Paramount Signs John Markus To Develop Comedy Series

Posted on February 4, 1999

Emmy Award-winning writer/producer John Markus has been signed to create, develop and produce a comedy series for the Network Television Division of the Paramount Television Group, it was announced by Tom Mazza, executive vice president of creative affairs for the Division.

In making the announcement, Mazza commented, "John is one of the best writers and show runners in the business and we are thrilled he has chosen Paramount as his production partner. We have a wonderful partnership with John on Lateline and look forward to many years of success."

Markus co-created and serves as an executive producer on Paramount's comedy series Lateline for NBC. Lateline, a satire of broadcast news and politics, originally debuted on March 17, 1998 and will return to NBC's Tuesday schedule on March 16, 1999.

Most recently, Markus served as a consulting producer on the acclaimed HBO series The Larry Sanders Show, where he received an Emmy Award nomination for co-writing the "Ellen: Is She or Isn't She" episode. Prior, Markus was the co-executive producer of the hit CBS comedy series The Cosby Show. Part of the original writing staff, Markus was named supervising producer after six episodes and was promoted to co-executive producer in the second season. During his tenure, he wrote or co-wrote 67 episodes, earning an Emmy Award and two Humanitas prizes. Additionally, Markus co-created A Different World (1987-93) while at The Cosby Show. Markus began his career in Paramount's apprentice writing program and his first writing assignment was for Paramount's Taxi.