Widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of reality television, Mike Darnell serves as President of Warner Bros. Unscripted and Alternative Television, where he runs Warner Horizon Unscripted Television, Telepictures and Shed Media. Since joining Warner Bros., Darnell and his team have grown the Studio’s unscripted portfolio exponentially, currently producing more than 50 series, totaling over 2,200 hours of programming annually, spread across broadcast, streaming, cable, digital and first-run syndication.
Warner Bros.’ unscripted division is the No.1 producer of unscripted programming on broadcast television, with more than 15 series currently on broadcast alone, including four of the top 10-rated shows in primetime (scripted or unscripted). The division’s current series include the hit Ellen DeGeneres-hosted series “Ellen’s Game of Games” for NBC, going into its fourth season and leading as the No.1 primetime game show; an all-new “Little Big Shots,” which recently launched on NBC with brand-new host Melissa McCarthy; the exciting Rob Lowe-hosted event series “Mental Samurai” for FOX; and the multi-Emmy Award-winning music competition “The Voice,” which continues to dominate in the ratings on NBC in its 18th season.
The unscripted division also produces the longest-running powerhouse dating franchise “The Bachelor,” which, entering its 25th season, reigns as the No. 1 series on ABC. It also produces the franchise offshoots “The Bachelorette”; “Bachelor in Paradise”; the newest addition, “The Bachelor: Listen to Your Heart”; and the recently launched multi-city touring show “The Bachelor Live on Stage.” Other upcoming broadcast series under Darnell include the hilarious alternative-scripted hybrid series “True Story” for NBC, with Ed Helms and Randall Park; the Ellen DeGeneres-produced “The Masked Dancer,” a spin-off of “The Masked Singer,” coming to FOX; and a return of the multi-Emmy Award-winning celebrity genealogical series “Who Do You Think You Are?” to NBC, among several others coming later this season.
Darnell’s oversight also includes a slew of premium streaming shows, such as the highly-anticipated 25th anniversary reunion special of “Friends” for HBO Max, bringing the whole cast back together to Warner Bros.’ famous Stage 24. In addition, the home design series “Ellen’s Next Great Designer” and the international hit “First Dates Hotel” are both coming to HBO Max, while the new social experiment series “100 Humans” successfully launched on Netflix. The unscripted division also specializes in high-end documentaries, collaborating on projects with leading talent in the business, including the upcoming Greg Berlanti-produced documentary series “Equal” for HBO Max and “Helter Skelter” for Epix, among others.
Darnell’s Telepictures team is the leading force in first-run syndication with more than 1,500 hours of programming produced annually, including oversight of the No.1 entertainment daytime talk show “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” in its 18th season and driving a massive digital and social media presence with Ellen Digital Ventures. Other first-run series include “The Real,” with its Emmy winning panel of hosts, plus the dominant entertainment news franchise “TMZ” and the Emmy winning “Extra,” which launched an all-new version for its 26th season.
In addition, the division produces a wide range of content for cable, including Bravo’s hit reality show “The Real Housewives of New York”; the return of the esteemed “Supernanny” for Lifetime; and various true-crime series, such as the Dick Wolf-produced “Criminal Confessions” for Oxygen and the Elizabeth Smart-led series “Smart Justice,” coming later this year to Lifetime, among others.
Before joining Warner Bros. Darnell spent 19 years at FOX Broadcasting, where he served as President of Alternative Entertainment and was responsible for some of the highest-rated shows on television. Early in his career, he quickly made a name for himself with numerous prominent specials such as “Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction?,” “When Animals Attack!,” “World’s Scariest Police Chases” and “Magic’s Biggest Secrets Revealed,” and also oversaw the creation of animated series “Futurama” and the famed “Family Guy.”
Darnell then redefined the reality genre with the launch of “American Idol” in 2002, which quickly became a cultural phenomenon and was the biggest show on television for several seasons. In addition, he brought “Joe Millionaire” to the air in 2003, the finale of which reached 35 million viewers and became the most-watched episode of any reality show to date. Darnell also continued to launch and produce hits such as “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?,” “So You Think You Can Dance,” “The X Factor” and the prevailing Gordon Ramsay franchise, featuring “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Kitchen Nightmares” and “MasterChef.”
Darnell was born in Philadelphia, PA. At the age of 12, his family moved to Los Angeles to pursue his early career as a child actor, where he appeared in, or voiced-over, more than 60 commercials, and also appeared in episodes of numerous TV series, such as “Sanford and Son,” “Welcome Back, Kotter” and “Kojak.” Darnell’s unstoppable passion and knowledge for all-things-television eventually led him to the news division at the local KTTV Fox affiliate, which in turn led him to the Fox Television Stations Group as a producer of specials for three years. He then made his way to the FOX network, where he started out as Director of Specials.
Darnell currently resides in Calabasas, CA with his wife, Carolyn, daughter, Chelsea and their spoiled little dog, Mitsy.