Michael J. Weithorn Biography

Fast Facts

• Won a Writers Guild of America Award in 1984 for his work on an episode of "Cheers․"
• Graduated from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania in 1978 with a political science degree
• Worked as a high school teacher before getting his first opportunity to write for television as a story editor for "Making the Grade․"
• Quote: "Sitcoms are so slavishly the same in their rhythms and the jokes they do․ Networks turn everything into the same hamburger, and 90 percent or more [shows] fail․ Why not innovate?"
• Best known as the creator and executive producer of "The King of Queens" and as a writer and supervising producer for "Family Ties․"