RJ Fried

RJ Fried (born 1981) is an American comedy writer, producer, and performer. He has written for several late-night and satirical television programs and is the co-creator of the animated series Our Cartoon President and Tooning Out the News.

Fried also created the Comedy Central animated sitcom Fairview. He is a multiple Primetime Emmy Award nominee and a Writers Guild Award winner, known for his work on political satire and variety comedy.

Early life and education Fried was born in 1981 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During his prep school years at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, he captained the hockey team and earned All-League honors, also being named a Sports Illustrated/Old Spice Athlete of the Month in 1999. He was drafted by the Florida Panthers in the third round of the 2000 NHL entry draft.

Career Fried worked in broadcast journalism as a segment producer for MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell from 2010 to 2013. He also wrote for Comedy Central's charity special Night of Too Many Stars in 2010 and 2012, earning Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special. After the Late Show ended its run in 2015, Fried wrote for the NBC variety series Maya & Marty in 2016 and began working with comedian Robert Smigel on a series of political satire specials featuring Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

In 2020, Fried co-created Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News, a topical animated news parody series, alongside Colbert, Chris Licht, and Tim Luecke. 2016 Maya & Marty Writer NBC 2016 Triumph's Election Watch 2016 Writer and Performer Hulu 2017 Problematic with Moshe Kasher Head Writer Comedy Central 2022 Fairview Creator, Showrunner, Executive Producer Comedy Central 2020–2023 Tooning Out the News Co‑creator, Showrunner, Executive Producer Paramount+Comedy Central