Carter Loard Bays (born August 12, 1975) is an American author, composer and television showrunner.
Bays co-created the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
sitcom
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
''
How I Met Your Mother
''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...
'' where he served as showrunner, writer and executive producer for all nine seasons.
Bays wrote the novel
The Mutual Friend(2022,
Dutton Books).
Early life
Bays was born in
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...
. His father, James C. Bays, is a retired corporate lawyer, and his mother, Martha Bays, is a minister in the
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...
.
While at
Shaker Heights High School, Bays' play Five Visits From Mr. Whitcomb was selected for the
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...
founded Young Playwrights Inc. 1993 Young Playwrights Festival produced at Playwrights Horizon's in New York City.
Bays studied English at
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...
, where he met bandmate
Craig Thomas who would later become his writing partner and his co-creator for ''How I Met Your Mother''.
Bays and Thomas co-founded the band
The Solids, who perform the theme song to ''How I Met Your Mother'', "Hey Beautiful".
as well as "
Nothing Suits Me Like a Suit".
In the summer of 1996, Bays and Thomas worked as interns in the Development department of
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
.
Career
After graduating from Wesleyan in 1997, Bays and Craig Thomas went on to write for the ''
Late Show with David Letterman
''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...
''.
He and Thomas then created ''How I Met Your Mother'', which ran from 2005–2014.
Bays also wrote for ''
American Dad!
''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker (producer), Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, with the r ...
'', ''
Quintuplets
''Quintuplets'' is an American television sitcom that aired 22 episodes on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from June 16, 2004, to January 12, 2005. The program starred Andy Richter and Rebecca Creskoff and shared some of their experiences parent ...
'' ''
Oliver Beene
''Oliver Beene'' is an American sitcom that aired on Fox from March 9, 2003 to September 12, 2004. The show was created by Howard Gewirtz. Set in 1962 and 1963, the show chronicled the trials and tribulations of the 11-to-12-year-old Oliver Be ...
''. and co-created Fox's ''
The Goodwin Games''.
In 2022, Bays served as executive producer on Hulu's ''
How I Met Your Father'', starring
Hilary Duff
Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress, singer, author and businesswoman. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Hilary Duff, various accolades, including a World Music Awards, World Mus ...
. The show is created by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger.
Carter's debut novel, ''The Mutual Friend'', was published June 7, 2022, through Dutton Books,.
Personal life
Bays lives in New York City with his wife, Denise Cox Bays, and their three children. One of his daughters appeared at the end of "
Trilogy Time", the other one at the end of "
Unpause".
Bays teaches a Master Class in TV Writing at Columbia University, and is an Associate Fellow at Davenport College at Yale University. He also serves on the board of the Armed Services Arts Partnership,
which helps veterans return to civilian life through comedy and the arts.
Works
''
How I Met Your Mother
''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...
''
* "
Pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
"
* "
Purple Giraffe"
* "
The Pineapple Incident"
* "Life Among the Gorillas"
* "
Nothing Good Happens After 2 A.M."
* "Milk"
* "Come On"
* "
Where Were We?"
* "
Monday Night Football
''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...
"
* "Bachelor Party"
* "
Something Blue"
* "
Wait for It"
* "
The Platinum Rule"
* "
No Tomorrow"
* "
Ten Sessions"
* "
The Chain of Screaming"
* "
Miracles"
* "
Do I Know You?"
* "The Best Burger in New York"
* "
Woooo!"
* "
The Stinsons"
* "As Fast as She Can"
* "
The Leap"
* "
Definitions
A definition is a statement of the meaning of a term (a word, phrase, or other set of symbols). Definitions can be classified into two large categories: intensional definitions (which try to give the sense of a term), and extensional definit ...
"
* "
Robin 101"
* "
The Playbook"
* "
Girls Versus Suits"
* "
Rabbit or Duck"
* "
Doppelgangers"
* "
Big Days"
* "
Architect of Destruction"
* "
Natural History
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
"
* "
Last Words
Last words are the final utterances before death. The meaning is sometimes expanded to somewhat earlier utterances.
Last words of famous or infamous people are sometimes recorded (although not always accurately), which then became a historical an ...
"
* "
Oh Honey"
* "
Landmarks"
* "
Challenge Accepted"
* "The Best Man"
* "
Ducky Tie"
* "
The Rebound Girl"
* "
Tailgate"
* "
The Burning Beekeeper"
* "The Broath"
* "
Good Crazy"
* "
The Magician's Code"
* "
Farhampton"
* "
The Pre-Nup"
* "
The Final Page"
* "
Band or DJ?"
* "
P.S. I Love You"
* "Bad Crazy"
* "
The Ashtray
"The Ashtray" is the 17th episode of the eighth season of the CBS sitcom ''How I Met Your Mother'', and the 177th episode overall. It originally aired on CBS in the United States on February 18, 2013. In the episode, Ted, Robin and Lily rec ...
"
* "
The Time Travelers"
* "
Something Old"
* "
Something New"
* "
The Locket"
* "
Coming Back"
* "
Mom And Dad"
* "
Bedtime Stories"
* "Bass Player Wanted"
* "
Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra"
* "
How Your Mother Met Me"
* "
Sunrise
Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon.
Terminology
Although the S ...
"
* "
Rally
Rally or rallye may refer to:
Gatherings
* Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade
* Pep rally, an event held at a North American school or college sporting event
Sport ...
"
* "
Daisy"
* "
The End of the Aisle"
* "
Last Forever"
''
Oliver Beene
''Oliver Beene'' is an American sitcom that aired on Fox from March 9, 2003 to September 12, 2004. The show was created by Howard Gewirtz. Set in 1962 and 1963, the show chronicled the trials and tribulations of the 11-to-12-year-old Oliver Be ...
''
* "Dancing Beene"
* "The Nudie Mag"
* "X-Ray Specs"
* "A Trip To Coney Island"
* "Oliver & The Otters"
'' The Goodwin Games''
* "Pilot"
* "Hamletta"
''
American Dad!
''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker (producer), Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, with the r ...
''
* "
Stan of Arabia: Part 2"
'' How I Met Your Father''
* "Pilot"
Notes
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bays, Carter
Living people
1975 births
American male television writers
American television writers
Television producers from Ohio
How I Met Your Mother
American showrunners
Members of the Democratic Socialists of America from California
Wesleyan University alumni
Writers from Shaker Heights, Ohio
Screenwriters from Ohio