Another Way That Life Is Not Fair.

Here are two bare-bones obituaries that appeared over the last couple of days.

Henry Colman
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Television producer and executive Henry Colman - whose credits include "The Love Boat," ''Hawaii Five-O" and "Green Acres" - has died at age 89.

From the New York Times---Frank Peppiatt Dies.
Frank Peppiatt, the Canadian-born co-creator of “Hee Haw” — who died on Wednesday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., at 85.

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Now, what did these two men have in common?
Give up?
They were two purveyors of some of the worst crap ever put on television.

In all fairness, I never watched an entire episode of any of these shows.
They were on primarily during the days before there were remote control devices.
So I saw them for as long as it took for me to get up and change the channel.
But word has pretty much filtered back to me that they were consistently godawful.
"The Love Boat" seemed to be "Love, American Style", wet, and with bigger guest stars.
"Hee Haw" was a Right Wing version of "Laugh In", which, in reality, was a right wing
version of itself.
With the red states being what they are, I'm amazed that it is no longer in production.
They could prop up Buck Owens' corpse and nobody would know the difference.

I know that a case could be made that my career has been one of a purveyor of crap.
But sometimes I was simply trapped in the shows I was on, and I always aimed to the
top of peoples intelligence.
"Laverne & Shirley" and "She's The Sheriff" were both left-wing shows caught up in right-wing trappings.
Not of my making.
I am proud of my work on both of them.
The only time I wasn't proud was when I had to write an episode of "The Jeffersons"
In their style.
I spent the entire time with my left hand hitting the keys on the typewriter, and my
right hand holding my nose.
That's the only time I wasn't proud.

Frank Peppiatt made it to 85.
Henry Colman made it to 89.

Now.
Nat Hiken and Rod Serling.
What did these two men have in common?
Give up?
They were both purveyors of the best that television ever had to offer.
Hiken with Sergeant Bilko, and Serling with all those great Playhouse 90s, and of
course, "The Twilight Zone"
Nat Hiken died at age 54.
Rod Serling died at age 50.

What's wrong with this picture?
What isn't?

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My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.

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