Peter Meyerson, R.I.P.

Peter Meyerson, who wrote and/or launched some of the most popular TV shows of the sixties and seventies, has died at the age of 82. Peter had many credits on shows like That Girl, Accidental Family, Captain Nice, The Partridge Family and The Bob Newhart Show but his two biggies were The Monkees and Welcome Back, Kotter. He co-wrote the first episode aired of The Monkees and on his own, wrote many others after that. He wrote the pilot for Welcome Back, Kotter and so received a "Developed for television by…" credit as well as a piece of the hit series.

Peter initially chose not to stay with Kotter and went off to pursue playwrighting, an area in which he hoped to make some mark. During the show's second season, there was a crisis of sorts on Kotter. The Executive Producer and the network felt the show had strayed from its roots and mandate and needed to get back to its original premise. Producers and writers were gently (some, not so gently) let go and new producers and writers were brought in to course-correct the program. My then-partner Dennis Palumbo and I were among the new writers and a few weeks after we got there, Peter Meyerson came aboard as Supervising Producer. He told us he didn't relish going back to a staff position but the money was too good to turn down, plus he wanted to prolong a series in which he held a share of the profits. He didn't stick around that long but he did much to get Mr. Kotter and the Sweathogs back on track.

He and I had our differences but I liked him and learned a few things.