Christopher Lloyd

One of five children born to Emmy-winning TV writer David Lloyd, whose credits included the legendary "Chuckles Bites the Dust" episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (CBS, 1970-77), Lloyd grew up in a household where comedy was discussed and debated around the dinner table. Both he and brother Stephen followed their father into the television business; while Stephen penned scripts and produced for "How I Met Your Mother" (CBS, 2005-) and "Just Shoot Me!" (NBC, 1997-2003) with Steve Levitan, Lloyd began his screenwriting career on the sitcom "Golden Girls," which won two Emmys for Outstanding Comedy Series during his four-year tenure with the program. After his departure, he served as producer on the short-lived "Down Home" (NBC, 1990-91), a rural comedy vehicle for Dana Ivey, which began his lengthy tenure with Paramount Television. In 1991, he began a three-year stint as writer and producer on "Wings," which marked his first collaboration with Steve Levitan.In 1993, Lloyd was one of the primary guiding forces behind "Frasier," serving as executive producer during eight seasons, during which the show won a record five consecutive Emmys for Outstanding Comedy Series. Among the show's writing staff during this period were Joe Keenan, with whom Lloyd would win Emmy and Writers Guild of America awards for their scripts, as well as Levitan and his father, David Lloyd. In 1996, Lloyd added a Producers Guild of America Award to his growing list of laurels for "Frasier." He would remain with the series until its final episode in 2004, which he co-wrote with Keenan.Like many writer-producers who shepherded an iconic series, Lloyd would struggle in the years after "Frasier" to find a project that met its stratospheric standards. He and Keenan created the CBS comedy "Out of Practice" (2005-06), which, despite a powerhouse cast that included Stockard Channing and Henry Winkler, stumbled mightily in the ratings before its demise. The next year, he and Keenan worked on the script for the Aardman animated feature "Flushed Away" (2006), which also underperformed, despite a massive advertising campaign. That same year, Lloyd and Levitan formed Picture Day, a production company with a three-year deal at Fox. Their first joint effort was "Back to You" (Fox, 2007-08), which had all the makings of a television dynamo: a traditional sitcom with two TV favorites - "Frasier's" Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, fresh from her tenure on "Everybody Loves Raymond" (CBS, 1996-2005), as well as Fred Willard and Ty Burr, an up-and-coming actor Lloyd had first worked with on "Out of Practice." However, the show was a dismal failure, lasting only a single season.Undaunted, the duo launched into their next project, "Modern Family," which put a unique spin on the family sitcom by following the lives of three related households - an older man and his young Latina wife; his daughter, her ineffectual husband and their three children; and his son, who lived with his partner and an adopted child. This time, response was overwhelmingly positive, with critics labeling it among the best of the 2009-2010 season. The award societies seemed to agree, with six Emmys, including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for Lloyd and Levitan's script for the pilot and two Writers Guild of America Awards among its stack of nominations. Lloyd was conspicuously absent from the award ceremonies, leading many in the press to speculate that there was friction between he and Levitan. In mid-2010, those rumors were largely confirmed when the former partners announced the dissolution of Picture Day. Both would remain as producers on "Modern Family" while pursuing individual projects.