Dan Fogelman
The Master At Making America Cry (In A Good Way)
American Jews have always been great at getting laughs. They’re less well known for drawing tears. As the creator of NBC’s “This Is Us,” Dan Fogelman has been doing precisely that — and has created this year’s highest-rated new show in the process.
Fogelman, 38, first made his mark by co-scripting the Pixar film “Cars.” He later penned the live-action comedies “Crazy, Stupid, Love” and “Last Vegas,” as well as the animated hit “Tangled,” and was the creator of numerous critically praised but short-lived TV shows like “The Neighbors” and “Galavant.”
“This Is Us” is a proud tearjerker centered on two generations of an American family. The New York Times’ James Poniewozik wrote, “Watching ‘This Is Us’ is like getting beaten up with a pillow soaked in tears.”
Audiences have evidently enjoyed the experience. “This Is Us” was deemed an “undisputed breakout hit” by Variety. And the show racked up 10 Emmy nominations, winning in two acting categories.
Fogelman will be returning to the big screen in 2018 with “Life Itself,” directing from his own script. Based on the title, America’s tear ducts may be in for another workout.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
