Jonathan Michael Goodson (born August 20, 1945) is an American television producer who specializes in game shows. He is the son of legendary game show producer

Mark Goodson Mark Leo Goodson (January 14, 1915 – December 18, 1992) was an American television producer who specialized in game shows, most frequently with his business partner Bill Todman, with whom he created Goodson-Todman Productions. Early life and ea ...

and began his television career in 1973 as chief counsel of Goodson-Todman Productions. He later produced several of the company's shows. After his father's death in December 1992, Jonathan took over the company in March 1993 (in the early 1980s the Goodsons had acquired the Todman heirs' portion of the company) and ran it until it was sold to All American Television in 1995. The company was then acquired in turn by

Pearson Television Pearson Television was the British-based television production and distribution arm of a British company Pearson PLC. History In 1994 after a bidding war, Pearson PLC bought the former British ITV franchisee Thames Television. Then in 1995 it ...

in 1998, and then current owner

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

(formerly FremantleMedia) in 2002. Goodson also runs his own production company, Jonathan Goodson Productions, whose output has consisted mostly of state-based lottery game shows, including ''

Illinois Instant Riches ''Illinois Instant Riches'' (later known as ''Illinois' Luckiest'') is a lottery game show airing in the state of Illinois, as well as nationally on Chicago-based Superstation WGN-TV. The show was hosted by Mark Goodman, with Linda Kollmeyer as h ...

'', one of only two state-based lottery game show to be shown to a nationwide audience, thanks to Superstation WGN. (The other was its predecessor, ''

$100,000 Fortune Hunt ''100,000 Fortune Hunt'' is an American lottery-based game show originating in the state of Illinois. It debuted on September 16, 1989, and aired on Saturday evenings from 1989 to 1994 on WGN-TV in Chicago, Retrieved 2013--06-04. (except for 1 ye ...

'', but that was not a production by Goodson.)

Personal life

Goodson was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. He received a B.A. at Stanford University in 1967, and an L.L.B.

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

in 1970.

Shows associated with Jonathan Goodson

*'' Double Dare'', producer *''

Card Sharks ''Card Sharks'' is an American television game show. It was created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson- Bill Todman Productions. The game features two contestants who attempt to predict the outcome of survey questions to gain control of a r ...

'', executive producer *''

That's My Line ''That's My Line'' is a summer CBS reality show developed by Mark Goodson. Conceived in response to the success of NBC's '' Real People'' and ABC's ''That's Incredible!'', ''That's My Line'' borrowed its name from one of Goodson and Bill Todman' ...

'', executive producer *'' Child's Play'', executive producer *'' Trivia Trap'', producer *''

Now You See It Now You See It may refer to: * Now You See It (American game show), ''Now You See It'' (American game show), a 1974–1975 game show, resurrected in 1989 * Now You See It (Australian game show), ''Now You See It'' (Australian game show), a 1985–1 ...

'', executive producer (1989 version) *''

Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelis ...

'', producer (1990 version) *''

Cram Cram may refer to: * Cram (surname), a surname, and list of notable persons having the surname * Cram.com, a website for creating and sharing flashcards * Cram (Australian game show), a television show * ''Cram'' (game show), a TV game show that ...

'', creator and executive producer (with Jonathan Goodson Productions) *''Dirty Rotten Cheater'', executive producer (with Jonathan Goodson Productions) *''

The Big Spin ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'', executive producer (with Jonathan Goodson Productions, 1999-2009 pisodes from 1985-98 did not have him involved *''

'', later ''Illinois' Luckiest'', executive producer (with Mark Goodson Productions 1994–1996, Jonathan Goodson Productions 1996-2000) *''

Forgive or Forget ''Forgive or Forget'' is an American talk show aired in national syndication premiering for summer trial run on June 8, 1998, before being picked up for a full season, which began on August 31, 1998. The original host of the show was Mother Lov ...

'', co-executive producer (with Jonathan Goodson Productions, 1998-2000) *''Flamingo Fortune'', executive producer (with Jonathan Goodson Productions, 1995–97) *''Bonus Bonanza'', executive producer (with Jonathan Goodson Productions, 1995–98) *''NY Wired'', executive producer (with Jonathan Goodson Productions, 1997–99) *''Make Me Rich'', executive producer (with Jonathan Goodson Productions, 2009–12) *''Powerball: The Game Show'', executive producer (with Jonathan Goodson Productions, 2000–02)

References

1945 births American television producers Living people {{US-tv-bio-stub