Mitchell Donald "Mitch" Hurwitz (born May 29, 1963) is an American television writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator of the television sitcom ''
Arrested Development'' as well as the co-creator of ''
The Ellen Show''. He is also a contributor to ''
The John Larroquette Show'' and ''
The Golden Girls''.
Early life
Hurwitz was born in 1963 to a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family in
Anaheim, California. In 1976, when Hurwitz was 12, he co-founded a chocolate-chip cookie business, called the Chipyard on Balboa Boulevard in
Balboa Fun Zone
The Balboa Fun Zone is a family destination located on the Balboa Peninsula in the city of Newport Beach, Orange County, California. The Balboa Fun Zone offers both an ocean and harbor experience for an estimated seven million annual visitor ...
in
Newport Beach, California, in a former taco place, with his older brother, Michael, and his father, Mark. The Chipyard is still in operation in Boston. He graduated from
Estancia High School
Estancia High School is located in Costa Mesa, California and is part of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District which serves approximately 21,000 students who reside in the cities of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. Estancia High School is a com ...
in
Costa Mesa, California, and from
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...
in 1985 with a double major in English and
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...
.
Early career
Hurwitz worked on several sitcoms in the 1980s and 1990s, including ''
Nurses'', ''
The Golden Girls'', ''
The Golden Palace'', ''
The John Larroquette Show'', ''
The Ellen Show'' and the
Michael J. Fox-produced pilot ''Hench at Home''. He created ''
Everything's Relative'', a midseason comedy starring
Jeffrey Tambor and
Jill Clayburgh for NBC in 1999.
''Arrested Development''
Hurwitz was chosen by
Ron Howard
Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of '' The Twilight Zone''. ...
to create a sitcom about a rich
dysfunctional family, which eventually turned into ''
Arrested Development''. Hurwitz wrote the pilot in 2002, which was filmed in March 2003.
Fox added the show to its schedule in May. Despite laudatory reviews by television critics, ''Arrested Development'' received low ratings throughout its three-season run. In July 2004, the show was nominated for 7 Primetime Emmy Awards and won 5, including
Outstanding Comedy Series,
Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series and
Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series.
In the second season, ratings decreased further and the show was cut down to 18 episodes instead of the planned 22 episodes. Nevertheless, the show was still critically acclaimed and was nominated for 11 Emmy Awards. In the show's third and final season on Fox, Hurwitz tried to keep ''Arrested Development'' on the air, but did not have the advertising funding to promote the series. The show was again cut down, from 18 episodes to 13. Fox announced the cancellation of the show before the production of the final five episodes.
After seven years off the air, ''Arrested Development'' returned for a fifteen-episode fourth season on the online movie and television streaming service
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 ...
on May 26, 2013. After yet another multi-year hiatus in which there was uncertainty of future seasons being developed, Netflix and the show's producers announced the development of a fifth season. The release was heralded by a re-edited twenty-two-episode version of the fourth season titled ''Season Four Remix: Fateful Consequences'', released on Netflix on May 4, 2018. The fifth season consists of sixteen episodes, 8 of which were released simultaneously on May 29, 2018. The remaining 8 episodes were released simultaneously on March 15, 2019.
Later projects
Series
Hurwitz created Fox's animated comedy ''
Sit Down, Shut Up'', based on an Australian TV series of the
same name, for the 2008 season.
Hurwitz created ''
Running Wilde
''Running Wilde'' is an American sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz for the Fox Network. It stars Will Arnett as Steve Wilde, a self-centered, idle bachelor and heir to an oil fortune. The series follows Wilde's awkward attempts to regain the af ...
'', which aired for one season from 2010 to 2011. It was a collaboration with ''Arrested Development'' star
Will Arnett.
Hurwitz signed a multiyear deal with
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 ...
in 2014. He executive produced ''
Flaked
''Flaked'' is an American comedy drama streaming television series created by Will Arnett and Mark Chappell. It stars Arnett as Chip, a self-appointed "guru" who falls in love. The first season consisted of eight episodes and was released on Netf ...
'' starring
Will Arnett and produced/co-created ''
Lady Dynamite'' starring
Maria Bamford for the network.
Pilots
Among Hurwitz's projects have been the US television adaptations of the British comedy shows ''
The Thick of It''
(which was not picked up in the running for
ABC's 2007–2008 TV season, though other networks such as
HBO,
Showtime and
NBC have expressed interest)
and ''
Absolutely Fabulous''.
''My World And Welcome To It'' was a 2009 CBS television pilot, executive produced by Hurwitz,
Jay Kogen, Kim Tannenbaum, and
Barry Sonnenfeld
Barry Sonnenfeld (born April 1, 1953) is an American filmmaker and television director. He originally worked as a cinematographer for the Coen brothers before directing films such as ''The Addams Family'' (1991) and its sequel '' Addams Family V ...
. It was a comedy based on an earlier series ''
My World and Welcome to It'' about being a dad in the 1960s which, in turn, drew material from
James Thurber's collection of essays of the same name. ''Happiness Isn't Everything'' was also a 2009 CBS pilot, written by Hurwitz and
Jim Vallely
James Vallely (born August 30, 1954) is an American television producer, and screenwriter. He was a writer and consulting producerDunphy, John"E.B. native wins Emmy for best comedy writing" ''East Brunswick Sentinel'', September 29, 2005. Acc ...
, starring
Richard Dreyfuss,
Jason Biggs,
Ben Schwartz and
Mary Steenburgen.
Acting
Hurwitz co-starred as "Cool Eric" in an episode of ''
Workaholics'' titled "Dry Guys". Hurwitz plays a human resources representative who is aiding them in their pursuit of sobriety.
Hurwitz starred as "Koogler" in the ''
Community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...
'' episode "
App Development and Condiments" (episode 5, season 5), which aired on March 6, 2014. He reprised the role in "
Modern Espionage" (episode 11, season 6), which aired on May 19, 2015.
Personal life
Hurwitz is married to actress
Mary Jo Keenen
Mary Jo Keenen is an American former television actress. She had regular roles as Nurse Julie Milbury on the ''Empty Nest'' spin-off ''Nurses'', Gloria Elgis on '' City'' with Valerie Harper, and Stephanie James on ''My Wildest Dreams''. She ...
. They have two daughters: May Asami, born in 2000,
and Phoebe Hitomi born in 2002.
The name of ''Arrested Development'' character "Maeby" was the result of combining the names of Hurwitz's daughters.
Television
As actor
Awards
*
2004 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series – Won
*2004
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series – Won – "Pilot"
*
2005 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series
– Nominated
*2005 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
– Won – "
Righteous Brothers
The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Lo ...
" (with Jim Vallely)
*
2006 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series
– Nominated
*2006 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
– Nominated – "
Arrested Development" (with Richard Day, Chuck Tatham and Jim Vallely)
* 2009
16th Annual Austin Film Festival – Outstanding Television Writer Award – Won
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurwitz, Mitchell
American television writers
American male television writers
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Jewish American writers
Georgetown University alumni
Living people
Television producers from California
1963 births
People from Amarillo, Texas
People from Anaheim, California
Showrunners
Writers Guild of America Award winners
American television directors
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from Texas
Television producers from Texas
21st-century American Jews