Joel Michael "Mike" Mendel (September 24, 1964 – September 22, 2019) was 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 ...

. He was a five-time

Emmy Award 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 ...

winner for his work on ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'' and ''

Rick and Morty {{Infobox television , image = Rick and Morty title card (cropped).png , alt = , caption = , genre = {{Plainlist, * Animated sitcom * Adult animation * Science fiction * Black comedy * ...

''.

Career

Mendel first worked in television as a production assistant on ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 20 ...

'' and '' Loving'' during his summer breaks from studies at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. After graduating Syracuse with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in television and film production, he worked with

James L. Brooks James Lawrence Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American director, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of Gracie Films. His television and film work includes ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', ''Taxi'', ''The Simpsons'', '' Broadcast News'', ''As G ...

and

Gracie Films Gracie Films is an American film and television production company founded by James L. Brooks in 1986. The company is primarily responsible for producing its long-running flagship animated series ''The Simpsons'', as well as the films '' Big'', ...

on '' Broadcast News'', ''

Big Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show present ...

'', and ''

The Tracey Ullman Show ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' is an American television variety show starring Tracey Ullman. It debuted on Fox on April 5, 1987, the network's second original primetime series to air following '' Married... with Children'', and ran until May 26, ...

''. When ''Tracey Ullman''s ''The Simpsons'' shorts were spun off into their own series, Mendel joined its staff as the show's producer, serving from

season 1 Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012 * ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012 See also * * * Season 2 (disambiguation) * Season 4 (disambiguati ...

to season 10. For his work on ''The Simpsons'', Mendel won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program in 1995 ("

Lisa's Wedding "Lisa's Wedding" is the nineteenth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 19, 1995.Homer's Phobia "Homer's Phobia" is the fifteenth episode of the The Simpsons (season 8), eighth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network in the United States on February 16, 1 ...

"), and 1998 ("

Trash of the Titans "Trash of the Titans" is the twenty-second episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. The 200th episode of the series overall, it originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 26 ...

"). After departing ''The Simpsons'', Mendel produced shows such as ''

The PJs ''The PJs'' is an American adult animated stop-motion black sitcom created by Eddie Murphy, Larry Wilmore, and Steve Tompkins. It portrayed life in an urban public housing project, modeled after the Cabrini–Green housing projects in Chicago. ...

'', ''

The Oblongs ''The Oblongs'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Angus Oblong and Jace Richdale. It was Mohawk Productions' first venture into animation. The series premiered on April 1, 2001 on The WB, and was removed on May 20th, leaving the la ...

'', ''

Drawn Together ''Drawn Together'' is an American adult animation, adult animated sitcom created by Dave Jeser and Matt Silverstein and premiered on Comedy Central on October 27, 2004. The series is a parody of ''The Surreal Life'' and follows the misadventures ...

'', '' Sit Down, Shut Up'', and ''

Napoleon Dynamite ''Napoleon Dynamite'' is a 2004 American comedy film produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt and Sean Covel, written by Jared and Jerusha Hess and directed by Jared Hess. The film stars Jon Heder in the role of the titular character, a nerdy ...

''. In 2013, he joined ''

'', where he won his fourth Emmy Award for the episode "

Pickle Rick "Pickle Rick" is the third episode of the third season of the Adult Swim animated television series ''Rick and Morty''. Written by Jessica Gao and directed by Anthony Chun, the episode premiered on August 6, 2017. In "Pickle Rick", the eccentric ...

" in 2018. He won a posthumous Emmy in 2020 for the episode "

The Vat of Acid Episode "The Vat of Acid Episode" is the eighth episode of the Rick and Morty (season 4), fourth season of the Adult Swim animated television series ''Rick and Morty''. Created by Dan Harmon, written by Jeff Loveness and Albro Lundy, and directed by Jaco ...

Personal life

Mendel attended

Monroe-Woodbury High School Monroe-Woodbury High School is located in Central Valley, New York, Central Valley, New York (state), New York, part of the town and village of Woodbury, Orange County, New York, Woodbury in Orange County, New York, Orange County. It educates all ...

in Central Valley, New York. A resident of Studio City, Los Angeles, he was married to Juel Bestrop, a casting director for the series ''

Brooklyn Nine-Nine ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' is an American police procedural comedy television series that aired on Fox, and later on NBC. The show aired from September 17, 2013, to September 16, 2021, for a total of eight seasons and 153 episodes. Created by Dan G ...

'' and ''

Life in Pieces ''Life in Pieces'' is an American sitcom television series created by Justin Adler and which premiered on CBS on September 21, 2015 and concluded on June 27, 2019. The series was produced by 40 or 50 Years, Inc., Kapital Entertainment in associa ...

'', and had two children. Mendel died at his home in Los Angeles on September 22, 2019, from natural causes, two days before his 55th birthday. His death has been described as "unexpected".

Legacy

Tributes were made to him by

Justin Roiland Mark Justin Roiland (born February 21, 1980) is an American voice actor, animator, writer, producer, and director. He is best known as the co-creator of Adult Swim's ''Rick and Morty'' and its subsequent Rick and Morty (franchise), franchise. H ...

and

Al Jean Alfred Ernest Jean III (born January 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter and producer. Jean is well known for his work on ''The Simpsons''. He was raised near Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his wri ...

. "

The Winter of Our Monetized Content "The Winter of Our Monetized Content" is the thirty-first season premiere of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', and the 663rd episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on September 29, 2019. The director of th ...

", the 31st season premiere of ''The Simpsons'', was dedicated to his memory, as was the 4th season premiere and the entirety of Season 6 of ''Rick and Morty'', as well as the pilot episode of ''

Solar Opposites ''Solar Opposites'' is an American science-fiction animated sitcom created by Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan for Hulu. Originally created for the Fox Broadcasting Company, the project was shelved before being bought by Hulu and given a two-se ...

''.

Filmography

Television

Film

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendel, J. Michael 1964 births 2019 deaths American animated film producers Place of birth missing Television producers from New York (state) Television producers from California Syracuse University alumni Emmy Award winners