Steve Levitan

In his three-hour interview, Steve Levitan describes his early interest in creative writing. He talks of his multiple internships in radio and television, and discusses working in television news for several years. He recalls his switch to advertising, working for the Leo Burnett agency in Chicago, and explains his desire to attempt to write for sitcoms. Levitan then outlines getting his big break and talks of his first job in the business -- writing for Wings. He shares why he left Wings, how he came to work for The Larry Sanders Show, and how he became a writer on Frasier. He speaks of writing several episodes of The Critic, developing Just Shoot Me!, and working on Greg the Bunny, Stark Raving Mad, and Stacked. He then details co-creating Modern Family and starting Picture Day Productions with Christopher Lloyd. Levitan describes selecting the format of the show, chronicles the casting process, and touches on pitching the program to several networks. Karen Herman conducted the interview on June 15, 2012 at Fox studios in Los Angeles, CA.