From ‘That ‘70s Show’ and ‘Roseanne’ to ‘Peaky Blinders,’ Producer Caryn Mandabach Turns Out TV Shows With Lasting Power

Caryn Mandabach 's storied career as one of the most successful producers in television has something that few others in her field can claim — longevity of nearly 50 years. During that time, her output has included sitcoms (the original "One Day at a Time," "The Cosby Show," "3rd Rock From the Sun," "That '70s Show," "Roseanne" and more) to dark comedy ("Nurse Jackie") to period crime drama (" Peaky Blinders ").

She was just 8 years old when she realized she wanted to be a producer, relentlessly bossing her cousins around to put on shows for her grandmother's retirement home, Mandabach says. "I was by very nature theatrical and, more importantly, bossy," she laughs. "It wasn't about creation; I wanted to be in charge of platforming artists. I took improv classes back then, but I knew it wasn't me who had the talent. But I hoped and believed that I could recognize talent in others."

From that young age, Mandabach had an insatiable curiosity that still drives her today. She used to watch the credits for all the shows and learn the names of people and their jobs. "I really studied," she says. "So then, it [was] the writers. For me, the journey was getting to know the writers and frankly, the agents who were really wonderful — and helpful — to me when I was younger. I got to discover a lot of writers, give them their first jobs. And that gave me confidence."

After getting her foot in the door as an assistant producer on a loca L.A. Saturday show when she was 23, a legendary producer spotted her. "Norman Lear had this television show called 'One Day at a Time,' and he looked around and had to have a woman," she recalls. "He'd gotten into trouble for not having Black writers on all the other shows, and he needed a woman. I lucked out. ... Norman made me hire female writers on 'One Day at a Time,' none of whom, by the way, lasted very long. So I got to know the community. I was always trying to find female writers and female directors. That was my job."

Several years later, she joined what was to become TV's hottest production company and maker of sitcoms: Carsey-Werner. Seeing the success of Mandabach's work on "One Day at a Time," Marcy Carsey hired Mandabach, who was pregnant at the time. They connected on a deep level. "I really loved her. I just could feel what she was up to. [She was] very brave and very astute. I didn't know anything about business or politics or anything like that, but I was a really good producer. She knew I knew a lot of people because I would go out to the clubs at night, see new comics. I was out there."

Her first credit as a co-producer there was on "Oh Madeline," starring Madeline Kahn. The years that followed saw hit after hit — "The Cosby Show," "A Different World," "Roseanne," "Grace Under Fire," "Cybil" and "3rd Rock From the Sun" — and a few misses, such as "She TV" with Jennifer Coolidge, "Townies" with Molly Ringwald and a reteaming of Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad in "Cosby."

The constant in all of these shows: strong female characters who spoke their minds. "I wasn't on a mission, but I felt there was a missing piece: working class," she says, a void in TV series that she quickly filled. "It would be identifying something that wasn't there, that should be there, and there should be a woman who works. At at the time, 85% of the women who worked in the '80s wasn't because they wanted to but because they had to. That was a shift. So not to depict a working-class woman and how she runs her family was foolish." And "Roseanne" was born. Mandabach jokes that she was the producer who fired George Clooney, who had a recurring role on the show. "I told him, 'I'm so sorry, George. You're really a swell person. I'm sure you're gonna get a great job, but you're just not funny,'" she laughs. "About a week later he got 'ER,' so he was very fortunate."

Among all of her credits, "3rd Rock" is among her favorites. "There was a love for '3rd Rock' because I had seen 'Signs of Intelligent Life,' Lily [Tomlin] and Jane's [Wagner] project in New York, and it was just so heartfelt," Mandabach recalls. "It was about we're spinning around 60,000 miles an hour and 'Why are we crazy and idiots? Why aren't we nicer to each other?' How foolish we are and making sure that we all loved each other because we're children inside. It was fairly pure for me."

"That '70s Show" was another series that came about because of Mandabach's creative approach to seeing a void and knowing how to fill it. "The distributor said, 'You have to do men 18 to 49.' And I said, 'Well, there's no such thing as men 18 to 49. They're only 18 and 49.' And then I did math in my head: If you're 49 now, what year was it when you were 18?' And that was 1976."

In 2001, she was made a partner at Carsey-Werner. But as time went on, big studios were getting bigger with the consolidation and the explosion of platforms, so it became increasingly difficult for independent production companies like C-W to play the field. Three years later, she left. Among the projects that came next was "Nurse Jackie." "I'm most proud of having seen what was missing, which was the kind of despair that sets in when you're supposed to be doing good and you're supposed to believe in God, and yet everything around you is making you disappointed."

When 2006 rolled around, Mandabach made a life-changing decision — she packed up and moved to the U.K. She had gone to school there and had many friends, especially in the comedy community. The decision was also made in part because the copyright laws in the UK are very different from those in the U.S. In the UK, the producer retains the rights to their project, they own it, and therefore the producer can monetize it. Because then President Bill Clinton signed the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules in 1998, the same year "That '70s Show" debuted, Mandabach owned the rights to is as well as the rights to "Peaky Blinders," as she was the "studio" behind it.

"Peaky Blinders" creator Steven Knight has worked with Mandabach since its inception in 2013 and remains alongside her as the Netflix crime series continues in the film "The Immortal Man," currently in production.

"I think Caryn finds life absurd, which is an enormous help when you are working in TV," Knight says. "Her humor was pretty much bulletproof in any situation. Of course, she knew how to get the hard things done but I never, ever dreaded a script meeting with Caryn, not only because they were fun, but also because she would only comment if there was something to say."

Knight calls Mandabach a "comedy," adding that her achievements over so many years in the world of comedy is truly unique. "I believe comedy is the hardest thing to get right on the screen. It is delicate and illogical and needs someone who just knows. Caryn just knew how to make comedy happen. I am never surprised when someone who has mastered comedy proves themselves able to move into other disciplines. The understanding of what an audience wants is key, and Caryn knew exactly what the 'Peaky' audience wanted. She is also funny to be around, which helps with everything."

So much of her success through these decades is because of that drive of hers, that need to learn, to study, to tell more stories. She can't stop because it's not a business to her, it's an artform that has run through her veins since she was a child. Mandabach is more excited than ever about the road ahead. "The ambition comes from I don't know where. The curiosity [is at an] all-time high. The interest in culture, wherever it's from, giant interest," she says. "I'm not stopping."