Sam Taylor-Johnson To Direct ‘Fifty Shades Of … 
Inside AMPAS Board Of Governors’ Meeting: Conflict Of … 
Glenn Geller To Run Current Programming For CBS & CBS … 
Shailene Woodley’s Mary Jane Role Cut From ‘The … 
‘Star Wars’ Cast Breakdown Unveiled 
CAA Signs Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck, Oscar-Winning … 
UPDATE: Dan Abrams Named New ‘Nightline’ Anchor … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘The Voice’ Finale On Par … 
Joy Bryant Returns To Longtime Agent Steve Alexander At … 
ITV Pays $30M For Controlling Stake In ‘Hatfields … 
Hot Trailer: ‘Anchorman 2′ 
2ND UPDATE: Charlie Sheen Fired Selma Blair From … 
Time Warner Cable Sued For Passing Lakers-Dodgers Costs On … 
Jonah Hill Signs For Management With LBI 
TOLDJA! ‘Dumb And Dumber To’ Proves No-Brainer … 
Salma Hayek’s Animated Passion Project ‘The … 
Relativity Moves Scott Cooper’s ‘Out Of The … 
Hot Trailer: ‘The Lego Movie’ 
Comedy ‘I Didn’t Do It’ Gets Series Order … 
Liv Tyler To Co-Star In Damon Lindelof’s HBO Pilot … 
DreamWorks Animation Launches Effort To Re-Position Itself … 
EXCLUSIVE: Almost five years after he joined Fox as SVP of late-night, Todd Yasui is leaving the executive ranks to return to producing. He has boarded the network’s midseason sketch comedy from Jamie Foxx as executive producer/showrunner. The series, tentatively titled The Jamie Foxx Project, was recently picked up by Fox with a 12-episode order. On the series, from Fox TV Studio, Foxx/King Entertainment and The Tannenbaum Co., Yasui will serve as an executive producer alongside Foxx, Marcus King and Jaime Rucker King, Eric Tannenbaum and Kim Tannenbaum. Carl Jones is writing/co-executive producing, while Affion Crockett is starring and producing.
During Yasui’s tenure at Fox, the network launched two late-night talk shows on Saturday, Talkshow with Spike Feresten and The Wanda Sykes Show. But with those 2 as well as MadTV gone, the network has no original programming in the Saturday 10-11:30 PM time period, which is filled by scripted repeats this fall until Fox brass reevaluate its late-night strategy. Additionally, Fox has no immediate plans for a daily late-night talk show franchise after exploring a Conan O’Brien talker in the spring. Before joining Fox in 2005, Yasui served as executive producer of CBS’ Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson and its predecessor, Late, Late Show With Craig Kilborn, since 2000. Before that, he held senior production posts on the syndicated late-night talkers The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show and Magic Hour. A former journalist, Yasui got his start in TV as a segment producer for NBC’s The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
Loading ...
How is this man not fired?
Let’s give an overview:
“The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” –notoriously unfunny
“The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show”–short-lived
“The Magic Hour”–still known as one of TV’s worst shows
“Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn”–unfunny, failed to get near Conan’s ratings
“Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson”–the show became good AFTER he was replaced as EP
“Talkshow with Spike Feresten”–uneven, low-rated
“The Wanda Sykes Show”–popular comedian given a public-access format for a show by Yasui
…and now FOX is letting him be EP of their next big hope? Really? He hasn’t had one hit!
You gotta love the posts on DeadlineHollywood whenever someone gets a promotion – never do you see a positive comment. If the haters who write these had the guts to post their names it would become apparent that:
1) this man or woman was once fired by the newly promoted executive
2) OR this man or woman was up for the job themselves and didn’t get it
3) OR this man or woman is currently unemployable themselves
The writer of the post says this guy hasn’t “had one hit.” Sure. We all know just how unprofitable and unpopular The Tonight Show and The Late Late Show seem to be… really good points Billie.
These individuals know the daily grind that is network TV production. And while they may not be particularly gifted, clever, sharp, talented, or even bright, they most often do meet deadlines AND do it at or under budget. And for this they get the private office and parking space.
HMMM?? Wanda Sykes is a really funny comedian but somehow when she did a show under Todd Yasui, she was almost unwatchable.
Spike Fereston-2 people watched it, that’s not just me saying it was unwatchable
Jamie Foxx-supposedly will never see the light of day.
Mad TV-ratings dropped at end of its run, particularly the last few seasons under Todd’s direction.
Knowing how to be under budget, running a tight ship and being political are all great things and necessary attributes for a development exec. BUT IF HE IS SIMLY NOT TALENTED AND NOT FUNNY?
I love this industry. Look at this guy’s two contributions to late-night TV while SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF LATE-NIGHT PROGRAMMING AT FOX: the Spike Fereston and Wanda Sykes shows. Those were beauties. I wonder how many times people can fail upwards. I guess Todd Yasui is going to show us. Where does he land next (after Jamie Foxx’s terrible show is canceled)? ABC? NBC?
The world is your oyster…as long as someone else has hired you before, no matter how shitty of a job you did. Failing upward. It’s what gives the writers of My Name Is Earl nice houses in the hills. Party on, Todd Yasui. You have a headshot and a list of mediocre shit you’ve worked on. HOLLYWOOD IS YOURS!
God bless Hollywood, where a guy like this gets rewarded. He took Mad TV off the air and replaced with two shows that got half Mad’s ratings. Nice.
I totally agree! I had a pitch meeting with this Jerk-Wad once. As I walked down the long hallways of Fox, the walls were practically painted with American Idol posters. Then I pitched him a music based show. His rejection words to me were, “Music shows don’t work.” I remembered that as I passed a million more American Idol posters on my way to the exit. Apparently, not only don’t music shows work, but Todd doesn’t work either. How they justified his position when he only aired two failed shows under his watch is beyond me!
So… the guy is a jerk-wad because he passed on your pitch. Where did you end up selling your awesome idea ? I’m sure it’s on the air now and is a huge hit… what’s the name of your hit show ?
See Melvin’s comments above.
He cancelled MAD tv. that has to count for something
His track record isn’t one that instills a lot of confidence, does it? Bizarre how he can continue to find work. If this doesn’t work out, he can become a professional Lou Ferrigno look-alike.
Sort of bitter people, Billie and Just Saying are. The bigger question has to do with Jamie Foxx and what he’s going to do in sketch. His last attempt at FX was funny but the comedy was pretty juvenile. He’s one of the hippest and sharpest voices out there, I just wonder whether or not he’s up for doing something that reflects the world in some way. That would be something.
“[Jamie Foxx] is one of the hippest and sharpest voices out there”???
According to whom? Amongst those I know he doesn’t even rise to the level of a well-known name like Banksy in terms of relevance.
To think that Todd is soley responsible for the demise of all those shows makes no sense. Whether you’re the network executive or EP, there are other layers and factors: time slot, promos, etc.
Todd’s a great guy: he says what he means and means what he says. I’m guessing his bosses at the network know and like that about him, since he’s EP’ing the Jamie Foxx show. He’s a stand up guy, makes decisions, creative, approachable, and understands production value.
Amen to Steve comment and that of Kozumi.
Todd’s a great guy…and more importantly, very talented. Anyone who’s a true insider knows that he’s a good, honest person – always with an open mind and an open door. He deovotes immesurable time to helping other folks get their careers off the ground. Pile on is probably one of those people – even if the pitch wasn’t accepted.
I’m always amazed at the bitter wannabes who come out of the woodwork (anonymously of course) on Deadline to trash people. The people above who blame Todd single-handedly for the failure of various shows clearly don’t have an understanding of how television works. There are a million factors and people that contribute to a show’s success or failure — not one person. Todd is an incredibly passionate, hard-working, generous, talented and decent guy (a rare commodity in this town) and he deserves far better than the the some of the comments on this page.
It doesn’t matter if he’s hard-working or nice, it matters if he can determine what’s funny, and his track record shows he doesn’t.
“To think that Todd is soley responsible for the demise of all those shows makes no sense.”
Really?? Showrunners and EPs can make or break a show.
Example: Shortly after “Peter Lassally, 72, will take full day-to-day control of the show after production company Worldwide Pants declined to extend the contract of exec producer Todd Yasui.”, the show surged upwards. From an article: “Ferguson credits CBS and “Late Late Show” executive producer Peter Lassally for giving him the freedom to let him be himself, thick Scottish accent and all.”
All this talk here about being untalented and failing upwards (I guess no one here knows this is called “The Peter Principle”) is the same kind of snark being thrown since LA has had Freeways.
The business runs on nepotism and the old boys club. That’s 99% of it. Every blue moon they’ll let a Spike Lee in and say, “See? We TOLD you this is a meritocracy” to bolster the illusion.
In other words, talent has historically and currently NEVER been the barometer for entrance into the business. There are 3 ways to enter:
1. KNOW someone on the inside who has juice, be on good terms with them, and they’re willing to do something for you;
2. Be RELATED to someone on the inside who has juice, be on good terms with them, and they’re willing to do something for you, and
3. Be SLEEPING with someone on the inside who has juice, be on good terms with them, and they’re willing to do something for you.
THAT’S IT. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just perpetuating an age old myth that needs to die a quick death.
Upward failure. Accomplished nothing at FOX. Spike Feresten, Wanda Sykes, both dismal failures. Foxx/Crockett show will fail, too. But Yasui will put EVP on another failure on his resume.
That didn’t take long, did it. 6 episodes. Wow.