THE HAT SQUAD: REMEMBERING GEORGE COE

Colin Baker is dead. Okay, not the real Colin Baker - sorry if I gave my Whovian friends a "hearts attack". Just wanted to get your attention.

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George Coe has died at the age of 86. Since news headlines have to grab your attention (as I just did), they'll be blaring his involvement with 'Saturday Night Live' in its first year. Not many of his sketches survive into the "Best Of" compilations (if any), but his voice is unmistakable in many of the fake commercials, like for Triopenin.

George Coe appeared as a regular on several other TV shows, most recently as the voice of Woodhouse in 'Archer', but also in 'Max Headroom', 'Working', 'Somerset', and 'Goodnight, Beantown'. He had several meaty recurring roles, especially in a dozen 'L.A. Law' episodes playing a role he was most suited for - a judge. (In fact, I'm going to make the claim that his Judge Vance in 'L.A. Law' is the same judge he played in Skitlandia for 'Saturday Night Live'.)

Other recurring roles were to be found in 'Hill Street Blues', 'Scarecrow & Mrs. King', 'THIRTYsomething', 'Wilfred', and my personal favorite - as Senator Stackhouse is a few 'West Wing' episodes, most memorable of which was in 'The Stackhouse Filibuster'. And then there was 'Equal Justice', a short-lived flip-side to 'L.A. Law', about a D.A. office on the East Coast. (Mr. Coe played "a" Colin Baker in that. But not "the" Colin Bake". Again, sorry for the deceptive lead-in.)

As interesting as I always found him to be as an actor, I won't bore my audience with listing ALL of the guest star roles he gave us in his 50 year career. Let me just share a "Super Six List" of such roles:

1) 'Columbo'
2) 'Murder, She Wrote'
3) 'Smallville'
4) 'Two And A Half Men'
5) 'Law & Order'
6) 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'

Each of those series has shown they have the longevity to keep Mr. Coe on our screens for many years to come.

(And for the "Star Wars" fans, he voiced Tee Watt Kaa in a couple of 'Clone Wars' episodes, as well as vocal work as several characters for the "Old Republic" video game.)

Good night and may God bless.....