Brian Levant

Template:Multiple issues Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Brian Michael Levant (born August 6, 1952) is an American filmmaker.<ref name=NYT>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life and career

Born in Highland Park, Illinois to a Jewish family, Levant started his career in 1976 as a writer for the TV series Happy Days. He also wrote for, among other TV shows, The Jeffersons, Mork & Mindy and Still the Beaver.

He is best known for directing the films Beethoven,<ref name=NYT/> The Flintstones and its 2000 prequel The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, Jingle All the Way, Snow Dogs and Are We There Yet?.<ref name=NYT/>

Though his work is generally disliked by film critics,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> Levant has responded to the criticism with, "I'm making movies for the audience that I was when I was sitting at home watching Garfield Goose and The Three Stooges on WGN...To read those reviews is an act of self-flagellation, but reviews be damned when you're at Blockbuster, and you're seeing family after family grab one of your movies off the shelf on a Friday night. I can't tell you how many times I've seen that."<ref name=":0" />

Levant is a major collector of 20th century toys and pop culture memorabilia. His collection is displayed in a 2022 book, My Life and Toys.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Filmography

Feature film

Director

• Problem Child 2 (1991)
• Beethoven (1992)
• The Flintstones (1994)
• Jingle All the Way (1996)
• The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000)
• Snow Dogs (2002)
• Are We There Yet? (2005)
• The Spy Next Door (2010)
• Max 2: White House Hero (2017)

Writer

• Leave It to Beaver (1997)

Direct-to-video

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer
2008	Beethoven's Big Break	Template:No	Template:No	Template:Yes
2012	A Christmas Story 2	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No
2014	Sophia Grace & Rosie's Royal Adventure	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No

Television

TV movies

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer
1995	Problem Child 3: Junior in Love	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:No
	The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
2009	Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No
2010	Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No
2016	The Game of Love	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:Yes

TV series

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer	Creator	Notes
1976–84	Happy Days	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No	Writer (14 episodes) / Producer (44 episodes)
1977	The Jeffersons	Template:No	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:No	Episode: "Jefferson Airplane"
1978	Please Stand By	Template:No	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:No	1 episode
1979	Brothers and Sisters	Template:No	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:No	2 episodes
1979–80	The Bad News Bears	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No	Writer (2 episodes) / Producer (12 episodes)
1981–82	Mork & Mindy	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No	Writer (2 episodes) / Producer (22 episodes)
1983–89	The New Leave It to Beaver	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	102 episodes / Director (21 episodes) / Writer (19 episodes)
1987	Married... with Children	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No	Episode: "The Poker Game"
1988–89	Charles in Charge	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No	2 episodes
1988–91	My Secret Identity	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	72 episodes / Writer (Episode: "Pilot")
1990	Poochinski	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No	Unsold pilot
1990-91	Babes	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	22 episodes
1997	Metropolitan Hospital	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:Yes	Unsold pilot
2000	Father Can't Cope	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No	Unsold pilot
2001	Grounded for Life	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No	Episode: "Eddie's Dead"

External links

• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0505152

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