Richard Appel | |
|---|---|
 Appel at the 2010Comic Con | |
| Born | Richard James Appel (1963-05-21)May 21, 1963 (age 62) New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Education | Harvard University (BA,JD) |
| Period | 1994–present |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Richard James Appel (born May 21, 1963) is an American writer, producer and formerattorney. Since 2012, he has served as an executive producer and co-showrunner ofFamily Guy on Fox. He attendedHarvard University andHarvard Law School. As an undergraduate, he wrote for theHarvard Lampoon.
Following in his mother's footsteps, Appel became a lawyer. After attending law school, he started out as a law clerk for JudgeJohn M. Walker Jr. before becoming a federal attorney, serving as assistant U.S. attorney for theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York for three years. In 1994, he moved into comedy writing when he was hired forThe Simpsons, writing seven episodes of the show including "Mother Simpson". He moved on to becomeshowrunner and executive producer ofKing of the Hill before creating the sitcomA.U.S.A.. He then worked onThe Bernie Mac Show,Family Guy andAmerican Dad! before co-creatingThe Cleveland Show. He was married to the writerMona Simpson, noted author and sister ofSteve Jobs.
Richard James Appel was born May 21, 1963, inNew York City and raised inWilmette, Illinois,[1][2][3] toNina (née Schick) andAlfred Appel.[3][4] He is from aJewish family.
His mother was a lawyer and served as dean ofLoyola University Chicago's law school from 1983 to 2004, where as of 2010 she continued to teachtort law,[5] and his father (who died on May 2, 2009) was professor of English atNorthwestern University and an expert onVladimir Nabokov.[6] Appel has a sister, Karen Oshman.[6]
Appel lived in California while his parents taught atStanford University before the family moved toWilmette, Illinois,[2] where Appel went toNorth Shore Country Day School. While there, he co-wrote and co-edited his senior yearbook with writer and poet Philip Brooks. After leaving NSCDS, he attendedHarvard University and wrote for theHarvard Lampoon, alongsideConan O'Brien andGreg Daniels, both of whom he beat for the chance to give the comic graduation speech, the Ivy Oration.Tad Friend noted: "Everyone thought it would be Conan automatically, but Rich's speech was funny and self-deprecating, in a way that was both silly and profound."[4] After graduation in 1985 with a degree in history and literature,[7] Appel attendedHarvard Law School rather than moving into comedy, because the idea of following his mother and grandfathers into the legal profession "appealed" to him.[2][4]
He then worked for two years as a law clerk for JudgeJohn M. Walker, Jr., of theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York, working on the trials of people such asMichael Milken andLeona Helmsley. Subsequently, for three years from 1990, Appel served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Fellow attorneyGeoffrey Berman stated Appel "was an excellent lawyer. He was good on his feet, articulate, with a sense of the law that was common-sensical, more intuitive than based on books."[2][4]
Appel still had dreams of becoming a comedy writer despite the security working as a lawyer offered him, but only in 1993, after his wife became pregnant, was Appel "reminde[d] that this was [his] life and [he] could shape it." Three months later he had retained an agent, had written and submitted two spec-scripts, and had moved to California.[2][4]
"I don't think I opened my mouth for the first six weeks in that room. Part of it was my son had just been born. My son was, like most babies, not sleeping through the night, and there were some days where I didn't say anything not because I was intimidated but because I could barely focus."
When starting out as a comedy writer, Appel recalled: "One reason I caught up to my contemporaries is that when I started to send out my scripts, the idea that I'd been on theLampoon, even 8 or 10 years before, was a credential I could use."[4] Appel got his first television job whenDavid Mirkin hired him for the writing staff ofThe Simpsons in 1994, initially on a ten-week contract,[2] and served as a writer and producer there for four years.[1][9] There, he wrote seven episodes, often employing the use of "joke sequences, a narrative approach to humor that eschews the quick laugh in favor of something that develops over time."[4]
Appel found work onThe Simpsons to be a learning curve because it was a "very tough show to write for."[2] His first episode wasseason seven's "Mother Simpson". Appel was desperately trying to think of a story idea to show and decided that he had to really reach out and opted to do something aboutHomer's mother, who previously had only been mentioned once. He named herMona Simpson, after his wife.[10] Many of the writers could not believe that an episode about Homer's mother had not previously been produced.[11] The writers used the episode to solve several little puzzles, such as whereLisa's intelligence came from.[10] Also for season seven he penned "Bart on the Road", in which he utilized the plot devices of "go to work with your parents day" andBart getting a driving license,[12] and contributed to the episode "22 Short Films About Springfield"; the two segments he wrote for the episode (one aboutMarge, the other aboutLionel Hutz) were both cut.[13]
Appel wrote two episodes fromseason eight, "Bart After Dark" and "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson",[14][15] as well asseason nine's "The Two Mrs Nahasapeemapetilons" andseason 10's "When You Dish Upon A Star".[16][17]
Daniels hired Appel as executive producer and showrunner onKing of the Hill in 1997, leading the show's writing process and overseeing all aspects of the show. Daniels noted: "It was essential that Rich was a good writer who could deal with people, who could help manage the business in the room. But equally important was the fact that he was someone I could trust, who had a similar sense of taste and values."[4] He stayed until 2001.[2][18] For his work onThe Simpsons andKing of the Hill, Appel won threePrimetime Emmy Awards.[19]
Appel created the short-lived seriesA.U.S.A., which aired in 2003, which he based on his own experiences as an assistant U.S. attorney.[20] He conceived it in 2001 andNBC ordered 13 episodes the following year; the show's original pilot used asingle-camera setup but NBC executives felt it would have more appeal as amultiple-camera setup, so it was re-shot.
Appel then wrote and worked as a co-executive producer onThe Bernie Mac Show andKitchen Confidential,[9] and appeared as Josh in the 2004 filmI Heart Huckabees.[21] In 2006, he produced a pilot calledMy Ex Life about two divorcing couples forCBS. The show was not picked up[22][23]
In 2008, he served as a co-executive producer onFamily Guy and executive producer onAmerican Dad! from 2008 until 2009.[24] Appel wrote theFamily Guyseventh season episode "Family Gay".[25]
Appel co-created, alongsideMike Henry andSeth MacFarlane, theFamily Guy spin-offThe Cleveland Show, which they began discussing in 2007 and which premiered September 27, 2009.[26][27] He and Henry serve as the show's executive producers with limited involvement from MacFarlane.[28] Henry and Appel conceived the show as "more of a family show, a sweeter show" thanFamily Guy.[29]
Starting with thesixteenth season, Appel would begin showrunning Family Guy, alongsideAlec Sulkin.
In 1993 he married novelistMona Simpson,[4][10] the sister ofApple founderSteve Jobs.[30] They have two children.[6] Appel and Simpson have since divorced.[31][32]
Appel worked on the listed shows and wrote all the listed episodes:
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