Nat Hiken

Hiken created two of early television's most influential sitcoms: The Phil Silvers Show, built around Phil Silvers's conniving Sergeant Bilko, and Car 54, Where Are You?, which turned a police precinct into a vehicle for satirizing authority. His writing and directing won eight Emmy Awards, and his shows launched or boosted the careers of Fred Gwynne, Alan Alda, and Dick Van Dyke. He also cast for racial and ethnic diversity at a time when doing so was unusual for network television.