Tartikoff and Daughter Hurt in Tahoe Crash

Brandon Tartikoff, who helped guide NBC into first place in prime-time ratings for five consecutive seasons, was seriously hurt in a car crash at Lake Tahoe that also injured his daughter, officials said Wednesday.

Washoe Medical Center spokeswoman Kate Griswold said Tartikoff, 41, was listed in satisfactory condition with a broken rib and pelvis that he received in the accident on Tuesday.

His daughter, Calla Lianne, 8, was in serious condition in the pediatrics intensive care unit with an undisclosed head injury, Griswold said.

The accident occurred Tuesday at U.S. 50 and Glenbrook Drive. Tartikoff and his family live in Beverly Hills and were on vacation at Lake Tahoe when the accident happened.

The Nevada Highway Patrol said Tartikoff tried to turn his Jeep left from Glenbrook Drive onto U.S. 50, the main thoroughfare along the south shore of Lake Tahoe, and was struck by another Jeep driven by Stephen James Manos, 18, of Westlake Village, Calif., who was not injured.

No citations have been issued, but an investigation was continuing, the patrol said.

Tartikoff, often called the wunderkind of television, became the youngest entertainment president in the network’s history at age 31.

He took over programming at the bottom-rated network in 1980 and pushed it into first place five years later with shows such as “Cheers” and “The Cosby Show.” NBC remains in the No. 1 slot.

Tartikoff stepped down as NBC’s entertainment president last year and assumed the newly created role of president of NBC Entertainment Group.

He named his second in command, Warren Littlefield, as programming chief, saying that he wanted to spend more time developing in-house productions at the network.

A native of Long Island, N.Y., Tartikoff graduated with honors from Yale in 1970. He joined NBC in 1977 as its director of comedy programs.