Joel Surnow is an American writer and producer best known for being the creator of the Emmy winning television series 24, and the cult-following hit series La Femme Nikita. He also produced the Fox News Channel The Half Hour News Hour.

Biography

Surnow was born to Jewish parents in Michigan, and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was ten years old. His father was an itinerant carpet salesman from Odessa, Ukraine, his mother a clothing retailer of Lithuanian descent. He graduated from Beverly Hills High in 1972 and attended UC Berkeley before transferring to the UCLA School of Theater Film and Television in 1975 after a year and a half at Berkeley.

Soon after graduation, he began writing for film; he then switched to television. His breakthrough came when he began writing for Miami Vice, in 1984. By the end of the year, Universal Studios, which owned the show, assigned Surnow to The Equalizer, as Supervising Producer, about a CIA officer turned vigilante.

He has five daughters, two from a previous marriage and three with his current wife.

Career

His most recent work is the very popular and award-winning TV series 24, which he co-created and also executive produced with Robert Cochran. In 2006, 24 won Emmy awards as outstanding drama series for Surnow and his fellow producers, including Robert Cochran and outstanding lead actor Emmy award and Golden Globe award winner Kiefer Sutherland. Surnow and Cochran had previously won an Emmy for 24 in 2002, for their writing of the series' pilot episode. Surnow quit his role in production of 24 February 12, 2008.

Surnow was also the creator and executive consultant of the 1997–2001 television series La Femme Nikita, which was the top-rated drama on basic cable its first two seasons. In addition to being Supervising Producer and writing for The Equalizer and serving as executive story editor on the first season of Miami Vice, he has written scripts for a number of other TV series, including Nowhere Man and Wiseguy.

Politics

Surnow has described himself as a supporter of the Republican Party, donating money to the campaign of Rick Santorum and expressing particular admiration for former President Ronald Reagan. He is also a close friend of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. However, Surnow is a self-described "isolationist" and has stated that he has "no faith in nation building". He is the owner of an American flag that flew over Baghdad during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which was sent to him as a gift from one of the regiments stationed there."Whatever it Takes: The Politics of the Man Behind '24' " by Jane Mayer in The New Yorker (19 Feb. 2007)