Kerry McCluggage (born November 29, 1954) is an American television and film production executive who developed and produced such iconic shows as ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs, two M ...

'', '' Cheers '', and '' Law & Order''. He served as President of

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a prede ...

for about 10 years in the 1980s, then became Chairman of Paramount Television Group in the 1990s for a similar period. He was a co-founder of United Paramount Network (UPN). In 2002, he formed an independent production company, Craftsman Films, developing motion picture and television content.

Education

At the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

, McCluggage studied broadcasting and film and was a member of the

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more t ...

fraternity. He later gained his MBA at the Harvard Business School, graduating in 1978. He currently serves on the Sigma Chi Foundation Board of Governors.

Career

He began his career in 1978 at Universal Television as a programming assistant. He was promoted to senior vice-president, creative affairs, where he oversaw development and production for ''Magnum, P.I.'', '' The Equalizer'', ''Murder, She Wrote'', ''The A-Team'' and ''

''. He moved up to president of Universal TV and subsequently developed such shows as “Quantum Leap,” “Law & Order,” “Northern Exposure,” “Coach” and “Major Dad.” At Paramount Television, he oversaw the development and launch of programs such as '' Cheers '', its spinoff ''

Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons. It premiered on September 16, 1993, and ended on May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee (as Grub ...

'' , the '' Star Trek '' franchise, '' Entertainment Tonight '' , ''

The Arsenio Hall Show ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall. There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989, ...

'' , ''

Judge Judy ''Judge Judy'' is an American arbitration-based reality court show presided over by former Manhattan Family Court Judge Judith Sheindlin. The show featured Sheindlin as she adjudicated real-life small-claims disputes within a simulated courtr ...

'', ''

Judge Joe Brown ''Judge Joe Brown'' is an American arbitration-based reality court show starring former Shelby County, Tennessee criminal court judge Joseph B. Brown. It premiered on September 14, 1998 and ran through the 2012–13 television season for a ...

'' and ''

Judge Mills Lane ''Judge Mills Lane'' is a syndicated American television series and arbitration-based reality court show that ran in first-run syndication from August 17, 1998 to September 7, 2001. Reruns later aired on The National Network (TNN) and currentl ...

''. In just over a decade, he is credited for growing Paramount TV from $700 million in value to $3.2 billion. He was a co-founder of United Paramount Network (UPN).Kerry McCluggage profile
, alluminationfilmworks.com; accessed July 13, 2015. The UPN channel was home to '' Star Trek: Voyager'' and the

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

, '' Moesha''. From mid-2018 until the end of 2018, McCluggage stepped in as CEO of IDW Media Holdings (Idea and Design Works), a subdivision of IDW Publishing, temporarily replacing its founder, Ted Adams, who was on sabbatical.

Filmography

McCluggage has developed and supervised many television series including: ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court ma ...

'', '' Coach'', '' Deadwood'', '' The Equalizer'', ''

'', '' JAG'', '' Northern Exposure'', '' Law & Order'', ''

'', ''

Murder She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series ...

'', ''

Knight Rider ''Knight Rider'' is an American entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three television series: the original ''Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequel series '' Team Knight Rider'' (1997–1998) ...

'', ''

Quantum Leap ''Quantum Leap'' is an American science fiction television series, created by Donald P. Bellisario, that premiered on NBC and aired for five seasons, from March 26, 1989, to May 5, 1993. The series stars Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a phys ...

'', '' Cheers'', and '' Entertainment Tonight''. While an executive at Universal Pictures, he also worked on ''

The Breakfast Club ''The Breakfast Club'' is a 1985 American teen coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes. It stars Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy. The ...

'', ''

Out of Africa ''Out of Africa'' is a memoir by the Danish author Karen Blixen. The book, first published in 1937, recounts events of the seventeen years when Blixen made her home in Kenya, then called British East Africa. The book is a lyrical meditation on ...

'' and '' Cocktail''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCluggage, Kerry American television executives Paramount Global people Paramount Pictures executives American film studio executives Harvard Business School alumni University of Southern California alumni Living people 1954 births Place of birth missing (living people)