Jamie Tarses Biography

Sara James Tarses (March 19, 1964 - February 1, 2021) was an American television producer and television studio executive. Tarses was the president of ABC Entertainment from 1996 to 1999, the first woman and one of the youngest people to hold such a post in an American broadcast network.

Early life

Tarses was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of television writer Jay Tarses and Rachel Tarses (ne Newdell), on March 19, 1964. Her younger sister, Mallory Tarses, is a fiction writer and high school English teacher, and a younger brother, Matt Tarses, a producer and screenwriter (The Goldbergs, Scrubs, Sports Night).

Tarses graduated from Williams College in 1985 with a degree in theater.

Career

Casting and production

After graduating from college, Tarses became an assistant to the talent executive on the 1985-1986 season of Saturday Night Live. She then worked as a casting director for Lorimar Productions.

Network executive

In September 1987, Tarses was hired by NBC Productions' Brandon Tartikoff as Manager, Creative Affairs. Tarses steadily worked in various advancing executive positions at NBC until 1996. At NBC, Tarses helped develop Friends, Mad About You, Frasier, NewsRadio, and Caroline in the City. In 1991, Tarses passed on her father's pilot about jazz musicians called Baltimore.

She left NBC in 1996 amidst a significant amount of press coverage. From 1996 to 1999, Tarses was President of ABC Entertainment. She resigned in August 1999 with two years remaining on her contract.

Tarses was the subject of an "unflattering profile" written by Lynn Hirschberg in The New York Times Magazine in July 1997 in which Tarses "was portrayed as an embattled executive whose competence and professionalism was being questioned in Hollywood show business circles."

Amanda Peet, who played Jordan McDeere, the head of fictional network NBS on NBC show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, has said that her character was "loosely based" on Tarses.

Tarses was a consultant for Studio 60. When she was senior vice president of primetime series for NBC, she had a major role in developing Friends Dharma and Greg, and Frasier.

Producing

In 2005, Tarses went into partnership on a production company called Pariah Productions with producer Gavin Polone. Later, Tarses had a production company called FanFare Productions at Sony Pictures Television.

Tarses was co-producer of My Boys, a comedy television show about a female sports reporter starring Jordana Spiro, on TBS cable television network from November 28, 2006 until September 14, 2010. In 2010, Tarses executive produced several television series including Mr. Sunshine, Happy Endings, and Franklin & Bash.

Personal life

Tarses married DreamWorks SKG television executive Dan McDermott in 1993. They divorced in 1996. Tarses also dated David Letterman's Late Show with David Letterman producer Robert Morton. She had two children, Wyatt and Sloane, with her partner Paddy Aubrey, an executive chef and restaurant owner.

She served on the board of directors and the advisory board of directors for Young Storytellers, an arts education nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles. She was a volunteer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Tarses suffered a stroke in the fall of 2020 and died in Los Angeles on February 1, 2021, at age 56.

Filmography

TV series

• 1985-1986: Saturday Night Live - Production staff (18 episodes)
• 1987-1988: Perfect Strangers - Casting Director (12 episodes)
• 2006-2007: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - Consultant (13 episodes)
• 2006-2010: My Boys - Executive Producer (37 episodes)
• 2009-2011: Hawthorne - Executive Producer (24 episodes)
• 2011: Mad Love - Executive Producer (13 episodes)
• 2011: Mr. Sunshine - Executive Producer (6 episodes)
• 2011-2013: Happy Endings - Executive Producer (57 episodes)
• 2011-2014: Franklin & Bash - Executive Producer (30 episodes)
• 2012: Made in Jersey - Executive Producer (6 episodes)
• 2012-2014: Men at Work - Executive Producer (31 episodes)
• 2013: Bastards - Executive Producer
• 2014: Really - Executive Producer (1 episode)
• 2014-2015: Marry Me - Executive Producer (17 episodes)
• 2014: Cuz-Bros - Executive Producer
• 2015: Your Family or Mine - Executive Producer
• 2017: The Mayor - Executive Producer

TV movies

• 2001: Tikiville - Executive Producer
• 2003: Crazy Love - Executive Producer
• 2004: Nevermind Nirvana - Executive Producer
• 2006: The Angriest Man in Suburbia - Executive Producer
• 2006: More, Patience - Executive Producer
• 2007: Primeval - Executive Producer
• 2007: Backyards & Bullets - Executive Producer
• 2008: Held Up - Executive Producer
• 2009: Eva Adams - Executive Producer
• 2010: Held Up - Executive Producer
• 2012: Happy Valley - Executive Producer
• 2014: Duty - Executive Producer