Michael Poryes

Writer-producer Michael Poryes has had a hand in two of the 21st century's most influential female TV teen protagonists: "That's So Raven"'s Raven Baxter (2003-2007) and "Hannah Montana"'s Miley Cyrus (2006-2010). He was a co-creator of the former show and wrote many episodes for each. Chances are when Poryes began work as a TV writer in the early 1980's on individual episodes of classic sitcoms such as the comedy about a nouveau riche African American family in"The Jeffersons" and the diner comedy "Alice," he had no idea he would eventually wind up as a titan of the children's entertainment world. The beginnings of this path were assignments for the Tony Danza family comedy "Who's the Boss," the female driven boarding school comedy "The Facts of Life," and the up and down experiences of six high school students in "Saved by the Bell." But it was once he made the leap to producer in the mid-1990's on the Cybill Shepherd vehicle "Cybill" that his executive turn was launched in earnest. His work on "Hannah Montana" earned him four consecutive Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Children's Program. Poryes has also written episodes of the family TV programs "Harry and the Hendersons," in which a family adopts a Sasquatch for a pet, and "Saved by the Bell."