Jason Katims

Jason Katims (born November 30, 1960) is an American television writer, producer, and playwright. He is best known as the creator of several television series, including Relativity (1996), Roswell (1999–2002), Friday Night Lights (2006–2011), Parenthood (2010–2015), About a Boy (2014–2015) and Rise (2018). Jason Katims was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, and raised first in Crown Heights and later in Midwood. His father was an actor and a salesman; his mother, an English and philosophy major, "did some teachings". His parents were "very politically active, very left-leaning." He has an older brother and sister. Before studying theater at Queens College in Queens, New York City, he graduated from Edward R. Murrow High School. He married his high school sweetheart; they have two children, Phoebe and Sawyer Katims.

Works

Dear Edward

A 12-year-old boy becomes the lone survivor of a plane crash. As he and others affected by the tragedy try to make sense of what happened, unexpected friendships, romances, and communities are formed.

Release Date: 2023-02-02

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Episode Count: 10

Vote Count: 42

As We See It

Finding love, making friends, getting a job, adulting. Watch as three roommates on the autism spectrum navigate their early 20s with all its joy, tears and laughter. With the help of their families, aide, and sometimes even each other, these roommates experience setbacks and celebrate triumphs on their own unique journeys towards independence and acceptance.

Release Date: 2022-01-20

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Episode Count: 1

Vote Count: 27

Away

American astronaut Emma Green must leave her husband and teenage daughter behind to command an international space crew embarking upon a treacherous mission. A series about hope, humanity and how we need one another if we are to achieve impossible things.

Release Date: 2020-09-04

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Episode Count: 10

Vote Count: 323

United We Fan

Fans, stars, creators, and more come together to explore the dynamic history and evolution of save-our-show television fan campaigns from the letter-writing and product mail-in campaigns of yesterday to the social media and crowdfunding campaigns of today.

Release Date: 2018-04-28

Character: Self

Vote Count: 1

Rise

A working class high school drama department and the students come alive under a passionate teacher and family man whose dedication to the program galvanizes the entire town.

Release Date: 2018-03-13

Department: Production

Job: Producer

Episode Count: 10

Vote Count: 29

Pure Genius

A young Silicon Valley tech-titan enlists a veteran surgeon with a controversial past in starting a hospital with a cutting-edge, new school approach to medicine.

Release Date: 2016-10-27

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Episode Count: 3

Vote Count: 78

The Path

The Path explores the unknown and mysterious world of the cult-like Meyerist Movement in upstate New York. At the center of the movement lies Eddie, a conflicted husband; Sarah, his devoted wife; and Cal, an ambitious leader. We follow each as they contend with deep issues involving relationships, faith, and power.

Release Date: 2016-03-30

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Episode Count: 36

Vote Count: 136

About a Boy

Will Freeman lives a charmed existence as the ultimate man-child. After writing a hit song, he was granted a life of free time, free love and freedom from financial woes. He's single, unemployed and loving it. So imagine his surprise when Fiona, a needy single mom and her oddly charming 11-year-old son, Marcus, move in next door and disrupt his perfect world. When Marcus begins dropping by his home unannounced, Will's not so sure about being a kid's new best friend, until, of course, Will discovers that women find single dads irresistible. That changes everything and a deal is struck: Marcus will pretend to be Will's son and, in return, Marcus is allowed to chill at Will's house. Before he realizes it, Will starts to enjoy the visits and even finds himself looking out for the kid. In fact, this newfound friendship may very well teach him a thing or two that he never imagined possible - about himself and caring for others.

Release Date: 2014-02-22

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Episode Count: 1

Vote Count: 84

Off Camera with Sam Jones

Photographer and director Sam Jones sits down with the myriad professionals of television and movies, and other celebrities (great skateboarders, for example), to discuss their development before fame, their passions beyond their careers, and gives them a space to open up about their insight into their business and their own abilities. Filmed in black and white, with a few deep cushion chairs and sparse set, the show relies on Sam's ability to relate to the guests and their will to speak freely with him.

Release Date: 2014-02-06

Character: Self

Episode Count: 1

Vote Count: 4

The Vow

Happy young married couple Paige and Leo are, well, happy. Then a car accident puts Paige into a life-threatening coma. Upon awakening she has lost the previous five years of memories, including those of her beloved Leo, her wedding, a confusing relationship with her parents, or the ending of her relationship with her ex-fiance. Despite these complications, Leo endeavors to win her heart again and rebuild their marriage.

Release Date: 2012-02-05

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Vote Count: 4071

County

The lives of a group of young doctors, nurses, and administrators working at an underfunded Los Angeles county hospital.

Release Date: 2012-01-02

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Vote Count: 1

Parenthood

The trials and tribulations of the very large, colorful and imperfect Braverman family.

Release Date: 2010-03-02

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Episode Count: 5

Vote Count: 139

The Wedding Bells

The Wedding Bells is an American television comedy-drama that ran on Fox from March 7 to April 6, 2007. The series was greenlighted after the network became interested in a series centered on wedding planners. The network approached David E. Kelley to create the show, and he essentially remade a rejected pilot he created for ABC in 2004 entitled DeMarco Affairs which starred Selma Blair, Lindsay Sloane and Sabrina Lloyd as three sisters who inherit a wedding planner service. Though the show had a moderately strong premiere, it faded in the ratings and was cancelled after seven episodes had been produced and five episodes were aired.

Release Date: 2007-03-07

Department: Production

Job: Producer

Episode Count: 7

Vote Count: 1

Friday Night Lights

The trials and triumphs of life in the small town of Dillon, Texas, where high school football is everything.

Release Date: 2006-10-03

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Episode Count: 76

Vote Count: 283

Pepper Dennis

Pepper Dennis is a reporter hoping to move into the anchor chair. She may or may not have helped her career ambitions by having a one-night stand with the guy who turns out to be her new boss.

Release Date: 2006-04-04

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Episode Count: 2

Vote Count: 6

Demarco Affairs

Romantic drama which tracks three sisters who run a wedding palace on Long Island that they have inherited from their bitterly divorced parents.

Release Date: 2004-12-31

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Boston Public

Principal Steven Harper runs Winslow High School as best as he can while dealing with the demands of the faculty, the students and their parents.

Release Date: 2000-10-23

Department: Production

Job: Producer

Vote Count: 44

Roswell

Bizarre things start happening in the little New Mexico town where UFOs were spotted in 1947. Cut to 1999, when a cute high-school student saves the life of a teenage waitress. Surrounded by cliques of clever, angst-filled classmates, the two form a bond that threatens the survival of a secret universe involving superhuman powers, a yen for hot sauce and an alien gene pool.

Release Date: 1999-10-06

Department: Production

Job: Producer

Episode Count: 61

Vote Count: 447

Relativity

Relativity follows a twenty-something couple and the lives and loves of their friends and siblings in Los Angeles.

Release Date: 1996-09-24

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Episode Count: 7

Vote Count: 4

The Pallbearer

Aspiring architect Tom Thompson is told by mysterious Ruth Abernathy that his best friend, "Bill," has taken his own life. Except that Tom has never met Bill and neither have his incredulous friends. So when Tom foolishly agrees to give the eulogy at Bill's funeral, it sets him on a collision course with Ruth -- who is revealed to be Bill's oversexed mother -- and Julie DeMarco, the longtime crush Tom hasn't seen since they were teens.

Release Date: 1996-05-03

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Vote Count: 123

My So-Called Life

The life of a 15 year-old high school student, whose angst-ridden journey through adolescence, friendship, parents, and life teaches her what it means to grow up.

Release Date: 1994-08-25

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Episode Count: 3

Vote Count: 140