Randy Douthit: A Very Successful Television Show Producer
Successful television producer Randy Douthit knew he wanted to produce television shows from the first time he saw a television at his grandparents’ house when he was four years old. By age 9, Douthit was producing variety shows and selling tickets to see them to people in his neighborhood. While in college at Portland State University, Randy Douthit got his first television production job at local television station KGW in Portland, Oregon. He got the opportunity to direct public affairs programs, commercials, remote broadcasts and newscasts. Douthit did a great job and loved the work.
Moving Up The Ranks
After his initial taste of television production at Portland’s KGW, in 1975 Douthit moved on to KING-TV in Seattle. There he direct How Come, an award-winning children’s show. He also produced commercials and other children’s programs. Next, Douthit moved to CNN in the early days of the network. He worked in New York on feature stories, and talk shows in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. Douthit later started and became the executive producer of the political talk show Crossfire and produced the Capital Gang, a weekly news show.
Producing Top Shows
From humble beginnings Randy Douthit has gone on to produce several top shows. He started by turning once-failing Seattle Today into a top program. He helped turn The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air into a smash hit and directed and executive produced the hit shows Crossfire, Capital Gang and Larry King Live for CNN. He also produced hit shows like Judge Joe Brown, Jenny Jones and spent 25 years producing the incredibly popular Judge Judy.
Then Came The Pandemic
When the covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, the challenge for Douthit became how to continue to produce quality programming while protecting the health of his team. He had to navigate new health measures, added costs, testing and safety procedures like wearing masks, working without an audience and having to deal with the stars of his shows working remotely. Randy Douthit did whatever it took to keep his shows on the air. He came up with creative solutions to get the job done.