John Litvack was a producer and television executive. He worked as the head of scheduling and programming for The WB network from 1997-2004, and was an executive at CBS, NBC and Disney TV.
He worked as a consulting producer on the Fox series Fringe, and as a co-executive producer on Smallville and Hill Street Blues; he also penned an episode of the latter. He coached then-inexperienced producers and showrunners J.J. Abrams, Joss Whedon and Greg Berlanti, guiding them through the process of managing their hit shows.
Litvack got his start in television as a cue-card holder for the children's program Captain Kangaroo. Working his way up from there, he held various positions in production, multiple directing jobs for soap operas (The Guiding Light and As the World Turns, among others) and became the director of daytime programming for CBS in 1975.
John Litvack was a producer and television executive. He worked as the head of scheduling and programming for The WB network from 1997-2004, and was an executive at CBS, NBC and Disney TV.
He worked as a consulting producer on the Fox series Fringe, and as a co-executive producer on Smallville and Hill Street Blues; he also penned an episode of the latter. He coached then-inexperienced producers and showrunners J.J. Abrams, Joss Whedon and Greg Berlanti, guiding them through the process of managing their hit shows.
Litvack got his start in television as a cue-card holder for the children's program Captain Kangaroo. Working his way up from there, he held various positions in production, multiple directing jobs for soap operas (The Guiding Light and As the World Turns, among others) and became the director of daytime programming for CBS in 1975.
In 1979 he relocated from New York to Los Angeles, where he became head of current programming at MGM Television. Two years later he was vice president of current drama at NBC, working on Hill Street Blues, The A-Team, Miami Vice, St. Elsewhere and Remington Steele. In 1989 he moved on to Disney TV as senior vice president of current programming.
Litvack died March 21, 2015, in Los Angeles. He was 69.
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