Michael I. Wagner
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Michael Bill Wagner (September 30, 1947 – April 23, 1992) was an American television writer and producer who worked on several television shows between 1975 and 1992, and won an
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
in 1982 for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series for his work on the television show '' Hill Street Blues''. He co-created, produced and wrote several episodes for the one-season ABC series '' Probe''.


Career

Wagner was a
military brat A military brat (colloquial or military slang) is a child of serving or retired military personnel. Military brats are associated with a unique subcultureDavid C. Pollock, Ruth E. van Reken. ''Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds'', Revise ...
. He was born in
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, but grew up on Air Force bases in New York, Illinois, Japan, Germany, Nebraska and Texas. He graduated in 1965 from Randolph High School at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. He attended the
University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
and moved to California, holding various jobs in
Los Angeles 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' ...
, while writing scripts and selling some of his paintings. In 1975 he sold his first television script to CBS for the series '' The Blue Knight'', a crime drama based on the
Joseph Wambaugh Joseph Aloysius Wambaugh, Jr. (born January 22, 1937), is a best-selling American writer known for his fictional and nonfictional accounts of police work in the United States. Several of his early novels were set in Los Angeles and its surroun ...
novel of the same name. He quickly became an established television writer, scripting episodes of ''
Jigsaw John John Patrick St. John (February 18, 1918 – May 3, 1995), better known as "Jigsaw John", was an American police officer and Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective, renowned for his investigations of many of Los Angeles's highest-profile ...
'', ''
The Six Million Dollar Man ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' is an American science fiction and action television series, running from 1973 to 1978, about a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors. After a NASA test flight accident, Austin is reb ...
'', '' Kojak'', ''
Man from Atlantis ''Man from Atlantis'' is a short-lived American science fiction/fantasy television series that ran for 13 episodes on the NBC network during the 1977–78 season, following four television films that had aired earlier in 1977. Ratings success by ...
'', ''
Starsky & Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a ''Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired by th ...
'' and ''
The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974 to January 10, 1980, and remains in syndication. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investigator ...
'', among others. In 1982 a script he wrote for the TV crime drama series '' Hill Street Blues'', "The World According to Freedom," was aired and he was quickly hired as a regular staff writer for the series. His story introduced the character "Captain Freedom," a street vigilante dressed absurdly as a superhero. His follow-up episode, "Freedom's Last Stand," won him the 1982
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
as co-writer for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series."Total Television" (1996) Alex McNeil, Penguin Books, p.1084. In fact, three of the scripts he co-wrote for that season were nominated in the same category. Wagner went on to co-write 35 episodes of Hill Street Blues for the next two years, and began a long association with
Steven Bochco Steven Ronald Bochco Masterson (December 16, 1943 – April 1, 2018) was an American television writer and producer. He developed a number of television series, including ''Hill Street Blues'', ''L.A. Law'', ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'', ''Cop Rock'' ...
and several of his projects. Wagner was asked by ABC in 1987 to help develop a new science fiction series, '' Probe'', a light-hearted series about a scientific crime fighter named Austin James.
Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...
, the renowned science fiction writer, had created the basic idea of a young man who solved mysteries using scientific concepts, somewhat in the vein of Tom Swift or
Rick Brant Rick Brant is the central character in a series of 24 adventure and mystery novels by John Blaine, a pseudonym for authors Harold L. Goodwin (all titles) and Peter J. Harkins (co-author of the first three). The series was published by Grosset ...
. Wagner wrote the two-hour pilot TV movie, "Computer Logic," and became Executive Producer for the series, which lasted one season. Parker Stevenson, who played the lead character, stated in a later interview that he patterned his character after Wagner's mannerisms and physical behavior."Science Fiction Television Series" (1996) Mark Phillips & Frank Garcia, McFarland & Co., Inc. The series ran on Thursday nights in the Spring of 1988 during the same time slot as NBC's '' The Cosby Show'', and with that competition could not attract a sufficient audience to get renewed for the following season. The following TV season, Wagner wrote three scripts for the
Gene Roddenberry Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter, producer, and creator of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'', its sequel spin-off series ''Star Trek: The Animated Series,'' and ''Sta ...
series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', and served briefly as Executive Producer for the series. He worked with
Steven Bochco Steven Ronald Bochco Masterson (December 16, 1943 – April 1, 2018) was an American television writer and producer. He developed a number of television series, including ''Hill Street Blues'', ''L.A. Law'', ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'', ''Cop Rock'' ...
on Bochco's ''
Hooperman ''Hooperman'' is an American comedy-drama television series which aired on ABC from September 23, 1987, to July 19, 1989. The show centered on the professional and personal life of San Francisco police Inspector Harry Hooperman, played by John Ri ...
'', starring John Ritter. Wagner helped develop and write the Bochco animated series '' Capitol Critters'', he also wrote and served as supervising producer for the NBC series ''
Mann & Machine ''Mann & Machine'' is an American science fiction/police drama television series that aired for nine episodes on NBC from April 5 to July 14, 1992. Synopsis Created by Dick Wolf and Robert De Laurentis, the series starred Yancy Butler as Sgt. Ev ...
'' in 1992. In 1992, Wagner died from brain cancer in Agoura Hills, California.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Michael B. 1947 births 1992 deaths Primetime Emmy Award winners American television writers American male television writers 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American male writers Writers Guild of America Award winners