Kevin Murphy (screenwriter)
Encyclopedia
Kevin Murphy is an American
screenwriter
, television producer
, lyricist
and composer
. He wrote the book and lyrics of the musical Reefer Madness
, as well as its television adaptation
. For television, he has worked as a writer and producer for many series, most notably Desperate Housewives
.
. He went on to write for the animated series The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sabrina: The Animated Series
and Phantom Investigators
; the science fiction-themed family programs Weird Science (TV series)
, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show
and So Weird
; the action series Martial Law
; the romantic comedy-dramas Jack & Jill
and Ed
; and the family dramas Get Real
and The O'Keefes
. From its premiere in 2004 to 2007, he worked as head writer and co-executive producer for the hit comedy-drama Desperate Housewives. Desperate Housewives was nominated for an Emmy Award
in 2005, when Murphy was its head writer.
In 2007, Murphy wrote and produced an original TV movie titled Nobody. In the same year, he worked as a writer and co-executive producer for the supernatural-themed comedy-drama Reaper
. He also contributed original songs to Nobody and Reaper. In 2008, Murphy created the short-lived comedy-drama Valentine
. In October 2009, Murphy joined the staff of the Battlestar Galactica
prequel Caprica
. A month later, he became the showrunner for the SyFy
drama, taking over from Jane Espenson
.
Since 2009, Murphy has been working with Tom Welling
to develop the September 2010 series Hellcats
television series for the CW
, based on the book Cheer: Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders by Kate Torgovnick. He was also working on a drama titled Velvet Hammer for USA Network
.
for "Outstanding Lyrics". In 2005, Murphy and Studney adapted their stage musical for television for Showtime. The song "Mary Jane/Mary Lane", which they composed for the television adaptation, won an Emmy Award
for Music and Lyrics.
, Murphy is developing a musical adaptation of the 1988 film Heathers
. Murphy has written the book and lyrics, and the score is by Laurence O'Keefe
, composer of Legally Blonde: The Musical. Three staged readings of the Heathers musical have taken place, with Kristen Bell
in the starring role; , the creators hoped for a regional production in 2010, to be followed by a Broadway
run in 2011.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
, lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. He wrote the book and lyrics of the musical Reefer Madness
Reefer Madness (musical)
Reefer Madness is a musical satire of the 1936 cult classic Reefer Madness that opened in Los Angeles in 1998. The book and lyrics were written by Kevin Murphy and the music by Dan Studney. Directed by Andy Fickman, it was initially shown at the Hudson Theater on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los...
, as well as its television adaptation
Reefer Madness (2005 film)
Reefer Madness premiered on April 16, 2005 on the Showtime cable network. It is a television movie version of the 1998 musical, and stars Alan Cumming as the Lecturer, Ana Gasteyer as Mae, and Kristen Bell as Mary. The movie also stars siblings Christian and Neve Campbell as Jimmy Harper and Miss...
. For television, he has worked as a writer and producer for many series, most notably Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
.
Television
Murphy's television career began as a writer for the family sitcom Big Brother JakeBig Brother Jake
-Summary:Big Brother Jake was a situation comedy that aired from September 2, 1990 to September 1, 1994 on The Family Channel.The show was about Jake Rozzner, a former Hollywood stuntman who returned to his home where he was raised to help out his foster mother, Connie "Ma" Duncan with her foster...
. He went on to write for the animated series The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sabrina: The Animated Series
Sabrina: The Animated Series
Sabrina: The Animated Series is an American animated television series based on the Archie Comics character Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. It was produced by DIC Entertainment, which was owned by Disney at the time...
and Phantom Investigators
Phantom Investigators
Phantom Investigators is a cartoon show that aired on Kids' WB, premiering on May 25, 2002 and ending on June 29, 2002. It was created using a surprising mixture of stop-motion animation , puppetry , and live-action Phantom Investigators is a cartoon show that aired on Kids' WB, premiering on May...
; the science fiction-themed family programs Weird Science (TV series)
Weird Science (TV series)
Weird Science is a mid-1990s American comedy series made for television, based on the 1985 film of the same name.-Plot:The series follows the adventures of Gary Wallace and Wyatt Donnelly , two socially inept high school students in an unspecified town in California...
, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show is an American syndicated science fiction sitcom based on the 1989 film, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. It expands upon the original film's concept of a shrinking experiment gone wrong to include a myriad of experiments gone awry...
and So Weird
So Weird
So Weird is a television series shot in Vancouver, British Columbia that aired on the Disney Channel as a midseason replacement from January 18, 1999 to September 28, 2001. In season one and season two, the series centered around teenage girl Fiona Phillips who toured with her rock star mom ,...
; the action series Martial Law
Martial Law (TV series)
Martial Law was a TV crime drama that ran on CBS from 1998 to 2000, and was created by Carlton Cuse. The title character, Sammo Law, portrayed by Sammo Hung, was a Chinese law officer and martial arts expert who came to Los Angeles in search of a colleague and remains in the US.The show was a...
; the romantic comedy-dramas Jack & Jill
Jack & Jill (TV series)
Jack & Jill is an American television series comedy-drama starring Ivan Sergei, Amanda Peet, Jaime Pressly, Justin Kirk, Simon Rex and Sarah Paulson which ran from September 1999 to April 2001 on the WB Network. It was created and executive produced by Randi Mayem Singer.The show's theme song was...
and Ed
Ed (TV series)
Ed is an NBC television program co-produced by David Letterman's Worldwide Pants Incorporated, NBC Productions, and Viacom Productions that aired from 2000 to 2004....
; and the family dramas Get Real
Get Real (TV series)
Get Real is a short-lived comedy-drama on the FOX Network centering on the fictional Green family of San Francisco. It ran from September 1999 to April 2000...
and The O'Keefes
The O'Keefes
The O'Keefes is an American television sitcom, that aired on The WB Television Network. It premiered on May 22, 2003 and ended on June 12, 2003.-Premise:...
. From its premiere in 2004 to 2007, he worked as head writer and co-executive producer for the hit comedy-drama Desperate Housewives. Desperate Housewives was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
in 2005, when Murphy was its head writer.
In 2007, Murphy wrote and produced an original TV movie titled Nobody. In the same year, he worked as a writer and co-executive producer for the supernatural-themed comedy-drama Reaper
Reaper (TV series)
Reaper is an American television series that focuses on Sam Oliver, a "reaper" who works for the Devil by retrieving souls that have escaped from Hell.The series originally ran on the CW from September 25, 2007 to May 26, 2009....
. He also contributed original songs to Nobody and Reaper. In 2008, Murphy created the short-lived comedy-drama Valentine
Valentine (TV series)
Valentine is a romantic comedy/drama television series created by Kevin Murphy, who also serves as executive producer alongside Courtney Conte. The show is produced by Media Rights Capital. It premiered on October 5, 2008 at 8:00pm on The CW Television Network and Citytv in Canada and after four...
. In October 2009, Murphy joined the staff of the Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
prequel Caprica
Caprica (TV series)
Caprica is a science fiction drama television series. It is a spin-off prequel of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, taking place about 58 years prior to the events of Battlestar Galactica. Caprica shows how humanity first created the robotic Cylons who would later plot to destroy humans in...
. A month later, he became the showrunner for the SyFy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
drama, taking over from Jane Espenson
Jane Espenson
Jane Espenson is an American script writer and television producer who has worked on both situation comedies and serial dramas. She had a five-year stint as a writer and producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and shared a Hugo Award for her writing on the episode "Conversations with Dead People"...
.
Since 2009, Murphy has been working with Tom Welling
Tom Welling
Thomas John Patrick "Tom" Welling is an American actor, director, producer, and former model, best known for his portrayal of Clark Kent in the WB/CW series Smallville....
to develop the September 2010 series Hellcats
Hellcats
Hellcats is an American cheerleading comedy-drama television series that originally aired on The CW in the United States from September 8, 2010 to May 17, 2011...
television series for the CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
, based on the book Cheer: Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders by Kate Torgovnick. He was also working on a drama titled Velvet Hammer for USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
.
Stage
Murphy wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the book for the musical Reefer Madness. It was his third collaboration with writer-composer Dan Studney, but the first to be professionally produced. For the off-Broadway production of Reefer Madness, Murphy was nominated for a Drama Desk AwardDrama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for "Outstanding Lyrics". In 2005, Murphy and Studney adapted their stage musical for television for Showtime. The song "Mary Jane/Mary Lane", which they composed for the television adaptation, won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Music and Lyrics.
, Murphy is developing a musical adaptation of the 1988 film Heathers
Heathers
Heathers is a 1989 black comedy film starring Winona Ryder, Christian Slater and Shannen Doherty. The film portrays four girls in a trend-setting clique at a fictional Ohio high school...
. Murphy has written the book and lyrics, and the score is by Laurence O'Keefe
Laurence O'Keefe (composer)
Laurence O'Keefe , also known as Larry, is a composer and lyricist for Broadway musicals, film and television.O'Keefe is a graduate of Harvard College, where he studied anthropology and wrote humor for the Harvard Lampoon and sang with the Harvard Krokodiloes...
, composer of Legally Blonde: The Musical. Three staged readings of the Heathers musical have taken place, with Kristen Bell
Kristen Bell
Kristen Anne Bell is an American actress. Although her first film role was an uncredited appearance in Polish Wedding, Bell previously acted in stage and musical productions. In 2001, she made her Broadway debut as Becky Thatcher in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer...
in the starring role; , the creators hoped for a regional production in 2010, to be followed by a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
run in 2011.