Biography
David Jablin is a pioneer in original Pay-TV programming. In 1983-84, he created and produced "Likely Stories," a groundbreaking series of one-hour comedy anthologies. The series marked the directorial debuts of notable figures such as Rob Reiner, Danny DeVito, Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer.
Variety praised the series, stating it "ranks with the best of Saturday Night Live (1975) and SCTV (1976)." The Chicago Sun-Times called the shows "truly hilarious... absolutely brilliant."
Jablin went on to produce Showtime's first original film, The Ratings Game (1984), starring Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman. The critically acclaimed film marked DeVito's feature-length directing debut and earned a WGA Award for Best Original TV Comedy Movie, as well as an International TV Movie Festival Award for Best Comedy.
Exclusively signed with Showtime, Jablin produced and directed several distinctive comedy films and specials that garnered critical acclaim and high ratings. These include:
Public Enemy #2 (1991) — nominated for four Cable ACE Awards, including Best Director for Jablin. Starring Dave Thomas in a dual lead role, the film won a Golden Eagle Award and was selected by Time Magazine as one of the 10 Best TV shows of the year, the only cable production on the list.
For Showtime, Jablin also produced the star-studded TV adaptation of Larry Gelbart's Broadway satire, Mastergate (1992), featuring James Coburn, Buck Henry, Bruno Kirby, David Ogden Stiers, Ed Begley Jr., Dennis Weaver, and Burgess Meredith. Mastergate was nominated for a Cable ACE Award, a Casting Society of America Award, and named Best Television Movie of 1993 by Entertainment Weekly.
Jablin then executive produced and directed the timely satire That Time of The Month, a sharp parody of network news magazine shows, hailed by The Los Angeles Times as a "TV comedy classic." The cast included Shelley Long, Martin Mull, Robert Hays, Dan Hedaya, Nora Dunn, Julia Duffy, Robert Pastorelli, and Paul Bartel. The production received three CableACE nominations, including Best Director for Jablin.
Following these satirical successes, Showtime signed Jablin to executive produce a series of original National Lampoon movies for the network.
The first, National Lampoon's Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 Women (1994), achieved the network's highest ratings for a made-for-TV film at that time. Starring Julie Brown in a musical parody of Tonya Harding and Lorena Bobbitt, Attack received two Cable ACE Award nominations.
Next came National Lampoon's Favorite Deadly Sins (1995), a comic trilogy inspired by Lust, Greed, and Anger. "Lust" starred Denis Leary, "Greed" featured Joe Mantegna, and "Anger" starred Andrew Dice Clay. The production earned two Cable ACE nominations and won for Best Director.
The New York Times singled out the "Greed" episode as "a wicked up-to-the-minute satire," while Newsweek praised its "unbridled savagery" reminiscent of Network (1976). TV Guide highlighted its debut in its "close-up" box, calling it "a hilarious farce."
Jablin also produced and directed the irreverent mob comedy The Don's Analyst (1997), starring Kevin Pollak, Robert Loggia, Joseph Bologna, Sherilyn Fenn, and Angie Dickinson. New York Newsday featured it on its Sunday TV Guide cover, praising its "pitch-perfect Godfather attitude." Notably, the film preceded the similarly themed Analyze This (1999) by over a year.
Set up at MGM and based on an original idea by Jablin is the satirical comedy High Alert, which Jablin is producing, with master filmmaker Norman Jewison attached to direct.
Jablin is also collaborating with television legend Don Hewitt (creator of 60 Minutes) on a new magazine program, Humor Me. Jablin produces alongside Larry Gelbart and Steven Hewitt and will direct the show.
