Greg Daniels facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Greg Daniels
Daniels in 2014
Born	Gregory Martin Daniels (1963-06-13) June 13, 1963 (age 62) New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Screenwriter television producer director
Alma mater	Harvard University
Period	1987–present
Notable works	King of the Hill The Office Parks and Recreation
Spouse	Susanne Lieberstein ​ (m. 1991)​
Children	4, including Owen Daniels
Relatives	Paul Lieberstein (brother-in-law) Warren Lieberstein (brother-in-law)

Gregory Martin Daniels (born June 13, 1963) is an American writer, producer, and director for television. He has worked on many popular TV shows. These include writing for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons. He also helped create the American version of The Office. Plus, he co-created Parks and Recreation and King of the Hill. Greg Daniels went to Harvard University. There, he became friends with and started working with Conan O'Brien.

He joined The Simpsons writing team in its fifth season. He wrote famous episodes like "Lisa's Wedding" and "Bart Sells His Soul". Later, he left The Simpsons to co-create King of the Hill with Mike Judge. This animated show ran for thirteen years. While working on King of the Hill, he also helped create The Office (American version) and Parks and Recreation. More recently, he co-created Space Force for Netflix with Steve Carell. He also created the science fiction comedy Upload for Amazon.

Early Life and School Days

Gregory Martin Daniels was born on June 13, 1963. His birthplace was New York City. His mother, Judy, worked at the New York Public Library. His father, Aaron Daniels, was the president of ABC Radio Network. Greg's father was from a Russian-Jewish family.

Greg Daniels said he got interested in comedy by watching Monty Python's Flying Circus. He watched it when he was a kid. He also read funny books by S.J. Perelman when he was 11. His very first joke was for his dad. It was later used in The Office episode called "The Dundies".

Daniels went to Phillips Exeter Academy. Then he went to Harvard University. There, he wrote for the Harvard Lampoon with his friend Conan O'Brien. After college in 1985, they both got jobs at Not Necessarily the News. But they were soon let go because of budget cuts.

His Career in Television

Working on Saturday Night Live

Greg Daniels and Conan O'Brien met Lorne Michaels in late 1987. They were given a three-week try-out to write for Saturday Night Live. While on the team, Daniels won an Emmy Award for his writing. He left the show's writing team in 1990.

The Simpsons and King of the Hill (1993–2009)

Daniels joined the writing team for The Simpsons in 1993. This was for the show's fifth season. Many of the original writers had left by then. His first day was also Conan O'Brien's last day on the show.

When he first joined, he thought the show's best years were over. He felt he had "missed the boat." In the fifth season, Daniels wrote episodes like "Homer and Apu" and "Secrets of a Successful Marriage". He also wrote a part of "Treehouse of Horror IV".

Daniels was nominated for an Emmy for the song "Who Needs The Kwik-E-Mart?" from "Homer and Apu." For season six, he wrote "Homer Badman" and "Lisa's Wedding". He also wrote a segment from "Treehouse of Horror V". This episode won an Emmy for best animated program. In season seven, Daniels wrote "Bart Sells His Soul". This episode was based on something that happened in his own childhood. His last writing credit for The Simpsons was for "22 Short Films About Springfield". He helped connect all the stories in that episode.

Daniels left The Simpsons to work on King of the Hill. This was another show for the Fox network. He worked on it with Mike Judge. Daniels rewrote the first script for the show. He also created important characters like Luanne and Cotton. He also came up with ideas for characters, like making Dale Gribble a conspiracy theorist.

Daniels took the writers to Texas to do research. They used reporter notebooks. He used a similar process for The Office and Parks and Recreation. Mike Judge was very happy with Daniels' help. He decided to call Daniels a co-creator of the show. This is usually a special credit.

The Office and Parks and Recreation (2005–2015)

In 2005, Daniels brought the popular British show The Office to American audiences. The show started with mixed reviews. So, the writers worked to make it more "optimistic." They also made the main character, Michael Scott, more likable. The second season was much better received. It was even named one of the best TV series of 2006. Greg Daniels won an Emmy for The Office when it won for Best Comedy Series in 2006. He also won an Emmy for writing an episode called "Gay Witch Hunt" in 2007.

After The Office became a hit, Daniels was asked to create a new show. He and co-creator Michael Schur decided not to make a direct spin-off. Instead, they created Parks and Recreation. This new show was about an optimistic woman working in local government. The idea for Parks and Recreation came partly from how local politics were shown in the TV series The Wire. It also came from the excitement about politics during the 2008 United States presidential election. The show first got mixed reviews, like The Office. But after some changes, later seasons were highly praised. For four years, Daniels worked on both The Office and Parks and Recreation. Then, he returned to be the full-time boss for The Office's ninth and final season.

New Projects (2012–Present)

In 2011, Daniels made a deal with NBC to create several new shows. He also worked on making an American version of the British show Friday Night Dinner. He directed and produced the TBS show People of Earth. In 2019, Netflix announced that Daniels would write and produce a new show called Space Force. It stars Steve Carell, who was the main actor in The Office. He also created the Amazon science fiction series Upload, which started in May 2020.

Bandera Entertainment (2019–Present)

In 2021, Daniels and King of the Hill co-creator Mike Judge started a new animation company. It's called Bandera Entertainment. They want to make many different kinds of animated shows. Their first show was Praise Petey, which started in July 2023. It got mostly good reviews.

Daniels and Judge are also working on other shows. These include an animated version of Exploding Kittens for Netflix. They are also planning a new version of King of the Hill for Hulu. Other projects include In the Know and Best Buds. They are also making Chelm: The Smartest Place on Earth with Sacha Baron Cohen.

Personal Life

Daniels met Susanne Dari Lieberstein when she was an assistant for Lorne Michaels at Saturday Night Live. They later got married. Susanne is the sister of Paul Lieberstein. Paul was a writer for King of the Hill and later took over as the boss for The Office after Daniels.

Awards and Honors

Awards Won

Greg Daniels has been nominated for 21 Emmy Awards and has won five! Here are his wins:

• Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program for Saturday Night Live: Season 14 (1989)
• Outstanding Animated Program for The Simpsons episode, "Lisa's Wedding" (1995)
• Outstanding Animated Program for King of the Hill, episode "And They Call It Bobby Love" (1999)
• Outstanding Comedy Series for The Office: Season 2 (2006)
• Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for "Gay Witch Hunt" from The Office (2007)

Daniels also received the Outstanding Television Writer Award from the Austin Film Festival in 2008.

Shows Greg Daniels Has Worked On

See also

In Spanish: Greg Daniels para niños