Eric Overmyer is a writer and producer. He has written and/or produced numerous TV shows, including St. Elsewhere, Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order, and The Wire.
He graduated as a theater major from Reed college in 1973. He credits his time at the college for helping him find and claim his identity as a writer.
Overmyer joined the crew of The Wire in the shows fourth season as a consulting producer and writer. He had previously worked with the show's creator David Simon on Homicide where the two became friends. He also contributed the teleplay and co-wrote the story for the episode "Margin or Error" and contributed to the story for the episode "Misgivings". He was brought in to fill the role of George Pelecanos as a full-time writer producer. Simon has said that he was impressed with Overmyers writing particularly in synthesising the story for "Margin of Error" as the episode is the height of the show's political storyline but must also progress other plot threads. As a member of the permanent writing staff Overmyer has been credited as overseeing the domestic storyline of Jimmy McNulty and "smartly fleshing out" some of his key scenes.
Overmyer is collaborating with Simon again on a project about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans. Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans and Simon believes his experience will be valuable in navigating the "ornate oral tradition" of the city's stories. The show will focus on a working class neighborhood and will be smaller in scope than The Wire. HBO have commissioned a pilot episode of the series but it has not received a "green-light".
His plays have been published by Broadway Play Publishing Inc. and include:
