Michael Jacobs (born June 28, 1955) is an American television creator, writer and producer whose work has appeared on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

Off Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

, television and film. He is the creator/producer or has written and developed several television series including ''

Boy Meets World ''Boy Meets World'' is an American coming-of-age sitcom created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly that aired on ABC for seven seasons between September1993 and May2000. The series centers on Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) and his friends and famil ...

'', ''

Dinosaurs Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

'', ''

Charles in Charge ''Charles in Charge'' is an American sitcom television series that premiered on October 3, 1984, on CBS. The series was a production of Al Burton Productions and Scholastic Productions in association with Universal Television and starred Scott B ...

'', ''

My Two Dads ''My Two Dads'' is an American sitcom television series that was produced by Michael Jacobs (producer), Michael Jacobs Productions in association with TriStar Television, Tri-Star Television (later Columbia Pictures Television) and distributed b ...

'', ''

The Torkelsons ''The Torkelsons'' is an American sitcom television series which aired on the NBC television network from September 21, 1991, to June 6, 1993. Produced by Walt Disney Television in season 1 and Touchstone Television in season 2, the series star ...

'', and ''

Girl Meets World ''Girl Meets World'' is an American comedy television series created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly that premiered on Disney Channel on June 27, 2014. The series ran for three seasons, consisting of 72 episodes, and concluded on January 20 ...

''. His television shows have won the

Emmy 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 ...

, People's Choice, Parent's Choice, Environmental Media Awards, and more.

Early life

Jacobs was born June 28, 1955, in

Highland Park, New Jersey Highland Park is a borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States in the New York City metropolitan area. The borough is located on the northern banks of the Raritan River, in the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2020 United States Cens ...

. He attended

Highland Park High School (New Jersey) Highland Park High School (HPHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from the borough of Highland Park, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, as the lone secondary sch ...

. Jacobs grew up in

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 ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

;

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

; and

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' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Career

Jacobs began his career as a writer and an actor. As an actor, he toured with the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, appeared in a Los Angeles production of Godspell, and made an appearance on the soap-opera ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that streams on the streaming service Peacock. The soap, which aired on the American television net ...

''. His play, ''Cheaters'', had its premiere in South Florida in 1977, winning the Carbonell Award for "Best New Play." It opened in 1978 at the Biltmore Theatre in New York, starring

Doris Roberts Doris May Roberts ( Green; November 4, 1925 – April 17, 2016) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades of television and film. She received five Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild award during her acting career, which bega ...

, Jack Weston, Lou Jacobi and Rosemary Murphy, when he was twenty-two years old, making him one of the youngest playwrights in Broadway history. His next play, ''Getting Along Famously'' was produced off-Broadway in 1984, at the Hudson Guild Theatre. His play, ''

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

'' opened on Broadway in 2009 at the

Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, formerly the Plymouth Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 236 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1917, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was ...

, starring

Jeremy Irons Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor and activist. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 and has appeared in many West End theatre ...

and

Joan Allen Joan Allen (born August 20, 1956) is an American actress. She began her career with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1977, won the 1984 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for ''And a Nightingale Sang'', and won the 1988 Tony Awa ...

. He was nominated for the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

Golden Globe 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 ...

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...

and

BAFTA Award for Best Film The BAFTA Award for Best Film is given annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and presented at the British Academy Film Awards. It has been given since the 1st BAFTA Awards, representing the best films of 1947, but until ...

for producing the 1994 motion picture, ''

Quiz Show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, sh ...

'', which also won the

New York Film Critics Circle Award The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) is an American film critic organization founded in 1935 by Wanda Hale from the New York ''Daily News''. Its membership includes over 30 film critics from New York-based daily and weekly newspapers, magazi ...

. He won the

People's Choice Award The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls until ...

(Best New Comedy) for ''

'' and was nominated for the

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 ...

(Outstanding Children's Program) for ''

'' in 2015 and again in 2016, and once again in 2017, which was also nominated for 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 ...

, the

WGA Award WGA may refer to: In arts and entertainment: * Web Gallery of Art * Writers Guild of Alberta * Writers Guild of America, an American union ** Writers Guild of America, East ** Writers Guild of America, West Other uses: * Wagga Wagga Airport (IATA ...

, the

PGA Award The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing television producers, film producers and New Media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership includes over 8,000 members of the producing establishment w ...

, as well as the

Kids' Choice Award The Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (also known as the KCAs or Kids' Choice) is an annual American children's awards ceremony show that is produced by Nickelodeon. Usually held on a Saturday night in late March or early April, the show honors ...

and

Teen Choice Award The Teen Choice Awards is an annual awards show that airs on the Fox television network. The awards honor the year's biggest achievements in music, film, sports, television, fashion, social media, and more, voted by viewers living in the United S ...

. In 2007, he produced the documentary, ''As Seen Through These Eyes'', about artists who were captured during the Holocaust and at risk of their lives created visual records so the world would know what happened. The film is narrated by

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and ...

, (''

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings ''I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'' is a 1969 autobiography describing the young and early years of American writer and poet Maya Angelou. The first in a seven-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of charact ...

'') and has been named "Best Film" or "Best Documentary" at multiple film festivals nationally and internationally. ''Maybe I Do'', the first feature film he wrote and directed will begin its run in theaters January 27, 2023. It stars

Diane Keaton Diane Keaton ('' née'' Hall, born January 5, 1946) is an American actress and director. She has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over six decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Gl ...

Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Heaven'' (1978). He came to prominence with ...

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actorMcCabe, Bruce"Susan Sarandon, the 'actor'" ''Boston Globe''. April 17, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2021. and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, ...

William H. Macy William Hall Macy Jr. (born March 13, 1950) is an American actor. His film career has been built on appearances in small, independent films, though he has also appeared in mainstream films. Some of his best known starring roles include those i ...

Emma Roberts Emma Rose Roberts (born February 10, 1991 Additional on October 9, 2016) is an American actress. Known for her work in film and television projects of the horror film, horror and thriller (genre), thriller genres, she has received List of awar ...

, and

Luke Bracey Luke Bracey (born 26 April 1989) is an Australian actor. He is known for his work in films such as ''Monte Carlo'', '' G.I. Joe: Retaliation'', ''The November Man'', ''Point Break'', and ''Hacksaw Ridge''; and for television series such as '' H ...

Television

His production company, Michael Jacobs Productions, has been in long-term development partnerships with

NBCUniversal Television Distribution NBCUniversal Syndication Studios (a.k.a. NUSS), formerly known as NBCUniversal Television Distribution (a.k.a. NUTD), Universal Domestic Television, Studios USA Television Distribution and MCA TV, is the television syndication division of NBCUnive ...

Columbia TriStar Television Columbia TriStar Television, Inc. (abbreviated as CTT) was an American television production and distribution company that was active from 1994 to 2002. It was operated as the third name of the early television studio Screen Gems and the fourth ...

Buena Vista Television Buena ( ) is a borough in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,603,Boy Meets World ''Boy Meets World'' is an American coming-of-age sitcom created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly that aired on ABC for seven seasons between September1993 and May2000. The series centers on Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) and his friends and famil ...

'' celebrated its 25th anniversary on television, having been broadcast continuously since 1993 on ABC, Disney Channel, and currently on TeenNick and MTV2. Michael and the cast were reunited in June 2013, as the featured panel at the second annual

ATX Television Festival ATX Television Festival is an annual event based in Austin, Texas, that celebrates and showcases the past, present, and future of the television industry. Screenings, Q&As, cast reunions, and industry panel discussions take place over four days an ...

in Austin, Texas. He was quoted there as saying, "I don't see anything on television right now that is speaking to the audience I have always spoken to and care very much about." ''

'' premiered on June 27, 2014, running for three seasons to substantial success before Disney Channel ended the show, allegedly out of concerns the show's characters were aging out of the channel's target audience. In 2018, all episodes of ''

'' along with ''

'' began their run on the streaming service,

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

. Both ''Boy Meets World'' and ''Girl Meets World'' have since moved to

Disney Plus Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television ser ...

. Michael is also the writer or co-writer of the theme songs for ''

'', ''

'' and '' Lost at Home''.

Film

*''As Seen Through These Eyes'' (Documentary) 2007 *''

'' 1994 * ''Maybe I Do'' 2023

Television

*''

'' (Disney Channel; 2014–2017) *'' Lost at Home'' (ABC; 2003) *''

Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane ''Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane'' is an American teen sitcom created by Daniel and Sue Paige, starring Selma Blair, David Moscow, Michael Rosenbaum, and Azura Skye that premiered on The WB network from January 17, 1999 and ended on June 11, 2000. Du ...

'' (WB; 1999–2000) *'' You Wish'' (ABC; 1997–1998) *'' Maybe This Time'' (ABC; 1995–1996) *''

Misery Loves Company Misery Loves Company may refer to: * Misery Loves Co., a Swedish industrial metal duo * ''Misery Loves Company'' (album), a 2000 album by Rosemary's Sons * "Misery Loves Company" (Porter Wagoner song), 1962 * ''Misery Loves Company'' (TV serie ...

'' (FOX; 1995–1996) *''

'' (ABC; 1993–2000) *''

Where I Live ''Where I Live'' is an American sitcom that premiered on March 5, 1993, as part of ABC's '' TGIF'' lineup. The series was created and executive produced by Michael Jacobs and Ehrich Van Lowe. Its final episode aired on November 20, 1993. Syno ...

'' (ABC; 1993–1994) *''

'' (ABC; 1991–1994) *'' The Torkelsons/Almost Home'' (NBC; 1991–1993) *''

Singer & Sons ''Singer & Sons'' is an American sitcom starring Harold Gould and Esther Rolle that was originally broadcast on NBC as a summer replacement series from June 9 to June 27, 1990. Synopsis Nathan Singer is a Jewish widower who becomes the third gene ...

'' (NBC; 1990) *''

'' (NBC; 1987–1990) *''

Together We Stand ''Together We Stand'', also known as ''Nothing Is Easy'', is an American sitcom that aired on the CBS network from 1986 to 1987. It was written by Stephen Sustarsic and directed by Andrew D. Weyman. ''Together We Stand'' is about a married cou ...

'' (CBS; 1986-1987) *''

'' (CBS; 1984–1985; Syndicated; 1987–1990) *'' No Soap, Radio'' (ABC; 1982)

Theatre

*''Cheaters'' ( Biltmore Theatre) 1978 *''Getting Along Famously'' ( Hudson Guild Theatre) 1984 *''

'' (

) 2009

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, Michael 1955 births Film producers from New Jersey Living people People from Highland Park, New Jersey People from Middlesex County, New Jersey Showrunners Television producers from New Jersey