Warren Littlefield

Executive


The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

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About
About this interview

In his two-hour-and-forty-five-minute interview, Warren Littlefield discusses his early life and his big break working for Warner Bros. Television. He recalls his early days at NBC working under the legendary Brandon Tartikoff, and their attempts to get NBC out of third place with "sophisticated adult" programming like Cheers. He discusses the break-through on Thursday nights with The Cosby Show, which would anchor what became one of the most famous line-ups in television history: The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Cheers, Night Court, and L.A. Law. He also shares the inception of the mega-hit, The Golden Girls, on Saturday nights. Littlefield recounts his efforts to maintain the powerhouse line-up while dealing with cast departures from Cheers and Brandon Tartikoff's exit from NBC. He talks about being named president of NBC Entertainment and rebuilding NBC's Thursday night with Friends, Seinfeld, Frasier, and ER. He speaks of the challenge of Johnny Carson announcing his retirement from The Tonight Show and his desperate efforts to keep both Jay Leno and David Letterman at the network. Finally, he discusses leaving NBC, his later efforts as a producer, and what he sees as the future of television. Dan Harrison conducted the interview on December 12, 2011 in Burbank, CA.

All views expressed by interviewees are theirs alone and not necessarily those of the Television Academy.

"'The Cosby Show' changed the face of NBC. 'Cosby' leading off the night, 'Family Ties,' 'Cheers,' 'Night Court' behind it, with 'L.A. Law' at ten o'clock. Thursday night became a night of bests for NBC - the finest comedy and drama that we had as a network. Thursday became the destination for the best television had to offer."  

People Talking About ...
Highlights
Warren Littlefield on replacing Shelley Long as "Diane" with Kirstie Alley as "Rebecca" on Cheers
02:16
Warren Littlefield on the creation of The Golden Girls
02:53
Warren Littlefield on replacing Nicholas Colasanto ("Coach" on Cheers) with Woody Harrelson 
02:05
Warren Littlefield on General Electric acquiring NBC in 1986
05:19
Warren Littlefield on "Must-See-TV"
02:36
Full Interview

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Chapter 1

On his  early life and influences; on working for Warner Brothers Television; on how he came to work for NBC
On becoming a Vice President at NBC; on Hill Street Blues and The Cosby Show
On Family Ties and Cheers
On dealing with cast departures from Cheers; on the legacy of Cheers and The Cosby Show

Chapter 2

On The Cosby Show; on A Different Word; on The Golden Girls
On the appeal of The Golden Girls; on General Electric acquiring NBC in 1986; on Bob Wright
On NBC's transition from the Tartikoff era to the Littlefield era; on Frasier
On The Tonight Show' s transition from host Johnny Carson to Jay Leno; on the development of Seinfeld

Chapter 3

On the development of Seinfeld and Frasier; on "Must-See-TV"
On the development of Mad About You, Friends, and ER
On Law & Order; on leaving NBC and his legacy there; on then-current projects and advice to network programmers
Shows

Barney Miller

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Warren Littlefield on Hill Street Blues starting out as "an hour-long Barney Miller"
01:40

Cheers

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Warren Littlefield on the state of NBC when he started at the network
05:48
Warren Littlefield on Cheers becoming a hit series
02:34
Warren Littlefield on the development of Cheers
08:00
Warren Littlefield on replacing Nicholas Colasanto ("Coach" on Cheers) with Woody Harrelson 
02:05
Warren Littlefield on replacing Shelley Long as "Diane" with Kirstie Alley as "Rebecca" on Cheers
02:16
Warren Littlefield on the legacy of Cheers
03:06
Warren Littlefield on NBC's transition from the Tartikoff era to the Littlefield era, which coincided with the end of Cheers and the beginning of Seinfeld
03:09

Cosby Show, The

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Warren Littlefield on The Cosby Show
05:47
Warren Littlefield on The Cosby Show anchoring NBC's Thursday night line-up
02:26
Warren Littlefield on the legacy of The Cosby Show
02:33
Warren Littlefield on The Cosby Show's collaborative team
02:19
Warren Littlefield on NBC's relationship with Bill Cosby
01:42
Warren Littlefield on ending The Cosby Show
01:13

Different World, A

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Warren Littlefield on the The Cosby Show spin-off A Different World
01:53

ER

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Warren Littlefield on the development of ER
08:23

Family Ties

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Warren Littlefield on Family Ties
05:47

Frasier

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Warren Littlefield on the development and success of Frasier
05:43
Warren Littlefield on moving Frasier to Tuesday night
03:41

Friends

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Warren Littlefield on the development of Friends
05:39

Golden Girls, The

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Warren Littlefield on the creation of The Golden Girls
06:52
Warren Littlefield on the appeal of The Golden Girls
04:05

Hill Street Blues

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Warren Littlefield on the state of NBC when he started at the network
05:48
Warren Littlefield on Hill Street Blues starting out as "an hour-long Barney Miller"
01:40

Homicide: Life on the Street

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Warren Littlefield on becoming President of NBC Entertainment and his approach to dramas
03:32

Law & Order

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Warren Littlefield on the development of Law & Order
02:58

Mad About You

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Warren Littlefield on the development of Mad About You
02:34

Seinfeld

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Warren Littlefield on NBC's transition from the Tartikoff era to the Littlefield era, which coincided with the end of Cheers and the beginning of Seinfeld
03:09
Warren Littlefield on the development of Seinfeld
01:48
Warren Littlefield on the development of Seinfeld 
06:48
Warren Littlefield on the nurturing of Seinfeld
02:10
Warren Littlefield on keeping Seinfeld on the air
00:55

Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The

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Warren Littlefield on The Tonight Show's transition from host Johnny Carson to Jay Leno
07:23

Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The

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Warren Littlefield on The Tonight Show's transition from host Johnny Carson to Jay Leno
07:09

Will & Grace

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Warren Littlefield on the development of Will & Grace
02:54
Topics

Characters & Catchphrases

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Warren Littlefield on replacing Nicholas Colasanto as "Coach" with Woody Harrelson on Cheers
02:05
Warren Littlefield on replacing Shelly Long as "Diane" with Kirstie Alley as "Rebecca" on Cheers
02:16

Media Consolidation

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Warren Littlefield on General Electric acquiring NBC in 1986
05:19

Pop Culture

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Warren Littlefield on replacing Nicholas Colasanto as "Coach" with Woody Harrelson on Cheers
02:05
Warren Littlefield on replacing Shelly Long as "Diane" with Kirstie Alley as "Rebecca" on Cheers
02:16

Television Industry

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Warren Littlefield on General Electric acquiring NBC in 1986
05:19
Professions

Executives

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Warren Littlefield on becoming President of NBC Entertainment
06:41
Warren Littlefield on advice to network programmers 
01:30

Television Executive

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Warren Littlefield on becoming President of NBC Entertainment
06:41
Warren Littlefield on advice to network programmers
01:30
Genres

Comedy Series

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Warren Littlefield on Cheers
17:22
Warren Littlefield on Family Ties
05:47
Warren Littlefield on The Cosby Show
05:47
Warren Littlefield on The Cosby Show
07:07
Warren Littlefield on the development and success of Frasier
05:43
Warren Littlefield on Seinfeld 
09:52
Warren Littlefield on Friends
05:59

Drama Series

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Warren Littlefield on ER
08:23
People

Kirstie Alley

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Warren Littlefield on replacing Shelley Long as "Diane" with Kirstie Alley as "Rebecca" on Cheers
02:16

David Angell

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Warren Littlefield on the development and success of Frasier
05:43

James Burrows

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Warren Littlefield on the development of Cheers
08:00

Marcy Carsey

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Warren Littlefield on The Cosby Show's collaborative team
02:19

Johnny Carson

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Warren Littlefield on The Tonight Show's transition from Johnny Carson to Jay Leno
07:09

Peter Casey

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Warren Littlefield on the development and success of Frasier
05:43

Glen Charles

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Warren Littlefield on the development of Cheers
08:00

Les Charles

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Warren Littlefield on the development of Cheers
08:00

Nicholas Colasanto

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Warren Littlefield on replacing Nicholas Colasanto as "Coach" with Woody Harrelson on Cheers
02:05

Bill Cosby

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Warren Littlefield on The Cosby Show
05:47
Warren Littlefield on The Cosby Show's collaborative team
02:20
Warren Littlefield on NBC's relationship with Bill Cosby
01:41

Michael Crichton

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Warren Littlefield on developing ER
08:23

Larry David

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Warren Littlefield on the development of Seinfeld
06:47

Selma Diamond

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Warren Littlefield on the creation of The Golden Girls
02:53

Michael J. Fox

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Warren Littlefield on Family Ties
05:47

Gary David Goldberg

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Warren Littlefield on Family Ties
05:47

Helen Hunt

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Warren Littlefield on Mad About You
02:34

David Lee

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Warren Littlefield on the development and success of Frasier
05:43

Jay Leno

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Warren Littlefield on The Tonight Show's transition from Johnny Carson to Jay Leno
07:09

David Letterman

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Warren Littlefield on The Tonight Show's transition from Johnny Carson to Jay Leno
07:09

Shelley Long

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Warren Littlefield on replacing Shelley Long as "Diane" with Kirstie Alley as "Rebecca" on Cheers
02:16

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

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Warren Littlefield on the development of Seinfeld
06:47

Don Ohlmeyer

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Warren Littlefield on Don Ohlmeyer
03:00

Paul Reiser

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Warren Littlefield on Mad About You
02:34

Doris Roberts

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Warren Littlefield on the creation of The Golden Girls
02:53

Jerry Seinfeld

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Warren Littlefield on the development of Seinfeld
06:47

Fred Silverman

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Warren Littlefield on how he first came to work for NBC
02:09

Brandon Tartikoff

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Warren Littlefield on how he first came to work for NBC
02:09
Warren Littlefield on Hill Street Blues starting out as "an hour long Barney Miller"
01:40
Warren Littlefield on The Cosby Show
05:47
Warren Littlefield on Cheers becoming a hit series
02:34
Warren Littlefield on Grant Tinker's exit from NBC and Bob Wright's philosophy for NBC
04:33
Warren Littlefield on his professional relationship with Brandon Tartikoff
02:44

Grant Tinker

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Warren Littlefield on Cheers becoming a hit series
02:34
Warren Littlefield on Grant Tinker's exit from NBC and Bob Wright's philosophy for NBC
04:33

John Wells

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Warren Littlefield on developing ER
08:23

Tom Werner

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Warren Littlefield on The Cosby Show's collaborative team
02:19

Bob Wright

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Warren Littlefield on General Electric acquiring NBC in 1986
05:19
Warren Littlefield on Grant Tinker's exit from NBC and Bob Wright's philosophy for NBC
04:33

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