David Avram Goodman (born December 13, 1962) is an American television writer and producer. He has been a writer for numerous television series, such as ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'', ''

The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. The show's ensemble cast stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty ...

'', ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...

'' (where he was also a co-executive producer and wrote the notable ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'' parody episode " Where No Fan Has Gone Before"), and '' Star Trek: Enterprise''. In film, Goodman produced '' Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story'', and wrote the 2010 comedy film '' Fred: The Movie'', based on the

Fred Figglehorn Frederick "Fred" Figglehorn is a fictional character who appears in the YouTube web series ''Fred'' (stylized as "FЯED") created by American Internet personality Lucas Cruikshank from 2006 to 2015 and revived from 2020 to 2021. The characters' ...

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series, as well as its sequel, '' Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred''. In 2022, he wrote the critically acclaimed film ''

Honor Society In the United States, an honor society is an organization that recognizes individuals who rank above a set standard in various domains such as academics, leadership, and other personal achievements, not all of which are based on ranking systems. ...

'' for

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

. From 2017 to 2021, he was the President of the labor union

Writers Guild of America West The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild. It has around 20,000 me ...

Biography

Goodman is a graduate of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, where he earned a BA in 1984. He is of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

background. During commentary for the ''

'' episode " Where No Fan Has Gone Before", which he wrote, Goodman mentioned that he is a dedicated ''

'' fan, with an encyclopedic knowledge of the original series, and correctly identified every episode number and name mentioned in dialogue. He also states in the commentary that his work for ''Futurama'' for the ''Star Trek'' episode was partly what gained him a job writing for '' Star Trek: Enterprise'', after ''Futurama''. He was an

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

of ''

'', beginning in its fourth season, after joining the show as a co-executive producer in season three. Goodman is known for his nasal voice, which has been the subject of jokes numerous times in ''Family Guy'' audio commentaries, particularly by the creator

Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, comedian, and singer. He is best known as the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and ''The Orvill ...

and writer Alec Sulkin, who both believe his voice is similar to that of Ray Romano. Goodman has voiced parodies of Romano in ''Family Guy'' episodes by simply talking, without performing an impression. In 2011, Goodman left ''Family Guy'' to produce the animated Fox series ''

Allen Gregory ''Allen Gregory'' is an American adult animation, adult animated sitcom created by Jonah Hill, Jarrad Paul, and Andrew Mogul for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series follows a pretentious seven-year-old boy named Allen Gregory De Longpre, ...

''. After ''Allen Gregory'' was cancelled, he then became an executive producer of another MacFarlane show, ''

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''. In 2017, he worked with MacFarlane, on '' The Orville'', as an executive producer, and was also elected as president of the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW). He has written two books set in the Star Trek Universe, ''The Autobiography of James T. Kirk'' (2015) and ''The Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard'' (2017). He wrote the critically-acclaimed film ''

'', which premiered on July 29, 2022, on

. It stars Angourie Rice,

Gaten Matarazzo Gaetano John "Gaten" Matarazzo III ( , ; born September 8, 2002) is an American actor. He began his career on the Broadway stage as Benjamin in '' Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' (2011–12) and as Gavroche in ''Les Misérables'' (2014–15) ...

and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.

Writers Guild of America West presidency

Elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2019 as WGAW president, Goodman oversaw the negotiating committee for the "WGA-Agency Agreement", and joined other Writers Guild of America (WGA) members in firing his agents as part of the guild's stand against the Association of Talent Agents (ATA), after the two sides were unable to come to an agreement on a new "Code of Conduct" that addressed the practice of

packaging Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a coo ...

, which had been deemed unfair by the WGA. In November 2022, it was announced that Goodman would serve as co-chair of the Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) negotiation committee. This committee negotiates upcoming contracts with the

Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) is a trade association based in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, that represents over 350 American television and film production companies in collective bargaining negotia ...

(AMPTP). The Writer's Guild was unable to negotiate a contract within the May 1, 2023, deadline, and the MBA agreement expired. The Writer's Guild subsequently went on strike as a result.

Credits

* ''

'' (1986–1989) — story editor * '' Babes'' (1990–1991) — story editor * '' Dream On'' (1995) — writer ("Long Distance Runaround") * ''Flesh 'n' Blood'' (1991) — executive story editor * ''Rhythm & Blues'' (1992–1993) — executive story editor * '' Flying Blind'' (1993) — co-producer * '' Wings'' (1993–1996) — writer, creative consultant ** "Good 2 Be 4 Gotten" (1993) ** "She's Baaack" (1995) * ''Pig Sty'' (1995) — creative consultant * '' The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space'' (1995) — supervising producer * '' Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost'' (1999) — writer * '' Stark Raving Mad'' (1999–2000) — writer, supervising producer, creative consultant ** "Sometimes a Friter is Just a Fritter" (1999) ** "Christmas Cheerleader" (1999) ** "The Big Finish" (2000) (story) * ''

'' (2001–2018) — writer, co-executive producer, consulting producer, executive producer, showrunner, voice actor ** " You May Now Kiss the... Uh... Guy Who Receives" (2006) ** " Stewie Kills Lois" (2007) ** " It's a Trap!" (2011) ** "

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady for CBS. It aired from September 24, 2007, to May 16, 2019, running for 12 seasons and 279 episodes. The show originally centered on five charact ...

" (2011) ** " Forget-Me-Not" (2012) ** " Hot Shots" (2016) ** " V Is for Mystery" (2018) * ''

'' (2002–2003, 2023) — writer, co-executive producer ** " Where No Fan Has Gone Before" (2002) ** " Related to Items You've Viewed" (2023) ** " The Temp" (2024) * '' Star Trek: Enterprise'' (2002–2004) — writer, consulting producer ** " Precious Cargo" (2002) (teleplay) ** "

Judgment Judgement (or judgment) is the evaluation of given circumstances to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. In an informal context, a judgement is opinion expressed as fact. In the context of a legal trial ...

" (2003) (story and teleplay) ** "

North Star Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude t ...

" (2003) ** " The Forgotten" (2004) * '' Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story'' (2005) — executive producer * '' Fred: The Movie'' (2010) — writer * ''

'' (2011) — executive producer showrunner * '' Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred'' (2011) — writer * '' Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes'' (2012, videogame) — writer * '' American Dad'' (2013–2014) — executive producer * '' Dads'' (2013–2014) — writer, consulting producer ** ''Comic Book Issues'' (2013) * ''Murder Police'' (2013) — executive producer * '' Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham'' (2014, videogame) — story * '' The Orville'' (2017–2022) — writer, executive producer ** "Krill" (2017) ** "Deflectors" (2019) ** "The Road Not Taken" (2019) ** "From Unknown Graves" (2022) * '' Bless the Harts'' (2019–2020) — consulting producer * ''Elder Voices: Stories for These Times'' (2019) — producer * ''

'' (2022) — writer * '' Hysteria!'' (2024) — executive producer, showrunner, writer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodman, David A. 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers American male voice actors American television producers American television writers American trade union leaders Living people American male television writers University of Chicago alumni Writers Guild of America Place of birth missing (living people) 1962 births 20th-century American writers Writers Guild of America Award winners