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Jay Tarses

Highest Rated: 85% The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)

Lowest Rated: 0% Up the Academy (1980)

Birthday: Jul 3, 1939

Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland, USA

While lacking the name recognition of fellow sitcom auteurs like Norman Lear, Garry Marshall and James L Brooks, Jay Tarses must be counted among the major voices to emerge in the genre over the last two decades. As a writer-producer, he has worked on some of the most acclaimed sitcoms in recent memory. As few of them lasted more than a season or two, however, a typical Tarses comedy was more likely to be a critical darling or cult favorite rather than a ratings powerhouse. His most characteristic sitcoms, including "Buffalo Bill" (NBC, 1983-84) and "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd" (NBC, 1987-89; Lifetime, 1989-91), were notable for their wry and rueful qualities as well as a relative lack of sentiment. Tarses' one great commercial (as well as critical) success was as the executive producer and sometimes writer on "The Bob Newhart Show" (CBS, 1972-78), a sitcom more memorable for its eccentric characters and absurd situation than the warm-fuzzies the genre often delivers.

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Highest-Rated Movies

85% 76% The Muppets Take Manhattan
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46% 52% Teen Wolf
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0% 43% Up the Academy
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Filmography

Movies TV Shows
Teen Wolf 46% 52% 1985 Coach Finstock Actor The Muppets Take Manhattan 85% 76% 1984 Screenwriter Up the Academy 0% 43% 1980 Screenwriter
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