Bob Boden

Bob Boden
A headshot of television producer Bob Boden.
Boden in 2024.
Born (1959-01-21) January 21, 1959 (age 65)
New York, New York
Other namesTV Bob
Alma materUCLA
Websitetvbob.com

Bob Boden (born January 21, 1959) is an American television producer. He is known for his work on game shows and reality television and is the Executive Vice President of Production and Development for Byron Allen's company Entertainment Studios.[1]

Shows he has developed, supervised and produced include Funny You Should Ask, Family Feud, The $25,000 Pyramid, Press Your Luck, Card Sharks, Home & Family, Family Game Night, The Game of Life, Scrabble Showdown, To Tell the Truth, Don't Forget the Lyrics, Match Game, Solitary, Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular, American Idol Extra, Househusbands of Hollywood, The Academy, Paradise Hotel 2, The FOX Reality Channel Really Awards, Lingo, Friend or Foe?, Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck, Russian Roulette, Cram, Greed (which he co-created), and The Chase, which received a Daytime Emmy nomination.[2][3]

Early life and education

Boden was born on January 21, 1959, in The Bronx, New York, the only child of Hannah and Kenneth Boden, who were both registered nurses.[4] He grew up in Flushing, Queens, where he graduated from John Bowne High School[5][better source needed] and moved to Los Angeles, where he graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1981 with a B.A. in Theater Arts.[6] He also has a master's degree from California State University, Dominguez Hills in Negotiation, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding.[citation needed]

Career

Boden began his television work as a cue card associate for Barney McNulty, then as a production assistant on the game show Temptation. He then worked at Paramount Television in research. He joined CBS and was selected for the management training program, which resulted in a job as Program Executive in Daytime Programming.[6] Here, he oversaw shows such as Press Your Luck, The $25,000 Pyramid, and Card Sharks. He left CBS to work as Director of Development for Barry & Enright Productions before moving to ABC as Director of Daytime Development. He later worked at Buena Vista Productions and as the Vice President of Development at Mark Goodson Productions. In 1994, he helped launch the Game Show Network and served as its programming chief between 2001 and 2003.[7] In the late 1990s, he worked as Vice President of Daytime Programming for The Family Channel, where he supervised shows including Shop 'til You Drop, Home & Family, Shopping Spree, and It Takes Two. As Vice President of Development at FX, he oversaw Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular and Personal fX: The Collectibles Show. He has also held the titles of Senior Vice President of Product and Development for Dick Clark Productions, as Senior Vice President of Programming for the Fox Reality Channel, and as Senior Vice President of Reality and Game Shows for Hasbro Studios.[citation needed]

In 1999, Boden co-created Greed for FOX with Dick Clark. He then served as its showrunner, executive producer, and writer.[8] The show aired on FOX and was hosted by Chuck Woolery.[9] He was also showrunner and executive producer for The Chase, an adaption of the British game show, on the Game Show Network. The Chase was nominated at the 41st Daytime Emmy Awards for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show. James Holzhauer appeared on the show in 2014 and the show regained attention after Holzhauer's appearance on Jeopardy!. Boden was featured as a game show expert in several interviews.[10][11]

In addition to his production work, he is an adjunct professor at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.[12] In 2022, he gave a TEDx talk at Syracuse.[13]

Personal life

Boden serves as a governor for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' reality peer group.[3] He and his wife Marla have a daughter, Rachel.[14]

Selected credits

Year(s) Title Role Episodes Ref
1984–1985 Jeopardy! Writer 195 [6]
1986 Press Your Luck Executive Producer 166 [6]
1990 Home 10
Match Game 22
1996–1997 Small Talk 65
1999 Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular 16 [4]
1999–2000 Greed Co-Creator/Executive Producer 44
2000 Double Dare 2000 Consultant 67
2002 Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck Executive Producer 12 [2]
2002–2004 Lingo Executive Producer/Writer 74 [2]
2003 Cram Executive Producer 39 [2]
Chuck Woolery: Naturally Stoned Writer 6
2005–2007 Reality Remix Executive Producer 9
2006–2010 Solitary 34
2007 Rob and Amber: Against the Odds 10
Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? Writer 13
2007–2008 Don't Forget the Lyrics! Producer 43
2007–2009 The Academy Executive Producer 31
2008 Paradise Hotel 16
Reality Binge 24
2008–2009 Battle of the Bods 36
2010–2012 Family Game Night 44
2011 Scrabble Showdown 30
2012–2013 Match Game Writer 60
2013–2015 The Chase Executive Producer 37 [1]
2016 The Ellen DeGeneres Show Writer 48
2017 Heads Up! Executive Producer 50
2017–2018 Massive Monster Mayhem Writer 21
2017–2019 Funny You Should Ask Executive Producer 206 [1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Umstead, R. Thomas (May 2, 2017). "Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios Hires Bob Boden". Multichannel News. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d "Fox Launching New Reality Channel With Bob Boden at Programming Helm". Television Academy. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Meet the Governors: Bob Boden". Television Academy. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Robert Boden". www.lukeford.net. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  5. ^ "Robert Boden".
  6. ^ a b c d Berman, Marc (November 26, 2001). "Boden's gameshow passion prevails in job quest". Variety. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  7. ^ Romano, Allison (December 11, 2003). "Game Show's Boden Departs". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  8. ^ "Shamrock Exec to Head Realty Unit". Los Angeles Times. May 24, 2000. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  9. ^ Poniewozik, James (November 17, 1999). "Why Greed Trumps Millionaire". Time. Archived from the original on February 17, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
  10. ^ Pinsker, Joe (April 20, 2019). "'Jeopardy' Wasn't Designed for a Contestant Like James Holzhauer". The Atlantic. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  11. ^ ABC News (April 26, 2019), How Jeopardy! champion James Holzhauer continues to set records, retrieved July 9, 2019
  12. ^ "Bob Boden". Newhouse School. Syracuse University. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  13. ^ "Your guide to the TEDxSyracuseUniversity's 'Paradigm Shift' speakers". Daily Orange. April 7, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  14. ^ "Bob-Boden-Marla-Boden-Rachel-Boden-animation-childrens-900x600.jpg". Emmys. 2017. Retrieved March 14, 2023.