Michael Begler is an American television writer, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for co-creating

Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent ...

's period medical drama ''

The Knick ''The Knick'' is an American medical period drama television series on Cinemax created by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler and directed by Steven Soderbergh. The series follows Dr. John W. Thackery ( Clive Owen) and the staff at a fictionalized ...

'', and for writing the films ''

Raising Helen ''Raising Helen'' is a 2004 American comedy-drama film directed by Garry Marshall and written by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler. It stars Kate Hudson, John Corbett, Joan Cusack, Hayden Panettiere, siblings Spencer and Abigail Breslin, and Helen M ...

'' (2004), '' The Shaggy Dog'' (2006) and ''

Big Miracle ''Big Miracle'' is a 2012 drama film directed by Ken Kwapis, and stars Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski. The film is based on Tom Rose's 1989 book '' Freeing the Whales'', which covers Operation Breakthrough, the 1988 international effort to ...

'' (2012), all with writing partner

Jack Amiel Jack Amiel is an American TV writer, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for co-creating Cinemax's period medical drama ''The Knick'', and for writing the films ''Raising Helen'' (2004), '' The Shaggy Dog'' (2006) and '' Big Miracle'' (2 ...

Early life

Begler was born and raised in Long Island, New York. He attended the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

, where he majored in English. He met his future writing partner

while they were in college together and both entered the university's musical-comedy contest, 'Humorology'.

Career

After college, Begler moved to New York and worked as a PA on ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class Africa ...

''. He and Amiel, who was working as a PA in Los Angeles, decided to write together shortly after, and Begler soon joined Amiel in Los Angeles. Their first writing job was on Fox's ''

Herman's Head ''Herman's Head'' is an American sitcom that aired on the Fox network from September 8, 1991, until April 21, 1994. The series was created by Andy Guerdat and Steve Kreinberg, and produced by Witt/Thomas Productions in association with Touchs ...

''. Begler worked consistently from that point onwards, writing - with Amiel - on a number of sitcoms, including ''

Empty Nest ''Empty Nest'' is an American television sitcom that aired for seven seasons on NBC from October 8, 1988, to April 29, 1995. The series, which was created as a spin-off of ''The Golden Girls'' by creator and producer Susan Harris, starred Ri ...

'', ''

Minor Adjustments ''Minor Adjustments'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 16, 1995 until November 26, 1995, and on UPN from January 23, 1996 until June 4, 1996. The series starred stand-up comedian Rondell Sheridan in his first head ...

'', ''

The Jeff Foxworthy Show ''The Jeff Foxworthy Show'' is an American sitcom television series created by Tom Anderson, starring comedian Jeff Foxworthy and based on Foxworthy's stand-up comedy routine. It originally aired from September 12, 1995 to May 5, 1997 on ABC (s ...

'', '' The Tony Danza Show'' and '' Malcolm in the Middle''. In the mid-2000s, Begler transitioned into writing feature films, penning the scripts for the romantic comedies ''

The Prince and Me ''The Prince & Me'' is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Martha Coolidge, and starring Julia Stiles, Luke Mably and Ben Miller, with Miranda Richardson, James Fox and Alberta Watson. The film focuses on Paige Morgan, a pre-med co ...

'' and Garry Marshall's ''

'', both released in 2004. In 2006, Begler wrote

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

's '' The Shaggy Dog'', starring

Tim Allen Timothy Alan Dick (born June 13, 1953), known professionally as Tim Allen, is an American actor and comedian. He is known for playing Tim "The Toolman" Taylor on the ABC sitcom ''Home Improvement'' (1991–1999) and Mike Baxter on the ABC/ ...

and

Robert Downey Jr Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor and producer. His career has been characterized by critical and popular success in his youth, followed by a period of substance abuse and legal troubles, before a resurgence of ...

. Begler wrote 2012's

Ken Kwapis Kenneth William Kwapis (born August 17, 1957) is an American film and television director, screenwriter, and author. He specialized in the single-camera sitcom in the 1990s and 2000s and has directed feature films such as '' Sesame Street Presen ...

-directed ''

'' starring

Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...

. Cinemax picked up Begler and Amiel's ''

'' to series, after they wrote the pilot script on spec. Steven Soderbergh came on board the series as director and executive producer. Begler and Amiel served as co-showrunners and executive producers, and wrote the majority of the series' episodes. The series premiered on August 8, 2014. It was renewed for a second season of 10 episodes, airing October 2015. In April 2021, it was announced that Bagler and Amiel will serve as an executive producers and showrunners for second season of ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...

''. Around the same time, he signed an overall deal with HBO.

Filmography

Films Production staff Writer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Begler, Michael Living people People from Long Island American male screenwriters Year of birth missing (living people) Film producers from New York (state) University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Writers from New York City Screenwriters from New York (state) American male television writers American television writers