That's not the best photo of our pal Mel Sherer who has just passed away but it's all we've got right now. Mel had a brilliant comedy mind and along with his partner Steve Granat, he created scripts for Laverne & Shirley, Married…with Children, Joanie Loves Chachi and many more. He did a lot of uncredited work punching up comedy screenplays (including some for Steve Martin) but he was probably proudest of his work — rarely credited — with a number of top stand-up comedians including his good friends, Kevin Nealon and Andy Kaufman.
Mel could talk for hours about Andy, which we did on a number of occasions. Mel had written a lot of Andy's most famous (most outrageous) stunts and when he could, he played bit parts in Andy's TV specials. A lot of folks know of Bob Zmuda, as a writer, confidante and co-star of Kaufman's. Mel, who kept a lower profile, should have been mentioned in more of those articles and books about Andy.
I don't believe I saw Mel in person this century; not since a long string of illnesses began keeping him confined to his home for weeks, even months at a time. One day I remember, we spoke in the afternoon and I mentioned that that evening, I was going up to The Improv to see a comedian friend perform. Mel asked me to please, please call him when I got home and tell him all about it.
I did and he kept asking me who I ran into and what they were up to and what comedians impressed me. There was a time when Mel practically lived at clubs like that. Now that his health prevented him from actually going to one, he wanted to visit, in absentia, and rekindle a bit his connection to that world.
Fortunately for Mel, he had his sense of humor and a lot of friends who took good care of him, dropping by with supplies, checking in on him, keeping his spirits up…folks like Mark Miller and Shelly Goldstein. And when you talked to him, he got yours up and kept them there…a very funny, lovely man. I wish I could get him on the phone right now.