Jason Katims
Jason Katims
Jason Katimsis an American television writer, producer, and playwright. He is best known for being the head writer and executive producer of both Friday Night Lights, on which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series in 2011 for his work on the series finale, and Parenthood. He has also worked on Relativity, which he created and wrote for; Roswell, which he developed, produced and wrote for; Boston Public, which he co-wrote; Pepper Dennis; About...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth30 November 1960
CountryUnited States of America
The frustrating thing about 'Friday Night Lights' is I know a lot more people would respond to the show if they saw it.
As much as I thought the end of 'Friday Night Lights' was a really great ending, I was one of those people who wanted to make it into a movie. Even though it ultimately didn't work to do that movie, I did work with some of the other writers and by myself writing a script for that.
One of the things you realize when you have a health crisis in your immediate family is that life does not stop so that you can go through that experience.
I came to NBC on 'Friday Night Lights' and they have supported that show and found ways - unprecedented ways - to keep it on the air for a long time. And when I came to them with the idea of doing 'Parenthood,' they not only supported me in doing it but also got behind it in such a way that we were able to put together this incredible cast.
What's great is that I keep hearing from people who are discovering 'Friday Night Lights' because of streaming and Netflix and Hulu and all of these things. Somehow... things don't get old as fast as they used to. They stay vibrant.
There's something about the alchemy of the show - the actors, the writers, the directors, the editors - that makes 'Parenthood' unique. You get so deeply embedded with these characters because you go through life with them, and that's our priority.
A lot of times as writers, you want to come up with the best possible story, and you bend it according to what you want to happen. I think one of the things that I always try to think about is what would really happen in a situation, what feels real.
Any show I'm working on, I want the stories to always be about something, and to have the potential to be emotional. That's the kind of story that I like.
How do you do something where you're able to be specific and edgy enough to compete with what the cable networks are doing and, at the same time, appeal to a broader audience? That's the line that everyone in network television is trying to tread.
Honestly, I don't know enough about what's a good timeslot and what isn't. Either you have a timeslot where nobody is really tuning in, which isn't good, or you're in a good hour, and then you've got a lot of competition.
The frustrating thing about Friday Night Lights is I know a lot more people would respond to the show if they saw it.
I did a lot of freelance desk publishing jobs when I graduated from college. I sort of earned a living doing that while I was writing plays, which was what I wanted to do. My hope was to become a playwright.
Parenthood has been the beneficiary of wonderful performances by child actors.
To me, when you have people trying to put their best foot forward but facing conflict, that's when stories are the most interesting.