Bill Prady

The creative force behind several award-winning Muppets specials, writer and producer Bill Prady went onto become a key figure in the world of US sitcoms, most notably with his co-creation of the unashamedly nerdy "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS 2007-). Born in Detroit, MI in 1960, Prady attended his hometown's Wayne State University before enjoying brief stints as a Z80 programmer and partner in a computer software company.

After writing three episodes of zany kids show "You Can't Do That On Television" (Nickelodeon 1979-1990), Prady landed a job at Jim Henson Productions where he worked on "Fraggle Rock" (HBO 1983-87), was visually caricatured with the puppet Chip in "The Jim Henson Hour" (NBC 1989) and received both a WGA Award and Emmy nomination for his contribution to the posthumous tribute "The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson" (CBS 1990).

Following Henson's death, Prady went onto write single episodes of "The Cosby Show" (NBC 1984-1992) and "Married With Children" (Fox 1987-1997), penned documentaries "Walt Disney's Wonderful World Of Color" (1990) and "The Best of Disney: 50 Years Of Magic" (1991) and worked on the script for the 46th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. While after securing his first staff writing job on the ground-breaking R-rated sitcom "Dream On" (HBO 1990-96) in 1994, he took on various production/writing roles on short-lived Richard Jeni sitcom "Platypus Man" (UPN 1995), Lea Thompson vehicle "Caroline In The City" (NBC 1995-99) and odd couple comedy "Dharma & Greg" (ABC 1997-2002).

Having previously scripted documentary "Star Trek: 30 Years and Beyond" (1996), Prady then penned the 'Bliss' episode of spin-off "Star Trek: Voyager" (UPN 1995-2001) in 1999. But after serving as executive producer on TV news satire "Good Morning, Miami" (NBC 2002-04) and the fifth season of fast-paced family drama "Gilmore Girls" (The WB 2000-07), Prady achieved the biggest success of his career when he teamed up with "Dharma & Greg" creator Chuck Lorre to create "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS 2007-).

A ratings smash from the moment it premiered, its geeky guys-meet-beautiful girl premise attracted over 20 million viewers in its sixth season and became a regular Emmy Awards and Golden Globes contender.