Sex and the City Man

Background:

Emmy winning director, writer and producer for TV shows who started out as a playwright and standup comic, Michael Patrick King garnered critical acclaim for his work on HBO’s popular comedy series starring Sarah Jessica Parker, "Sex and the City." He has also written for another HBO show, “The Comeback” (2005; starring Lisa Kudrow), which gave him an Emmy nomination, as well as for “Will & Grace,” “Cybill,” and “Murphy Brown.”

More recently, King has co-written and directed the play “At Least It's Pink.” It begins January 16, 2007 at Ars Nova in Manhattan and runs through March 11, 2007.


Pennsylvania Root

Childhood and Family:

Michael Patrick King was born on September 14, 1954 in Scranton, Pennsylvania.


The Comeback

Career:

Starting out as a playwright and standup comic, Michael Patrick King landed his first writing and producing job in 1989for the short-lived comedy series starring Rachel Sweet, "The Sweet Life." The next year, he wrote another comedy show, "My Talk Show," and appeared as the "agent" in writer-director Anne Flournoy's coming-of-age drama/comedy film How to Be Louise, starring Lea Floden.

From 1991 to 1993, King wrote 10 episodes of for CBS sitcom, "Murphy Brown," starring Candice Bergen as the eponymous title role, an investigative journalist and news anchor for FYI newsmagazine. The show helped to launch his name toward the spotlight as it was nominated an Emmy in 1993 for Outstanding Comedy Series.

Afterward, King penned several 1993 episodes of the comedy series "Good Advice," which follows relationship between marriage counselor Susan DeRuzza (played by Shelley Long) and her co-worker, divorce attorney Jack Harold (played by Treat Williams). He also wrote some 1995 episodes of CBS sitcom "Cybill," which centers struggling, middle-aged actress (played by Cybill Shepherd) attempts to make it big in Hollywood. In 1998, he served as the consulting producer and writer (2 episodes; 1999) for NBC's popular Emmy Award-winning sitcom that focused on Will, a gay lawyer, and his best friend Grace, a straight Jewish woman, "Will & Grace."

From 1999 to 2001, King wrote, executive-produced and directed (1999-2004) 10 episodes of HBO’s popular comedy series "Sex and the City." The show, based on the novel of the same name by Candace Bushnell, focused on the lives of four female best friends (played by Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon and Kim Cattrall) and their sex-lives. King, who wrote all the season finales and premieres since the second season, later won two Emmy awards: for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (for episode "The Real Me") in 2002 and Outstanding Comedy Series in 2001.

"Our goal is to create a production company that facilitates projects we're interested in. I'm thinking about the wide range of interests I have in terms of quality -- I love traditional network sitcoms, if they're funny. I love HBO, and I love movies. It's about ideas and getting what we learned how to do on 'Sex and the City' going in the real world and working with actors and writers we love." Michael Patrick King.

Following the demise of "Sex and the City" in 2004, HBO hired King again, this time to write, executive-produce and directed their mockumentary/sitcom "The Comeback," starring Lisa Kudrow as sitcom actress Valerie Cherish, a D-level actress who had it all in modern-day Los Angeles, California. Unlike "Sex and the City," "The Comeback" received low ratings and a mixed critical response. Debuting on June 5, 2005, it was officially cancelled after only being on the air for thirteen weeks. However, King’s work received applause again and was nominated an Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (for episode "Valerie Does Another Classic Leno") in 2006.

More recently, King has co-written (with Bridget Everett and Kenny Mellman) and directed the play “At Least It's Pink,” about New York City life through the eyes of a girl from Manhattan, Kansas, who is never afraid to tell it like it is. It begins January 16, 2007 at Ars Nova in Manhattan and runs through March 11, 2007.


Awards:

- PGA Golden Laurel: Television Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Comedy, "Sex and the City," 2004
- PGA Golden Laurel: Television Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Comedy, "Sex and the City," 2002
- Emmy: Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series, "Sex and the City," episode "The Real Me," 2002
- Emmy: Outstanding Comedy Series, "Sex and the City," 2001
- PGA Golden Laurel: Television Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Comedy, "Sex and the City," 2001