Ron Friedman

In his two-and-a-half-hour interview, Ron Friedman talks about his early life and his first writing jobs, penning gags for the comedian Shelley Berman and for The Perry Como Show. He chronicles writing for The Jonathan Winters Show and for The Danny Kaye Show, the latter of which earned him an Emmy nomination in 1966. He recounts making the transition from writing variety to writing sitcoms with Bewitched and later Lucille Ball’s "Lucy in London" special on which he partnered with the boisterous Pat McCormick. He recalls writing several 1970s sitcoms, including The Odd Couple, Funny Face, All in the Family, and Barney Miller, and becoming story editor on Chico and the Man, where he expressed his concern for the well-being of star Freddie Prinze to the producers, who declined to get involved. Friedman speaks of yet another pivot in his career to writing dramas, including Starsky and Hutch, Fantasy Island, and The Fall Guy. He details his final genre change to creating and writing animated series, including the wildly popular and iconic G.I. Joe and The Transformers cartoons, as well as Marvel Action Universe and Bionic Six. He concludes with a discussion of his writing process, how he deals with writer's block, his involvement with the Writers Guild, and advice to aspiring writers. John Dalton conducted the interview in a joint venture with the Writers Guild Foundation on November 7, 2016 in Los Angeles, CA, and Adrienne Faillace conducted a short, follow-up segment on August 18, 2017 in North Hollywood, CA.