The prolific TV creator will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Sept. 10. When Greg Daniels wants to be friends with you, he won’t invite you to grab a drink at a local bar. He’ll ask you if you want to write comedy.
It’s been the highlight of my social life.” Early in his career, that meant approaching Larry David and pitching a ton of ideas for “Seinfeld,” one of which became the Season 3 episode “The Parking Space.” “My goal was to just get into that room, and find out how he’s doing ‘Seinfeld,’” Daniels says. He bought a story that happened to my dad in the streets of New York when I was a kid. So I got a chance to go in there and write three drafts of that with him, and hear all of his thoughts.” Daniels, who is getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Sept. 10, also was a huge fan of James L.
Brooks’ work growing up, so when he moved to L.A., a priority became landing a job at “The Simpsons.” The success of that “Seinfeld” episode helped secure him the job — and then get that chance to sit in a room and pitch jokes to the legendary Brooks. After “The Simpsons,” Daniels partnered with Mike Judge — then riding high on the success of “Beavis and Butt-head” — to create “King of the Hill,” and the two set out to do something different in tone from “The Simpsons.” “I respect Mike’s genius,” he says. But we kind of hit it off, and I thought well, maybe for HBO, this would work, and I agreed to adapt it.” The series ended up going to NBC, of course, and in the process, Daniels created an American “Office” that has become a multi-generational hit, as Gen Z fans rediscover the series and binge it on streaming. (It also spawned the spinoff “The Paper”).
It’s that career trajectory and impact on TV storytelling over the course of multiple decades that made Daniels an easy candidate for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It’s an honor, he says, since the attraction still reminds him of his early days as an aspiring writer in Los Angeles. I think I’m on the same block as Bob Newhart and John Belushi, which is kind of cool.” Daniels also takes pride in the recognition because, as he notes, “I’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of shows that have shot in L.A.” That’s notable since most of his shows haven’t actually taken place in the City of Angels, but through Hollywood magic, Van Nuys has doubled for Scranton, Pa., in “The Office,” while Pasadena and environs often doubled for Pawnee, Ind., in “Parks and Recreation.” And now, the Valley, downtown and even the L.A.
Times offices fill in for Toledo, Ohio, in “The Paper.” “To be shooting now, again, on the Universal lot, and be able to work with the same crew that I’ve had before on other shows, it’s really great to have that long history,” Daniels says. His impact on Hollywood also extends to the successful writers and producers that have gone on to big things after learning at the School of Greg Daniels. That is especially true with the list of writers who spent time on “The Office” — including Mike Schur, who co-created “Parks and Rec” with Daniels before moving on to shows like “The Good Place” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” Other prolific “Office” alums include Mindy Kaling, who not only starred on the show but also wrote more scripts than anyone else on that series, and then went on to create “The Mindy Project,” “Never Have I Ever” and more.
He empowered me to find my voice and taught me how to be a showrunner.” Then there’s Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (“Jury Duty”), Justin Spitzer (“Superstore”), Paul Lieberstein (“The Newsroom”), Jennifer Celotta (“Barry”), B.J. Novak (“Vengeance”), Randall Einhorn (“Abbott Elementary”) and others. He sees past all the standard markers of talent, to what’s great inside a person, what an actor can truly offer — and that has lead him to cast people and give them the roles that have made them some of the biggest untraditional stars of today.” For Michael Koman, who co-created the “Office” spinoff “The Paper” with Daniels, he’s learned by example in a wide variety of ways.
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