Editing Brandon Tartikoff (section)

{{Short description|American television executive (1949–1997)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Brandon Tartikoff
| image       = Brandon Tartikoff at the 1988 Emmy Awards.jpg
| image_size  = 200px
| caption     = Tartikoff in 1988
| office      = [[List of presidents of NBC Entertainment|President of NBC Entertainment]]
| term        = 1981–1991
| predecessor = [[Fred Silverman]]
| successor   = [[Warren Littlefield]]
| birth_date  = January 13, 1949
| birth_place = [[Freeport, New York]], U.S.
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1997|8|27|1949|1|13|mf=y}}
| death_place = [[Los Angeles|Los Angeles, California]], U.S.
| known_for   = {{Ubl
  | ''[[The Cosby Show]]'' (1984–1992)
  | ''[[Seinfeld]]'' (1989–1998)
  | ''[[Cheers]]'' (1982–1993)
  | ''[[The Golden Girls]]'' (1985–1992)
  | ''[[Law & Order]]'' (1990–2010)
  | ''[[Family Ties]]'' (1982–1989)
  | ''[[Miami Vice]]'' (1984–1989)
  }}
| education   = {{Ubl | [[Yale University]] | [[Lawrenceville School]] }}
| employer    = {{Ubl | [[NBC]] | [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] }}
| occupation  = {{Hlist | Television network executive | Hollywood studio chairman }}
| spouse      = [[Lilly Tartikoff|Lilly Samuels]] (1982–1997, his death)
| children    = 2
}}

'''Brandon Tartikoff''' (January 13, 1949 – August 27, 1997) was an American television executive who was head of the entertainment division of [[NBC]] from 1981 to 1991.<ref>{{cite news|title=TV programming wizard Brandon Tartikoff dead at 48|url=http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9708/27/tartikoff.obit.update/|access-date=29 November 2015|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=August 27, 1997}}</ref> He was credited with turning around NBC's low [[prime time]] reputation with several hit series: ''[[Hill Street Blues]]'', ''[[L.A. Law]]'', ''[[Law & Order]]'', ''[[ALF (TV series)|ALF]]'', ''[[Family Ties]]'', ''[[The Cosby Show]]'', ''[[Cheers]]'', ''[[Seinfeld]]'', ''[[The Golden Girls]]'', ''[[Wings (1990 TV series)|Wings]]'', ''[[Miami Vice]]'', ''[[Knight Rider (1982 TV series)|Knight Rider]]'', ''[[The A-Team]]'', ''[[Saved by the Bell]]'', ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air]]'', ''[[St. Elsewhere]]'', and ''[[Night Court]]''.

Tartikoff also helped develop the 1984 sitcom ''[[Punky Brewster]]''; he named the title character after a girl he had a crush on in school. He was also involved in the creation of ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' and ''[[Beggars and Choosers (TV series)|Beggars and Choosers]]''.