Thad Mumford

In the one-hour fifteen-minute solo portion of his interview, Thad Mumford (1951-2018) talks about his early years, and being a batboy for the New York Yankees. He describes becoming a page at NBC and going on to write jokes for Joan Rivers. He recounts writing for the PBS children’s series The Electric Company, learning to write sketches and characters from writer Tom Whedon, and eventually winning an Emmy for his work on the show. Mumford discusses writing for The Flip Wilson Show with Lorne Michaels, and eventually writing for the Norman Lear series Maude and Good Times. He details writing for A Different World, and being a supervising producer on ALF. He concludes by commenting on what he likes about writing, and offering advice for aspiring writers. Amy Harrington conducted the solo portion of the interview.

In the twenty-minute joint portion of their interview, Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford talk about how they met and became a writing team, as well as writing for That’s My Mama and Roots: The Next Generations. They recall being on the writing staff of M*A*S*H later in its run, and helping to write the series finale, “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen.” Amy Harrington and Nancy Harrington conducted the interviews in a joint venture with the Writers Guild Foundation on April 20, 2016 in Tarzana, CA.