After arriving in Los Angeles and teaching high school for three years, Weithorn's first major writing opportunity was an episode of the television series Benson in 1981. In 1982 he passed up an opportunity to become part of the original writing staff of Late Night With David Letterman to work with producer Gary David Goldberg on Goldberg's new series Family Ties. From 1982 to 1986 Weithorn was a story consultant and then producer on 102 episodes of Family Ties, writing 26 of the episodes during his tenure on the show. During that same time, he also wrote episodes for other TV shows, including Cheers. He worked for Ubu Productions until 1986, when he founded Hanley Productions with a contract at 20th Century Fox Television and ABC.[4]
Weithorn has five Emmy nominations. In 1984, he was nominated for an Emmy for his work on Family Ties along with the show's other producers. One year later, he was nominated again for Family Ties, both times in the category of Outstanding Comedy Series. In 1986, Weithorn was nominated for two Emmys for Family Ties, one for producing and the other for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. In 1989, he was nominated for another Writing Emmy for his work on the TV series The Wonder Years. In 2007, he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for "Best Outstanding Broadband Program – Comedy" for The Adventures of Baxter and McGuire. In 2010, Weithorn's film A Little Help was the winner of best feature at several major film festivals.[citation needed]
^Walsh, Mary Ellen (July 13, 2010). "Filmmaker Gets A Little Help from Port Washington". Patch. Port Washington, New York. Archived from the original on February 8, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2021. At the tender age of nine, Weithorn moved to Port Washington from Fresh Meadows, Queens
^Biographical blurb in Weithorn, Michael J. (June 10, 1978). "Straight Time". The New York Times. Retrieved February 4, 2013. Michael J. Weithorn, a political science major, was graduated from Swarthmore College last month as president of his class.(subscription required)
^"About the Show". The King of Queens. Official website. Archived from the original on March 23, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2013. ...Weithorn earned a B.A. degree in Political Science from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.
^Guzman, Rafer (July 20, 2011). "Sitcom co-creator makes new film on LI". Newsday. New York City / Long Island. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021. Weithorn, who grew up in Port Washington.... 'A Little Help,' which is set in Port Washington, also was largely filmed there....