Greg Daniels | |
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 Daniels in 2022 | |
| Born | Gregory Martin Daniels (1963-06-13)June 13, 1963 (age 62) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation |
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| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Period | 1987–present |
| Notable works | |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4, includingOwen |
| Relatives |
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Gregory Martin Daniels (born June 13, 1963) is an American screenwriter, television producer, and director. He has worked on several television series, including writing forSaturday Night Live andThe Simpsons, adaptingThe Office for the United States, and co-creatingParks and Recreation andKing of the Hill. Daniels attendedHarvard University, where he befriended and began collaborating withConan O'Brien. His first writing credit was forNot Necessarily the News, before he was laid off because of budget cuts.
He joined the writing staff ofThe Simpsons during its fifth season. He wrote several classic episodes, including "Secrets of a Successful Marriage", "Lisa's Wedding" and "Bart Sells His Soul" and supervised "22 Short Films About Springfield". He leftThe Simpsons to co-create another long-running animated series,King of the Hill, withMike Judge. The show ran thirteen years before its cancellation in 2009. During the run ofKing of the Hill, he worked on several other series, including the American version ofThe Office andParks and Recreation. In 2016, he was an executive producer on theTBS seriesPeople of Earth. WithThe Office starSteve Carell, Daniels co-created theNetflix comedy seriesSpace Force. He also created theAmazon science fiction comedy seriesUpload. In 2025, Daniels' new seriesThe Paper premiered.
Gregory Martin Daniels was born on June 13, 1963,[1][2][3] inNew York City,[1] the son of Judy, who worked at theNew York Public Library, and Aaron Daniels, who was president ofABC Radio Network.[2] Daniels' father is ofRussian-Jewish descent.[4]
Daniels stated that he became interested in comedy by watchingMonty Python's Flying Circus as a child,[5] as well as reading books by humoristS.J. Perelman at age 11.[6] His first joke was aCarnac the Magnificent joke for his father which was later used forThe Office episode, "The Dundies".[7]
Daniels attendedPhillips Exeter Academy and thenHarvard University where he wrote for theHarvard Lampoon withConan O'Brien.[8] After graduating in 1985, the two accepted jobs atNot Necessarily the News, but they were soon fired due to budget cuts.[8]
Daniels and O'Brien metLorne Michaels in late 1987 and were given a three-week try-out in theSaturday Night Live writing staff.[8] While on the staff, Daniels won anEmmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program.[9] Daniels left the writing staff in 1990.
Daniels joined the writing staff of theFox showThe Simpsons in 1993. He was hired in the fifth season following the departures of many of the original team of writers.[10] His first day on the series coincided with O'Brien's last.[11]
When he initially joined the series, he believed the series had gone past the "glory years" and that he had "missed the boat".[12] In the fifth season, Daniels penned "Homer and Apu", "Secrets of a Successful Marriage", and "The Devil and Homer Simpson" segment of "Treehouse of Horror IV".
Daniels received an Emmy nomination in the "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music and Lyrics" category for the song "Who Needs The Kwik-E-Mart?" from "Homer and Apu".[9] Forseason six, he wrote "Homer Badman", "Lisa's Wedding" and the "Time and Punishment" segment from "Treehouse of Horror V". "Lisa's Wedding" became the third of the series to win aPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.[9] In theseventh season, Daniels wrote "Bart Sells His Soul", which was based on a childhood experience.[13] His final credit for the series was for "22 Short Films About Springfield", which he served as supervising writer alongside showrunnerJosh Weinstein. They were given the responsibility of linking all the stories together.[14]
Daniels leftThe Simpsons to work onKing of the Hill (another Fox show) alongsideMike Judge.[15] Daniels rewrote the pilot script and created several important characters that did not appear in Judge's first draft (including Luanne and Cotton), as well as some characterization ideas (e.g., making Dale Gribble aconspiracy theorist).[16]
Daniels also took the writers to Texas to do some research with reporter notebooks, a process he would use forThe Office andParks and Recreation.[17] Judge was ultimately so pleased with Daniels' contributions that he chose to credit him as a co-creator, rather than give him the "developer" credit usually reserved for individuals brought on to a pilot written by someone else.[16] During thefifth andsixth seasons, Judge and Daniels became less involved with the show. They eventually focused on the show again, although Daniels steadily became more involved with other projects.[16]
In 2005, Daniels adapted the popularBBC mockumentary seriesThe Office for American audiences.The series premiered to mixed reviews,[18][19] so the writers worked to make it more "optimistic" and make the lead character,Michael Scott, more likable.[20] The second season was significantly better received and it was named the second best TV series of 2006 byJames Poniewozik, writing that "Producer Greg Daniels created not a copy but an interpretation that sends up distinctly American work conventions ... with a tone that's more satiric and less mordant. ... The new boss is different from the old boss, and that's fine by me."[21] He gave the acceptance speech at the58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards when the American version ofThe Office won the award forOutstanding Comedy Series, and he received an award forOutstanding Writing for a Comedy Series at the59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.[22][23]
Following the success ofThe Office,Ben Silverman asked Daniels to create aspin-off for the series.[24] After considering several ideas, Daniels and co-creatorMichael Schur eventually decided that the series would not get a spin-off because Daniels and Schur "couldn't find the right fit".[24][25] AfterAmy Poehler agreed to play the lead, they decided their new series would revolve around an optimistic female bureaucrat in small-town government.[25] The premise ofParks and Recreation was partly inspired by the portrayal of local politics on theHBO drama seriesThe Wire, as well as the renewed interest in and optimism about politics stemming from the2008 United States presidential election.[26] The series initially received mixed reviews, much likeThe Office in the first season, but after a re-approach to its format and tone, the later seasons received critical acclaim.[27][28] For four years, he split his time betweenThe Office andParks and Recreation,[29] before eventually returning as full-timeshowrunner forThe Office for its ninth and final season.[30][31]
In 2011, Daniels made a deal with NBC to produce several series forUniversal Television.[32] He also developed the British seriesFriday Night Dinner for American audiences.[32] The remake was picked up for a pilot, which was written by Daniels and directed byKen Kwapis,[33] and featuredAllison Janney andTony Shalhoub as the mother and father.[34] The pilot was not picked up for series.[35] He also teamed withMindy Kaling andAlan Yang to work on two different animated series for NBC[32] and made a deal to executive produce a new pilot written byThe Office writer Owen Ellickson and starringThe Office cast memberCraig Robinson.[36] He served as director and executive producer on theTBS seriesPeople of Earth. In January 2019,Netflix announced that he would write and produce a new series calledSpace Force starringSteve Carell, who was the lead in Daniels' previous sitcomThe Office. He created the Amazon original sci-fi seriesUpload which started streaming in May 2020.[37]
In 2021, it was announced that Daniels andKing of the Hill co-creatorMike Judge had reunited to form an animation company calledBandera Entertainment,[38] to "expand the format to include as many subgenres as live-action fare." Their first produced series wasAnna Drezen'sPraise Petey[39] starringAnnie Murphy,John Cho, and frequent Judge collaboratorStephen Root among others. The series premiered on July 21, 2023, onFreeform andHulu, and received mostly positive reviews,[40][41][42][43] withRotten Tomatoes ratings of 80% Fresh from critics, and 90% Fresh from audiences.[44] Other series produced by Daniels and Judge includean adaptation ofExploding Kittens forNetflix,[45] a reboot ofKing of the Hill for Hulu which premiered on August 4, 2025,[46][47]Zach Woods and Brandon Gardner'sIn the Know,[48] andCommon Side Effects forAdult Swim.[49]
Other series in development from Daniels and Judge include Caitie Delaney and Caleb Hearon'sBest Buds[50] forPeacock andChelm: The Smartest Place on Earth withSacha Baron Cohen forCartoon Network andMax.[51] They were also producing Nicole Silverberg'sBad Crimes, starringNicole Byer andLauren Lapkus for Netflix, but it was canceled mid-production.[52]
Daniels metSusanne Dari Lieberstein while she was Lorne Michaels' assistant atSaturday Night Live[53] and they eventually married.[53] She is the sister ofPaul Lieberstein, writer forKing of the Hill and the replacement showrunner ofThe Office for Daniels.[54] Daniels was also the brother-in-law toThe Office cast memberAngela Kinsey until her divorce fromThe Office writerWarren Lieberstein in 2010.
Daniels's work has received a mainly positive reception. Out of the six TV series that Daniels has worked on, four of them—Saturday Night Live,The Simpsons,King of the Hill andThe Office—were named amongTime reviewerJames Poniewozik's All Time 100 TV Shows.[55] His work onThe Simpsons has received acclaim from critics and fans. Two of his episodes, "Bart Sells His Soul" and "22 Short Films About Springfield", were listed among the show's creative team's top five favorite episodes in 2003.[56][57] Series creatorMatt Groening and executive producerJames L. Brooks have named his episodes among their favorites.[58][59] Other staff members and several critics have praised his work.[60][61][62]
His other animated series and his first credit as a creator,King of the Hill, has received positive reviews as well.IGN named it the 27th best-animated television series and the site mainly complimented the series for its subtle character humor.[63]
No one seems to nail these characters like Daniels does. It was a daunting challenge to write off Michael in a way that was emotionally satisfying, true to the spirit of the show, but also funny. Daniels expertly walked that tightrope and threw in some treats for longtime fans as well.
His next television series,The Office, ranked as NBC's highest rated show for a majority of its run, according to theNielsen ratings.[65] The series has also been put on several top series lists by many publications includingTime,[66][21][67]BuddyTV,[68]Metacritic,[69]The Washington Post,[70] andPaste.[71] His writing credits for the series are often considered the best of the series.[64][72][73][74] Despite its early acclaim, later seasons have received criticism for a dip in quality, notably after Daniels was less involved.[75][76][77] Daniels' next series,Parks and Recreation, was called "the smartest comedy on TV" byEntertainment Weekly in 2011.[78]
Daniels has been nominated for twenty-one Emmys and has won five.[79] Those wins are for:
Daniels was also awardedAustin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2008.[82]
| Year | Title | Creator | Director | Showrunner | Writer | Executive Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985–1987 | Not Necessarily the News | No | No | No | Yes (8) | No | Sketches Show |
| 1987–1988 | The Wilton North Report | No | No | No | Yes (21) | No | Live Show |
| 1987–1990 | Saturday Night Live | No | No | No | Yes (53) | No | |
| 1992 | Seinfeld | No | No | No | Yes (1) | No | |
| 1993–1998 | The Simpsons | No | No | No | Yes (8) | Co-executive producer (29) | Also produced 25 episodes and co-produced 22 episodes |
| 1997–2010, 2025–present | King of the Hill | Yes | No | Yes (85) | Yes (3) | Yes | Co-created withMike Judge |
| 2000 | Life's Too Short | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | |
| Monsignor Martínez | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | TV pilot | |
| 2003 | A.U.S.A | No | No | No | No | Consulting producer | |
| 2005–2013 | The Office | Developer | Yes (13) | Yes (97) | Yes (13) | Yes | Also produced 29 episodes; Based on the showThe Office byRicky Gervais andStephen Merchant |
| 2009–2015 | Parks and Recreation | Yes | Yes (3) | No | Yes (1) | Yes | Co-created withMichael Schur |
| 2012 | Friday Night Dinner | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | TV pilot; Co-created withRobert Popper |
| 2013 | The Mindy Project | No | Yes (1) | No | No | No | |
| Hello Ladies | No | Yes (1) | No | No | No | ||
| 2016–2017 | People of Earth | No | Yes (2) | No | No | Yes | |
| 2020 | A Parks and Recreation Special | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Co-created withMichael Schur |
| 2020–2025 | Upload | Yes | Yes (2) | Yes (17) | Yes (4) | Yes | |
| 2020–2022 | Space Force | Yes | No | Yes (17) | Yes (3) | Yes | Co-created withSteve Carell |
| 2023 | Praise Petey | No | No | No | No | Yes | Executive producer withMike Judge |
| 2024 | In the Know | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| Exploding Kittens | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2025–present | Common Side Effects | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| The Paper | Yes | Yes (1) | Yes | Yes (2) | Yes | Co-created withMichael Koman |
Gregory Martin [Daniels]...I was born in New York City in 1963.
Daniels' father, AARON, 87, the son of a Russian Jewish immigrant...
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