Brandon Tartikoff
The wunderkind programmer who rewrote NBC's prime-time schedule, rescuing it from last place with a mix of blue-chip drama and zeitgeist-capturing comedy.
1949–1997 (age 48)·American television executive·Birthday: January 13·Baby Boomers
Biography
Brandon Tartikoff took the reins of NBC's entertainment division when the network was a perennial joke, languishing in third place. With a programmer's instinct and a gambler's nerve, he greenlit shows that others found too dark, too quirky, or too unconventional. His legacy is the soundtrack of a generation: the gritty, serialized realism of 'Hill Street Blues' and 'St. Elsewhere'; the upscale angst of 'L.A. Law'; the cozy, tart companionship of 'The Golden Girls' and 'Cheers.' He paired these with massive, culture-defining family sitcoms like 'The Cosby Show' and 'Family Ties,' and launched the must-see Thursday night lineup that would later cradle 'Seinfeld.' Tartikoff didn't just schedule shows; he curated a mood, proving that quality and mass appeal could share the same dial.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Brandon was born in 1949, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Brandon Was Born
The biggest hits of 1949
#1 Movie
Samson and Delilah
Best Picture
All the King's Men
#1 TV Show
Texaco Star Theatre
Brandon's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1949Born
NATO founded; Mao proclaims the People's Republic of China
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Riders in the Sky" — Vaughn MonroeBest Picture: All the King's Men
1954Started school
Brown v. Board of Education desegregates US schools
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $8,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Little Things Mean a Lot" — Kitty KallenBest Picture: On the Waterfront
1962Became a teenager
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1965Could drive
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1967Could vote
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1970Turned 21
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1979Turned 30
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1989Turned 40
Berlin Wall falls; Tiananmen Square protests
Gas: $1.00/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Look Away" — ChicagoBest Picture: Driving Miss Daisy
1997Died at 48
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
Key Achievements
- As NBC's entertainment president, he championed and scheduled the groundbreaking drama 'Hill Street Blues,' which revolutionized television storytelling.
- Oversaw the creation of NBC's dominant 'Must-See TV' Thursday night lineup, featuring hits like 'Cheers,' 'The Cosby Show,' and 'Seinfeld.'
- Greenlit the innovative and stylistically bold series 'Miami Vice,' which changed the visual and musical language of television.
Did You Know?
He kept a 'Hit List' and a 'Crap List' of ideas on his office wall.
Tartikoff developed the teen sitcom 'Saved by the Bell' after seeing a Danish show about a classroom of students.
He survived a near-fatal case of Hodgkin's lymphoma in his early thirties.
“In television, you can't be afraid to fail, because if you are, you'll never do anything interesting.”
