Early life. Born in New York City as Joseph 1 Hill Whedon, and also being a third-generation TV writer, he is a son of Tom Whedon, a screenwriter for Alice in the 1970s and The Golden Girls in the 1980s, and a grandson of John Whedon, who worked on The Donna Reed Show in the 1950s and The Dick Van Dyke Show in the 1960s, as well as writing for radio shows like The Great Gildersleeve.

