Steve O'Donnell is an American television writer. His credits include ''

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on NBC, the first iteration of the ''Late Night'' franchise. It premiered on February 1, 1982, and was produced by Letterman's production compa ...

'', ''

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, Marge, Bart, ...

'', ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself and ...

'', and '' The Chris Rock Show''.

Biography

Steve O'Donnell was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...

, and graduated with an A.B. degree 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 ...

in 1976. He also completed graduate studies in American history at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 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 State ...

Career

O'Donnell worked on Letterman nearly since the show's inception. The Top Ten List was originally created during O'Donnell's time as head writer, and lists were written in collaboration with other staff writers on the show. According to O'Donnell, the Top Ten List was an "almost simultaneous inspiration arriving from staffers Jim Downey,

Randy Cohen Randy Cohen is an American writer and humorist known as the author of The Ethicist column in ''The New York Times Magazine'' between 1999 and 2011. The column was syndicated throughout the U.S. and Canada. Cohen is also known as the author of ...

and Robert "Morty" Morton — largely prompted by the ridiculous 'eligible bachelor' lists in a local New York paper that included the 84-year-old

Bill Paley William Samuel Paley (September 28, 1901 – October 26, 1990) was an American businessman, primarily involved in the media, and best known as the chief executive who built the Columbia Broadcasting System ( CBS) from a small radio network into ...

. 'Why, we can put such nonsense together ourselves!' we exclaimed. And we did." He later co-authored several of the Top-ten books based on the show. During Letterman's final season, O'Donnell wrote and spoke about his time as head writer on the show, and compiled his own list of the show's "top ten" moments for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. O'Donnell was later the

head writer A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits. In fictional comedy o ...

of ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, California, as part of ABC's ...

'', from the show's debut in January 2003 until 2008. He occasionally appeared front of the camera in bits for the show as well. In addition to his tenure as head writer of Letterman and Kimmel, O'Donnell worked as a writer and producer on ''

The Bonnie Hunt Show ''The Bonnie Hunt Show'' is an American syndicated talk show hosted by Bonnie Hunt. It premiered on September 8, 2008. The show's second and final season premiered on September 8, 2009. It was announced on December 7, 2009 that ''The Bonnie Hu ...

'', '' The Dana Carvey Show'', ''

Norm Macdonald Live ''Norm Macdonald Live'' was a weekly audio and video podcast hosted by Canadian stand-up comedian, writer and actor Norm Macdonald. The Comedy Store's Adam Eget (b. 1979) served as the show's co-host, with former ''Late Show with David Letterman' ...

'', and ''

Why? with Hannibal Buress ''Why? with Hannibal Buress'' is an American late-night television series hosted by Hannibal Buress. On March 10, 2015, the series was green-lit for an eight-episode season. The series premiered on July 8, 2015, on Comedy Central. The show was me ...

'' on Comedy Central. More recently he has continued his work with

Norm Macdonald Norman Gene MacdonaldThe capitalization of Norm Macdonald's surname has been inconsistently reported in publications such as ''TV Guide''. Books that discuss him, such as ''Shales'' (2003) and Crawford' (2000), as well as other sources such as ...

as a writer on ''

Norm Macdonald Has a Show ''Norm Macdonald Has a Show'' was an American Netflix talk show hosted by Norm Macdonald that premiered on September 14, 2018. It was produced by Macdonald, Lori Jo Hoekstra, K.P. Anderson and Daniel Kellison. Macdonald and Hoekstra were also it ...

'' for

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

. He has appeared in additional brief on-screen roles in ''

Strangers With Candy ''Strangers with Candy'' is an American comedy television series produced by Comedy Central. It first aired on April 7, 1999, and concluded its third and final season on October 2, 2000. Its timeslot was Sundays at 10:00 p.m. ( ET). A pr ...

'' and ''

The Sarah Silverman Program ''The Sarah Silverman Program'' is an American television sitcom, which ran from February 1, 2007, to April 15, 2010, on Comedy Central starring comedian and actress Sarah Silverman, who created the series with Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab. ''The Sa ...

''. He won

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

s in the "Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program" category on four occasions: for ''

'' in 1984, 1986, and 1987 and for '' The Chris Rock Show'' in 1998. In 2017, the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Gu ...

presented O'Donnell with the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence. A video appearance from recently retired

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...

was part of O'Donnell's introduction.

Personal life

Steve is the identical twin of

Mark O'Donnell Mark O’Donnell (July 19, 1954 – August 6, 2012) was an American writer and humorist. Early life Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College in 1976. He was a member of ''The Harvard Lampoon'', whe ...

, the Tony Award-winning co-writer of the Broadway musical ''Hairspray'' who died on August 6, 2012. Steve supported his brother by encouraging California voters to vote no on Prop. 8 in 2008.

Simpsons Episodes Written by O'Donnell

* All Singing, All Dancing *

The Joy of Sect "The Joy of Sect" is the thirteenth episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 8, 1998. In the episode, a cult takes over Spr ...

Seinfeld Episodes Written by O'Donnell

The Pothole "The Pothole" is the 150th episode of the sitcom ''Seinfeld''. This was the 16th episode for the eighth season. It aired on February 20, 1997. In the episode, Jerry is unwilling to kiss his girlfriend after she unknowingly brushes her teeth with a ...

The Checks "The Checks" is the 141st episode of the sitcom ''Seinfeld''. This was the seventh episode for the eighth season, originally airing on NBC on November 7, 1996. In this episode, the last to feature the writing team of Tom Gammill and Max Pross, El ...

Space Ghost: Coast to Coast Episodes Written by O'Donnell

*Hungry *Late Show

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Steve American television writers American male screenwriters American male television writers The Harvard Lampoon alumni Harvard College alumni Emmy Award winners Columbia University alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Living people Writers from Cleveland American twins Identical twins Screenwriters from Ohio Year of birth missing (living people)