Twenty-five years before Peak TV, there was “Must See TV.”
During Tarses’ tenure at ABC, the network’s successes included hit sitcom “Dharma & Greg,” writer-producer Aaron Sorkin’s “Sports Night,” “The Practice” from David E. Kelley and “Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place,” which introduced actor Ryan Reynolds.
Tarses left ABC in 1999 and went on to become an independent TV producer for a number of networks, turning out such shows as “Happy Endings,” “Franklin & Bash” and “My Boys.” She had a project in production for Disney+ called “The Mysterious Benedict Society.” She also produced “The Wilds” for Amazon Prime.
Jamie Tarses, trailblazing TV executive, dead at 56 Share Updated: 1:44 PM CST Feb 1, 2021 By Brian Lowry, CNN Greg Doherty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images Jamie Tarses attends Women In Film 2018 Crystal + Lucy Award at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on June 13, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. SOURCE: Greg Doherty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
TRACKING THE COVID-19 VACCINE Share Updated: 1:44 PM CST Feb 1, 2021 By Brian Lowry, CNN Jamie Tarses, who became the first woman to head a major network entertainment division during a tumultuous run in the 1990s at ABC, died Monday of complications from a cardiac event last fall, according to multiple reports citing her family.She was 56.CNN has reached out to her family for comment.Tarses became president of ABC Entertainment in 1996, following a successful run as a comedy development executive at NBC, where she participated in the launch of Frien
Wings, among others.
ABC s decision to hire the young Turk was met with enormous scrutiny, which included a scathing and sexist article by Lynn Hirschberg for the
New York Times
Magazine. The long profile began with a commentary about the car she drove a Range Rover and a reference to her hair, which Hirschberg described as a mass of curls that falls past her shoulders, is piled up on her head like a corona. A tendril has come loose and Tarses is fussing with it, tugging at the stray hair, distracted by it and by other things. The not-so-subtle digs at her youth and femininity stood out more than any mention of her talents, and dogged Tarses for years.