Christopher Adam Keyser (born 1960) is an American producer and writer of primetime dramas. He is best known for creating the television series '' The Society'' and ''

Party of Five ''Party of Five'' is an American television teen and family drama created by Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman that originally aired on Fox for six seasons from September 12, 1994, to May 3, 2000. The series featured an ensemble cast led by Sc ...

''.

Early life

Keyser was born 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 on

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

. He attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, Massachusetts. In college, he was the president of the Harvard University Debate Council. Keyser became involved in theater during his last two years at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, appearing in a number of theatrical productions. He went on to

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, from which he graduated with honors and received offers of employment from various

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

law firms. During law school, however, Keyser became focused on screenwriting; while there he met future writing partner

Amy Lippman Amy Lippman is an American television writer and producer. Biography In 1985, Lippman graduated from Harvard University. She is perhaps best known as the co-creator of ''Party of Five'' with her writing partner, Christopher Keyser. She is polit ...

. While in New York City, Keyser and Lippman formed a writing partnership.

Career

In 1988, Keyser and Lippman moved to

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 were signed on to write

teleplays A teleplay is a screenplay or script used in the production of a scripted television program or series. In general usage, the term is most commonly seen in reference to a standalone production, such as a television film, a television play, or a ...

for ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series that ran for eight seasons on NBC, from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it centers on the partners, associates and staff of a Los ...

'' and ''

Equal Justice Equal justice under law is a phrase engraved on the West Pediment, above the front entrance of the United States Supreme Court building in Washington D.C. It is also a societal ideal that has influenced the American legal system. The phrase was ...

''. From 1991 to 1996, they also wrote for and produced the shows ''

Sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

'' and '' Eddie Dodd''. They became known as an established team in the TV business. The two are best known for the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

series ''

'', a

primetime Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

family-oriented soap opera. The show featured the Salingers, a family suddenly orphaned when their parents are killed by a drunken man behind the wheel and the eldest son becomes the head of the family, while the eldest daughter wants to write professionally, the youngest daughter is a musical prodigy, and the family tries to stay together and keep the family restaurant business afloat. The show deals with issues involving relationships, romance, school, work, growing-up, and life and death. Both Keyser and Lippman are credited as the creators, executive producers, and writers of the series. The show lasted six seasons. In 1996, the show took home the

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

for "Best Drama Series." Keyser (along with Lippman) received the

Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of Paulist P ...

for the episode "Thanksgiving", where the Salingers wound up confronting the mysterious drunk driver that was responsible for their parent's deaths.

Neve Campbell Neve Adrianne Campbell (born October 3, 1973; ) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her work in the drama and horror genres. She has appeared on ''People'' magazine's list of "50 Most Beautiful People" twice. Following a series of minor ...

(who got her breakout role on the show) has referred to the show as "the most realistic show on television." Eventually, ratings waned and the show came to an end. The team of Keyser/Lippman has continued to develop TV programs such as '' Significant Others'' and '' Time of Your Life'' (a spin-off of ''Party of Five'' starring Love Hewitt's character Sarah leaving

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in favor of New York and searching for the biological family she never even knew she had). In October 2013, it was announced that Keyser and Sydney Sidner were writing the script for a reboot of ''

Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadcast ...

'', which was in development at

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. Keyser and Sidner were also going to executive produce the reboot alongside

CBS Television Studios CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount Television, as a renaming of the o ...

and The Tannenbaum Company. However, in August 2014, it was revealed that CBS were not going ahead with the reboot. From 2011 through 2015, he was president of the

Writers Guild of America, West The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild. It has around 20,000 m ...

. Keyser was the creator, writer, and executive producer of the

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 fil ...

mystery drama, '' The Society'', which premiered on May 10, 2019. The series received positive reivews; on July 9, 2019, it was renewed for a second season, which was set to be released in 2020. However, on August 21, 2020, Netflix reneged on the renewal deal and canceled the series, citing complications of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

having led to cost increases and difficulty scheduling production.

Personal life

Keyser is not married to his frequent producing/writing partner Amy Lippman. They have both joked that they are married - just not to each other. While he was in law school, Keyser reconnected with a high school friend, who was also attending law school at Boston University. Their relationship blossomed and eventually they married. They have one daughter and one son and reside in

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keyser, Christopher 1960 births Living people People from Long Island Writers from Los Angeles American male screenwriters Television producers from California American television writers Jewish American screenwriters Harvard Law School alumni Writers Guild of America Award winners American male television writers Screenwriters from California Harvard College alumni 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American Jews