Dave Caplan (born May 6, 1959) is an American television writer and Executive Producer of prime-time comedies. He co-developed and serves as writer/executive producer of ABC's ''The Conners''. He was a writer/co-Executive on the reboot of ''Roseanne'', which was the most-watched scripted TV show of the 2018-2019 season.

Education

Born in

Los Angeles, California 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' ...

, Caplan graduated from the TV/Film school at

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

(CSUN) with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(BA) degree. Caplan began his career when he was accepted into the prestigious Warner Brothers Writers Workshop in 1989, having his script chosen out of thousands of submissions. Caplan also holds a doctoral degree in psychology, with a specialty in media psychology, from

Fielding Graduate University Fielding Graduate University (previously Fielding Graduate Institute and The Fielding Institute) is a private graduate-level university in Santa Barbara, California. It offers postgraduate and doctoral studies mainly in psychology, education, an ...

Writing career

Caplan’s early career saw him writing for such critically lauded comedies as ''

Roseanne ''Roseanne'' is an American sitcom television series created by Matt Williams and Roseanne Barr which aired on ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May 22, 2018. The show stars Barr as Roseann ...

'' and ''

Parker Lewis Can't Lose ''Parker Lewis Can't Lose'' is an American teen sitcom that originally aired on Fox from September 1990 to June 1993. It was produced by Clyde Phillips Productions in association with Columbia Pictures Television. During the last season, the se ...

''. He was promoted to writer/Producer on the acclaimed hit ABC-TV series ''

Dinosaurs Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

''. Based on his work on that show, Caplan was rewarded with the first of three "overall" talent deals with Disney Television. Moving on to Warner Brothers Television, Caplan served as writer/Executive Producer on the ABC hit comedies ''

George Lopez George Edward Lopez (born April 23, 1961) is an American comedian and actor. He is known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including Mexican American culture. Lopez has rec ...

'' and ''

The Drew Carey Show ''The Drew Carey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 13, 1995 to September 8, 2004. Set in Cleveland, Ohio, the series revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalize ...

''. In addition to comedy, Caplan helped to launch the record-setting

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

drama ''

Rizzoli & Isles ''Rizzoli & Isles'' is an American crime drama television series starring Angie Harmon as Jane Rizzoli and Sasha Alexander as Maura Isles. Based on the series of ''Rizzoli & Isles'' novels by Tess Gerritsen, the plot follows Boston Homicide polic ...

'' by serving as Consulting Producer. Most recently, Caplan was writer/Executive Producer/co-showrunner for the unprecedented 90-episode pickup of FX comedy ''

Anger Management Anger management is a psycho-therapeutic program for anger prevention and control. It has been described as deploying anger successfully.Schwarts, Gil. July 2006. Anger Management', July 2006 The Office Politic. Men's Health magazine. Emmaus, PA: ...

'', starring Charlie Sheen.

Awards

Caplan was awarded the

Humanitas ''Humanitas'' is a Latin noun meaning human nature, civilization, and kindness. It has uses in the Enlightenment, which are discussed below. Classical origins of term The Latin word ''humanitas'' corresponded to the Greek concepts of '' philanthr ...

Certificate for the ''George Lopez'' episode, “The Kidney Stays in the Picture”. The award was for addressing the pressing need for organ donation. The

Writers Guild of America West The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild. It has around 20,000 m ...

recognized Caplan for his writing contribution to ''Roseanne'', which was feted as one of the 101 best written TV series. In 2011, Caplan was honored with the Cinematheque Award for Alumni by

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caplan, Dave Living people 1959 births Film people from Los Angeles California State University, Northridge alumni American television writers American male television writers Television producers from California Film producers from California Screenwriters from California