John Eisendrath Explained

John Eisendrath is an American television series producer and writer. He created and served as the executive producer and showrunner for the series Outlaw, Playmakers, and currently serves as executive producer on NBC's The Blacklist. More recently, Eisendrath signed a new three-year overall deal with Sony Pictures Television through 2025.^[1]

Personal life

John Eisendrath was born into a well-known Jewish family,^[2] the son of Edwin W. Eisendrath Jr.^[3] and Susan Rosenberg. He is the younger brother of Edwin Eisendrath (former alderman of Chicago and CEO of the Chicago Sun-Times).^[4] His father was an attorney and his mother came from a powerful West Side political family.^[5] He joined WBBM in the mid-1980s, only to leave with friend Kathryn Pratt to start a TV writing career.^[6]

He and Kathryn Pratt married in 1992 and had two children. Their marriage was dissolved in 2002. Following the dissolution he married television writer Jennifer Levin.^[7] In 2003, his Thanksgiving Day production company created a show for ESPN, Playmakers.^[8] In 2008, he was signed to a deal with Universal Media Studios.^[9]

Credits

Writer

• Beverly Hills Buntz (1988) (story - 1 episode)
• TV 101 (1989) (writer - 2 episodes)
• WIOU (1990) (creator - 14 episodes) (story - 1 episode) (teleplay - 1 episode)
• Models Inc. (1994) (writer - 3 episodes)
• Malibu Shores (1996) (writer - 2 episodes) (story - 1 episode)
• Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990) (writer - 34 episodes) (teleplay - 2 episodes) (story - 1 episode)
• Felicity (1998) (writer - 3 episodes)
• Alias (2001) (writer - 8 episodes)
• Playmakers (2003) (creator) (writer - 3 episodes)
• The Catch (2005) (TV movie - creator)
• K-Ville (2007) (writer - 1 episode)
• Outlaw (2010) (creator) (writer - 3 episodes)
• The Blacklist (2013) (writer - 16 episodes) (teleplay - 8 episodes) (story - 3 episodes)
• (2017) (creator) (story - 1 episode) (teleplay - 1 episode)

Executive producer

• WIOU (1990) (executive producer)
• Models Inc. (1994) (co-supervising producer - 17 episodes)
• Malibu Shores (1996) (co-executive producer - 8 episodes)
• Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990) (supervising producer - 25 episodes) (co-executive producer - 32 episodes) (executive producer - 85 episodes)
• Felicity (1998) (executive producer - 15 episodes)
• Playmakers (2003) (executive producer - 11 episodes)
• Alias (2001) (executive producer - 66 episodes)
• The Catch (2005) (TV movie - executive producer)
• Supreme Courtships (2007) (TV Movie - executive producer)
• K-Ville (2007) (consulting producer - 8 episodes)
• My Own Worst Enemy (2008) (executive producer - 9 episodes)
• Outlaw (2010) (executive producer - 3 episodes)
• The Blacklist (2013) (executive producer - 114 episodes)
• (2017) (producer - 5 episodes) (executive producer - 3 episodes)

Self

• The Story Behind: Beverly Hills, 90210 (2015)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Andreeva . Nellie . 'The Blacklist' Showrunner John Eisendrath Extends Overall Deal With Sony Pictures Television; Sets 'Alert' Drama At Fox With Jamie Foxx As EP . Deadline . 14 March 2022.
2. https://www.jta.org/1987/04/20/archive/behind-the-headlines-jewish-voters-played-a-key-role-in-the-chicago-election Behind the Headlines Jewish Voters Played a Key Role in the Chicago Election
3. Web site: Doyle . Gerry . June 30, 2006 . Edwin W. Eisendrath Jr. . https://archive.today/20221115013131/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2006-06-30-0606300325-story.html . 2022-11-15 . 2022-11-15 . Chicago Tribune.
4. Web site: Miner . Michael . July 21, 2017 . The new owner's kid brother used to work here . https://web.archive.org/web/20221115021121/http://web.archive.org/screenshot/https://chicagoreader.com/blogs/the-new-owners-kid-brother-used-to-work-here/ . November 15, 2022 . November 15, 2022 . Chicago Reader .
5. Web site: Felsenthal . Carol . June 22, 2017 . Who Is Edwin Eisendrath? . https://web.archive.org/web/20221115015332/http://web.archive.org/screenshot/https://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/Felsenthal-Files/June-2017/Edwin-Eisendrath-Sun-Times/ . November 15, 2022 . November 15, 2022 . Chicago Magazine .
6. Web site: Warren. James. FAMILIAR CHARACTERS. 2021-08-30. chicagotribune.com. July 1990 . en-US.
7. Web site: EISENDRATH v. Kathryn Pratt Rogers, Real Party in Interest. . https://archive.today/20221115025459/https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-appeal/1324006.html . November 15, 2022 . November 15, 2022 . Findlaw .
8. Web site: Dempsey. John. 2003-08-05. Lee, Tollin-Robbins lacing up for ESPN. 2021-09-01. Variety. en-US.
9. Web site: Littleton. Cynthia. 2008-08-18. Eisendrath signs deal with Universal. 2021-08-30. Variety. en-US.