Schlatter began in the entertainment world as a teenager, singing for two seasons with the St Louis Municipal Opera, where his mother also performed. A former college football player, he broke into Hollywood as an agent in the band and act department of MCA but his instincts were for popular entertainment and, after several years, he left to become general manager and show producer at the Sunset Strip nightclub Ciro's. Among the performers Schlatter worked with there was the comedy team of Dan Rowan and Dick Martin. By 1960, after a stint in Las Vegas, he turned his attention to variety series and specials, producing Victor Borge's "Twentieth Anniversary Special" in 1961 and "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" (NBC, 1962). Between 1964 and 1970, he oversaw the annual telecast of the Grammy Awards, but Schlatter had aspirations for something greater than shows, that mixed sketch comedy with song and dance. He formed George Schlatter Productions and in 1968 launched the fast-paced "Rowan and Martin's Laugh In" on NBC. The program was an instant success, forever changing the face of American comedy, and launching the careers of such talents as Goldie Hawn, Henry Gibson, Arte Johnson and Lily Tomlin. Few shows of the era had a greater influence on the collective slang of the nation or were so talked about the next morning. Schlatter even lured Richard Nixon to appear and utter the popular catchphrase "Sock It to Me!". Borrowing heavily from vaudeville, Ernie Kovacs, burlesque, and the spirit of the 60s, the show was top rated for several seasons and remained on the air until 1973.

By that time, Schlatter, who had produced and co-written the series, was running an empire, producing such misfires as "Turn On" (ABC, 1969), a variety series starring Bill Cosby (CBS, 1972-73), and one featuring a solo Cher (CBS, 1975). In 1977, he even tried to relaunch "Laugh-In" but its time had clearly passed. Schlatter was hardly a one-show success, though. "Real People" (NBC, 1979-84) proved him to be one of the medium's key innovators as it offered the audience a view at folks like them who had offbeat professions, hobbies and interests (i.e., a man who ate soil, an artist who had painted 83,000 canvasses). A segment in which the hosts of "Real People" solicited opinions from the studio audience gave rise to the short-lived "Speak Up America" (NBC, 1980) and an attempt at "Real Kids" also failed.

Nevertheless, Schlatter's relentless pursuit of the new, as well as his infectious energy and spirit permeated behind-the-scenes on his shows. He continued to be the guiding force for numerous variety specials headlined by Shirley MacLaine, John Denver, Doris Day, Goldie Hawn and Cher. He teamed Hawn and Liza Minnelli for a 1990 CBS special and executive produced the "Joe Piscopo New Jersey Special" (ABC, 1986) as well as Emmanuel Lewis' 1987 ABC specials. In 1987, Schlatter conceived and launched "The American Comedy Awards", which has become an annual staple. He also returned to series TV via syndication with "George Schlatter's Comedy Club" (1987) and "George Schlatter's Funny People" (1988). In 1994, Schlatter tried "She TV", an ABC sketch comedy show featuring an almost entirely female cast. Ever the showman, even if a show didn't click, Schlatter persisted. Among his better known efforts were the specials "Beverly Hills Seventy-fifth Diamond Jubilee" (NBC, 1989), "Frank, Liza and Sammy...the Ultimate Event" (Showtime, 1989), the Emmy-winning "Sammy Davis, Jr'.s 60th Anniversary Special" (ABC, 1990) and "Sinatra: 80 Years My Way" (ABC, 1995).

Schlatter put his toe in the feature film waters a few times. He produced, directed and adapted "Norman...Is That You?" (1976), which focused on a long-married husband and wife whose marriage is tottering on extinction just as they find out their son is gay. He also wrote the English-language version of the German "Fire and Ice" (1987), a ski romance story. In addition, Schlatter owns The Editing Company, which for many years was one of Hollywood's busiest state-of-the-art post production facilities.