Jay Daniel, peacemaker producer of Moonlighting and Roseanne, dies at 82

Jay Daniel, the two-time Emmy-nominated producer who kept the chaos under control on the popular but difficult-to-produce ABC series Overtime and RoseanneHe died. He was 82 years old.

Daniel died on Wednesday at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center due to pneumonia-related illness, his wife, artist Vicki Daniel, said. Hollywood Reporter.

Daniel also participated with Overtime Creator Glenn Gordon Caron is on Clean and soberA film produced by Warner Bros. In 1988, it starred Michael Keaton, in his first dramatic role, playing a real estate agent suffering from cocaine and alcohol addiction.

In addition, he was lured Overtime Star Cybill Shepherd returned to television by developing her own sitcom on CBS from 1995-1998. Sybilcreated by Chuck Lorre.

Daniel has been with Caron from the beginning Overtimewhich stars Shepard as Maddie Hayes, the owner of the struggling Blue Moon Detective Agency, and Bruce Willis as David Addison, the cheerful private eye who goes to work for her.

20th Century Fox’s mid-season replacement, which ran five seasons from 1985 to 1989, became notorious for missing deadlines, with the perfectionist Caron often waiting until the last minute to write, film, and/or edit the lighthearted hour-long program. Further complications occurred when Shepard became pregnant and when she feuded with Willis.

Daniel was given the difficult task of keeping the train running on time, and he told him so New York Times In 1986 “We are about to be as close as we can possibly be to being alive without being alive.”

“I think a lot of success Overtime“When you look back on it, it came out of spontaneity,” he noted in a 2005 interview. “At that time it was chaos, you know, the script wasn’t ready, and Glenn had to go write something now or we’d have to shut it down.

“His back was against the wall, and he’d go into the room and write this thing and you’d look at it and say, ‘Okay, let’s shoot it,’ and then it would be done. It was written the day before, sometimes the next morning, and it would be done by the end of the day. And you know what? It was very good. Sometimes it was great.”

Daniel stayed on as showrunner for the show’s final season after Caron was fired, then joined him Roseanne For her third year. On the sitcom, star Roseanne Barr often walked off the set after arguing with the writers.

“They thought of me because I somehow kept it Overtime “It goes on despite all the turmoil, especially the problems between Bruce and Sybil,” he said. “It was known that somehow Overtime Keep it going when it could have exploded at any second. So the network brought me in Roseanne To calm the waters and try to deal with her fears.

“It was more about the actress than the strong female character she was playing. It was about me walking into the lion’s den with a whip and a chair and dealing with an actor who can be very volatile, although I have to say she never raised her voice to me, not once. She did in front of a lot of other people, but for some reason, she never raised her voice to me. And I ended up doing that show for the better part of five seasons.”

On X, Caron wrote Thursday that there could have been a “no.” Overtime Without Jay Daniel. Maybe not Roseanne. Absolutely not Sybil. Absolutely not Clean and sober. “He was simply the best.”

One of two sons, Jay Mills Daniel was born in Cushing, Oklahoma, on June 1, 1943. He graduated from Oklahoma State University and attended graduate school at UCLA as a theater arts major, wanting to become an actor. He got an agent and appeared as a snack bar host Objectives (1968), Peter Bogdanovich’s directorial debut.

He decided his future was on the other side of the camera and joined the DGA intern program, which led to a job as an assistant director at ABC. The Brady Bunch.

From 1973 to 1976, he worked as a unit production manager and associate producer for NBC Police story Before producing the NBC crime series from 1979-80 IshshidStarring Joe Don Baker.

In 1984, Daniel received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children’s Informational/Educational Special Program for his production. CBS Break School Special An episode about a man on death row who advises children not to make the same mistakes he did.

He and Caron worked together for the first time that year Concrete wina pilot for an ABC series starring John Getz as a newspaper columnist, but was not picked up.

On June 1, 1984, I got a phone call from Glenn saying, “You know, they want me to do this boy/girl detective work, and they’re giving me a chance to do it. Would you like to do that?” Daniel recalls. “I said, ‘Sure,’ and that turned out to be the case Overtime. June 1st is my birthday – the best gift I’ve ever received.

“It took Glenn two months to write the script, and we had a very long time to direct it. I’m sure you know all those stories. We cast Cybill early on, in July of that year, and didn’t start shooting until October. They picked us up right after we delivered the pilot. It became part of Glenn’s company [Picturemaker Productions]and Overtime “It became my life.”

Daniel, Caron and others shared nominations for Outstanding Drama Series Overtime In 1986 and 1987 (they lost to Cagney and Lacey And then Los Angeles Law), and directed four episodes of the series.

He worked on Clean and soberCaron’s directorial debut, takes place between seasons three and four Overtime.

After his career ended Roseanne In 1994, Daniel said he “was able to persuade [Shepherd] To return to television, even after what she went through Overtime“, and spent three seasons as executive producer on the sitcom about a 40-year-old woman with two ex-husbands and a teenage daughter.

Daniel was also a producer at ABC The naked truth In 1997, the World Bank Maybe that’s me In 2001-2002 and ABC Hot properties In 2005.

In addition to his wife of 46 years, who was a dancer when they met on set and remained together for 50 years, survivors include his niece, Lori.