Dan Wilcox

In the nearly two-hour solo portion of his interview, Dan Wilcox (1941-2024) talks about his early years, and his first job writing for television, on Captain Kangaroo. He describes going to work as a writer on Sesame Street, where he worked closely with producer Jon Stone, and wrote sketches and stories for both the human cast and for Jim Henson’s Muppets. He recounts his time as a writer on Fernwood 2 Night, and working with star Martin Mull on that show. He discusses writing for various other series, including Newhart, FM, and The Jeff Foxworthy Show. Wilcox recalls his involvement with the Writers Guild, and dealing with the writers strike of 2007. He outlines his own writing process, and how he deals with having writer's block. He concludes by detailing what he likes about writing, providing advice to an aspiring writer, and saying how he’d like to be remembered.

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 finale to the series, “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen.” Nancy Harrington conducted the interviews in a joint venture with the Writers Guild Foundation on April 20, 2016 in Tarzana, CA.