RIP-Larry Gelbart

I hope this is not the start of another round of favorite celebrity obits but now comes word of the passing of television comedy writer Larry Gelbart, best known in spite of a long and distinguished career, for M*A*S*H*. M*A*S*H* was my absolute favorite TV show for a time in the seventies and while I feel now that it is very much (in spite of its 1950's setting) a relic of its time, it remains a powerful and important work in the development of the medium. With its long hair and liberal sensibilities, to say nothing of the fact that it lasted about three times longer than the actual Korean War, M*A*S*H* was no more about that war than CAPTAIN KANGAROO. What it was about was humanity, heart, hope and the importance of maintaining a sense of humor through nightmarishly tough times. Larry Gelbart made me laugh a lot with his scripts for this and many other shows like OH, GOD and TOOTSIE...but he made me think and he made me care and he was one of the first television entertainment writers to do that and to do it well. Bless you and thank you, sir!