RIP, Larry Gelbart

A genuinely funny person:

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-larry-gelbart12-2009sep12,0,2812430.story

 

Also wrote a lot of Bob Hope's jokes.

 

Pure genius. That is all.

 

We've lost brilliance. On top of writing M*A*S*H for almost four years, he wrote "Tootsie" as well.

RIP, good sir. You will be missed, but with any luck, your television and film work will last for many generations.

 

Was in the variety show writing trenches with Woody Allen in the early to mid 1960s, and actually had a better rep. It's an interesting question: has Gelbart's TV version of MASH had more influence than Allen's films?

Gelbart also had one of the more interesting network TV failures, an honest show about marriage called United States. It would have been a good HBO or Showtime series. R.I.P.

 

Goodbye, Farewell and Amen, Mr. Gelbart. Thank you for helping create my favorite TV show.

 

Loved his script for Oh, God. Another great piece of work.

 

*Cue up rendition of "Suicide Is Painless," which Gelbart admitted was a drawing point to the series.*

 

Can't believe he wrote Blame it on Rio, a rare clunker, but if you haven't seen Barbarians at the Gate or Weapons of Mass Distraction, you should.

 

I'm a huge LG fan. RIP. But we'll be doing him a favor by emphasizing
the first two seasons of the TV version of M*A*S*H, before
Wayne Rogers gave way
to endless PC horseshit.

 

I loved Blame It on Rio for its dialogue