The Late Great Allan Burns

Without Allan Burns, 20th Century American broadcast television would not be the same. He wrote for the classic animated series Rocky and His Friends. With Chris Hayward he developed the format of the TV series The Munsters (created by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher), Chris Hayward and Allan Burns later created the notorious sitcom My Mother the Car and wrote for such classic shows as He & She and Get Smart. With James L. Brooks, Allan Burns created The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Sadly, he died yesterday at the age of 85.

Allan Burns was born in Baltimore, Maryland on May 18 1935. He began his career writing for Jay Ward Productions on the shows Rocky and His Friends and Fractured Flickers. While with Jay Ward Productions he created the animated character of Cap'n Crunch for the Quaker cereal of the same name. He formed a partnership with Chris Hayward, their first work beyond Jay Ward Productions being the 1962 episode "The Wedding" of the sitcom Father of the Bride. Allan Burns and Chris Hayward went onto develop The Munsters from an idea by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher. Afterwards they created the single season sitcom My Mother the Car. Producer Leonard Stern brought Allan Burns and Chris Hayward onto the sitcom He & She to write several episodes. Afterwards they wrote several episodes of Get Smart and served as story consultants on the show. In the late Sixties the partnership between Allan Burns and Chris Hayward dissolved. Allan Burns wrote episodes of Love, American Style and Room 222, serving as a producer on the latter show. Room 222 had been created by James L. Brooks, Impressed with Mr. Burns's work, Mr. Brooks formed a partnership with him. Together the two of them would create The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Allan Burns served as an executive producer on the show.

In the Seventies Alan Burns and James L. Brooks created the Mary Tyler Moore Show spin-off Rhoda, the sitcom Paul Sands in Friends and Lovers, and the Mary Tyler Moore Show spin-off Lou Grant. He co-wrote the animated TV special Carlton Your Doorman. Allan Burns also co-wrote the movies A Little Romance (1979) and Butch and Sundance: The Early Days (1979). In the Eighties Allan Burns co-created the sitcoms The Duck Factory and FM. He created the sitcom Eisenhower & Lutz. He wrote an episode of The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. He co-wrote the movies Second Time Lucky (1984), Just the Way You Are (1984), and Just Between Friends (1986).

In the Nineties Allan Brooks co-created the sitcom Cutters.

When it comes to television writers who have had an impact upon me, Allan Burns would have to be near the top of the list. After all, he worked for many of the shows I watched in my childhood, including Rocky and His Friends, Get Smart, Room 222, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, and Lou Grant. Later I would discover the wonders of He & She, one of the most brilliant sitcoms of all time. And while it has often been listed as the worst show of all time, I think  My Mother the Car has been unfairly maligned. While the format may have been bizarre, it featured episodes that had the same sort of brilliance seen in Allan Burns's work with Jay Ward, on Get Smart, and on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Allan Burns had an instinct for what was funny, while at the same creating entirely convincing characters. If so much of his work would have so much impact, it was because he was such a talented writer. Television certainly would not be the same without him.