Just found out I lost a good friend a week ago — Ron Friedman, one of the best writers of comedy and an absolutely great guy to have lunch with. He was 93 and Variety says he died from cardiopulmonary arrest at Motion Picture and Television Fund in Woodland Hills. He had been in poor health for some time and I don't think we'd talked in many months.
Animation fans will know Ron's work on many shows but especially G.I. Joe and The Transformers. Fans of non-animated TV will know of Ron's works on shows like — and this is a very partial list — Happy Days, The Danny Kaye Show, The Odd Couple, Starsky and Hutch, The Fall Guy, Fantasy Island, Bewitched, The Andy Griffith Show, Gilligan's Island, My Favorite Martian, Get Smart, I Dream of Jeannie, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Partridge Family, The Good Guys, That’s My Mama, Lotsa Luck, All in the Family, Chico and the Man, Barney Miller, Wonder Woman, Charlie's Angels, The Dukes of Hazzard, B.J. and the Bear and Love, American Style.
And I'd be surprised if the above list was even 20% complete. Ron was very prolific and liked by everyone. He did a great podcast interview for Gilbert Gottfried's show, after which his producer called me, thanked me for suggesting they book him and saying he was one of their best guests ever. I did my own interview with Ron a few years ago and you can watch it here.
Condolences to his wonderful wife/partner, Val. I'll really miss that guy.