NOTED IN PASSING

Looking back over 2005, I was stunned by the number of great TV characters we lost with the deaths of so many fine actors - Ernest T. Bass, Maxwell Smart, Mr. Peterson, Scottie, Gilligan, Maynard G. Krebs, and Miss Ellie; not to mention those better known as themselves - such as Johnny Carson, Peter Jennings, Paul Winchell, and Richard Pryor, to name just a few.

I couldn't see how such an "annus horribilis" could be eclipsed, but it's the nature of Time itself that will only make each passing year worse.

The second month of 2006 hasn't even ended yet and already this year we have lost the actors who gave us Grandpa Munster and Ambassador G'Kar, as well as Shelley Winters, Tony Franciosa, and Curt Gowdy, among far too many others.

And this weekend, in the less than 24 hours, we've lost two more who provided two characters who figure prominently in my personal pantheon - Don Knotts ("Barney Fife") and Darren McGavin ("Carl Kolchak").

It was a long, draining night at work so I need some time to recharge the batteries. But this afternoon I'll post not only their respective "Hat Squad" tributes, but also begin looking back at their contributions to Toobworld in respect to all of the characters each of them contributed.

I suspect there'll be a few posts to come over the next week about them both......

BCnU
Tele-Toby