Grant Tinker, the former chairman-CEO of NBC and the founder and producer of MTM Enterprises, has passed away last Monday in his Los Angeles Home. He was greatly praised for his work and well he took care of his employees. He has been in the entertainment business for almost half a century and his contribution in the history of television and NBC is countless.
One of his first projects was “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, “Lou Grant”, “WKRP in Cincinnati” and the very successful “Hill Street Blues”. In NBC, he was known for his mantra “First be best, then be first.” Which he applied in his work style ever since. It came to the point when his shows were at the bottom of the rankings but he never gave up which led to his success until today.
Now, two of his children are now producers and directors in the entertainment industry and they credit their passion to their father. They said their father had a high standard and everyone spoke highly of him which made them really proud to be his son. His son, Mark Tinker, is now the executive producer of the show “Chicago PD”
One of Tinker’s most groundbreaking project is the “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” that earned 67 Emmy Nominations and winning 29 of them which stayed on air up to 7 years and “The Cosby Show”. Then NBC also rose from the last under his excellent management. He successfully revived the network which paved the company’s way to being acquired by GE in 1986. Under his leadership, Tinker was able to increase the company’s profit up to $108 million.
Aside from his two sons, John, and Mark, he is survived by a sister, two more children, Michael and Jodie, his wife, Brooke Knapp and ten beautiful grandchildren.
