Greg Daniels, the MVP of TV Comedy
Greg Daniels and Conan O’Brien went out to Hollywood together to break into showbiz. O’Brien became the more famous of the two, but Daniels — who has two new streaming series debuting this month, the military comedy Space Force (Netflix, May 29th) and the sci-fi afterlife tale
Upload (Amazon, May 1st) — has arguably had just as big an impact on TV comedy. Like O’Brien, Daniels joined The Simpsons for its golden era, penning several of the best episodes of the fifth and sixth seasons, including the poignant “Bart Sells His Soul” and “Lisa’s Wedding,” the media takedown “Homer Badman,” and “Homer and Apu,” which gave the world “Who Needs the Kwik
E-Mart?” He then teamed up with Beavis & Butt-Head creator Mike Judge to craft King of the Hill, the long-running gentle and wise animated comedy about uptight Texas propane salesman Hank Hill, big-footed wife Peggy, and eccentric son Bobby. For 13 years, it felt like a mashup of the best parts of The Simpsons and The Andy Griffith Show. Daniels then achieved the impossible in turning acclaimed, blackly comic Britcom The Office into an American success, figuring out that what separated Steve Carell’s Michael Scott from
Ricky Gervais’ David Brent was a desperate need for love rather than fame. And when asked to cash in with an Office spinoff, Daniels and Mike Schur instead wrote something much warmer and wilder with Parks and Recreation. As we followed Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope from overlooked civil servant to national political powerhouse, it became the defining comedy of the Obama era, and yet another example of how well Daniels balances satire with something sweeter — a perfect recipe for the type of humor we need right now. A.S.