Michael Darnell (born 1962 or 1963) is an American entertainment executive. As president of Alternative Entertainment at the

Fox network Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an American commercial broadcast television network serving as the flagship property of Fox Corporation and operated through Fox Entertainment. Fox is based at Fo ...

and subsequently president of Unscripted Television at

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

, Darnell was in charge of some of the most successful and longest-running franchises in television history, including ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'', '' The Bachelor'' franchise, '' The Voice'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...

'', ''

Kitchen Nightmares ''Kitchen Nightmares'', known in the UK as ''Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA'', is an American reality television series originally broadcast on Fox, in which chef Gordon Ramsay is invited by the owners to spend a week with a failing restaurant ...

'', ''

MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with MasterChef (British TV series), the British version in July 1990. The show aims to discover the culinary talent of chefs of varying sk ...

'', '' Little Big Shots'', ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The show ran for nineteen seasons from September 8, 2003, to May 26, 2022, in which it broadcast 3,339 episodes. It was produced by ...

'', '' So You Think You Can Dance'', ''

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? ''Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?'' is a game show franchise that was co-created and produced by Mark Burnett, Barry Poznick and John Stevens. Adult contestants answer questions, as if they came from an elementary grade school quiz. The orig ...

'', ''

The Simple Life ''The Simple Life'' is an American reality television series starring Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. It depicts the two wealthy socialites, as they struggle to do menial, low-paying jobs such as cleaning rooms, farm work, serving meals in fa ...

'', '' Temptation Island'', and many more.

Early life and career

Mike Darnell was born in

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 ...

, Pennsylvania, to Eileen and Doyle E. Darnell. His father was a policeman, and Darnell was raised and attended public school in Philadelphia's northeast section. When he was 10, a talent manager saw him singing at a Police Athletic League event and encouraged him to do commercials. When he was 12, his family moved to California, where he eventually appeared in, or voiced-over, some sixty commercials. He also appeared in TV episodes such as ''

Sanford and Son ''Sanford and Son'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977. It was based on the British sitcom '' Steptoe and Son'', which initially aired on BBC1 in the United Kingdom from 1962 to ...

'', ''

Welcome Back, Kotter ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' is an American sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan as a high-school teacher in charge of a racially and ethnically diverse remedial education class nicknamed the Sweathogs. Recorded in front of a live studio audience, the ser ...

'' and ''

Kojak ''Kojak'' is an American Action film, action Crime film, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theophilus "Theo" Kojak. Tak ...

''. Later he worked as a bank teller to help pay his way through Cal State-Northridge. He also played piano at a night spot. Soon after graduating, he had an internship at ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...

'', which he says he "hated", before he started working at

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

's West Coast flagship station

KTTV KTTV (channel 11) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. It is owned a ...

, within their news department. Darnell is married to Carolyn Oberman, a public relations executive who works for the

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

Awards, and they have a daughter. , he lives in

Calabasas, California Calabasas (, ; Spanish language in California, Spanish for "winter squash, squashes") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. and during his 19 years at the network he rose through the ranks to become President of Alternative Entertainment. He quickly made a name for himself with one of his first hits that came to broad attention in 1995 when a producer brought Darnell black-and-white footage that appeared to portray an alien being dissected. As the network feared accusations of propagating a hoax, the show was broadcast with the title '' Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction''; it drew an audience of nearly twelve million viewers and was rebroadcast several more times. At one point, he produced over sixty specials a year for Fox, including: '' When Animals Attack!'', ''

World's Wildest Police Videos ''World's Wildest Police Videos'' (shortened to ''Police Videos'' during its fourth season) is an American reality television series that ran on Fox from 1998 to 2001. In 2012, Spike announced that it had commissioned 13 new episodes with the ...

'', '' Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed,'' and '' Man vs. Beast.'' Darnell's projects were known for their often lurid and controversial nature, leading ''The New York Times'' to call him "Fox's point man for perversity" in 2000. Series that Darnell developed and oversaw included iconic projects such as ''

'', ''

'', '' So You Think You Can Dance'', ''The X Factor'', ''Kitchen Nightmares'', ''

'', ''Temptation Island'', ''The Simple Life'', '' My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé'', '' Joe Millionaire'', and the launch of the animated series ''

'' and ''

''. With more than thirty million viewers at its peak, ''

'' helped

FOX Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

rise from the last place network to eight consecutive seasons as the number one network. Darnell oversaw ''American Idol'' from its creation through its twelfth season. Darnell told ''Variety'' that his proudest achievements during his time at Fox included ''American Idol'', the success he had with

Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter, and writer. His restaurant group, List of restaurants owned or operated by Gordon Ramsay, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has ...

, and the season finale of ''Joe Millionaire'', which drew about forty million viewers, outranking that year's Academy Awards, and became the network's most-viewed entertainment telecast. During Darnell's time at Fox,

Mark Seal Mark Seal is an American journalist and author. Seal worked as a journalist in Texas before becoming a freelance magazine writer in 1984, a contributing editor at '' Vanity Fair'' since 2003, and has written and co-written about 15 books.

wrote in ''Vanity Fair'' that Darnell is "arguably the king of

reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 199 ...

Warner Bros.

In 2013, Darnell left Fox and began heading up the Unscripted & Alternative division at

where he is responsible for overseeing development and current programming for alternative broadcast series, high-end documentaries, unscripted streaming and cable series, and first-run syndication. In 2017, Darnell and his team oversaw 35 series across 20 different networks, including primetime series such as '' Ellen's Game of Games'' (NBC), ''The Voice'' (NBC), '' The Bachelor'' franchise (ABC), Mental Samurai (FOX), ''

The Real In continental philosophy, the Real refers to reality in its unmediated form. In Lacanian psychoanalysis, it is an "impossible" category because of its inconceivability and opposition to expression. In depth psychology The Real is the ...

,'' and ''

'', among others. That same year, ''Deadline'' reported that in Darnell's first four years at Warner Bros, the studio had twelve unscripted series airing in primetime, more than any of its rivals. In 2019 ''

The World's Best ''The World's Best'' is an American reality talent competition television series that aired on CBS. Created by Mark Burnett and Mike Darnell, and hosted by comedian James Corden, the series featured performers being evaluated by three judges ...

'' aired on

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 ...

hosted by

James Corden James Kimberley Corden (born 22 August 1978) is an English comedian, actor, writer, producer, singer, and television host. In the United Kingdom, he is best known for co-writing and starring in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom '' Gavin & S ...

. The series was produced by Darnell and his Warner Horizon Unscripted Television division in association with

Mark Burnett James Mark Burnett (born 17 July 1960) is a British television producer who has won thirteen Emmy Awards including ten Primetime, one Sports Emmy Award and two Daytime Emmy Awards. His other accolades include five Producers Guild of America A ...

and

MGM Television Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television, formerly known as MGM/UA Television, is the television studio arm of the American film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), specializing in broadcast syndication and the production and distribution of television sh ...

and Ben Winston and Fulwell 73. Darnell also created and executive produced the competition series '' Mental Samurai'' on Fox hosted by

Rob Lowe Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and entertainment host. Following numerous television roles in the early 1980s, he came to prominence as a teen idol and member of the Brat Pack with starring roles in ...

. The series was produced by Darnell and Warner Horizon in association with Arthur Smith and A. Smith & Co. Productions and Jeff Apploff and Apploff Entertainment. In 2021, Darnell launched the much-anticipated '' Friends: The Reunion'', rebuilding the sets and bringing the whole cast back together at Warner Bros Stage 24 where the original show was filmed. After production was delayed multiple times because of COVID-19 production shutdowns, the special finally aired on May 27, 2021 and was watched by an estimated 29% of U.S. streaming households and became the top special to launch on HBO Max. Darnell continued to find success with documentaries and events such as the Emmy-nominated HBO Max documentary '' Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts'', bringing the ensemble cast back together in a retrospective celebration of the franchise. In addition, Darnell produced '' Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses,'' hosted by

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (; born Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov; 26 July 1945) is an English actor. With a career spanning over six decades of Helen Mirren on screen and stage, screen and stage, List of awards and nominations received by Helen Mirre ...

, which launched on TBS and Cartoon Network and was the most watched series across all cable networks for the year 2021. Darnell's oversight of his Warner Bros Unscripted division was quite broad, averaging nearly 2,500 hours of programming annually across broadcast, cable, streaming, digital, first-run syndication and podcasts, and which made Darnell's division the leading unscripted studio in America. John Koblin, writing in ''the New York Times'', described Darnell during his time at Warner Bros as "one of the longest-running and most successful executives in reality TV". Warner Bros. CEO Channing Dungey said Darnell's "record of success is unparalleled". In July 2023, Darnell resigned from his position as President of Unscripted Television at Warner Bros, after 10 years in that role.

References

External links

"Mike Darnell on ‘Little Big Shots,' ‘The Bachelor,' Ellen DeGeneres and ‘Love Connection'"
April 3, 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Darnell, Mike 1962 births 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American businesspeople American male child actors American television executives California State University, Northridge alumni Fox Broadcasting Company executives Living people Male actors from Philadelphia People from Calabasas, California Warner Bros. people American television producers