter on ''

Deadliest Catch ''Deadliest Catch'' is a reality television series that premiered on the Discovery Channel on April 12, 2005. The show follows crab fishermen aboard fishing vessels in the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and snow crab fishing seasons. The ...

'' for two episodes. Nee conceived of her award-winning show, ''

'' while in the shower after her son had visited the doctor for asthma a few days before. It was her idea to make the lead character female and she readily agreed when Nancy Kanter, the creative head of

Disney Junior Disney Junior is an American pay television network owned by the Walt Disney Television (part of Disney General Entertainment Content) unit of The Walt Disney Company through Disney Branded Television. Aimed mainly at children two to seven yea ...

, suggested that she should be

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

. Although some at Disney were hesitant originally that a show with a female lead "might not have mass appeal," this did not deter Kanter, and within a year of the show's release in 2012, "merchandise generated about $500 million in sales." Nee said she was very pleased that her character had unusual background for a TV character, and hoped this would influence the next generation. In March 2016, it was announced that Nee will be executive producer of a Disney Junior series, ''

Vampirina ''Vampirina'' is a computer-animated children's television series created by Chris Nee. Based on the ''Vampirina Ballerina'' series of books written by Anne Marie Pace and published by Disney-Hyperion, the series was announced in March 2016 and ...

'', based on the children's picture book ''Vampirina Ballerina''. The series, which featured many of the same staff who worked on ''Doc McStuffins'', premiered on October 1, 2017. The series ended on June 28, 2021 after 3 seasons and 75 episodes during its 4-year run. In April 2019, Nee joined other WGA writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA and the unfair practice of

packaging Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a co ...

. On July 4, 2021, a 10-part series of animated music videos, which Nee created, titled ''

We the People The Preamble to the United States Constitution, beginning with the words We the People, is a brief introductory statement of the Constitution's fundamental purposes and guiding principles. Courts have referred to it as reliable evidence o ...

'', premiered 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 fil ...

. Kenya Barris was also a showrunner and the series was produced by

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

and

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. On July 13, 2021, '' Ridley Jones'', an animated series meant for children, is set to debut on the same network. It is part of a slate of animated preschool series on the streaming service, with others including ''Spirit Rangers'', and ''Ada Twist, Scientist'', of which Nee is the showrunner. ''Dino Daycare'' was originally part of this slate. On April 29, 2022, it was announced ''Dino Daycare'' was scrapped.

Personal life

Nee is of Irish descent. At age 18, during the 1980s, Nee came out as lesbian. In June 2021, she described herself as a gay and "relatively butch" woman. She has one child, a son.

Filmography

Television

Streaming television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nee, Chris Living people 21st-century American writers American people of Irish descent American women screenwriters American television directors American television producers American television writers American lesbian writers Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) LGBT producers LGBT screenwriters American LGBT rights activists Showrunners American women television writers Sesame Street crew Peabody Award winners 21st-century American women writers American women television producers American women television directors