Michael Dinner

Early on in his career, director-producer Michael Dinner appears to have figured out that he was better off working in TV than film. This turned out to be a very smart move. Beginning with the much beloved teen comedy-drama "The Wonder Years" in the early 1990's, for which he directed 19 episodes, Dinner has built up an envious track record as a TV director and producer. His other major career milestones as both a director and producer are the CBS medical drama "Chicago Hope," created by David E. Kelley; the provocative real-time NBC experiment "Kidnapped"; and a remake of "Fantasy Island" in the late 1990's in which Malcolm McDowell tried to fill the big shoes of previous show star Ricardo Montalban. Dinner has solidified his standing in the TV industry with executive producer credits on everything from "Karen Sisco" to another iconic small screen remake attempt, "Bionic Woman." He won an Emmy Award in 1990 for directing an episode of "The Wonder Years" entitled "Good-Bye."