Each year, Variety celebrates the live-action, scripted TV producers whose series made the biggest impact over the course of the year.
This year two Montgomery County natives were featured in the article. Darren Star, for Emily in Paris and Younger, and Chris Van Dusen for Bridgerton.
Star grew up in Potomac. He attended Wyngate ES, Cabin John MS (then Junior High), and graduated from Churchill.
After graduating from UCLA, he went on to create hit shows like Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, and Sex and the City. Beverly Hills 90210 was originally going to be named Potomac 20854 and focus on teens growing up in the area, before a change was made to sunny California.
He created and wrote Emily in Paris for Netflix (it was recently renewed for a second season), and continued his work on the TV Land series he created, Younger.
Van Dusen grew up in Montgomery County as well, graduating from Watkins Mill High School in 1997.
Van Dusen worked on Grey’s Anatomy from 2005 to 2012, and, although uncredited, assisted in the transformation of Grey’s Anatomy into its spin-off, Private Practice. He was also a producer and writer on the ABC drama, Scandal.
He created the period drama, Bridgerton, which became the number one show on Netflix. The show is based on Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton collection novels.
