John Michael Lee[1] (born November 30, 1972) is an American television producer, writer, director, voice actor, and musician best known for his work on the MTV2 comedy series Wonder Showzen as a member of the rock band/art collective PFFR.
John Lee | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Lee at the premiere of Pee-wee's Big Holiday at SXSW 2016 | |
| Born | John Michael Lee November 30, 1972 |
| Occupation(s) | Television producer, writer, director, voice actor, musician |
Career
editLee is of Chinese ancestry[2] and is long time friends with fellow PFFR member and television producer Vernon Chatman. They met as undergraduates at San Francisco State University.[3] Along with Chatman, Lee is the co-creator, writer, director and star of Wonder Showzen. He voices Wordsworth, one of the main puppet characters and provides various other voices on the show. The pair also co-created Snoop Dogg's 2002 MTV sketch show Doggy Fizzle Televizzle. In addition, Lee is the co-creator of Xavier: Renegade Angel, also with Alyson Levy, Chatman and Jim Tozzi. He also worked as a creative consultant on the Adult Swim series Superjail! in 2009. In 2011, Lee, Levy and Chatman created the Adult Swim mini-series The Heart, She Holler starring Patton Oswalt and Kristen Schaal.
Lee was a member of the now defunct rock trio Muckafurgason. Although his primary role in the band was the bassist, the members of Muckafurgason were often known to "play musical chairs" with their instruments, seeing Lee occasionally turn his hand to lead vocals, guitar and even clarinet.[4] Through Muckafurgason he became acquainted with the band They Might Be Giants, who wrote the song "John Lee Supertaster" about him.
Lee was the director and executive producer of the Adult Swim series Delocated and Neon Joe: Werewolf Hunter season 2 starring Jon Glaser. In 2011, Lee began directing segments for the Comedy Central series Jon Benjamin Has a Van. He also directed the pilot of Inside Amy Schumer and several episodes of Broad City.
Lee's directorial debut was the 2016 Pee-wee Herman comedy film Pee-wee's Big Holiday. Afterwards, in 2019, he created another CGI show with Kytten Janae in the pilot Di Bibl for Adult Swim.[5] He later then directed the 2021 horror film False Positive.
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Executive producer | Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Life In a Blender: Chicken Dance | Yes | Music Video | |||||
| 2002 | Late Friday | Himself | Muckafurguson (Band) | |||||
| 2002-2003 | Doggy Fizzle Televizzle | Yes | Yes | Also creator | ||||
| 2005-2006 | Wonder Showzen | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Him / Wordsworth / Various characters | Also creator | |
| 2007-2009 | Xavier: Renegade Angel | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Various characters | Also creator | |
| 2009-2013 | Delocated | Yes | Yes | |||||
| 2010 | Food Party | Yes | ||||||
| 2011 | Neon Knome | Yes | Later reworked into The Problem Solverz which he wasn't involved in | |||||
| 2011 | Jon Benjamin Has A Van | Yes | ||||||
| 2011-2014 | The Heart, She Holler | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also creator | ||
| 2013 | Inside Amy Schumer | Yes | ||||||
| 2014 | Broad City | Yes | ||||||
| 2015 | Neon Joe, Werewolf Hunter | Yes | Yes | |||||
| 2016 | Pee-Wee's Big Holiday | Yes | ||||||
| 2016 | Gigglefudge, U.S.A. | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||||
| 2017 | At Home with Amy Sedaris | Yes | ||||||
| 2018 | The Last O.G. | Yes | ||||||
| 2018-2020 | The Shivering Truth | Yes | ||||||
| 2018 | Hunky Boys Go Ding-Dong | Yes | ||||||
| 2019 | Di Bibl | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also creator | |||
| 2020 | Rate the Cookie | Yes | ||||||
| 2021 | Search Party | Yes | ||||||
| 2021 | Teenage Euthanasia | Yes | ||||||
| 2021 | False Positive | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||||
| 2022 | Flatbush Misdemeanors | Yes | ||||||
| 2023 | Ballmastrz: Rubicon | Yes |
References
edit- ^ BMI entry
- ^ Raftery, Brian (9 June 2020). "Smash Your TV and Have Adventures: An Oral History of 'Wonder Showzen'". The Ringer. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
- ^ Salon.com "Showzen People" article Archived 2009-11-11 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ downtown.music Muckafurgason review
- ^ "Watch Adult Swim Special Episodes for Free from Adult Swim".
External links
edit
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