Don Ohlmeyer

Don Ohlmeyer (born Donald Winfred Ohlemeyer, Jr., February 3, 1945, in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American television producer and former president of the NBC network's West Coast division. He grew up in the Chicago area and attended Glenbrook North High School. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1967, with a B.A. in communications. In 2007 he received the Lifetime Achievement in Sports Broadcasting from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and in 2008 was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Currently, he serves as the ombudsman for ESPN.

Career

Ohlmeyer began his career with ABC Sports, where he worked on Wide World of Sports, produced Monday Night Football, created "The Superstars", as well as producing and directing three Olympics broadcasts (including the Munich Olympics). He later moved to NBC as executive producer of the network's sports division, a position he held from 1977 to 1982. Over those five years, he created the popular sports anthology series 'SportsWorld' and served as Executive Producer of NBC coverage of the Super Bowl and the World Series as well as the prime-time series 'Games People Play' and the made-for-television movie 'The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story.' Ohlmeyer became well known for expanding the network's sports coverage and introducing innovative production techniques. He launched 'NFL Updates,' NCAA Basketball 'Whip-arounds,' and instituted NBC's live coverage of 'Breakfast at Wimbledon.' Ohlmeyer is credited with conceiving the one-time experiment of airing a 1980 NFL telecast without announcers.^[1]

Ohlmeyer formed his own production company, Ohlmeyer Communications Company (OCC), in 1982, and produced several made-for-television movies, network series, and specials. He won an Emmy for Special Bulletin, a harrowing 1983 depiction of nuclear terrorism. His company was also responsible for producing CART IndyCar World Series race telecasts, and golf, including PGA TOUR events, "The Skins Game", and Senior PGA TOUR broadcasts. While at OCC, Ohlmeyer also oversaw Nabisco's 20% stake in ESPN.^[2]

Ohlmeyer returned to NBC in 1993 to become president of its West Coast division at a time when the network was in third place in the ratings, following the departure of Cheers and The Cosby Show from its lineup. During his tenure, NBC returned to first place with such hits as Seinfeld, Friends, ER, Homicide, Frasier, Providence, Will & Grace, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. While Ohlmeyer was at NBC the network was the only profitable national network in America. Ohlmeyer also spearheaded NBC's adoption of an aggressive promotional campaign to brand the network using such innovations as superimposing the Peacock logo in the corner of the screen and coining the phrase "Must See TV."^[3]

During the 1997 World Series, Ohlmeyer caused a stir when he publicly wished that the World Series would end in a four game sweep so that its low ratings wouldn't derail NBC's primteime leading Thursday "Must See TV" entertainment schedule.^[4] Ohlmeyer failed to get his wish since the series went the total seven games.

Ohlmeyer retired from NBC in 1999 and was then hired by ABC to revamp Monday Night Football. As executive producer, he made the controversial decision to hire comedian Dennis Miller to join Al Michaels and Dan Fouts in the broadcast booth. He left Monday Night Football after one season.^[5]

He has been honored with 16 Emmys, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, 2 Peabody Awards, Cine Golden Eagle Award, Miami Film Festival Award, National Film Board Award, Glaad Media Award, and 3 Humanitas Prizes. He has also been inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

Currently, Don Ohlmeyer is a Professor of Television Communications at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California and Ombudsman for ESPN.

The Norm Macdonald controversy

In early 1998, Ohlmeyer had Norm Macdonald removed from his role as anchor of Saturday Night Live's popular "Weekend Update" segment, reportedly because he incorrectly thought that Macdonald simply was "not funny."^[6] Some have speculated that Macdonald was demoted because of his frequent jokes about Ohlmeyer's close friend, O.J. Simpson, but Macdonald has been quoted as saying that he "finds that thesis 'weird' and takes Ohlmeyer's explanation at face value."^[7]

Despite the incident, Macdonald reportedly left the show a few months later on relatively good terms with Ohlmeyer, who had, ironically, originally encouraged Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels to give Macdonald the "Weekend Update" slot in 1994.^[8] However, the tension between Macdonald and Ohlmeyer continued when Ohlmeyer banned ads for the actor's first feature film, "Dirty Work" from NBC's schedule.^[9] He reportedly told the New York Daily News, "'I just don't think it would be appropriate for us to turn around and take a check for a movie that's promoting somebody who has badmouthed Saturday Night Live and NBC.'"^[10] The edict was later overruled by Ohlmeyer's East Coast bosses.^[11]

Shortly after Macdonald was taken off of the "Weekend Update" desk, David Letterman, during a taping of his CBS network television program The Late Show, called Don an "idiot" and referred to Ohlmeyer as "Happy Hour Don"^[12] (a reference to Ohlmeyer's problems with alcohol^[13]). After the taping, Letterman decided that his comment was inappropriate and had the reference edited out of the broadcast.^[14] But the comment (which was heard by the entire live studio audience) was publicized shortly thereafter in a report in the New York Post.^{[citation needed]}

During an interview with Macdonald, Letterman derided the common description of Ohlmeyer as a "producer" saying "This is a man who couldn't create gas if he ate a bean dinner."

Credits (partial)

Television series

• 1972-76 Monday Night Football (producer)
• 1980 Games People Play
• 1990 Lifestories (director/executive producer)
• 2000-01 Monday Night Football (executive producer)

Made-for-television movies

• 1980 The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story
• 1983 Special Bulletin (executive producer)
• 1986 Under Siege
• 1987 Right to Die
• 1989 Cold Sassy Tree (executive producer)
• 1991 The Heroes of Desert Storm (executive producer/director)
• 1992 Crazy in Love

Television specials

• 1972 XX Summer Olympic Games (director)
• 1976 XXI Summer Olympic Games (director)
• 1976 XII Winter Olympic Games (director)
• 1977 The 29th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (producer)
• 1977 Us Against the World (also director)
• 1980 XXII Summer Olympic Games (executive producer)
• 1988 Crimes of the Century
• 1988 The 72nd Indianapolis 500 (director)
• 1989 Walt Disney World's 4th of July Spectacular (also director)
• 1990 Disney's Christmas on Ice

References

External links

• The Museum of Broadcast Communications Profile
• Don Ohlmeyer at the Internet Movie Database
• Jen Clay, " 'Don' of a New Era," Pepperdine University Graphic, March 25, 2004.
• "Archive of American Television Interview with Don Ohlmeyer" (8 parts)(Google Video).
• Don Ohlmeyer Receives Lifetime Achievement Award [1]
• Don Ohlmeyer hired as ESPN Ombudsman [2]
• Don Ohlmeyer inducted into Sports Broadcasting HOF [3]
• Don Ohlmeyer's ESPN Biography [4]