Theodore Carrington Jessup (born August 23, 1960) is an American television writer, producer, actor, and performer. He is a writer for the
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 ...
animated sitcom ''
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 ...
'', and has written the episodes "
12 and a Half Angry Men
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
," "
Mom's the Word," "
The 2000-Year-Old Virgin," "
Brokeback Swanson," and "
High School English."
Early life and education
Ted Jessup was born in
Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic and Ca ...
, where his father was serving with the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
as
station chief. He grew up in Europe and attended international schools. He graduated from
Hamilton College
Hamilton College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, Clinton, New York. It was established as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and received its c ...
.
Production
Jessup has been a producer and writer for National Geographic Television,
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...
,
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
, ''
The Late Late Show'' (CBS TV) with
Craig Kilborn
Craig Lawrence Kilborn (born August 24, 1962) is an American television host, actor, comedian, and sports commentator. Kilborn began a career in sports broadcasting in the late 1980s, leading to an anchoring position at ESPN's '' SportsCenter'' f ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
and
The Al Franken Show
''The Al Franken Show'' was the flagship talk show of the former talk radio network, Air America Radio. Hosted by Al Franken, it featured commentary and interviews arguing for liberal positions on the issues of the day, and comically pok ...
among others.
Jessup has written comedy for numerous award-winning shows including ''The Peoples Choice,'' ''Guys Choice'' and ''Video Game Awards.'' He co-created the cult favorites VH1's ''Rock Candy'' and ''
Dave and Steve's Video Game Explosion.'' He was also an executive producer and head writer for Nickelodeon's ''
Space Cases.''
Jessup was the executive producer and head of programming for
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian and American television writer and film producer. He created and produced ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and produced the ''Late Night (franchise) ...
's experimental, youth-targeted
Burly Bear Network
The Burly Bear Network was an American cable TV channel targeted at 18- to 24-year-old college students founded in 1994. The company was created by four friends from Connecticut — Danny Stein, Brian Nurenberg, Danny Ameri, and James Mairs; and ...
. He also executive produced the critically acclaimed feature film, ''Throwing Down,'' which won best American film at the 1995 Hamptons’ Film Festival. Jessup also won a
CableACE Award for directing ''The Other Europe'' for the
Travel Channel
Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, who previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in Manhattan, with ...
, starring
Billy Kimball
Billy Kimball (born July 8, 1959) is an American writer and producer. He was a co-executive producer on the acclaimed HBO series ''Veep''.
Personal life
He was born in New York City, attended Trinity School, and graduated from Harvard College ...
.
Performance
As a performer Jessup appeared as himself in ''The Real Roseanne Show.'' He has appeared in numerous sketches on ''The Late Late Show.'' He played a talkative “john” opposite porn star
Sasha Grey
Marina Ann Hantzis (born 1988), known professionally as Sasha Grey, is an American actress, model, writer, musician, and former pornographic film actress. She began her acting career in the pornographic film industry, winning 15 awards for h ...
in
Steven Soderbergh
Steven Andrew Soderbergh ( ; born January 14, 1963) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. A pioneer of modern Independent film, independent cinema, Soderbergh later drew acclaim for formally inventiv ...
’s ''
The Girlfriend Experience
''The Girlfriend Experience'' is a 2009 American slice-of-life drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh, written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, and starring then- pornographic actress Sasha Grey. It was shot in New York City, and a rough ...
''. He appears regularly as a commentator on ''
TruTV Presents: World's Dumbest...'' He is a regular contributor and one of the original editors of ''The Old Yorker,'' the Internet humor journal.
Ancestors
Jessup is a direct descendant of the puritan John Jessup, a founder of
Southampton, Long Island, and also of
Henry Harris Jessup
Henry Harris Jessup (1832–1910) was an American Presbyterian missionary and author who devoted his distinguished career to evangelical missionary work in Syria (now Lebanon).
Biography
He was born at Montrose, Pennsylvania, son of the jurist ...
, the missionary and co-founder of the
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...
. He is a nephew of
Philip Jessup
Philip Caryl Jessup (February 5, 1897 – January 31, 1986) was a 20th-century American diplomat, scholar, and jurist notable for his accomplishments in the field of international law.
Early life and education
Philip Caryl Jessup was born on ...
the noted diplomat, jurist and scholar. Jessup resides in Los Angeles and New York City.
References
External links
*
Old Yorker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jessup, Ted
1960 births
Television personalities from New York City
Television producers from New York City
American television writers
American male television writers
Living people
Writers from New York City
Screenwriters from New York (state)