RIP David Lloyd

[PGood97041]

Sad news...on the same day we got word of the release of Season 6, we learned that the writer of the most famous episode of that season, and undoubtedly of the whole run of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", David Lloyd, died after a long illness.

Lloyd, of course, wrote "Chuckles Bites the Dust," the tale of WJM's Chuckles the Clown being shelled by a rogue elephant while wearing a peanut costume during a parade. Mary is outraged at the insensitive remarks of Lou and Murray about the humor of the situation, but at the funeral, having heard the names of several of Chuckles's characters during the eulogy, she can't control herself and ends up laughing uproariously. It's a sitcom classic.

Lloyd won an Emmy in 1976 for "Chuckles", which is always voted in polls as one of the top comedy episodes of all-time, and also got one for The Last Show, the final episode of TMTMS. He wrote for a slew of other great shows, and was a legend in the business.

On this board, of course, we mostly remember his work on TMTMS, for which he wrote 31 episodes, all in the latter seasons of the show. I always have maintained that while Chuckles was, indeed, a classic, David Lloyd wrote at least seven or eight other episodes that were equally brilliant, and that each one of his stories was outstanding.

Some others you'll remember: Two Wrongs Don't Make A Writer, You Sometimes Hurt the One You Hate, Murray In Love, Ted's Wedding, The Happy Homemaker Takes Lou Home, Murray Takes A Stand, Mary Midwife, Mary's Insomnia, The Critic, The Ted and Georgette Show, and Lou Dates Mary. Maybe on this thread we can share some of our favorite Lloyd-written dialogue...there certainly was enough of it, especially the way he wrote for Ted Knight as Ted Baxter.

This is very distressing news. My condolences to his family, and I'd just like to say thank you David Lloyd for your incredible contributions to the best situation comedy ever, The Mary Tyler Moore Show!

[Marvo301]

"a little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants!"


David Lloyd

[catlover79]

[Scoobiedoo30]

R.I.P.

[SpunkiiMonkii7078]

R.I.P. David.

[Zoneboy]

Link

David Lloyd, an Emmy Award-winning television comedy writer who wrote the classic "Chuckles Bites the Dust" episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," has died. He was 75.

Lloyd died of prostate cancer Tuesday at his home in Beverly Hills, said his son, writer-producer Christopher Lloyd.

"I do think he was the preeminent writer of television comedy," said Les Charles, co-creator of "Cheers," for which Lloyd wrote numerous episodes.

"If you consider how long his career was and how much he wrote for such really popular shows, he's got to have been responsible for a record number of laughs in this world," Charles said.

His four-decade comedy career began with writing jokes for Jack Paar on "The Tonight Show" in 1962 and included writing for "The Bob Newhart Show," "Phyllis," "Rhoda," "Lou Grant," "Taxi," "Frasier" and many other shows.

"He was a remarkable writer," said Allan Burns, who created "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" with James L. Brooks and began working with Lloyd when he moved to Hollywood from New York in 1974 to write for the series.

"The word 'wit' doesn't come up an awful lot when you're talking about television comedy, but that's what David was -- a genuine wit," said Burns. "And he was just remarkable in his ability to write wonderful stuff very quickly.

"I would sit at my desk and laugh out loud, which I don't do often. His drafts always made me laugh out loud and with such unexpected, off-the-wall humor."

Said Brooks: "From the moment he came out until now, he was the very best. I mean, I was saying the other day he was a one-man writing staff. The work was always that good and that witty. And it was extraordinary that it was that fast.

"He was a perfect writer and a great guy and was a major part of every show he was connected to."

Lloyd's most famous piece of writing is his Emmy Award-winning 1975 script “Chuckles Bites the Dust,” in which the WJM-TV news staff deals with the death of a Minneapolis TV station colleague: kiddie-show host Chuckles the Clown, who died while serving as grand marshal for a visiting circus.

As Ed Asner's Lou Grant informs the newsroom staff: "It was a freak accident. He went to the parade dressed as Peter Peanut . . . and a rogue elephant tried to shell him."

Chuckles' clown credo was "A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants," and the reaction to his being crushed to death by an elephant quickly generates newsroom quips.

Although Mary thinks there is nothing funny about Chuckles' death, even she gets a case of uncontrollable giggles at the funeral for the man whose characters included Mr. Fee-Fi-Fo, Billy Banana and -- the preacher's particular favorite -- Aunt Yoo-Hoo.

"I think it was David's sort of mordant take on what is funny and what isn't," Burns said of the episode, "and that you can make death a subject and wring a lot of humor out of it. I mean, a lot. As people say, it's the funniest episode we ever did."

Said Brooks: "I think what made it memorable: We were laughing as hard on the stage as we ever did. It was a joy to do."

Burns said he feels the irony that Lloyd’s most famous TV episode dealt with death "and here we are mourning his death. And I wonder how funny a funeral it's going to be. I have an idea it's going to be funny, because that's what he'd want."

Born July 7, 1934, in Bronxville, N.Y., Lloyd majored in English at Yale. After graduating in 1956, he served in the Navy and began teaching English at Rutgers Preparatory School in New Jersey.

Lloyd had been writing plays in his spare time while writing jokes for Paar and then Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show" and later for "The Dick Cavett Show" when he wrote a sample script for "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."

"The producer [on the series] was Ed. Weinberger, who said, 'I've got a guy in New York who could really help us,' " Burns recalled. "And he handed me a script that David had written for our show, and it was just spot-on. It was a shootable script, and I couldn't believe it. I said, 'Boy, do we need him.' "

In addition to his son Christopher, Lloyd is survived by his wife, Arline; and his other children, Julie, Stephen (also a writer and producer), Amy and Douglas; his sister, Sally Lloyd; and two grandchildren;

A funeral for Lloyd will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Holy Cross Cemetery, 5835 W. Slauson Ave., Culver City.

The family suggests donations be made to USC Westside Prostate Cancer Center, 8900 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211.

[PGood97041]

Thanks for posting that obit, Zoneboy.

This is how great David Lloyd was. In the book "Love Is All Around: The Making of The Mary Tyler Moore Show" by Robert S. Alley and Irby B. Brown, Lloyd admitted that when Ed. Weinberger suggested that he try writing a script for TMTMS, he was completely unfamiliar with the show:

"I had never seen it," Lloyd said. "My oldest kids watched it, and when I decided to do it I rushed home and watched it, and my daughter, who was 14 years old, said that she would make me up some kind of a list of who the characters are, what their relations are, because I didn't have a clue as to what I was to be doing here. So she did. I still have it somewhere, a fourteen-year-old's perspective on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. But at least it told me a little bit about the attitudes of the characters toward each other."

Boy, did he ever learn well, writing all those fantastic scripts in the later seasons and taking the characters to new places while always staying true to who they were. I loved the way he wrote Ted and Sue Ann, but he had fantastic stuff for everybody.

Then he goes on to Taxi and Cheers, two more shows with great casts and where the personal relationships were just as important as the plots. I'm sure I saw his name on the credits for Cheers, but I never totally made the connection to the Mary Tyler Moore writer...but looking back, I can sense some of the jokes around the Cheers bar that were his.

He's gonna be missed.

[McGillicuddy]

Originally Posted by PGood97041

Thanks for posting that obit, Zoneboy.

This is how great David Lloyd was. In the book "Love Is All Around: The Making of The Mary Tyler Moore Show" by Robert S. Alley and Irby B. Brown, Lloyd admitted that when Ed. Weinberger suggested that he try writing a script for TMTMS, he was completely unfamiliar with the show:

"I had never seen it," Lloyd said. "My oldest kids watched it, and when I decided to do it I rushed home and watched it, and my daughter, who was 14 years old, said that she would make me up some kind of a list of who the characters are, what their relations are, because I didn't have a clue as to what I was to be doing here. So she did. I still have it somewhere, a fourteen-year-old's perspective on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. But at least it told me a little bit about the attitudes of the characters toward each other."

Boy, did he ever learn well, writing all those fantastic scripts in the later seasons and taking the characters to new places while always staying true to who they were. I loved the way he wrote Ted and Sue Ann, but he had fantastic stuff for everybody.

Then he goes on to Taxi and Cheers, two more shows with great casts and where the personal relationships were just as important as the plots. I'm sure I saw his name on the credits for Cheers, but I never totally made the connection to the Mary Tyler Moore writer...but looking back, I can sense some of the jokes around the Cheers bar that were his.

He's gonna be missed.

How sad it is he didn't live to see his classic episode Chuckles bites the Dust finally make it to dvd.

[PGood97041]

Just a couple of my favorite snippets from Ted's Wedding and Mary Midwife, two absolutely brilliantly written shows by David Lloyd, both set mainly in Mary's apartment. A lot was going on in both eps, plus the one-liners were just flowing, and he pulled it all together beautifully.

From Ted's Wedding:

Right-off-the-tennis-court minister trying to start the service: "All right, bride on my backhand, groom on my forehand!"

and

Minister (to Ted): "Would you like to say something?"
Ted: "You mean wing it?
Sue Ann: "Say what's in your heart, Ted"
Ted: "Right ... Murray?"

And from Mary Midwife:

Ted, eyeing a very pregnant Georgette: "Indian women are smart. They carry them on their back, you know."

and

Sue Ann: "Mary, something's wrong with your TV!"
Lou: "Try the horizontal hold."
Sue Ann: "Later, Lou. First let me fix the TV!"

Great humor, and the physical comedy, such as when Ted wants to go into the bedroom to help Georgette deliver but his knees buckle, and when Lou has to carry Ted back out of the bedroom, never fail to make me laugh!

[McGillicuddy]

Originally Posted by PGood97041

Just a couple of my favorite snippets from Ted's Wedding and Mary Midwife, two absolutely brilliantly written shows by David Lloyd, both set mainly in Mary's apartment. A lot was going on in both eps, plus the one-liners were just flowing, and he pulled it all together beautifully.

From Ted's Wedding:

Right-off-the-tennis-court minister trying to start the service: "All right, bride on my backhand, groom on my forehand!"

and

Minister (to Ted): "Would you like to say something?"
Ted: "You mean wing it?
Sue Ann: "Say what's in your heart, Ted"
Ted: "Right ... Murray?"

And from Mary Midwife:

Ted, eyeing a very pregnant Georgette: "Indian women are smart. They carry them on their back, you know."

and

Sue Ann: "Mary, something's wrong with your TV!"
Lou: "Try the horizontal hold."
Sue Ann: "Later, Lou. First let me fix the TV!"

Great humor, and the physical comedy, such as when Ted wants to go into the bedroom to help Georgette deliver but his knees buckle, and when Lou has to carry Ted back out of the bedroom, never fail to make me laugh!

Murray: There's a woman giving birth in Mary's bedroom!

Sueann: I know, and its probably the most exciting thing that'll ever happen in there!

[ClassicTVGal]

I am very sorry to hear of this news. (sorry for the delay)
May God be with his family and friends.