Marco Pennette
Encyclopedia
Marco Pennette is an American
television producer
and screenwriter
.
, Connecticut
where he grew up loving theatre: "I want to go into theatre; TV sort of lured me away." He attended New York University
where he studied at the Tisch School of the Arts
and as a student was a finalist in the Young Playwrights Festival. He intended to pursue a career in Broadway theatre
but sold his first television script to Kate & Allie
and dropped out of university and moved to Los Angeles
to pursue television writing.
from where he moved on to other projects including Dave's World
and Dear John. He went on to create and write for many of his own series: Caroline in the City
, Union Square
, Conrad Bloom and All About the Andersons
. Most notably, though, were the short-lived medical drama Inconceivable
co-created with Oliver Goldstick
, inspired by both of their surrogate pregnancy experiences, and the short-lived midseason sitcom Crumbs
, an autobiographical portrayal of his family experiences and closeted
young adulthood. His other writing and producing work from 2003 onwards includes serving as executive producer and co-executive producer on the television series I'm with Her
and the sitcom What I Like About You
, for both of which he also wrote a number of episodes. He also wrote the script for and an the executive producer of the 2007 Football Wives
pilot, which was originally intended to be a television series but was later declined by the American Broadcasting Company
in favour of seven other pilots with lower budgets, as the ABC claimed that the pitched budget for Football Wives was too high for a midseason pick-up. The series was set to be a U.S. version of the popular British
soap opera
Footballers' Wives
.
He was a member of the writing panel and an executive producer/co-showrunner on the dramedy series Ugly Betty
, initially having been a co-executive producer. Ugly Betty' s creator and other showrunner Silvio Horta
was named AfterElton.com's Man of the Year for 2007 for the show's positive portrayal of LGBT
issues—including a possibly gay teenager, a transgender man-turned-woman and a gay male assistant with a homophobic mother—and had to say about Pennette, also gay: "Marco Pennette, my co-showrunner and Executive Producer, deserves a special thanks here too. He is an MVP of comedy, and a big part of Ugly Betty's gay sensibility." On February 11, 2008, ABC picked up Ugly Betty for the 2008-09 television season, but on the day the renewal was announced, Pennette, along with fellow executive producer James Hayman
, were let go. The departures of Pennette and Hayman added to the constant turnovers on the series off-camera, which has so far seen five writers having exited or been fired.
, Pennette was outed
by a colleague network executive on the People's Choice Awards
red carpet when asked about his boyfriend in front of his family members, who were unaware of his sexuality. His long-time partner is television talent manager Steve Rabiner, with whom he has two daughters, Ally and Chelsea, both born by surrogate pregnancy, the inspiration for his medical drama Inconceivable. His own family experiences were the basis for his sitcom Crumbs; his brother's drowning, his mother's institutionalization and his father's impregnation of another woman.
He is a good friend of Broadway theatre spokesman Seth Rudetsky
, having hired him previously to write a song for a character in his sitcom Caroline in the City—an IRS employee auditioning for the musical Cats
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
.
Early life
Pennette was born and raised in GreenwichGreenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
where he grew up loving theatre: "I want to go into theatre; TV sort of lured me away." He attended New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
where he studied at the Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....
and as a student was a finalist in the Young Playwrights Festival. He intended to pursue a career in Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
but sold his first television script to Kate & Allie
Kate & Allie
Kate & Allie is an American television situation comedy which ran from March 19, 1984 to May 22, 1989. Kate & Allie first aired on CBS as a midseason replacement series and only six episodes were initially commissioned, but the favorable response from critics and viewers alike easily convinced CBS...
and dropped out of university and moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to pursue television writing.
Career
Pennette's career began on the sitcom Kate & AllieKate & Allie
Kate & Allie is an American television situation comedy which ran from March 19, 1984 to May 22, 1989. Kate & Allie first aired on CBS as a midseason replacement series and only six episodes were initially commissioned, but the favorable response from critics and viewers alike easily convinced CBS...
from where he moved on to other projects including Dave's World
Dave's World
Dave's World is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1993 to 1997. The series was based on the writing of Miami Herald columnist Dave Barry.-Plot:...
and Dear John. He went on to create and write for many of his own series: Caroline in the City
Caroline in the City
Caroline in the City is an American situation comedy that ran from September 21, 1995 to April 26, 1999 on the NBC television network. It starred Lea Thompson as cartoonist Caroline Duffy. The series premiered in the two-hour Thursday night block led by Friends.-Premise:Caroline Duffy is a...
, Union Square
Union Square (TV series)
Union Square is a 1997 television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for one season. It followed the story of a lawyer-turned-playwright in New York City, who attempted to gain inspiration from a host of characters populating the fictitious Union Square cafe in Manhattan, obviously inspired by the...
, Conrad Bloom and All About the Andersons
All About the Andersons
All About the Andersons is a situation comedy that originally aired on The WB Television Network from September 12, 2003 to February 12, 2004. It lasted one season before being canceled.-Premise:...
. Most notably, though, were the short-lived medical drama Inconceivable
Inconceivable
Inconceivable is an American primetime television medical drama, which was broadcast on NBC. The program premiered on September 23, 2005. The show revolved around the professional and personal lives of those who work at the Family Options Fertility Clinic. The clinic is run by its co-founders ...
co-created with Oliver Goldstick
Oliver Goldstick
Oliver Goldstick is an American television screenwriter and producer.Most notably, Goldstick was the creator and executive producer of Inconceivable, a short-lived medical drama...
, inspired by both of their surrogate pregnancy experiences, and the short-lived midseason sitcom Crumbs
Crumbs
Crumbs is an American television sitcom starring Fred Savage and Jane Curtin that debuted on ABC on January 12, 2006. It also starred William Devane, Maggie Lawson and Eddie McClintock...
, an autobiographical portrayal of his family experiences and closeted
Closeted
Closeted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...
young adulthood. His other writing and producing work from 2003 onwards includes serving as executive producer and co-executive producer on the television series I'm with Her
I'm with Her
I'm with Her is an American sitcom which aired for one season on ABC.-Synopsis:The series, loosely based on creator Chris Henchy's relationship with wife Brooke Shields, begins on that chance meeting...
and the sitcom What I Like About You
What I Like About You (TV series)
What I Like About You is an American television sitcom set mainly in New York City, following the lives of two sisters, Valerie Tyler and Holly Tyler . The series ran on The WB Television Network from September 20, 2002, to March 24, 2006, with a total of 86 episodes produced...
, for both of which he also wrote a number of episodes. He also wrote the script for and an the executive producer of the 2007 Football Wives
Football Wives
Football Wives is a television pilot developed for U.S. television network ABC, which would have aired in the fall 2007 season had it been picked up for a series order...
pilot, which was originally intended to be a television series but was later declined by the American Broadcasting Company
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in favour of seven other pilots with lower budgets, as the ABC claimed that the pitched budget for Football Wives was too high for a midseason pick-up. The series was set to be a U.S. version of the popular British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Footballers' Wives
Footballers' Wives
Footballers' Wives is a British television drama surrounding the fictional Premier League Association football club Earls Park F.C., its players, and their wives. It was broadcast on the ITV network from 8 January 2002 to 14 April 2006...
.
He was a member of the writing panel and an executive producer/co-showrunner on the dramedy series Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...
, initially having been a co-executive producer. Ugly Betty
Silvio Horta
Silvio Horta is an American writer and producer most notable for adapting the hit Colombian telenovela Yo Soy Betty La Fea into the ABC series, Ugly Betty. Horta serves as head writer and executive producer on the series....
was named AfterElton.com's Man of the Year for 2007 for the show's positive portrayal of LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
issues—including a possibly gay teenager, a transgender man-turned-woman and a gay male assistant with a homophobic mother—and had to say about Pennette, also gay: "Marco Pennette, my co-showrunner and Executive Producer, deserves a special thanks here too. He is an MVP of comedy, and a big part of Ugly Betty's gay sensibility." On February 11, 2008, ABC picked up Ugly Betty for the 2008-09 television season, but on the day the renewal was announced, Pennette, along with fellow executive producer James Hayman
James Hayman
-Career:His credits include Judging Amy, Ugly Betty, Joan of Arcadia, Kingpin, Jake and the Fatman, The Sopranos, Any Day Now, ER, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Huff, House M.D., The Client, Murder One, Texasville, Northern Exposure, Moon Over...
, were let go. The departures of Pennette and Hayman added to the constant turnovers on the series off-camera, which has so far seen five writers having exited or been fired.
Personal life
Openly gayGay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, Pennette was outed
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
by a colleague network executive on the People's Choice Awards
People's Choice Awards
The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show recognizing the people and the work of popular culture. The show has been held annually since 1975 and is voted on by the general public. The People's Choice Awards air on CBS and are produced by Procter & Gamble and Survivor magnate Mark Burnett...
red carpet when asked about his boyfriend in front of his family members, who were unaware of his sexuality. His long-time partner is television talent manager Steve Rabiner, with whom he has two daughters, Ally and Chelsea, both born by surrogate pregnancy, the inspiration for his medical drama Inconceivable. His own family experiences were the basis for his sitcom Crumbs; his brother's drowning, his mother's institutionalization and his father's impregnation of another woman.
He is a good friend of Broadway theatre spokesman Seth Rudetsky
Seth Rudetsky
Seth Rudetsky is an American musician, actor, writer, and radio host. He currently is the host of "Seth's Big Fat Broadway" on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio's...
, having hired him previously to write a song for a character in his sitcom Caroline in the City—an IRS employee auditioning for the musical Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
.