Joseph Lawrence Scanlan (August 16, 1929 – December 18, 2020)[2] was an American television director[3] who early in his career was the primary director (1,665 of 1,710 episodes) of the NBC-TV soap opera Somerset (1970–76).
He went on to direct individual episodes of numerous TV shows, TV movies, and one feature film.
His last credit was a 2002 episode of Flatland.
Scanlan was nominated for a Gemini Award for Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series (The Outer Limits) in 1995.
He directed "The Big Goodbye" (Star Trek: The Next Generation), which won a Peabody award in 1987.