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Tribute to FRED WILLARD (1933-2020) A Comedy Legend and always...the Best of Show!

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The rumor was "Fred Willard is a comedy genius." Let's put a stop to that rumor and make it official. YES, Fred Willard (Sept 18, 1933-May 15, 2020) was a comedy genius! He was also a good friend of over 40 years but he had been making me laugh longer than that. When I saw Fred as Jerry Hubbard, the sidekick dolt to Martin Mull's smarmy TV host, Barth Gimble, on "Fernwood Tonight" (1977), it was as if comedic lightning bolts were being transmitted through the TV screen. Brilliant then and brilliant until his passing, racking up over 300 memorable TV and film roles in a wide variety of shows. Jimmy Kimmel helped keep Fred going with regular, sidesplitting late night appearances until the very end. Fred even did two shows for me. An unsold Orion pilot, "That's Funny," in 1984, and the first episode of Kelsey Grammer's "World Cup Comedy" (2004), an improv competition series for PAX. Since Fred's first TV acting role was on the comedy western, "Pistols 'n' Petticoats" (1966), I invited him to join me as a guest for one of our early A WORD ON WESTERNS episodes. It was tribute to cowboy comedy, taped in the cafe at The Autry Museum, September 17, 2014. Of course, Fred brought the house down with stories of horseback riding in the dark with Kris Kristofferson, the improvisational comedy collaborations of working with the likes of Eugene Levy and Christopher Guest. Fred even got to briefly talk about his love of baseball! That 2014 interview resulted in three short AWOW episodes which have been re-edited together for this special tribute to Fred. He's still making us laugh! Thanks for the memories, Fred. Now he'll join his Mary and once again have a very Mary Christmas.
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