# Rick Friedberg
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{{short description|American producer and director}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rick Friedberg
| image =
| alt =
| caption = Jason Friedberg's father
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1944|3|11}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| other_names =
| known_for = ''[Spy Hard](/source/Spy_Hard)''
| occupation = [Film director](/source/Film_director), [producer](/source/film_producer), writer
| children = [Jason](/source/Jason_Friedberg_and_Aaron_Seltzer), Alix, Nicholas
}}
'''Rick Friedberg''' (born March 11, 1944) is an American film and television director, screenwriter and producer, best known for his work with [Leslie Nielsen](/source/Leslie_Nielsen). He is also the author of ''Hollywood War Stories, How to Survive in the Trenches'', a memoir/advice guide on the film industry.[{{Cite book|isbn=978-1500991616|title=Hollywood War Stories: How to Survive in the Trenches|last1=Friedberg|first1=Rick|last2=Chudnow|first2=Dick|date=19 September 2014|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform }}]
== Career ==
Friedberg made his feature film debut in 1980 with the comedy ''[Pray TV](/source/Pray_TV_(1980_film))'' starring [Dabney Coleman](/source/Dabney_Coleman), followed by 1983's ''[Off the Wall](/source/Off_the_Wall_(1983_film))''.[{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/rick_friedberg|publisher=rottentomatoes.com|title=Rick Friedberg - Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=2016-12-05}}] He would direct television episodes for ''[The Twilight Zone](/source/The_Twilight_Zone_(1985_TV_series))'', ''[New Monkees](/source/New_Monkees)'' and ''[CityKids](/source/CityKids)''. When Friedberg made the comic instruction video ''[Bad Golf Made Easier](/source/Bad_Golf_Made_Easier)'' with [Leslie Nielsen](/source/Leslie_Nielsen), he showed his son [Jason Friedberg](/source/Jason_Friedberg)'s script to him, which was [parody](/source/parody)ing [James Bond](/source/James_Bond) movies and other [action film](/source/action_film)s. Nielsen approved, and this led to 1996's ''[Spy Hard](/source/Spy_Hard)''.[{{cite web|url=http://grantland.com/features/surely-they-cant-be-serious/|publisher=grantland.com|title=Surely They Can't Be Serious? «|access-date=2016-12-05}}] The film eventually grossed $26 million against a production budget of $18 million.
Through the 2000s and 2010s, Friedberg served as second unit director on series like ''[CSI: Miami](/source/CSI%3A_Miami)'' and ''[Scorpion](/source/Scorpion_(TV_series))'', as well as director/field producer on ''[The Real Housewives of Orange County](/source/The_Real_Housewives_of_Orange_County)''.[{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0295007/?ref_=tt_ov_dr|publisher=imdb.com|title=Rick Friedberg - IMDb|access-date=2016-12-05}}]
==Filmography==
===Feature films===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! width=65 | Director
! width=65 | Writer
! width=65 | Producer
! Notes
|-
| 1983
| ''[Off the Wall](/source/Off_the_Wall_(1983_film))''
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
|
|-
| 1996
| ''[Spy Hard](/source/Spy_Hard)''
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes|Screenplay}}
| {{Yes}}
|
|}
===Television===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! width=65 | Director
! width=65 | Writer
! width=65 | Producer
! Notes
|-
| 1980
| ''[Pray TV](/source/Pray_TV_(1980_film))''
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| TV movie; lyrics: "Billy Bob Jingle"
|-
| 1985
| ''[The Twilight Zone](/source/The_Twilight_Zone_(1985_TV_series))''
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| 1 Episode (Wish Bank)
|-
| 1987
| ''[New Monkees](/source/New_Monkees)''
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| 2 episodes
|-
| 1993
| ''[CityKids](/source/CityKids)''
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| 6 episodes
|-
| 2006–2008
| ''[The Real Housewives of Orange County](/source/The_Real_Housewives_of_Orange_County)''
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{Yes|Field}}
| 28 episodes
|-
| 2008–2009
| ''[CSI: Miami](/source/CSI%3A_Miami)''
| {{Yes|Second Unit}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| 5 episodes
|-
| 2014–2018
| ''[Scorpion](/source/Scorpion_(TV_series))''
| {{Yes|Second Unit}}
| {{No}}
| 12 episodes
|-
|}
===Direct-To-Video===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! width=65 | Director
! width=65 | Producer
! Notes
|-
| 1988
| ''W.A.S.P. - Videos... In the Raw''
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
|
|-
| 1990
| ''Playboy: Sensual Pleasures of Oriental Massage''
| {{No}}
| {{Yes|Creative}}
| Documentary
|-
| 1993
| ''[Leslie Nielsen's Bad Golf Made Easier](/source/Bad_Golf_Made_Easier)''
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
|
|-
| 1993
| ''Our First Video''
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| Video Short "Brother for Sale"
|-
| 1994
| ''[Bad Golf My Way](/source/Bad_Golf_My_Way)''
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
|
|-
| 1997
| ''Our Music Video''
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| Segment "Brother for Sale"
|}
===Music videos===
*[Hot for Teacher](/source/Hot_for_Teacher)
*[Summertime Girls](/source/Summertime_Girls)
*Blind in Texas
*[Wild Child](/source/Wild_Child_(W.A.S.P._Song))
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
*{{IMDb name|0295007}}
{{Rick Friedberg}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friedberg, Rick}}
Category:Living people
Category:Film directors from New York City
Category:American male screenwriters
Category:American comedy film directors
Category:English-language film directors
Category:1944 births
{{US-film-director-1940s-stub}}
---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rick Friedberg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Friedberg) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Friedberg?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.