Television producers and directors

Critic at large John Powers remembers TV mogul Aaron Spelling, who died last week at age 83. Spelling created such TV classics as Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Charlie's Angels, Dynasty and Melrose Place.

Rob Burnett started working with David Letterman as an intern in 1985. He talks with Terry Gross about the absurd and somber moments of his three-decade tenure with the Late Show.

Robert and Michelle King, the real-life husband and wife team who created the CBS show, say that when it came to creating the series' main character, it was a question of art imitating life.

Lear, who co-created All In The Family, has written a new memoir at the age of 92. He tells Fresh Air about getting involved in politics and how his storylines addressed subjects like racism.

In this 2001 archival interview, 60 Minutes creator Don Hewitt discusses the highlights of his career, including his work on the televised Nixon-Kennedy debate. Hewitt died Aug. 19 at age 86.

The HBO series Big Love, now in its second season, centers on a man and his three wives, who've broken from the mainstream Mormon church and still practice polygamy. Olsen and Scheffer co-created the series; this year, they won a Writer's Guild Award for their work.

In the ABC series, Pushing Daises, co-executive producers Barry Sonnenfeld and Bryan Fuller combine romance, fantasy and mystery to tell the story of a man who can bring the dead back to life. The first season of the show is now out on DVD.

Writer and producer Ed Burns draws on his experience as a former Baltimore detective to create the acclaimed HBO series The Wire, now in its fourth season. It's a crime drama with a central theme of surveillance technology used to capture drug dealers.

The director James Burrows is being honored this week with a career tribute at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen. Burrows made his name with classic TV sitcoms including The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show. After helping to create Cheers, Burrows directed episodes of many other hit sitcoms, including Night Court, Frasier, Friends and Will and Grace.

Mitch Hurwitz is the creator and executive producer of the TV series Arrested Development. The FOX show, which has won critical praise for its irreverently dysfunctional family, airs on Monday nights.