---
name: "Tim Hunter"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/tim-hunter"
fi1m_id: "tim-hunter"
imdb_id: "nm0006853"
tmdb_id: 15858
wikidata_id: "Q548834"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "15 June 1947"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 16
average_fi1m_score: 78
average_as: "director"
average_over: 16
updated: "2026-09-23T13:53:40.210404+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."
---

# Tim Hunter

## Identity

Tim Hunter

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/tim-hunter
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** tim-hunter
- **IMDb ID:** nm0006853
- **TMDB ID:** 15858
- **Wikidata ID:** Q548834
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Hunter_(director), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q548834, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006853/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/15858

Director. Born 15 June 1947 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 15 June 1947, Los Angeles, California, USA
- **Active:** 1990–2013
- **Also known as:**  Lope deVargas 
- **Frequently works with:** [Alan Taylor](https://film.one/person/alan-taylor.md), [Paris Barclay](https://film.one/person/paris-barclay.md), [Peter Medak](https://film.one/person/peter-medak.md), [David Semel](https://film.one/person/david-semel.md), [Elodie Keene](https://film.one/person/elodie-keene.md), [Guy Ferland](https://film.one/person/guy-ferland.md), [Jace Alexander](https://film.one/person/jace-alexander.md), [Jeremy Podeswa](https://film.one/person/jeremy-podeswa.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as director, over 16 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 79 (5), 2000s 78 (9), 2010s 72 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 78 to 74 across 12 titles
- **Score spread:** 6 at 80+, 10 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 16, Crime 9, Mystery 6, Comedy 1, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 1, Western 1
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Hunter_(director), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q548834, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006853/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/15858

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*House*](https://film.one/tv/house-2004.md) (78), [*Nip/Tuck*](https://film.one/tv/nip-tuck.md) (70), [*Glee*](https://film.one/tv/glee.md) (68)
- **Netflix:** [*Breaking Bad*](https://film.one/tv/breaking-bad.md) (91), [*Hannibal*](https://film.one/tv/hannibal-2013.md) (81)
- **HBO Max:** [*Deadwood*](https://film.one/tv/deadwood.md) (91), [*Carnivàle*](https://film.one/tv/carnivale.md) (76)
- **Apple TV:** [*Twin Peaks*](https://film.one/tv/twin-peaks.md) (86), [*Dexter*](https://film.one/tv/dexter.md) (74)
- **AMC+:** [*Mad Men*](https://film.one/tv/mad-men.md) (88)
- **Paramount+:** [*Beverly Hills, 90210*](https://film.one/tv/beverly-hills-90210.md) (74)
- **Hulu:** [*Law & Order*](https://film.one/tv/law-and-order.md) (72)

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

## Fi1m on Tim Hunter

> Tim Hunter made one feature in 1986 that people still talk about, then spent thirty years directing other people's television so well that nobody talks about him at all. That is a compliment, and it is also the limit.

Tim Hunter's name comes up at the end of an episode you have just enjoyed, of a programme whose look you would know with the sound off, and it is a fair bet you did not notice the join. He has directed for *Twin Peaks* (1990), *Homicide: Life on the Street* (1993), *Carnivàle* (2003), *Deadwood* (2004), *Mad Men* (2007), *Breaking Bad* (2008) and *Hannibal* (2013), a list most directors would take in exchange for a career. Our reviews of all of them praise the look and name the cinematographers and the writers who run the shows. None of them mentions Hunter. That is not an oversight; it is the job.

It did not start that way. He wrote *Over the Edge* (1979), then directed *Tex* (1982), from the S.E. Hinton novel; Matt Dillon, his most frequent actor, made three films with him. *River's Edge* (1986) is the one people remember: teenagers, a murder, and the question of what anyone does about it. The reviews called his features downbeat, and from the late 1980s he moved to television and, apart from the occasional film, stayed. "It all starts with the script," he has said, and he has spent three decades working from other people's.

What he does well is hard to see. The strength that gets him hired is turning up to a programme with a settled style and a late script and delivering an hour that looks like the rest of it, at pace, without fuss. On *Sons of Anarchy* (2008) we noted the directors taking turns and every episode cut towards the same closing montage; Hunter's episodes are in that rota, and we could not tell you which. Rewatching the first season of *Breaking Bad*, whose finale is his, we were slightly unsettled to find we could not see where his hand ended and the programme's began. We had gone looking for him, the show had swallowed him whole, and it was better television for it.

The cost is that an episode director cannot rescue a programme that has lost its way. *Glee* (2009) forgot which parts of itself were good, *Nip/Tuck* (2003) lost its nerve and then its mind, and the third season of *Hannibal* slows nearly to a stop while everyone talks in aphorisms. Hunter was there for all three, and none of it is his to answer for, which also means none of the best of it is his to claim. Thirty years of this has left him with a filmography that says a great deal about the programmes and almost nothing about him.

If you want to find him, start with *River's Edge*, the one film where the choices were plainly his. Then watch *Deadwood* and *Breaking Bad*, which carry two of our highest scores, and try to spot the join. You will not, and he would probably take that as the compliment it is.

## Biography

Tim Hunter is an American television and film director. Born on 15 June 1947 in Los Angeles, California, he is the son of screenwriter Ian McLellan Hunter and graduated from Harvard University in 1968.

In the early to mid-1980s he directed feature films including *Tex* (1982) and *River's Edge* (1986), the latter of which won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Picture. Since the late 1980s he has worked primarily in television, directing episodes of series including *Twin Peaks* (1990), *Deadwood* (2004), *Mad Men* (2007) and *Breaking Bad* (2008), as well as many others such as *House*, *Dexter* and *American Horror Story*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, themoviedb.org.*

## On Fi1m (16)

- *Hannibal* (2013), Fi1m 81, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/hannibal-2013.md)
- *The Blacklist* (2013), Fi1m 63, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-blacklist.md)
- *Glee* (2009), Fi1m 68, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/glee.md)
- *Breaking Bad* (2008), Fi1m 91, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/breaking-bad.md)
- *Sons of Anarchy* (2008), Fi1m 67, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/sons-of-anarchy.md)
- *Mad Men* (2007), Fi1m 88, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/mad-men.md)
- *Dexter* (2006), Fi1m 74, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/dexter.md)
- *Deadwood* (2004), Fi1m 91, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/deadwood.md)
- *House* (2004), Fi1m 78, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/house-2004.md)
- *Carnivàle* (2003), Fi1m 76, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/carnivale.md)
- *Nip/Tuck* (2003), Fi1m 70, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/nip-tuck.md)
- *Fallen Angels* (1993), Fi1m 72, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/fallen-angels-1993.md)
- *Homicide: Life on the Street* (1993), Fi1m 89, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/homicide-life-on-the-street.md)
- *Beverly Hills, 90210* (1990), Fi1m 74, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/beverly-hills-90210.md)
- *Law & Order* (1990), Fi1m 72, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/law-and-order.md)
- *Twin Peaks* (1990), Fi1m 86, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/twin-peaks.md)

## Complete filmography (76)

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

- *By Kevin Thomas* (2024), Director
- *Smiley Face Killers* (2021), Director
- *NEXT* (2020), series, Director, Co-Executive Producer
- *Looking Glass* (2018), Director
- *Frequency* (2016), series, Director
- *Underground* (2016), series, Director
- *Scream: The TV Series* (2015), series, Director
- *Wayward Pines* (2015), series, Director
- *The Messengers* (2015), series, Director
- *Powers* (2015), series, Director
- *Bosch* (2015), series, Director
- *Gotham* (2014), series, Director
- *Intelligence* (2014), series, Director
- *The Blacklist* (2013), series, Director — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-blacklist.md)
- *Hannibal* (2013), series, Director — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/hannibal-2013.md)
- *American Horror Story* (2011), series, Director
- *Revenge* (2011), series, Director
- *Necessary Roughness* (2011), series, Director
- *Pretty Little Liars* (2010), series, Director
- *Caprica* (2010), series, Director
- *Darwin's Brave New World* (2009), series, as Parslow
- *Glee* (2009), series, Director — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/tv/glee.md)
- *Lie to Me* (2009), series, Director
- *Sons of Anarchy* (2008), series, Director — Fi1m 67, [page](https://film.one/tv/sons-of-anarchy.md)
- *Breaking Bad* (2008), series, Director — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/tv/breaking-bad.md)
- *Saving Grace* (2007), series, Director
- *Mad Men* (2007), series, Director — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/mad-men.md)
- *Army Wives* (2007), series, Director
- *Kings of South Beach* (2007), Director
- *The Far Side of Jericho* (2006), Director
- *Dexter* (2006), series, Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/dexter.md)
- *Brotherhood* (2006), series, Director
- *South Beach* (2006), series, Director
- *What Is It?* (2005), Thanks
- *Control* (2004), Director
- *House* (2004), series, Director — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/house-2004.md)
- *The Failures* (2004), Director
- *CSI: NY* (2004), series, Director
- *The 4400* (2004), series, Director
- *Deadwood* (2004), series, Director — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/tv/deadwood.md)
- *Cold Case* (2003), series, Director
- *Carnivàle* (2003), series, Director — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/tv/carnivale.md)
- *Nip/Tuck* (2003), series, Director — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/tv/nip-tuck.md)
- *Out of Order* (2003), series, Director
- *Video Voyeur: The Susan Wilson Story* (2002), Director
- *Crossing Jordan* (2001), series, Director
- *Anatomy of a Hate Crime* (2001), Director
- *Soul Food* (2000), series, Director
- *Mean Streak* (1999), Director
- *Rescuers: Stories of Courage - Two Couples* (1998), Director
- *Four Corners* (1998), series, Director
- *Rescuers: Stories of Courage - Two Families* (1998), Director
- *The Maker* (1997), Director
- *The People Next Door* (1996), Director
- *The Colony* (1996), Director
- *Central Park West* (1995), series, Director
- *Nowhere Man* (1995), series, Director
- *Chicago Hope* (1994), series, Director
- *The Saint of Fort Washington* (1993), Director
- *Bakersfield P.D.* (1993), series, Director
- *Fallen Angels* (1993), series, Director — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/fallen-angels-1993.md)
- *Homicide: Life on the Street* (1993), series, Director — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/tv/homicide-life-on-the-street.md)
- *Eerie, Indiana* (1991), series, Director
- *Lies of the Twins* (1991), Director
- *Dark Justice* (1991), series, Director
- *Beverly Hills, 90210* (1990), series, Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/beverly-hills-90210.md)
- *Law & Order* (1990), series, Director — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/law-and-order.md)
- *Twin Peaks* (1990), series, Director — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/twin-peaks.md)
- *Paint It Black* (1990), Director
- *Hard Copy* (1987), series, Director
- *River's Edge* (1986), Director
- *Sylvester* (1985), Director
- *Tex* (1982), Director, Screenplay
- *Falcon Crest* (1981), series, Director
- *Over the Edge* (1979), Writer
- *Returning to Earth*, Director

---
© 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/tim-hunter