Matt Wickline

Matthew John Wickline (born April 28, 1962) is an American television writer, producer, director, and actor known for being a longtime member of the writing staff for Late Night With David Letterman. He wrote on In Living Color, where he created the hit character Homey D. Clown, portrayed by Damon Wayans. He went on to write for Martin, The Jamie Foxx Show, and co-create The Hughleys and Frank TV.

Throughout his career, Wickline was nominated for 11 Emmys and won four.

Early life Matt Wickline grew up in Willowick, Ohio as one of four brothers and the son to William and Elva Wickline. William was the President of the US division of the television antenna company Kathrein. Matt Wickline attended Eastlake North High School and Ohio University.

Career After college, he interned at Late Night with David Letterman and started submitting jokes to David Letterman at the suggestion of his boss. When several of the show's writers left in 1983 to write for The New Show, Wickline joined Late Night'''s writing staff, serving as a member for what critics would call the program's "creative peak." He stayed in his position for seven years, occasionally acting in bit parts on the show.

Wickline quickly became writing partners and best friends with Chris Elliott, another staff member who was promoted to writer in 1983 and one of the only non-Harvard alum writers on the show at the time. Wickline and Elliott co-wrote all of Elliott's early character bits on the show, including his series of "Guy" characters, The Guy Under The Seats, The Fugitive Guy, The Panicky Guy, The Conspiracy Guy, and The Regulator Guy. At the show, Wickline created Damon Wayans's breakout character Homey D. Clown, based on Paul Mooney's behavior in the writer's room. Homey D. Clown was one of the series' most famous characters, and even spawned his own video game and a planned feature film starring Wayans that was shut down by its studio Fox in the early 2000s just two days before filming was set to begin. Along with many members of the writing staff, Wickline left the show after the first season, though he would return to direct sketches in season two. Wickline then co-created The Show, a sitcom focused on the only white writer on a black TV sketch show and based on Wickline and co-creator John Bowman's time at In Living Color and Martin. After the demise of those series, he wrote for The Jamie Foxx Show for a season.

In 1998, Wickline and D.L. Hughley co-created the sitcom The Hughleys as a starring vehicle for the comedian. The series ran for four seasons and 89 episodes on ABC and UPN. Next, Wickline developed sitcoms that didn't make it to air at NBC and The WB centered on standups Joe Matarese and Cedric the Entertainer before reuniting with frequent collaborator John Bowman to co-create two TV sketch shows that did make it to air alongside their comedian-stars: Cedric the Entertainer Presents with Cedric the Entertainer and Frank TV with Frank Caliendo.

Filmography YearTitleCreatorDirectorShowrunnerWriterExecutive Producer Notes 1983-1990 Late Night with David Letterman 1987 Action Family TV special;Co-written with Chris Elliott and Sandy Frank FDR: A One-Man Show TV special;Co-written with Chris Elliott and Sandy Frank 1990-1993 In Living Color 1991 Good Sports 1993 Homey D. Clown Video game 1993-1995 Martin 1995 The Clinic Co-created with Sandy Frank and Mark Drop 1996 The Show Co-created with John Bowman 1996-1997 The Jamie Foxx Show 1998 Blasto Video game 1998-2002 The Hughleys Co-created with D.L. Hughley 2001 Cedric the Coach TV pilot;Co-created with John Bowman 2002-03 Cedric the Entertainer Presents Co-created with Cedric the Entertainer and John Bowman 2005 Barbershop 2007-2008 Frank TV Co-created with Frank Caliendo and John Bowman 2010-2013 Pair of Kings 2013 The Garcias Have Landed TV pilot

Personal life On February 17th, 1996, Wickline married Marcy Hardart, great-granddaughter of the legendary restaurant Horn & Hardart who had previously worked as a manager of new business development at MTV and as an assistant to Lorne Michaels at Saturday Night Live from 1987 to 1990. They have three children together, including SNL cast member Jane Wickline.

Awards As a writer for Late Night, Wickline and the rest of the writing staff won four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program in 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1987, a four-year sweep. He was nominated for an additional seven Emmys for his work on Late Night and In Living Color'', nominated for three Emmys in the same category in 1985 and two in the same category in 1990.

Primetime Emmy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Episode Ref. 1984Outstanding Writing in a Variety Or Music Program Late Night with David Letterman"Show #291" "Show #312" 1985"Christmas with the Lettermans""Late Night in Los Angeles""The Late Night Morning Show" 1986"4th Anniversary Special" 1987"5th Anniversary Special" 1988"6th Anniversary Special" 1989"7th Anniversary Special" 1990"8th Anniversary SpecialIn Living Color"Pilot"