Meredith Scardino is an American screenwriter,

showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...

and producer. She has worked as a writer for several television comedies, including ''

Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show foc ...

'', ''

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt ''Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'' is an American sitcom created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, starring Ellie Kemper in the title role. It premiered on March 6, 2015, on Netflix and ran for four seasons, ending on January 25, 2019. An interactiv ...

'', and '' Mr. Mayor''. She is the creator of the

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

original series ''

Girls5eva ''Girls5eva'' is an American musical comedy television series created by Meredith Scardino that premiered on May 6, 2021, on Peacock. It follows four women who were part of a girl group named Girls5eva, which was briefly popular around the year ...

''.

Early life

Scardino grew up in Villanova, a suburb of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. As a four-year-old, she sometimes appeared on a local show called ''The Al Alberts Showcase''. She graduated from Radnor High School in 1994 before earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1998. Scardino studied painting at

Parsons School of Design The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...

and graduated with a master's degree in fine arts.

Career

Scardino began her career as an animator before transitioning into writing. Her first writing job was in 2004 on the

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

comedy series ''

Best Week Ever ''Best Week Ever'' is an American comedy series created and executive produced for VH1 by Fred Graver. The series, which first aired from January 23, 2004, to June 12, 2009, is a spin-off of the '' I Love the...'' series and was renamed ''Best ...

''. She 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 ...

'' from 2005-2007, where she was the sole female writer. She left ''Letterman'' to become a writer for ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late night television, late-night Late-night talk show, talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December ...

'', and was part of the writing team that won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program" in 2008. She went on to write for Colbert's new show, ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'', and became a consulting producer for its 2016 launch. In 2015, Scardino left ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' to join the writing staff of

Robert Carlock Robert Morgan Carlock (born September 21, 1972) is an American screenwriter and producer. He has worked as a writer for several NBC television comedies, and as a showrunner for ''30 Rock'', which was created by his recurring collaborator, comedia ...

's and

Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. Known for her comedic roles in sketch comedy, television and film, Fey has received List of awards and nominations received by Tina Fe ...

original series ''

'', which she co-executive-produced for its final two seasons. Scardino's comedy series ''

'' premiered in 2021, produced by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock. It ran for two seasons on

and then was picked up for a third season by

. She has also written for ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'', ''

At Home with Amy Sedaris ''At Home with Amy Sedaris'' is an American surreal comedy television series that premiered on October 24, 2017, on truTV. Hosted by Amy Sedaris playing various characters, the show focuses on the comedian's love of entertaining, crafts, and cook ...

'', ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ ...

'', ''

Human Giant ''Human Giant'' is a sketch comedy show starring writer/performers Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel, and Paul Scheer, and directed primarily by Jason Woliner. The show ran for two seasons on MTV. In 2008, the group was offered a third season and was rep ...

'' and the

72nd Primetime Emmy Awards The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in American prime time television programming from June 1, 2019, until May 31, 2020, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ceremony was originally to be held at the Microsof ...

Personal life

Scardino lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and has one son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scardino, Meredith American comedy writers 1976 births Living people Cornell University alumni Parsons School of Design alumni People from Radnor Township, Pennsylvania Primetime Emmy Award winners