Jamie Tarses

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Short description|American television producer (1964–2021)}} {{Infobox person | name = Jamie Tarses | image =  | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Sara James Tarses | birth_date = {{Birth date|1964|03|16}} | birth_place = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US | death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|2|1|1964|3|16}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, US | other_names = Jamie McDermott | alma_mater = Williams College | occupation = Producer<br/>Studio executive | years_active = 1985–2021 | known_for = ''Friends''<br/>''My Boys''<br/>''Happy Endings'' | spouse = {{marriage|Dan McDermott|1993|1996|end=divorced}} | partner = Paddy Aubrey | children = 2 | parents = Jay Tarses<br/>Rachel Tarses | relatives = }}

'''Sara James Tarses''' (March 16, 1964 – February 1, 2021) was an American television producer and television studio executive. She was the president of ABC Entertainment from 1996 to 1999, the first woman and one of the youngest people to hold such a post in an American broadcast network.<ref name=NYTimes-Lunch-1996>{{cite news|last1=Carter|first1=Bill|title=At Lunch With: Jamie Tarses – A Soap Opera Ends: Let the Comedies Begin|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/07/garden/a-soap-opera-ends-let-the-comedies-begin.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=January 10, 2015|work=The New York Times|date=August 7, 1996}}</ref>

==Early life== Tarses was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of television writer Jay Tarses and Rachel Tarses (née Newdell), on March 16, 1964.<ref name="hollywoodreporter">{{Cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jamie-tarses-pioneering-television-executive-dies-at-56 |title= Jamie Tarses, Pioneering Television Executive, Dies at 56 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |last=Barnes |first=Mike |date=February 1, 2021 |access-date= February 1, 2021}}</ref><ref name=MuseumBroadcastComm-Encylopedia-of-TV>{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Pamela|editor1-last= Newcomb |editor1-first= Horace| title= Jay Tarses|date=1997 |work= Encyclopedia of Television| publisher= Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers |location= Chicago |isbn= 9781884964268|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofte0000unse|access-date=January 10, 2015|quote=Online edition at Museum of Broadcast Communications|url-access=registration}}</ref> Her younger sister, Mallory Tarses, is a fiction writer and high school English teacher,<ref name= CapeFear-Sister>{{cite web|title=Faculty and Staff – Upper School » English|url=http://www.capefearacademy.org/faculty-staff/upper-school/english|website=capefearacademy.org|publisher=Cape Fear Academy|access-date=January 10, 2015|archive-date=July 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714230353/http://www.capefearacademy.org/faculty-staff/upper-school/english|url-status=dead}}</ref> and a younger brother, Matt Tarses, is a producer and screenwriter (''The Goldbergs,'' ''Scrubs,'' ''Sports Night''{{--)}}.<ref name=TCMdb-JayTarses>{{cite web|title=Jay Tarses|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/189140%7C0/Jay-Tarses/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024095652/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/189140%7C0/Jay-Tarses/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 24, 2014|website= Turner Classic Movies |publisher= Turner Classic Movies | access-date= January 10, 2015}}</ref>

Tarses graduated from Williams College in 1985<ref name= TCMdb-JamieTarses>{{cite web|title=Jamie Tarses| url= https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/9389373%7C0/Jamie-Tarses/| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150110061505/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/9389373%7C0/Jamie-Tarses/| url-status= dead| archive-date= January 10, 2015|website= Turner Classic Movies |access-date=January 10, 2015}}</ref> with a degree in theater.<ref name=EW-BaltimorePilotPass-1996>{{cite magazine|last1=Jacobs|first1=A.J.|title='Friends' in high places? ABC woos the TV exec behind NBC's ''Friends'' and ''Frasier''|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,292450,00.html|access-date=January 10, 2015|magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=May 10, 1996 | url-status=dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150110091927/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,292450,00.html | archive-date=January 10, 2015}}</ref>

==Career==

===Casting director=== After graduating from college, Tarses became an assistant to the talent executive on the 1985–1986 season of ''Saturday Night Live.'' She then worked as a casting director for Lorimar Productions, filling roles for mid-run ''Perfect Strangers''.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=Daily News | date=May 25, 1997 | page=486 | title=Maximum exposure | last=Huff | first=Richard | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69103892/jamie-tarses-mini-bio-1997/ }}</ref>

===Network executive=== In September 1987, Tarses was hired by NBC Productions' Brandon Tartikoff as the manager of creative affairs. She climbed the corporate ladder at NBC until 1996. Here, she helped develop ''Friends'', ''Mad About You'', ''Frasier'', ''NewsRadio'', and ''Caroline in the City''.<ref name="hollywoodreporter"/><ref name=EW-BaltimorePilotPass-1996 /><ref name=LATimes-ABCEnt-1997>{{cite news|last1=Eller|first1=Claudia|last2=Hofmeister|first2=Sallie|title=Tabloids' Obsession With the ABC Exec Rewrites the Script : Tarses Saga Redefines Frenzy|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-jul-29-fi-17396-story.html|access-date=January 10, 2015|work=Los Angeles Times|date=July 29, 1997}}</ref> In 1991, she passed on her father's pilot about jazz musicians, called ''Baltimore''.<ref name=EW-BaltimorePilotPass-1996 />

Tarses left NBC in 1996 amidst a significant amount of press coverage.<ref name=NYTimes-NBCtoABC-1996>{{cite news|last1=Carter|first1=Bill|title=TV Notes; Executive Upheaval |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/12/arts/executive-upheaval.html|access-date=January 10, 2015|work=The New York Times|date=June 12, 1996}}</ref><ref name=NewYork-OldBoys-1996>{{cite news|last1=Turner|first1=Richard|title=Old Boys and New Girls|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MOECAAAAMBAJ&q=old+boys+and+new+girls&pg=PA28|access-date=January 10, 2015|work=New York|date=March 25, 1996}}</ref> From 1996 to 1999, she was president of ABC Entertainment.<ref name=DeseretNews-ABCResignation-1999>{{cite news|last1=Pierce|first1=Scott D.|title=Strange reign of Jamie Tarses at ABC comes to a sudden end|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/715399/Strange-reign-of-Jamie-Tarses-at-ABC-comes-to-a-sudden-end.html?pg=all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110073621/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/715399/Strange-reign-of-Jamie-Tarses-at-ABC-comes-to-a-sudden-end.html?pg=all|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 10, 2015|access-date=January 10, 2015|work=Deseret News|date=August 31, 1999}}</ref><ref name=NYTimes-ABC-Staying-1997>{{cite news|last1=Carter|first1=Bill|title=Tarses Says She's Staying at ABC|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/24/arts/tarses-says-she-s-staying-at-abc.html|access-date=January 10, 2015|work=The New York Times|date=July 23, 1997}}</ref><ref name=NYTimes-Quits-1999>{{cite news|last1=Carter|first1=Bill|title=The Media Business; Amid Changes, ABC's Top Programmer Quits|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/27/business/the-media-business-amid-changes-abc-s-top-programmer-quits.html|access-date=January 10, 2015|work=The New York Times|date=August 27, 1999}}</ref> She resigned in August 1999 with two years remaining on her contract.<ref name="hollywoodreporter"/> At the time of her departure she had one sitcom, one comedy, and one legal drama on ABC's schedule. <ref name=NYTimes-Unemployed-1999>{{Cite news|last=Carter|first=Bill|date=1999-08-30|title=TV Executive: Young, Female and Unemployed (Published 1999)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/30/arts/tv-executive-young-female-and-unemployed.html|access-date=2021-02-03|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Tarses was the subject of what Bill Carter of ''The New York Times'' called an "unflattering profile" written by Lynn Hirschberg in ''The New York Times Magazine'' in July 1997, in which she "was portrayed as an embattled executive whose competence and professionalism was being questioned in Hollywood show business circles".<ref name=NYTimes-ABC-Staying-1997 /><ref name=NYTimes-MagazineFeature-1997>{{cite news|last1=Hirschberg|first1=Lynn|title=Network Drama at ABC: Jamie Tarses' Fall, as Scheduled|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/13/magazine/jamie-tarses-fall-as-scheduled.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=January 10, 2015|work=The New York Times|date=July 13, 1997}}</ref><ref name=Variety-TarsesBashing-Bart-1997>{{cite news|last1=Bart|first1=Peter|title=More than meets the eye in Tarses-bashing|url=https://variety.com/1997/voices/columns/more-than-meets-the-eye-in-tarses-bashing-1116676034/|access-date=January 10, 2015|work=Variety|date=July 23, 1997}}</ref>

Amanda Peet, who played Jordan McDeere, the head of fictional network NBS on the NBC show ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'', said her character "is loosely based" on Tarses.<ref name=Leno-Peet-2006>Amanda Peet segment, ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'', October 20, 2006. Peet: "I'm the head of network … The role is loosely based on Jamie Tarses…".</ref><ref name=WashingtonPost-SNL-2006>{{cite news|last1=de Moraes|first1=Lisa|title=NBC's 'Saturday Night' Fever: How Many Series About a Sketch Show Can It Run?|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/04/AR2006050402047.html|access-date=January 10, 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=May 5, 2006}}</ref> Tarses was a consultant for ''Studio 60''.

While at ABC, she helped develop and greenlight ''Dharma & Greg''.<ref name=NYTimes-Unemployed-1999/>

===Producer=== In 2005, Tarses partnered on a production company called Pariah Productions with producer Gavin Polone.<ref name=Variety-Pariah-2005>{{cite news|last1=Adalian|first1=Josef|title=Tarses pacts with Polone|url=https://variety.com/2005/scene/news/tarses-pacts-with-polone-1117929424/|access-date=January 10, 2015|work=Variety|date=September 21, 2005}}</ref> Later, she had a company called FanFare Productions at Sony Pictures Television.<ref name=Variety-Fanfare-PrimetimeComeback-2010>{{cite news|last1=Schneider|first1=Michael|title=Jamie Tarses: Primetime comeback|url=https://variety.com/2010/scene/markets-festivals/jamie-tarses-primetime-comeback-1118024869/|access-date=January 10, 2015|work=Variety|date=September 30, 2010}}</ref>

Tarses was co-producer of ''My Boys'', a comedy about a female sports reporter starring Jordana Spiro, on TBS cable television network from November 28, 2006, until September 14, 2010.<ref name="myboys">{{Cite web |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69103816/back-in-the-game-24-nov-2006-the-los/ |title=Back in the game |last=Smith |first=Lynne |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |page=E1 |date=November 24, 2006 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=February 1, 2021}}</ref> In 2010, she produced several television series, including ''Mr. Sunshine'', ''Happy Endings'', and ''Franklin & Bash.''<ref name="mrsunshine">{{Cite web |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69104410/mr-sunshine-cant-cut-through-the/ |title='Mr. Sunshine' can't cut through the clouds |date=February 9, 2011 |newspaper=The Boston Globe |page=G3 |last=Gilbert |first=Matthew |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=February 1, 2021}}</ref><ref name="endings">{{Cite web |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69104863/endings-is-off-to-a-promising-start/ |title='Endings' is off to a promising start |date=February 9, 2011 |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |last=Lloyd |first=Robert |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=February 1, 2021}}</ref><ref name="deadline">{{cite web |last=Andreeva |first=Nellie |title=Jamie Tarses Dies: Trailblazing TV Executive & Producer Was 56 |url=https://deadline.com/2021/02/jamie-tarses-dead-tv-executive-producer-abc-friends-frasier-1234684624/ |website=Deadline |date=February 1, 2021 |access-date=February 1, 2021}}</ref>

==Personal life== Tarses married DreamWorks SKG television executive Dan McDermott in 1993. They divorced in 1996.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=The Press Democrat | date=August 18, 1996 | page=33 | title=ABC's wunderkind comes out on top | last=Carter| first=Bill | url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69106305/jamie-tarses-and-dan-mcdermott-divorce/}}</ref> Tarses also dated Robert Morton, executive producer of ''Late Show with David Letterman'', and Matthew Perry.<ref name=EW-BaltimorePilotPass-1996 /><ref name=EOnline-OvertheTop-1997>{{cite news|last1=Frankel|first1=Daniel|title=Tarses-Morton Split Blamed for Sitcom Downfall |url= http://www.eonline.com/news/35470/tarses-morton-split-blamed-for-sitcom-downfall|access-date=January 10, 2015|work=E! Online|date=November 10, 1997}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Perry |first1=Matthew |title=Friends, lovers, and the big terrible thing: a memoir |last2=Kudrow |first2=Lisa |date=2022 |publisher=Flatiron Books |isbn=978-1-250-86644-8 |edition=First U.S. edition, first International |location=New York}}</ref> She had two children, Wyatt and Sloane, with her partner Paddy Aubrey, an executive chef and restaurant owner.<ref name= "hollywoodreporter"/>

She served on the board of directors and the advisory board of directors for Young Storytellers, an arts education nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles.<ref name="hollywoodreporter"/><ref name="youngstorytellers">{{Cite web |url= https://www.youngstorytellers.com/board |title=Board of Directors |website=youngstorytellers.com |access-date=February 1, 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210201200246/https://www.youngstorytellers.com/board |archive-date=February 1, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> She was a volunteer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.<ref name="hollywoodreporter"/>

==Death== Tarses had a stroke in the fall of 2020, spent time in a coma, and then died in Los Angeles on February 1, 2021, at age 56 from what a family spokesperson called "complications of a cardiac event".<ref name="deadline"/><ref name="NYT obit">{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/01/business/media/jamie-tarses-dead.html|title = Jamie Tarses, Executive in a Hollywood Rise-and-Fall Story, Dies at 56|work =The New York Times|date = February 1, 2021|access-date = February 1, 2021|last = Barnes|first = Brooks}}</ref>

==Filmography==

===TV series=== * 1985–1986: ''Saturday Night Live'' – Production staff (18 episodes)<ref name="NYT obit"/> * 1987–1988: ''Perfect Strangers'' – Casting director (12 episodes)<ref>{{cite news|title=Jamie Tarses' Fall, as Scheduled|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/13/magazine/jamie-tarses-fall-as-scheduled.html|first=Lynn|last=Hirschberg|date=July 13, 1997|access-date=February 1, 2021|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> * 2006–2007: ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'' – Consultant (13 episodes)<ref name="LAT obit">{{cite news|title=Jamie Tarses, first female TV network entertainment head, dies at 56|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-02-01/jamie-tarses-the-first-female-network-entertainment-chief-dies-at-56|first=Stephen|last=Battaglio|date=February 1, 2021|access-date=February 1, 2021|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> * 2006–2010: ''My Boys'' – Executive producer (37 episodes)<ref name="NYT obit"/> * 2009–2011: ''Hawthorne'' – Executive producer (24 episodes)<ref name="deadline"/> * 2011: ''Mad Love'' – Executive producer (13 episodes)<ref name="deadline"/> * 2011: ''Mr. Sunshine'' – Executive producer (6 episodes)<ref name="deadline"/> * 2011–2013: ''Happy Endings'' – Executive producer (57 episodes)<ref name="NYT obit"/> * 2011–2014: ''Franklin & Bash'' – Executive producer (30 episodes)<ref name="deadline"/> * 2012: ''Made in Jersey'' – Executive producer (6 episodes)<ref name="deadline"/> * 2012–2014: ''Men at Work'' – Executive producer (31 episodes)<ref name="deadline"/> * 2013: ''Bastards'' – Executive producer<ref>{{cite news|title=Fox Developing Family Comedy 'Bastards' From 'Butter' Scribe|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/fox-developing-family-comedy-bastards-jamie-tarses-368510|first=Lesley|last=Goldberg|date=September 6, 2012|access-date=February 1, 2021|magazine=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref> * 2014: ''Really'' – Executive producer (1 episode)<ref>{{cite news|title=Amazon Studios Names Full Cast of 'Really' Comedy Pilot From Jay Chandrasekhar and Jamie Tarses|url=https://variety.com/2014/digital/news/amazon-studios-names-full-cast-of-really-comedy-pilot-from-jay-chandrasekhar-and-jamie-tarses-1201224674/|first=Todd|last=Spangler|date=June 20, 2014|access-date=February 1, 2021|magazine=Variety}}</ref> * 2014–2015: ''Marry Me'' – Executive producer (17 episodes)<ref name="deadline"/> * 2014: ''Cuz-Bros'' – Executive producer<ref>{{cite news|title='Happy Endings' Creator's Roommates Comedy Gets Pilot Order at CBS|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/happy-endings-creators-roommates-comedy-678506|first=Lesley|last=Goldberg|date=February 7, 2014|access-date=February 1, 2021|magazine=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref> * 2015: ''Your Family or Mine'' – Executive producer<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/your_family_or_mine|title=Your Family or Mine|website=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=February 1, 2021}}</ref> * 2017: ''The Mayor'' – Executive producer<ref name="deadline"/> * 2020–2021: ''The Wilds'' – Executive producer

===TV movies=== * 2001: ''Tikiville'' – Executive producer<ref>{{cite news|title=NBC takes chance on Tarses pilot|url=https://variety.com/2001/tv/news/nbc-takes-chance-on-tarses-pilot-1117793767/|first=Josef|last=Adalian|date=February 14, 2001|access-date=February 1, 2021|magazine=Variety}}</ref> * 2003: ''Crazy Love'' – Executive producer{{sfn|Terrace|2018|p=48}} * 2004: ''Nevermind Nirvana'' – Executive producer<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ufx0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA48|title=Mediaweek|publisher=ASM Communications|year=2004|volume=14|page=20|isbn=9781476672069}}</ref> * 2006: ''The Angriest Man in Suburbia'' – Executive producer<ref name=Andreeva>{{cite news|title=Solo deals for Polone, Tarses|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/solo-deals-polone-tarses-128518|first=Nellie|last=Andreeva|date=January 23, 2007|access-date=February 1, 2021|magazine=The Hollywood Reporter|agency=Associated Press}}</ref> * 2006: ''More, Patience'' – Executive producer<ref name=Andreeva/> * 2007: ''Primeval'' – Executive producer<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2bbbe45477|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207143643/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2bbbe45477|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 7, 2021|title=Jamie Tarses|publisher=British Film Institute|access-date=February 1, 2021}}</ref> * 2007: ''Backyards & Bullets'' – Executive producer<ref>{{cite news|url=https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/backyardstv|title=Milwaukee's new show now called "Backyards and Bullets"|first=Jeff|last=Sherman|date=August 7, 2007|website=OnMilwaukee|access-date=February 1, 2021}}</ref> * 2008: ''Held Up'' – Executive producer<ref name="Rotten Tomatoes">{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jamie_tarses|title=Jamie Tarses|website=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=October 22, 2020}}</ref> * 2009: ''Eva Adams'' – Executive producer<ref>{{cite news|title=Fox tapping Waters for 'Eva Adams'|url=https://variety.com/2008/scene/news/fox-tapping-waters-for-eva-adams-1117993841/?jwsource=cl|first=Cynthia|last=Littleton|date=October 12, 2008|access-date=February 1, 2021|magazine=Variety}}</ref> * 2010: ''Held Up'' – Executive producer<ref name="Rotten Tomatoes"/> * 2012: ''Happy Valley'' – Executive producer{{sfn|Terrace|2018|pp=93–94}} * 2014: ''Duty'' – Executive producer<ref>{{cite news|title='Happy Endings' Quartet Land Pilot Order at Comedy Central|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/happy-endings-quartet-land-pilot-692825|first=Lesley|last=Goldberg|date=April 2, 2014|access-date=February 1, 2021|magazine=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref>

==References== '''Specific''' {{reflist}} '''Bibliography''' {{refbegin}} *{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ufx0DwAAQBAJ|title=Encyclopedia of Unaired Television Pilots, 1945–2018|publisher=McFarland|date=September 28, 2018|last=Terrace|first=Vincent|isbn=9781476672069}} {{refend}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name}}

{{start box}} {{s-bus}} {{succession box | title = President of ABC Entertainment | before = Ted Harbert | after = Susan M. Lyne | years = 1996–1999 }} {{end box}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarses, Jamie}} Category:1964 births Category:2021 deaths Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:20th-century American businesswomen Category:21st-century American businesswomen Category:21st-century American businesspeople Category:American Broadcasting Company executives Category:American television producers Category:American women television producers Category:Businesspeople from Pittsburgh Category:NBC executives Category:Presidents of American Broadcasting Company Entertainment Category:Williams College alumni Category:American women television executives Category:American women casting directors