Billy Kimball (born July 8, 1959) is an American writer and producer. He was a co-executive producer on the acclaimed HBO series ''

Veep ''Veep'' is an American political satire comedy television series that aired on HBO from April 22, 2012, to May 12, 2019. The series was created by Armando Iannucci as an adaptation of his sitcom ''The Thick of It''. The protagonist of ''Veep' ...

''.

Personal life

He was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, attended Trinity School, and graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

where he was an editor of the ''

Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates ...

''. He is currently married to the former Alexandra Manuela Vargas Hamilton and has two daughters and a son.

Career

Kimball began his career writing for the HBO series ''

Not Necessarily the News ''Not Necessarily the News'' (shortened as ''NNTN'') is an American satirical sketch comedy series that first aired on HBO in September 1982 as a comedy special, and then ran as a series from 1983 to 1990. For most of the run, the series feature ...

''. He was the host and executive producer of the satiric game show ''

Clash! ''Clash!'' is an American comedy game show which aired on Ha! from May 1, 1990 to March 31, 1991, and on Comedy Central (Ha!'s successor) from April 1 to December 28. The show was produced and hosted by Billy Kimball, and the theme song was com ...

'' and the co-host (with

Denis Leary Denis Colin Leary (born August 18, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. A native of Massachusetts, Leary first came to prominence as a stand-up comedian, especially through appearances on MTV (including the comedic song "Asshole") and throu ...

) of the talk show ''Afterdrive'' both on the Ha! Network, a predecessor of

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...

. As a writer, Kimball has worked on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'', ''

Cedric the Entertainer Presents ''Cedric the Entertainer Presents'' is an American sketch comedy television series and television program featuring dance numbers starring Cedric the Entertainer. The series premiered September 18, 2002 on Fox and after the first season, Fox rene ...

'', and ''

Lateline ''Lateline'' was an Australian television news program which ran from 1990 until 2017. The program initially aired weeknights on ABC TV. In later years it was also broadcast internationally throughout Asia and the Pacific on the Australia Plu ...

''. He wrote the Independent Spirit Awards ten times since 2002 and served as a producer on the show six times since 2005. He has written nine episodes of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

'', and co-wrote eight with

Ian Maxtone-Graham Ian Howes Maxtone-Graham is an American television writer and producer. He has formerly written for ''Saturday Night Live'' (1992–1995) and ''The Simpsons'' (1995–2012), as well as serving as a co-executive producer and consulting producer ...

. He was the head writer for the 88th Academy Awards in 2016 and a writer for the 89th Academy Awards in 2017. Kimball was the original executive producer of ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn ''The Late Late Show'' is an American late-night television talk and variety comedy show on CBS. It first aired in January 1995, with host Tom Snyder, who was followed by Craig Kilborn, Craig Ferguson, and current host James Corden. The show ...

'' from 1999 to 2001. He has won an Emmy Award for ''Veep'' twice and the

CableAce Award The CableACE Award (earlier known as the ACE Awards; ACE was an acronym for "Award for Cable Excellence") is a defunct award that was given by what was then the National Cable Television Association from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in Am ...

for Best Documentary. His ''Simpsons'' episode "

24 Minutes "24 Minutes" is the twenty-first episode of the eighteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 20, 2007 as part of the one-hour season finale, alon ...

" received an Annie Award in 2007 for Best Writing in an Animated Television Production. He won the Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Script for Comedy/Variety Special for both the 2008 and 2009 Film Independent Spirit Awards. He also won the WGA Award for "Best Comedy Writing" for ''Veep''. In 1994, he served as a

senior manager Senior management, executive management, upper management, or a management is generally individuals at the highest level of management of an organization who have the day-to-day tasks of managing that organization—sometimes a company or a corpo ...

for the United States Agency for International Development's Market Reform Project in Kiev, Ukraine. Kimball has a long association with Senator Al Franken. He was the executive producer of ''InDecision '92'', Comedy Central's coverage of the 1992 United States Presidential Election, which was anchored by Franken. From 2005 to 2007, he was the executive producer of ''

The Al Franken Show ''The Al Franken Show'' was the flagship talk show of the former talk radio network, Air America Radio. Hosted by Al Franken, it featured commentary and interviews arguing for liberal positions on the issues of the day, and comically poking f ...

'' on

Air America Radio Air America (formerly Air America Radio and Air America Media) was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk radio. It was on the air from March 2004 to January 2010. The network was founded as a left wing alternative to counter ...

and

Sundance Channel Sundance Channel can refer to: * Sundance TV, formerly known as Sundance Channel (United States). * Sundance Channel (Canada) * Sundance Channel (Netherlands) * Sundance Channel (Europe) Sundance Channel can refer to: * Sundance TV, formerly kno ...

. He has edited four of Franken's books, ''Why Not Me?'', ''Oh, the Things I Know!'', ''Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them'', and ''The Truth (with Jokes)'', all of them ''New York Times'' bestsellers. In 2009, Kimball began to appear as a commentator on '' TruTV Presents: World's Dumbest...'' He is currently the editor-in-chief of the on-line humor magazine ''The Old Yorker''. Kimball co-wrote the 2010 documentary '' Waiting for Superman'', about the failures of American public education, with filmmaker

Davis Guggenheim Philip Davis Guggenheim (born November 3, 1963) is an American writer, director and producer. His credits include ''NYPD Blue'', '' ER'', '' 24'', ''Alias'', ''The Shield'', '' Deadwood'', and the documentaries ''An Inconvenient Truth'', ''It ...

. The film received the

Audience Award An audience award is typically an award at a film festival (or some other type of cultural festival or similar competition) which is selected by the audience attending the festival, rather than by the festival jury or a group of critics. Example ...

for best documentary at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. In May 2013, Kimball was appointed senior vice president and chief programming officer of

Fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...

.Industry Veteran Kimball to Lead Fusion Programming
/ref> He served as an executive producer for

The Jim Henson Company The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known for ...

's ''

Good Morning Today ''Good Morning Today'' is a computer-animated television show on Fusion that was created by David Javerbaum and produced by The Jim Henson Company under its Henson Alternative banner and ShadowMachine Films. The show uses The Jim Henson Company's ...

'' and ''

No, You Shut Up! ''No, You Shut Up!'' is an American news talk show on Fusion TV that was created by David Javerbaum (the former head writer and executive producer of ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''), hosted by Paul F. Tompkins, and produced by The Jim Hens ...

'' (both shows are under The Jim Henson Company's Henson Alternative banner). He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

''The Simpsons'' episodes

" (co-written with

) *"

Smoke on the Daughter "Smoke on the Daughter" is the fifteenth episode of the nineteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 30, 2008, and was written by Billy Kimba ...

" (the only episode Kimball has written without Ian Maxtone-Graham) *" Dangerous Curves" (co-written with Ian Maxtone-Graham) *" Gone Maggie Gone" (co-written with Ian Maxtone-Graham) *"

The Color Yellow "The Color Yellow" is the thirteenth episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 21, 2010. In this episode, Lisa discovers ...

" (co-written with Ian Maxtone-Graham) *" The Scorpion's Tale" (co-written with Ian Maxtone-Graham) *"

How I Wet Your Mother "How I Wet Your Mother" is the sixteenth episode of the twenty-third season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 11, 2012. In the episode, a traumatic i ...

" (co-written with Ian Maxtone-Graham) *" Dark Knight Court" (co-written with Ian Maxtone-Graham) *" The Yellow Badge of Cowardge" (co-written with Ian Maxtone-Graham)

Bibliography

* *

Notes

External links

Kimball's blog
at ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kimball, Billy 1959 births American male television actors Television producers from New York City American television writers American male television writers The Harvard Lampoon alumni Living people The New Yorker people Writers from New York City Writers Guild of America Award winners Screenwriters from New York (state) Harvard College alumni