---
name: "James L. Brooks"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/james-l-brooks"
fi1m_id: "james-l-brooks"
imdb_id: "nm0000985"
tmdb_id: 3388
wikidata_id: "Q95125"
roles: ["Writer","Producer","Director"]
born: "9 May 1940"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 15
average_fi1m_score: 83
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-22T03:19:50.917862+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."
---

# James L. Brooks

## Identity

James L. Brooks

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/james-l-brooks
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** james-l-brooks
- **IMDb ID:** nm0000985
- **TMDB ID:** 3388
- **Wikidata ID:** Q95125
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_L._Brooks, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q95125, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000985/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/3388

Writer and producer. Born 9 May 1940 in North Bergen, New Jersey, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Producer, Director
- **Born:** 9 May 1940, North Bergen, New Jersey, USA
- **Active:** 1970–present
- **Also known as:** James Lawrence Brooks
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 15: 1 acting, 3 directing, 4 writing, 6 producing, 1 other
- **Frequently works with:** [Al Jean](https://film.one/person/al-jean.md), [David Silverman](https://film.one/person/david-silverman.md), [Nancy Cartwright](https://film.one/person/nancy-cartwright.md), [Yeardley Smith](https://film.one/person/yeardley-smith.md), [Dan Castellaneta](https://film.one/person/dan-castellaneta.md), [Danny DeVito](https://film.one/person/danny-devito.md), [Matt Groening](https://film.one/person/matt-groening.md), [Matt Selman](https://film.one/person/matt-selman.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 3 Oscars (3 won · 5 nominated)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 83, as writer, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1970s 84 (3), 1980s 82 (6), 1990s 80 (4), 2000s 70 (1), 2020s 75 (1)
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Comedy 4, Animation 2, Drama 1, Family 1
- **Screen time:** 1 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $527m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_L._Brooks, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q95125, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000985/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/3388

## Coming up

- *The New Simpsons Movie* (2027-09-01), Producer

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*The Simpsons*](https://film.one/tv/the-simpsons.md) (88), [*Jerry Maguire*](https://film.one/film/jerry-maguire.md) (81), [*Big*](https://film.one/film/big.md) (81), [*The Simpsons Movie*](https://film.one/film/the-simpsons-movie.md) (70)
- **Apple TV:** [*Taxi*](https://film.one/tv/taxi.md) (86)
- **Hulu:** [*Terms of Endearment*](https://film.one/film/terms-of-endearment.md) (81)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*As Good as It Gets*](https://film.one/film/as-good-as-it-gets.md) (77)

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

## Fi1m on James L. Brooks

> James L. Brooks writes people who would rather be right than liked, puts them in a room together and lets them talk. The talk is among the best in American comedy; the trouble is how much he forgives them by the end.

Somebody in a James L. Brooks script says a clever thing, and it lands on somebody else, and it hurts. That is the habit. In *Broadcast News* (1987) the newsroom wisecracks have victims. In *Terms of Endearment* (1983) Aurora Greenway and her daughter can be irritated and funny in the same conversation and neither apologises for it. Brooks does not tidy his people up before letting us meet them, which is why the comedy is sharp and why the feeling, when it arrives, has a chance of being believed.

The habit comes from television, and before that from a newsroom. Brooks began as a copyboy and writer at CBS News in New York in the mid-1960s, moved to Los Angeles in 1965, and with Allan Burns co-created *Room 222* (1969) and then *The Mary Tyler Moore Show* (1970). That series gave Mary Richards a career and a private life and treated neither as a temporary arrangement, and its scripts let the actors disagree without a lecture attached. *Taxi* (1978) followed. He moved into features with *Terms of Endearment*, then *Broadcast News*, co-developed *The Simpsons* (1989) from *The Tracey Ullman Show* shorts, and made *As Good as It Gets* (1997). Later he directed *Spanglish* (2004) and *How Do You Know* (2010), which critics found uneven in tone; we have not reviewed them.

What works is the talk and the casting. Holly Hunter, William Hurt and Albert Brooks in *Broadcast News* are people who discuss work to avoid discussing themselves, and Richard Marks cuts their exchanges so the jokes stay brisk and still sting. Jack Nicholson has made four films with Brooks and is used best where he meets equal force: against Shirley MacLaine in *Terms of Endearment*, neither of them willing to let the other have the last word. In *As Good as It Gets* we laughed at Melvin Udall's tirades and then felt uneasy about how quickly his cruelty had become part of the entertainment. The precision of the lines accounts for both reactions, and Brooks knows it.

What does not work is the ending, again and again. Brooks lets his people be unpleasant scene by scene, then the plot asks us to accept that they have changed more than the scenes have shown. Melvin gets a little nicer and the film treats it as a transformation. The back-stabbing in the Washington bureau is real, and then the romance takes the discomfort away. The music is the tell: Bill Conti in *Broadcast News* and Michael Gore in *Terms of Endearment* both push us towards a tenderness the actors had already supplied. Both films run past 130 minutes and would survive a firmer cut.

Start with *Broadcast News*, then *The Mary Tyler Moore Show*. When the score swells, watch the actors instead; they have usually done the work already.

## Biography

James L. Brooks is an American writer, producer and director. He co-created the television series *The Mary Tyler Moore Show* (1970) and *Taxi* (1978), and co-developed *The Simpsons* (1989), on which he is credited as writer and executive producer.

Brooks founded Gracie Films and directed the feature films *Terms of Endearment* (1983), *Broadcast News* (1987) and *As Good as It Gets* (1997). He has also produced films including *Big* (1988), *Jerry Maguire* (1996) and *The Simpsons Movie* (2007).

He received three Academy Awards for *Terms of Endearment* and numerous Emmy Awards for his television work.

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org, britannica.com.*

## On Fi1m (15)

### Performed in (1)

- *Real Life* (1979), Fi1m 77, as Driving Evaluator — [page](https://film.one/film/real-life.md)

### Directed (3)

- *As Good as It Gets* (1997), Fi1m 77, Director, Screenplay, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/as-good-as-it-gets.md)
- *Broadcast News* (1987), Fi1m 84, Producer, Director, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/broadcast-news.md)
- *Terms of Endearment* (1983), Fi1m 81, Screenplay, Director, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/terms-of-endearment.md)

### Wrote (4) — the average rests on these

- *The Simpsons Movie* (2007), Fi1m 70, Screenplay, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-simpsons-movie.md)
- *The Simpsons* (1989), Fi1m 88, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-simpsons.md)
- *Taxi* (1978), Fi1m 86, Writer, Creator — [page](https://film.one/tv/taxi.md)
- *The Mary Tyler Moore Show* (1970), Fi1m 88, Writer, Creator, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-mary-tyler-moore-show.md)

### Produced (6)

- *Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.* (2023), Fi1m 75, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret.md)
- *Bottle Rocket* (1996), Fi1m 78, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/bottle-rocket.md)
- *Jerry Maguire* (1996), Fi1m 81, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/jerry-maguire.md)
- *Say Anything...* (1989), Fi1m 81, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/say-anything.md)
- *The War of the Roses* (1989), Fi1m 75, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-war-of-the-roses.md)
- *Big* (1988), Fi1m 81, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/big.md)

### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited

- *My Own Private Idaho* (1991), Fi1m 82, Thanks — [page](https://film.one/film/my-own-private-idaho.md)

## Complete filmography (69)

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

- *The New Simpsons Movie* (2027), Producer
- *Yellow Mirror* (2026), Executive Producer
- *Simpsley* (2026), Executive Producer
- *Extreme Makeover: Homer Edition* (2026), Executive Producer
- *Ella McCay* (2025), Director, Producer, Writer
- *The Simpsons: O C'mon All Ye Faithful* (2024), Producer, Executive Producer
- *The Most Wonderful Time of the Year* (2024), Producer
- *May the 12th Be with You* (2024), Producer
- *Maggie Simpson in "Rogue Not Quite One"* (2023), Producer
- *Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.* (2023), Producer — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/film/are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret.md)
- *Welcome to the Club* (2022), Producer
- *When Billie Met Lisa* (2022), Producer
- *The Simpsons in Plusaversary* (2021), Producer
- *The Simpsons | Balenciaga* (2021), Producer
- *The Good, the Bart, and the Loki* (2021), Producer
- *Maggie Simpson in "The Force Awakens from Its Nap"* (2021), Producer
- *Maggie Simpson in "Playdate with Destiny"* (2020), Writer, Producer
- *Icebox* (2018), Producer
- *The Edge of Seventeen* (2016), Producer
- *Ride* (2014), Thanks
- *Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"* (2012), Writer, Producer
- *50/50* (2011), Thanks
- *How Do You Know* (2010), Director, Writer, Producer
- *A Terrifying Message from Al Gore* (2007), Thanks
- *The Simpsons Movie* (2007), Producer, Screenplay — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/the-simpsons-movie.md)
- *Spanglish* (2004), Director, Producer, Writer
- *The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror* (2003), Writer
- *Riding in Cars with Boys* (2001), Producer
- *What About Joan?* (2001), series, Producer
- *The Simpsons: Too Hot For TV* (1999), Scenario Writer
- *As Good as It Gets* (1997), Director, Screenplay, Producer — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/as-good-as-it-gets.md)
- *Jerry Maguire* (1996), Producer — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/jerry-maguire.md)
- *Bottle Rocket* (1996), Executive Producer — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/bottle-rocket.md)
- *I'll Do Anything* (1994), Director, Writer, Producer
- *The Critic* (1994), series, Producer
- *Phenom* (1993), series, Producer
- *Sibs* (1991), series, Producer
- *My Own Private Idaho* (1991), Thanks — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/my-own-private-idaho.md)
- *The Best of the Tracey Ullman Show* (1990), Executive Producer
- *The Simpsons* (1989), series, as James L. Brooks (voice) · Writer, Executive Producer — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-simpsons.md)
- *The War of the Roses* (1989), Producer — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/film/the-war-of-the-roses.md)
- *The Simpsons: Family Therapy* (1989), Producer
- *Say Anything...* (1989), Executive Producer — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/say-anything.md)
- *Big* (1988), Producer — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/big.md)
- *Broadcast News* (1987), Producer, Director, Writer — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/broadcast-news.md)
- *The Tracey Ullman Show* (1987), series, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator
- *Jumpin' Jack Flash* (1986), Thanks
- *Lost in America* (1985), as Party Guest (uncredited)
- *Terms of Endearment* (1983), Screenplay, Producer, Director — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/terms-of-endearment.md)
- *Modern Romance* (1981), as David
- *Carlton Your Doorman* (1980), Characters
- *Starting Over* (1979), Producer, Screenplay
- *The Associates* (1979), series, Producer, Creator
- *Real Life* (1979), as Driving Evaluator — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/real-life.md)
- *Taxi* (1978), series, as Boxing Fan (uncredited) · Writer, Executive Producer, Creator — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/taxi.md)
- *Cindy* (1978), Writer, Producer
- *Lou Grant* (1977), series, Executive Producer, Creator
- *Audience Research* (1976), as Paul Reynold
- *Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers* (1974), series, Creator
- *Rhoda* (1974), series, Writer, Producer, Creator
- *Thursday's Game* (1974), Writer, Producer
- *The Mary Tyler Moore Show* (1970), series, as Rabbi (uncredited) · Writer, Executive Producer, Creator — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-mary-tyler-moore-show.md)
- *Room 222* (1969), series, Creator
- *The Doris Day Show* (1968), series, Writer
- *Accidental Family* (1967), series, Writer
- *That Girl* (1966), series, Writer
- *My Mother the Car* (1965), series, Writer
- *The Andy Griffith Show* (1960), series, Writer
- *The Process*, Actor

## Gallery

- ![James L. Brooks](https://film.one/media/person/61929/gallery-cfa8adda2552.jpg) James L. Brooks — Tim from Keene, NH, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Jameslbrooks.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![James L. Brooks](https://film.one/media/person/61929/gallery-b2bd41725abb.jpg) James L. Brooks — Image via TMDB
- ![James L. Brooks](https://film.one/media/person/61929/gallery-81bbe9dcba45.jpg) James L. Brooks — Image via TMDB
- ![James L. Brooks](https://film.one/media/person/61929/gallery-de5486b46e61.jpg) James L. Brooks — Image via TMDB
- ![James L. Brooks](https://film.one/media/person/61929/gallery-36cd56b593a7.jpg) James L. Brooks — Image via TMDB
- ![James L. Brooks](https://film.one/media/person/61929/gallery-dcd27c018db1.jpg) James L. Brooks — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 3 won, 5 nominated

- 1998: Best Picture (nominated), for *As Good as It Gets*
- 1998: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated), for *As Good as It Gets*
- 1997: Best Picture (nominated), for *Jerry Maguire*
- 1988: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated), for *Broadcast News*
- 1988: Best Picture (nominated), for *Broadcast News*
- 1984: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (won), for *Terms of Endearment*
- 1984: Best Director (won), for *Terms of Endearment*
- 1984: Best Picture (won), for *Terms of Endearment*

### Primetime Emmy Awards — 2 won

- 1977: Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (won), for *The Mary Tyler Moore Show*
- 1971: Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (won), for *The Mary Tyler Moore Show*

### Other awards — 1 won

- Disney Legends 2024: Disney Legends (won)

*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/james-l-brooks