The Founding Fathers

Robert Butler

Born in 1927, Robert Butler met TV series very early and started to work for the TV industry in the 50s. Here is a list of some TV productions on which he took part: Bonanza (featuring Michael Landon), The Fugitive, The Untouchables, The Twilight Zone, Hogan's Heroes, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Hawai Five-O, The Invaders, Hill Street Blues and Columbo. It was Butler who first had the original idea of Remington Steele. He wanted to create a TV series about a female private eye who could not work because she was a woman. He then contacted Michael Gleason who added the character of a fictitious male boss. In the very beginning, Butler was only director but he soon became executive producer with co-creator Gleason. After the end of Remington Steele, he then worked on various TV shows like Moonlighting and Lois & Clark (he directed the pilot).

Michael Gleason

He is the other figurehead of Remington Steele. He was scriptwriter, director and above all executive producer on the series. He wrote the pilot, License to Steele. About Stephanie Zimbalist, he said that "it was a pure delight working with her". As far as Brosnan is concerned, he compared him to a "Cary Grant of the 80s" and noted that he immediatly found Brosnan amazing when he saw him auditioning for the role of Remington Steele. And he added, in an interview published by the Chigaco Sun Times in July 2005: "Laura Holt was the brains. Remington Steele was the sex object". Furthermore, Gleason is responsible for the movie lines Remington systematically refered to in the series. After the end of the show, Michael Gleason worked on Moonlighting, Lois & Clark and Charmed.