Anecdotes

Chairman/CEO, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Elected to Writers Guild of America Board of Directors. (2000)

Came to Los Angeles originally as an on-air correspondent for CNN.

All produced TV pilots have gone to series.

In 1991, Zabel was hired to write the pilot script "No Limits" for Michael Filerman Productions and FBC. After "Melrose Place" aired in 1992, producer Filerman filed a claim which was ultimately settled. During and after, Zabel continued to work on other projects for FBC.

Kicked-off a $600-million fund-raising campaign for his alma mater the University of Oregon when he produced a three-hour music-comedy-variety show on an indoor football field which was converted into a Hollywood awards ceremony.

Created "Movie Smackdown!" -- an Internet film review concept which compares movies in the theaters against similar films out on DVD and declares a winner -- writing his own reviews and editing those of a dozen other critics.

On "Lois & Clark," wrote the episode where Clark first returned to Smallville and had his first brush with Kryptonite. "The Green, Green Glow of Home" was voted a fan favorite from the first season.

Launched hour dramas on ABC, CBS, NBC and FBC.

Introduced Tom Hanks on the 2002 Emmy Awards, and Walter Cronkite on the 2003 Emmy Awards.

Father was a World War II veteran and history teacher of "American Problems." The Harvey J. Zabel scholarship was created in his memory and is awarded to this day.

Worked on multiple projects with Stan Lee after first collaborating on an NBC television pilot, "Missing Link.".

He and Rod Serling are the only writers ever to be elected to lead the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

His son, Jonathan, played "Young Jay Leno" on "The Tonight Show" over a period of several years.

While researching his first TV series about a New York surgeon, scrubbed in and observed a real nine-hour surgery for a gunshot victim at New York's Bellevue Hospital.

Won multiple awards for Investigative Journalism for his work at the Los Angeles PBS station, KCET, for a report about an eye doctor who performed unnecessary cataract surgeries on the elderly.

Optioned material which won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Journalism a full nine-months before it won the award. The material became "Fall From Grace," a script for USA Network.

In Germany, taught a "Writers Room" for MediaXchange at Action Concept in Cologne where aspiring German television writers worked to apply the lessons of United States TV to their own market.

Introduced Jon Stewart at a special Academy of Television Arts & Sciences event celebrating "The Daily Show" held in New York City.

Sold classic editions of Marvel Comics, like Spiderman #1 and X-Men #1, to finance a college trip to Europe that he never took.

Twice invited to the White House to consult on television issues during his tenure as chairman of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Producer Aaron Spelling and Universal optioned the first script written by Bryce and Jackie Zabel as a husband/wife writing team, "Labor of Love." The script, about a pregnancy, was written while they were pregnant with their first child.