Steven Lee Sears (born December 23, 1957) is an American writer and producer primarily working in television. He is perhaps best known for writing and co-executive producing the popular series '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', as well as his subsequent creation '' Sheena'', based on the

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

of the same name. While he initially began his career as an actor, Sears found great creative success with his writing and began to pursue it full-time in 1984 (with the series ''

Riptide A rip tide, or riptide, is a strong offshore current that is caused by the tide pulling water through an inlet along a barrier beach, at a lagoon or inland marina where tide water flows steadily out to sea during ebb tide. It is a strong tidal flo ...

''), accumulating an impressive resume as staff writer, story editor and producer on such shows as ''

Stingray Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae ( ...

'', '' The A-Team'', ''

J.J. Starbuck ''J.J. Starbuck'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on NBC from September 26, 1987, to June 28, 1988. The series follows cornpone-spouting Jerome Jeremiah "J.J." Starbuck, a billionaire Texan who wears ten-gallon hats, cowbo ...

'', '' The Highwayman'', ''

Father Dowling Mysteries ''Father Dowling Mysteries'' (also known as ''Father Dowling Investigates'' in the United Kingdom) is an American mystery television series that aired from January 20, 1989 to May 2, 1991. Prior to the series, a TV movie aired on November 30, 1987 ...

'', '' Swamp Thing'', and ''

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

''. In addition, he has written for shows such as '' Hardcastle and McCormick'', '' Superboy'', '' The Hollywood Detective'', ''

Jesse Hawkes ''Jesse Hawkes'' is an American action television series that on CBS aired from April 22 until May 27, 1989. The series is a spin-off of ''High Mountain Rangers''. Premise Jesse Hawkes and his two sons track down criminals in San Francisco with t ...

'', '' Hardball'', ''Grand Slam'', and ''

Walker, Texas Ranger ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film ''Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both this series and that film starring Chuck Norris as a member of the Texa ...

''. He has also written in the arenas of film, stage, animation and interactive. Steven L. Sears was born into a military family, his father being a career soldier with the U.S. Army. Consequently, Steven traveled quite a bit, his family being rotated out to new assignments every three years. As a result, he had managed to visit 14 countries and 48 U.S. states before the age of 13, when his father retired from the military. Moving to the small town of

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; es, San Agustín ) is a city in the Southeastern United States and the county seat of St. Johns County on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously inhabit ...

, Steven became active in the arts programs at St. Augustine High School, as well as local productions. Music and Drama became his major focus as his first "professional" acting work was in "The Cross and the Sword", a symphonic drama which was the official state play of Florida. Upon graduation, he entered the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

and received his associate of arts degree. He then transferred to

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

to join the highly respected school of theater, then under the direction of Richard G. Fallon. Graduating with a bachelor of arts in 1980, Sears moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. He soon discovered he had an affinity for writing and, though he still enjoyed acting, it was as a writer that he made his mark. Partnering with another aspiring writer, Burt Pearl, the two of them began to write scripts "for the fun of it." The producers of the

Stephen J. Cannell Productions Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

hit "Riptide" soon brought them in for an interview. From that meeting, Sears and Pearl got their first assignment. That assignment led to a full-time staff position at Stephen J. Cannell Productions. After working together for several years, Sears and Pearl moved on separately into successful independent careers. Sears established a scholarship program for undergraduate theatre students at Florida State. He was also honored by the Florida State University Circle of

Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is one of the most prestigious honor societies in the United States with chapters at more than 300 college campuses. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington and Lee University in ...

as a "Grad Made Good" in 2006. In 2012, he was inducted into the hall of fame at St. Augustine High School, a part of the St. Johns County Center for the Arts. Sears continues his association with aspiring filmmakers and students by occasionally appearing as a guest lecturer at such institutions as UCLA, USC, FSU, UCLB, AFI, and others. He also volunteers his time to the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for their student Emmys and student internship programs. He is also very active on the internet, having a fairly high profile among fans of his previous series as well as various screenwriting forums. Sears currently lives 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' ...

, and enjoys

sashimi is a Japanese delicacy consisting of fresh raw fish or meat sliced into thin pieces and often eaten with soy sauce. Origin The word ''sashimi'' means "pierced body", i.e. "刺身" = ''sashimi'', where 刺し = ''sashi'' (pierced, stuck) ...

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

, the great outdoors, and

football.

Screenwriting

* '' Hardcastle and McCormick'' (1985) * ''

'' (1985-1986) * '' The A-Team'' (1985-1986) * ''

'' (1987) * '' The Highwayman'' (1988) * '' Superboy'' (1989) * '' Hardball'' (1989) * ''

'' (1989) * ''Hollywood Detective'' (1991) * '' Swamp Thing'' (1992-1993) * ''

'' (1993) * ''

The Itsy Bitsy Spider "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (also known as "Incy Wincy Spider" in Australia and Great Britain, and several other similar-sounding names) is a popular nursery rhyme and fingerplay that describes the adventures of a spider as it ascends, descends, and rea ...

'' (1994) * ''

'' (1995) * '' Xena: Warrior Princess'' (1995-1999) * '' Sheena'' (2000-2002) * ''

She Spies ''She Spies'' is an action-adventure television show that ran from July 20, 2002 until May 17, 2004 in two seasons. The show was sold into syndication but the first four episodes were premiered on the NBC network, whose syndication arm was one of t ...

'' (2003-2004) * '' Transformers: Rescue Bots'' (2014)

Producer

* ''

'' (1987) * ''Swamp Thing'' (1992-1993) * ''Raven'' (1993) * ''Xena: Warrior Princess'' (1995-2000) * ''Sheena'' (2000-2002)https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0780798/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sears, Steven Lee American television writers American male television writers 1957 births Living people