Geoffrey Darby

Geoffrey Darby is an award winning writer, producer, director, and television executive. He started his career at a local Canadian TV station, where is was tapped to work with British producer Roger Price to develop a new Children's programme. The result was You Can't Do That On Television. A groundbreaking programme that continues to resonate today. Green slime famously was created in this show. Darby and Price together wrote the first 20 episodes of the show with no additional writers. Later, as production budgets grew they hired additional contributing writers to take some of the load. Darby also directed the first 78 episodes of the show, before moving to New York to work as head of production for Nickelodeon. Before moving to Nickelodeon , Darby and Price created and wrote a 6 episode series for WGBH in Boston loosely based upon the same type of humour that was featured in YCDTOTV. Darby also directed all six episodes. At the time, the series was the second highest rated Children's programme in the history of PBS. Darby also produced and directed UFO Kidnapped, a sci-fi pilot for Nickelodeon. At Nickelodeon, Darby co created the Children's game show, Double Dare, which he also served as executive producer. He was also executive producer of Hey Dude, a location based sitcom for kids, Don't Just Sit There, a daily variety Children's show. He was also Instrumental in bringing the first three animation series to the Network, Rugrats, Doug and Ran and Stimpy. Darby left Nickelodeon to helm a medical new startup. In 1995, Darby returned to Viacom as President of interactive initiatives for the media company. He was then tapped to create a new learning cable television network. The result was Noggin. Darby left Viacom before Noggin launched to become President of CBS Eye on People, the first new cable network after the purchase of CBS by Westinghouse. The Network was an subsequently sold to Discovery where it merged into the Travel Channel. Darby went on to become President of Production and Convergence for Oxygen Media where he was instrumental in launching the network. After Oxygen, Darby headed programming for the Weather Channel, and then head of television for Martha Stewart Omnimedia. Darby has 3 cable ace awards, a Peabody award as well as a Columbia DuPont Award. In addition, he has garnered 5 Clio advertising awards as either director, or creative director. As a networks executive, programmes created under his direction have won over 30 Emmy awards.