THROUGH EARLY MORNING FOG I SEE VISIONS OF THE THINGS TO BE, REDUX: Famed comedy writer, screenwriter and playwright Larry Gelbart has died. He was 81. Gelbart, who led a varied and storied career, is of course best known for somewhat successfully adapting Robert Altman's M*A*S*H for TV. Quoted in his obit, Gelbart had this to say about the TV's show's unique tone:
Among Gelbart's other credits were the screenplay to Tootsie, the book for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and numerous jokes as a staff writer on Caesar's HourYour Show of Shows alongside Mel Brooks and Neil Simon.
"The thing that most appealed to me about 'MASH' was not even the movie. It was the theme song ['Suicide is Painless' written by Johnny Mandel and Mike Altman], the movie music, which was written in a very minor key and appealed to me emotionally. And I know that I pegged all that comedy to that sound."
Among Gelbart's other credits were the screenplay to Tootsie, the book for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and numerous jokes as a staff writer on Caesar's Hour
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