Harry Friedman (born November 12, 1946) is an American television industry executive. He was the executive producer of the syndicated Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune from 1999 to 2020. Initially he shared the title of executive producer with the shows' creator, Merv Griffin, but from Griffin's 2000 retirement until his own 2020 retirement, he served as their sole executive producer.
Friedman has produced a combined total of more than 5,500 episodes of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. Friedman introduced a number of new gameplay elements, theme weeks, and technological advances to both programs, and in 2006 he led both shows to make television history by becoming the first syndicated television series to broadcast in high definition.
In September 2021, it was reported Friedman will be executive producer for a proposed NBC revival of the game show Tic Tac Dough with Tom Bergeron as host. The show, however, was not picked up.
On April 28, 2022, it was confirmed Friedman will be the executive producer for the second season of another NBC game show revival, College Bowl, which ran until October 28, 2022.
In 1971, Friedman moved to Los Angeles, and without contacts he gave himself six months to find a job in the business. With less than 24 hours remaining on his self-imposed deadline, Friedman became a part-time question writer on the TV game show The Hollywood Squares, and continued with that show for eleven years, writing and producing thousands of episodes for three different versions of the show. He was also involved in the development of such other programs as Gambit and High Rollers.
Friedman was responsible for many of Wheel's digital extensions, including the launch of the show's official website, and the development of based on the show for Sony's PlayStation consoles and Nintendo's Wii. He also conceived adaptations of the show for the iPhone, the iPad, and other electronic devices.
A major technological advancement initiated by Friedman was the introduction of a new, highly sophisticated set in 2003. This set incorporates an LED and glass light extension, as well as a modernized puzzle board first introduced in 1997 with LCD screens that can be touched by the hostess (Vanna White throughout Friedman's tenure) to make letters appear.
The show's "Wheel Watchers Club", the first-ever, long-term, online viewer loyalty program in television history (now totaling over 5.7 million members), and its extension, the "SPIN I.D." program, were both developed by Friedman. Additionally, he conceptualized the "Wheelmobile," a mobile touring vehicle used by the show to conduct contestant search events across the United States.
For the show's 20th season in 2003, Friedman lifted not only Jeopardy!'s cap on the returning champions' total winnings, but also the long-standing five-day limit on the number of episodes on which they could appear. His implementation of this rule change allowed champions to continue making an indefinite number of appearances on the program and amassing winnings as long as they remained victorious, leading the way for Ken Jennings, at the time a software engineer from Salt Lake City, Utah, to win on 74 consecutive Jeopardy! programs (losing on his 75th) and amass a record total of $2,520,700, breaking almost every game show record in the history of American television. The quiz show's viewership increased by 30 percent during the streak, and it often out-performed even prime-time programs to become one of the most talked-about shows in the United States. In 2005, in response to Jennings' tremendous success on the show, Friedman also produced the Ultimate Tournament of Champions, in which 145 former champions played for a top prize of $2,000,000; Jennings, seeded as the only automatic finalist, pocketed $500,000 when he came in second to Brad Rutter, who won the top prize, with Jerome Vered placing third and collecting $250,000.
Friedman continued to add new Jeopardy! formats, such as the 2009-2010 Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational, in which 27 players from past Celebrity Jeopardy! matches returned to compete, with Michael McKean winning one million dollars for his charity; and, in 2011, both the inaugural Teachers' Tournament and the IBM Challenge, in which IBM's computer system Watson defeated both Jennings and Rutter.
In the late 1990s, Friedman participated with Scott Sternberg in the conception of two spin-offs of Jeopardy!: a music-intensive version called Rock & Roll Jeopardy! which aired on the VH1 network from 1998 to 2001, and a kids' version called Jep! which aired on the Game Show Network for one season from 1998 to 1999.
Friedman's explanation of the reasoning behind the team's creation was as follows:
The Clue Crew from 2019 to 2022 consisted of Sarah Whitcomb Foss and Jimmy McGuire, both original members of the team. In the past, they also included Kelly Miyahara (from 2005 to 2019), Sofia Lidskog (from 2001 to 2004), Cheryl Farrell (from 2001 to 2008), and Jon Cannon (from 2005 to 2009). When shows are filmed, Foss serves as the show's in-studio announcer for early sessions, while McGuire is the host of practice games.
The Clue Crew was disbanded at the end of the show's 38th season after Foss and McGuire became, respectively, a producer and a stage manager for the show.
Friedman is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Friedman has won fourteen Emmy Awards, the most won by a game show producer. In January 2007, the National Association of Television Program Executives honored him with its prestigious "Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award", and, in October of that same year, Broadcasting & Cable inducted him into its Hall of Fame.
On September 29, 2022, Friedman was inducted into the inaugural class of the Jeopardy! Hall of Fame at the 1st Jeopardy! Honors event.
(Co-Executive Producer with [[Merv Griffin]], September 6, 1999-June 2, 2000)
(Solo Executive Producer, September 4, 2000-May 1, 2020)
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