Andrew Ross Breckman (born March 3, 1955) is an American screenwriter, comedian, and radio personality. He is the creator and executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning television series Monk on the USA Network and is co-host of WFMU radio's long-running conceptual comedy program Seven Second Delay. He has written screenplays for a number of comedy films including Sgt. Bilko (starring Steve Martin) and Rat Race (directed by Jerry Zucker).
Breckman's biggest success, Monk, was a murder-mystery with a humorous edge. Breckman told New Jersey Monthly that he was a voracious reader of the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, John D. MacDonald, and other authors of “solvable” mysteries, as well as being a big fan of the TV series Columbo. “In a way, it’s similar to comedy writing,” he says. "It's puzzles and puzzle solving. Very logical." In August 2009, USA Network launched the spinoff Little Monk.
The Good Cop, another humorous murder-mystery series created and written by Breckman, debuted on Netflix in September 2018. (It ran for ten episodes before being cancelled.) The show starred Tony Danza as Tony Caruso Sr., "a disgraced, former NYPD officer who never followed the rules," and Josh Groban as his son, Tony "T.J." Caruso Jr., a squeaky-clean homicide detective. About the series, Breckman said, "Many cop shows feature dark and provocative material: psycho-sexual killers, twisted, grim, flawed detectives. Many address the most controversial issues of the day. I watch a lot of them. God bless 'em all. But the show I want to produce is playful, family-friendly, and a celebration of old-fashioned puzzle-solving."[3]
In October 2018, TBS announced it would be launching a new TV series, The Misery Index, starring members of the Tenderloins comedy troupe, based on Breckman's card game, "Shit Happens". Breckman developed the TV version with Ben and Dan Newmark of Grandma's House Entertainment.[4] The series premiered on October 22, 2019.[5] On December 3, 2019, it was announced the series was renewed for a second season.[6] In 2021 it completed its third season.[7]
Breckman lives in Madison, New Jersey with his wife, documentary filmmaker Beth Landau, whom he met on the dating pages of Nerve.com and who is nicknamed "Boo."[9] They have two children. In 2011, Breckman and Landau were a featured couple in the documentary When Strangers Click, a film about internet dating. As an engagement present, Breckman named a murder victim after his fiancée (spelled "Beth Landow") in Monk's season two (2003) episode, "Mr. Monk Goes Back to School".
Radio
Since 1992, Breckman and WFMU station manager Ken Freedman have co-hosted a weekly one-hour comedy radio program, Seven Second Delay. The premise of the program seems to be a never-ending series of dead-on-arrival concepts, with the comedic value hinging on Breckman's recurring acknowledgment of failure and his desire to go home as quickly as possible. Breckman has described his co-host as "a sad, bitter little man and WFMU's fundraisers are a good time to humiliate him and exploit his willingness to do just about anything, including prostituting himself, to raise money for his adorable little public hippy noise radio station."
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In 1998, Gadfly Records released Death-Defying Radio Stunts, a CD of outrageous moments from Seven Second Delay studio broadcasts.[11]
Other projects
In 2014 he launched a line of unusual toys under the brand name Uncle Andy Toys.[12] Products which have reached the consumer market include Real Life Travel Bingo, Who Tooted?, and Rigged Trivia. In 2015 he launched "Feed a Puppy," a live-streaming interactive animal app featuring real rescue puppies, in which users purchase treats to feed the puppies, with a portion of sales receipts donated to rescue shelters.[13] In 2016, he funded his new card game, Shit Happens, with a successful Kickstarter campaign.[14]
Feud with Don McLean
Early in his singing career, Breckman was given the opportunity to perform as opening act for "American Pie" singer Don McLean, with whom he shared management. The two did not get along, and a feud developed that has persisted to the present day.[15] Andy Breckman wrote about the feud and Don McLean responded to Breckman's claims on WFMU's website.[16]
