Asaad Kelada (Arabic: أسعد قلادة; born May 11, 1940) is an Egyptian-American television director of many American television sitcoms.

Asaad Kelada
Born (1940-05-11) May 11, 1940 (age 84)
EducationAmerican University in Cairo (BA)
Yale University (MFA)
OccupationTelevision director/producer
Years active1964–present

Early life

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Kelada was born in Cairo, Egypt and he studied drama under Youssef Chahine at the American University in Cairo.[1] In 1961, he emigrated to the United States and studied directing at the Yale School of Drama.[2]

Career

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After directing stage plays and teaching drama in the 1960s and 1970s, he landed his first opportunity to direct for television in 1976, with an episode of the sitcom Rhoda, "Rhoda Questions Her Life and Flies to Paris". Since that time, he has directed episodes of several well-known sitcoms including Benson, WKRP in Cincinnati, The Facts of Life, Family Ties, and Who's the Boss?, where he directed 117 episodes and was also listed as producer on 51 episodes.

Kelada spoke with DGA Magazine and said that good casting is essential to the success of a comedy, because "you cannot make the actor be funny". He said that where drama is "analytical," comedy is "much more technical. It's about rhythm, timing, pace, and energy."[3]

Filmography

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Year TV series Notes
1976 Phyllis Directed 2 episodes
1976–1978 Rhoda Directed 7 episodes
1977 Busting Loose Directed 1 episode
We've Got Each Other Directed 1 episode
1977–1978 The Tony Randall Show Directed 5 episodes
1978 Baby, I'm Back Directed 1 episode
1978–1982 WKRP in Cincinnati Directed 15 episodes
1979–1980 The Last Resort Directed 15 episodes
1980 Benson Directed 2 episodes
1980–1985 The Facts of Life Directed 77 episodes
1981 One Day at a Time Directed 1 episode
The Two of Us Directed 4 episodes
Park Place Directed 1 episode
1982 Report to Murphy Directed 1 episode
The Facts of Life Goes to Paris Director, Television movie
1982–1988 Family Ties Directed 8 episodes
1984 Night Court Directed 2 episodes
1984–1990 Who's the Boss? Directed 117 episodes, producer, 51 episodes
1985 No Complaints! Directed 1 episode, executive producer
1986 Valerie Directed 5 episodes
Charmed Lives Directed 1 episode
1987 Karen's Song Directed 3 episodes
1988 Frank's Place Directed 1 episode
1988–1989 Day by Day Directed 2 episodes
1989 The Ed Begley Jr. Show Directed 1 episode
1990 Married People Directed 12 episodes
1991 Designing Women Directed 1 episode
The New WKRP in Cincinnati Directed 10 episode
1992 Frannie's Turn Directed 4 episodes
1993–1994 George Directed 9 episodes
1995–1996 In the House Directed 12 episodes
1996 The Louie Show Directed 3 episodes
1996–1997 Sister, Sister Directed 16 episodes
1999–2002 Dharma & Greg Directed 14 episodes
2000 The Michael Richards Show Directed 4 episodes
2000–2001 Everybody Loves Raymond Directed 2 episodes
2003 Sabrina the Teenage Witch Directed 2 episodes
2004 Good Morning, Miami Directed 1 episode
Still Standing Directed 1 episode
2005 Two and a Half Men Directed 2 episodes
2006 Courting Alex Directed 3 episodes
2008 Happy Hour Directed 1 episode
2009 The Office Directed 1 episode
Ruby & The Rockits Directed 2 episodes
2016 My America Directed 2 episodes (TV series short)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Arab American News". Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved August 17, 2007.
  2. ^ "Asaad Kelada Biography ((?)-)". www.filmreference.com. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  3. ^ "Directing Comedy 101". DGA Magazine. 28 (2). Directors Guild of America. July 2003. Archived from the original on August 5, 2007. Retrieved January 9, 2022 – via dga.org.
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