Todd Ellis Kessler is an American television producer and writer. He has worked in both capacities on varied series including ''

The Practice ''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy ...

'', ''

Crossing Jordan ''Crossing Jordan'' is an American crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its dete ...

'', ''

Kevin Hill ''Kevin Hill'' is an American legal drama that aired on UPN from September 29, 2004 to May 18, 2005. It was filmed and produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Synopsis The series stars Taye Diggs as the title character, a lawyer who has to bal ...

'', ''

The Unit ''The Unit'' is an American action-drama television series created by David Mamet that aired on CBS from March 7, 2006, to May 10, 2009 with the total of four seasons and 69 episodes. The series focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled ...

'' and ''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal and political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in l ...

''. He has been nominated for daytime and primetime Emmy Awards and a

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility ...

Career

Kessler began writing for television with the NBC science fiction series '' Sleepwalkers'' in 1997. He served as an executive story editor for the series single season. Later in 1997 Kessler next became a writer for the second season of the ABC legal drama ''

''. He wrote the episodes "The Means" and "Axe Murderer". In 1999 Kessler obtained his first production work on the science fictions series '' Strange World''. The show was created by Howard Gordon and

Tim Kring Richard Timothy Kring (born July 9, 1957) is an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his creation of the drama series '' Strange World'', ''Crossing Jordan'', ''Heroes'', and ''Touch''. Early life Kring was born in El Do ...

. Kessler was credited as a co-producer and also worked as a writer on the short-lived series. Later in 1999 Kessler returned to ''The Practice'' as a co-producer and writer for the show's fourth season. He wrote the episodes "Legacy", "Marooned", "Committed" and "Settling". Kessler was promoted to producer for the fifth season but did not write any further episodes. Along with the rest of the production team Kessler was nominated for the Emmy Award for outstanding drama series for his work on the fifth season. In 2001 Kessler became a supervising producer and writer on the legal drama ''

''. The series was created and executive produced by Tim Kring, who Kessler worked with on ''Strange World''. Kessler wrote the first-season episodes "Believers" and "Blood Relatives" and left the crew at the end of the first season. In 2002 Kessler became a writer and supervising producer for the medical drama '' MDs''. Kessler wrote the episode "Open Hearts". The series was cancelled after ten episodes. Kessler returned to television in 2004 as a supervising producer and writer for legal drama ''

''. He wrote the episodes "Snack Daddy", "Homeland Insecurity", "Cardiac Episode" and "Through the Looking Glass". The show was cancelled after completing its first season. In 2006 Kessler worked as a supervising producer and writer on the second season of HBO historical drama ''

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

''. The season did not air until early 2007. Kessler wrote the episodes "Testudo et Lepus" and "A Necessary Fiction". ''Rome'' was cancelled due to high production costs after two seasons. In 2006 Kessler joined the crew of the action drama series ''

''. Kessler became a co-executive producer and writer for the series second season. He wrote the episodes "Report by Exception", "Johnny B. Good" and "In Loco Parentis". He returned as a co-executive producer for the third season in 2007 and wrote the episodes "Pandemonium: Part Two" and "Side Angle Side". The third season was shortened by the writers strike. Following the writer's strike Kessler returned to work on the fourth and final season of ''The Unit'' in 2008. He was promoted to executive producer and wrote the episodes "Sex Trade", "Misled and Misguided" (from a story by himself and Pete Blaber) and the series finale "Unknown Soldier". In 2009 Kessler joined the crew of new legal drama ''

'' as a co-executive producer and writer. Kessler was joined by

Ted Humphrey Ted Humphrey is an American television and film writer, producer and director. He is best known for his work on the CBS series '' The Good Wife,'' which was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Best New Series in 2010, as well as the ...

who had worked as a supervising producer and writer on the fourth season of ''The Unit''. Kessler wrote the first-season episodes "Fixed" and "Infamy". Kessler and the rest of the writing staff for the first season were nominated for a

for best new series. In 2011 Kessler became a writer and co-executive producer for the period drama ''

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United State ...

''. He wrote the episode "The Genuine Article" with consulting producer Nick Thiel, and had story credit on "Diplomatic Relations" (Jeffrey Lieber and Craig Shapiro shared credit for teleplay). The series was cancelled after fourteen episodes. In 2012 Kessler became a writer and co-executive producer for the musical drama ''

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

''. He wrote the episodes "We Live In Two Different Worlds," "There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight" (with consulting producer

David Marshall Grant David Marshall Grant (born June 21, 1955) is an American actor, singer and writer. Life and career Grant was born in Westport, Connecticut, to physician parents. Immediately after graduating from Connecticut College with an M.F.A. and receivin ...

), and "Why Don't You Love Me." Kessler left the series after the first season.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kessler, Todd Ellis Living people American television producers American television writers American male television writers Year of birth missing (living people)