Rebecca Kirshner is a writer and producer for American television. Her writing credits include ''
Freaks and Geeks
''Freaks and Geeks'' is an American teen drama, teen comedy-drama television series created by Paul Feig and executive producer, executive-produced by Judd Apatow that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 United States network television schedul ...
'', ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', and ''
Gilmore Girls
''Gilmore Girls'' is an American Comedy drama, comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore). The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and beca ...
''. She was the
executive producer and
showrunner of ''
90210'' for the second and third season. According to a CBS rep, Kirshner was a saving force for the CW drama. She left the show in 2011 to pursue other creative interests.
Life and career
Kirshner has written for television under several names including Rebecca Kirshner, Rebecca Rand Kirshner, Rebecca Rand Kirshner Sinclair, R.R.K. Sinclair and Rebecca Sinclair. She is currently writing as Rebecca Kirshner. She has written both hour long and half-hour long pilots.
In addition to her work in television, Kirshner writes children's stories and is a visual artist. In 2016, her art show "How to Make Love to a Cactus" was exhibited in Los Angeles and Yucca Valley.
She attended Harvard University where she was on the Harvard Lampoon as an editor and artist. She is the daughter of astrophysics professor
Robert Kirshner
Robert P. Kirshner (born August 15, 1949) is an American astronomer, Chief Program Officer for Science for the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and the Clownes Research Professor of Science at Harvard University. Kirshner has worked in several ...
, the great-granddaughter of Olympic hurdler
William Rand and the descendant of
Rebecca Nurse
Rebecca Nurse (February 13, 1621 – July 19, 1692) was a woman who was accused of witchcraft and executed by hanging in New England during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. She was fully exonerated fewer than twenty years later.
She was the wife ...
who was executed as a witch in Salem in 1692.
She married writer
Josh Lieb
Josh Lieb is a writer and television producer.
He was the showrunner of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and executive producer of NewsRadio, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and Pod Save America. He won seven Prime Time Emmy's as a produ ...
in 2001. They divorced in 2003. She married New Zealand filmmaker and musician
Harry Sinclair
Harry Alan Sinclair (born 1959) is a New Zealand film director, writer and actor. In his early career he was an actor and member of The Front Lawn, a musical theater duo. He went on to write and direct several short films, a TV series and thr ...
in December 2008.
They were divorced in April 2016. In January 2018, she married French author Thibaut Mosneron Dupin. She has two children.
Television work
''Freaks and Geeks''
*"
The Diary" (First Aired: Monday January 31, 2000)
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''
*"
Out of My Mind" (First Aired: Tuesday October 17, 2000)
*"
Listening to Fear
The fifth season of the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' premiered on September 26, 2000 on The WB and concluded its 22-episode season on May 22, 2001. It maintained its previous timeslot, airing Tuesdays at 8:00 pm ET. This was the ...
" (First Aired: Tuesday November 28, 2000)
*"
Tough Love
Tough love is the act of treating a person sternly or harshly with the intent to help them in the long run.
Description
Bill Milliken described tough love through the expression, "I don't care how this makes you feel toward me. You may hate m ...
" (First Aired: Tuesday May 1, 2001)
*"
Tabula Rasa
''Tabula rasa'' (; "blank slate") is the theory that individuals are born without built-in mental content, and therefore all knowledge comes from experience or perception. Epistemological proponents of ''tabula rasa'' disagree with the doctri ...
" (First Aired: Tuesday November 13, 2001)
*"
Hell's Bells
Hell's Bells or Hells Bells may refer to:
Music
* "Hells Bells" (song), a 1980 song by AC/DC
* ''Hells Bells'' (album), a 1980 album by John Hicks
* "Hell's Bells", a piece of music written by Art Kassel and recorded in 1932
* "Hell's Bells", ...
" (First Aired: Tuesday March 5, 2002)
*"
Help
Help is a word meaning to give aid or signal distress.
Help may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Help'' (2010 film), a Bollywood horror film
* ''Help'' (2021 theatrical film), a British psychological thriller film
* '' ...
" (First Aired: Tuesday October 15, 2002)
*"
Potential
Potential generally refers to a currently unrealized ability. The term is used in a wide variety of fields, from physics to the social sciences to indicate things that are in a state where they are able to change in ways ranging from the simple r ...
" (First Aired: Tuesday January 21, 2003)
*"
Touched" (First Aired: Tuesday May 6, 2003)
''Gilmore Girls''
Co- Executive Producer (S7)
*"Emily Says Hello" (First Aired: Tuesday November 16, 2004)
*"How Many Kropogs to Cape Cod?" (First Aired: Tuesday May 3, 2005)
*"Always a Godmother, Never a God" (First Aired: Tuesday October 4, 2005)
*"Bridesmaid Revisited" (First Aired: Tuesday February 28, 2006)
*"That's What You Get, Folks, For Makin' Whoopee" (First Aired: Tuesday October 3, 2006)
*"Go, Bulldogs!" (First Aired: Tuesday November 7, 2006)
*"Santa's Secret Stuff" (First Aired: Tuesday January 23, 2007)
*"I'd Rather Be in Philadelphia" (First Aired: Tuesday February 6, 2007)
*"I'm a Kayak, Hear Me Roar" (First Aired: Tuesday February 20, 2007)
*"Hay Bale Maze" (First Aired: Tuesday April 17, 2007)
''90210''
Showrunner (Seasons 2 & 3), Executive Producer (from episode "Secrets and Lies")
Writer:
*"Okaeri, Donna!" (First Aired: Tuesday April 14, 2009)
*"Between a Sign and a Hard Place" (First Aired: Tuesday April 21, 2009)
*"One Party Can Ruin Your Whole Summer" (First Aired: Tuesday May 19, 2009)
*"To New Beginnings" (First Aired: Tuesday September 8, 2009)
*"Women's Intuition" (First Aired: Tuesday November 3, 2009)
*"And Away They Go" (First Aired: Tuesday December 1, 2009)
*"Girl Fight" (First Aired: Tuesday March 16, 2010)
*"Confessions" (First Aired: Tuesday May 18, 2010)
*"Holiday Madness" (First Aired: Monday December 6, 2010)
*"The Enchanted Donkey" (First Aired: Monday April 18, 2011)
*"To the Future!" (First Aired: Monday May 16, 2011)
Print work
*"Sonnenblume,"
Tales of the Slayers
''Tales of the Slayers'' is a Dark Horse Comics ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' graphic novel that consists of multiple stories written by Joss Whedon, Amber Benson, and others which tell of different members of the Slayer line.
The stories are p ...
(2002)
*"The War Between the States,"
Tales of the Slayer, Vol. 2 (2003)
*"How to Make Love to a Cactus" (2016)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirshner, Rebecca
American television writers
American women television producers
American television producers
Living people
American women television writers
Place of birth missing (living people)
The Harvard Lampoon alumni
1974 births
21st-century American women writers
21st-century American screenwriters
20th-century American women writers
20th-century American screenwriters
Showrunners