Cheryl Heuton is an American television writer and producer. Along with her husband and writing partner Nicolas Falacci, she co-created the television series ''

Numb3rs ''Numbers'' (stylized as ''NUMB3RS'') is an American crime drama television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 23, 2005, to March 12, 2010, for six seasons and 118 episodes. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heu ...

'' (2005–2010). The couple created the show, a mathematics-centered departure from standard-fare Hollywood programming, to combat anti-intellectualism. Falacci and Heuton were awarded the Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science in 2005 and, with ''Numb3rs'', the National Science Board's Public Service Award in 2007. Heuton and Falacci also co-wrote the TV movie ''The Arrangement'' (2013), an adaptation of

Elmore Leonard Elmore John Leonard Jr. (October 11, 1925August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. His earliest novels, published in the 1950s, were Westerns, but he went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense th ...

’s story “When the Women Come Out to Dance.”

Early life and education

Cheryl Heuton grew up in northern San Diego County. She credits her pro-science and pro-mathematics outlook (later demonstrated in her work on ''Numb3rs'') to her upbringing in a “community that had a lot of professors from

UCSD The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is th ...

in it, and … an early exposure to a lot of science and thinking.” Heuton also credits her family's membership in the Unitarian Church, “which is home to many people who don’t believe in traditional religion. And there were a lot of university professors there. And I just remember early on kind of thinking that things could be thought through more readily than just believing everything that gets said to you. You have the ability to just think logically about something to reason things out, and so many people didn’t do that. They would just sort of kind of go along with whatever was the belief that their group had. And I think … my group belief from that kind of upbringing was not to think that way.”

Carl Sagan Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on ...

was an important influence on Heuton and she identifies as a

skeptic Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then th ...

. Heuton attended the University of California, San Diego, and studied literature.

Career

Heuton was a newspaper journalist and editor in southern California before turning to television work. Her first newspaper job, at age 22, was with the Del Mar News-Press. Heuton later worked for the Blade-Tribune and the

Escondido Times-Advocate The ''Daily Times-Advocate'', also called the ''Escondido Times-Advocate'', was a daily newspaper published in Escondido, California. It was founded in 1909 and ceased publication as a separate title in 1995. History ''The Daily Times-Advocate'' ...

. Heuton and Nick Fallacci created, wrote, and co-produced the television series ''Numb3rs''. ''Numb3rs'' was broadcast on CBS for six seasons, from 2005 to 2010, and featured a mathematician entertainingly explaining mathematical concepts while helping the FBI solve crimes. The

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

campus was used for many scenes, but was called California Institute of Science (or CalSci) in the show for legal reasons. Heuton and Fallacci strove to ensure that the math presented in the series was real by hiring mathematicians as consultants. Heuton said, “We just want people to better understand the world they live in.” Heuton and Fallacci co-wrote the television movie The Arrangement (2013), a drama involving a Colombian woman living in Miami, distributed by USA Network. The movie is based on

’s story “When the Women Come Out to Dance.”

Awards

In 2005, Heuton and Fallacci were awarded the Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science by the Council of Scientific Society Presidents for being “widely recognized magnifiers of the public′s understanding of science” due to their work on the television series ''Numb3rs''. In 2007, Heuton and Fallacci and the television series ''Numb3rs'' shared the National Science Board's Public Service Award for “contributions toward increasing scientific and mathematical literacy on a broad scale”.

Personal life

Heuton met her husband, Nick Falacci, in

Topanga Canyon Topanga () (Tongva: ''Topaa'nga'') is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Monica Mountains, the community exists in Topanga Canyon and the surrounding hills. The narrow s ...

(California) in 1990 while rock climbing. They married in 1991 and moved to New York. In 2017, Heuton's Twitter account contained many retweets reflecting deep dissatisfaction with the presidency of Donald Trump.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heuton, Cheryl Television producers from California American women television producers American television writers American women television writers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) American women screenwriters People from San Diego County, California Screenwriters from California 21st-century American women