---
name: "Greg Daniels"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/greg-daniels"
fi1m_id: "greg-daniels"
imdb_id: "nm0199948"
tmdb_id: 1216630
wikidata_id: "Q1544904"
roles: ["Writer","Director","Producer"]
born: "13 June 1963"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 7
average_fi1m_score: 87
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-10-01T00:36:10.420424+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Greg Daniels

## Identity

Greg Daniels

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/greg-daniels
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** greg-daniels
- **IMDb ID:** nm0199948
- **TMDB ID:** 1216630
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1544904
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Daniels, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1544904, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0199948/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1216630

Writer and director. Born 13 June 1963 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Director, Producer
- **Born:** 13 June 1963, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
- **Active:** 1989–present
- **Also known as:** Gregory Martin Daniels , 그렉 다니엘스
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 7: 3 directing, 3 writing, 1 producing
- **Frequently works with:** [David Rogers](https://film.one/person/david-rogers.md), [Paul Lieberstein](https://film.one/person/paul-lieberstein.md), [Alex Hardcastle](https://film.one/person/alex-hardcastle.md), [Brent Forrester](https://film.one/person/brent-forrester.md), [Charles McDougall](https://film.one/person/charles-mcdougall.md), [Claire Scanlon](https://film.one/person/claire-scanlon.md), [Jeffrey Blitz](https://film.one/person/jeffrey-blitz.md), [Jon Vitti](https://film.one/person/jon-vitti.md)
- **Primetime Emmy Awards:** 1 Emmy (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 87, as writer, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 89 (2), 1990s 82 (1), 2000s 80 (2), 2010s 72 (1), 2020s 80 (1)
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Comedy 3, Animation 2, Family 1
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Daniels, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1544904, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0199948/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1216630

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*The Simpsons*](https://film.one/tv/the-simpsons.md) (88), [*King of the Hill*](https://film.one/tv/king-of-the-hill-1997.md) (82), [*The Mindy Project*](https://film.one/tv/the-mindy-project.md) (72)
- **Peacock:** [*Parks and Recreation*](https://film.one/tv/parks-and-recreation.md) (83), [*The Office*](https://film.one/tv/the-office-2005.md) (77)
- **Netflix:** [*Seinfeld*](https://film.one/tv/seinfeld.md) (90)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Greg Daniels

> Greg Daniels is at his best when he lets ordinary people be foolish without making them contemptible. We value the patience of *King of the Hill* more than the exaggerated embarrassments that sometimes trouble *The Office*.

Four men stare at a lawnmower in *King of the Hill* (1997), and the shot lasts long enough to be the joke. We laughed because Greg Daniels and Mike Judge trust the pause, rather than making the men do anything more amusing than look. Their propane salesman, Hank Hill, wants things to work properly, and that modest wish supplies plenty of trouble. Daniels is worth watching for this willingness to stay with people whose problems need no enlargement.

Daniels joined the writing staff of *The Simpsons* (1989) in 1993, contributing episodes including *Homer and Apu* and *Lisa's Wedding*. That programme's sharpest stretches make room for tenderness amid the merciless jokes. With Judge, he built *King of the Hill* around people drawn at human proportions, in the flat browns and greens of an ordinary suburb. Its long run does wear some stories thin, but the restraint gives small disagreements enough weight to carry an episode.

*The Office* (2005) needed a more conspicuous adjustment: Daniels adapted the British series, then found a warmer American tone. The borrowed situations initially get in the cast's way, inviting comparisons before these characters have had time to become distinct. The mockumentary format lets them explain themselves to the camera while their behaviour gives us reasons to doubt them. Steve Carell's Michael Scott makes the boss's need to be liked funny, exhausting and occasionally touching. Daniels becomes more persuasive as the characters develop their own foolish habits, although an embarrassment can still be pushed so far that we stop believing anyone would behave like this.

With Michael Schur, he co-created *Parks and Recreation* (2009), taking workplace comedy into local government. Creating the digital-afterlife comedy *Upload* (2020) took him further from the familiar office and suburb. We are most interested when the premise leaves him time to notice how people irritate one another, then have to carry on together. He does not need a bigger embarrassment to make that funny. Start with *King of the Hill*, but allow yourself to leave the alley when the stories begin to feel familiar.

## Biography

Greg Daniels is an American screenwriter, television producer and director. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard University, where he wrote for the Harvard Lampoon alongside Conan O'Brien.

Daniels began his career writing for *Not Necessarily the News* and *Saturday Night Live*. He wrote the *Seinfeld* episode 'The Parking Space' (1992) and joined the writing staff of *The Simpsons* in 1993, contributing episodes including 'Lisa's Wedding' and 'Bart Sells His Soul'. He later co-created *King of the Hill* with Mike Judge, adapted the British series *The Office* for American television, and co-created *Parks and Recreation*.

Daniels has received multiple Emmy Awards, including for writing on *Saturday Night Live* and animated programming on *The Simpsons*. He is married to Susanne Daniels.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, simpsons.fandom.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (7)

### Directed (3)

- *The Mindy Project* (2012), Fi1m 72, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-mindy-project.md)
- *Parks and Recreation* (2009), Fi1m 83, Director, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator — [page](https://film.one/tv/parks-and-recreation.md)
- *The Office* (2005), Fi1m 77, Teleplay, Writer, Director, Creator — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-office-2005.md)

### Wrote (3) — the average rests on these

- *King of the Hill* (1997), Fi1m 82, Writer, Creator, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/king-of-the-hill-1997.md)
- *Seinfeld* (1989), Fi1m 90, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/seinfeld.md)
- *The Simpsons* (1989), Fi1m 88, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-simpsons.md)

### Produced (1)

- *Common Side Effects* (2025), Fi1m 80, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/common-side-effects.md)

## Complete filmography (21)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Paper* (2025), series, Executive Producer, Writer, Director, Creator
- *Common Side Effects* (2025), series, Executive Producer — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/common-side-effects.md)
- *Exploding Kittens* (2024), series, Executive Producer
- *In the Know* (2024), series, Executive Producer
- *Praise Petey* (2023), series, Executive Producer
- *Space Force* (2020), series, Executive Producer, Writer, Creator
- *Upload* (2020), series, Executive Producer, Writer, Director, Creator
- *A Parks and Recreation Special* (2020), Executive Producer
- *Hello Ladies* (2013), series, Director
- *The Office Retrospective* (2013), Executive Producer
- *The Office: Secret Santa Pack* (2012), Writer
- *The Mindy Project* (2012), series, Director — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-mindy-project.md)
- *Parks and Recreation* (2009), series, Writer, Director, Executive Producer, Creator — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/parks-and-recreation.md)
- *The Office* (2005), series, Writer, Director, Executive Producer, Teleplay, Creator — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-office-2005.md)
- *The Making of 'King of the Hill'* (2003), Actor
- *Monsignor Martinez* (2000), Writer
- *Saturday Night Live: The Best of Phil Hartman* (1998), Writer
- *King of the Hill* (1997), series, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/king-of-the-hill-1997.md)
- *The Simpsons* (1989), series, Writer, Producer — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-simpsons.md)
- *Seinfeld* (1989), series, Writer — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/tv/seinfeld.md)
- *Chelm: The Smartest Place on Earth*, Writer, Executive Producer

## Gallery

- ![Greg Daniels in 2022](https://film.one/media/person/61660/gallery-fe6e93e34613.png) Greg Daniels in 2022 — Criticologos, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Greg_Daniels.png/1280px-Greg_Daniels.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Greg Daniels](https://film.one/media/person/61660/gallery-68d6190aebea.png) Greg Daniels — Criticologos, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Greg_Daniels_2022.png/1280px-Greg_Daniels_2022.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Greg Daniels in 2022](https://film.one/media/person/61660/gallery-51a37787ed0e.png) Greg Daniels in 2022 — Criticologos, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Greg_Daniels_2022_%281%29.png/1280px-Greg_Daniels_2022_%281%29.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Greg Daniels in 2022](https://film.one/media/person/61660/gallery-0aaa6a030d07.png) Greg Daniels in 2022 — Criticologos, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Greg_Daniels_2022_%28cropped%29.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Greg Daniels](https://film.one/media/person/61660/gallery-dc71f049c8a3.jpg) Greg Daniels — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Primetime Emmy Awards — 1 won

- 2007: Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (won), for *The Office*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/greg-daniels