Television's goldenest girl tops this year's list of Television Hall of Fame inductees, which were announced Thursday by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Actress Bea Arthur (pictured, front and center), who played Dorothy Zbornak in The Golden Girls and Maude Findlay in Maude, is the sole actress getting her due this year. Since The Golden Girls went off the air, Arthur has reduced her workload, guest starring in a few shows such as Malcolm in the Middle and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Joining her in this class are the late Merv Griffin, M*A*S*H producer Larry Gelbart, and Brady Bunch creator Sherwood Schwartz.
Griffin passed away last August at the age of 82. The producer had a vast media empire, and created the shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy (he also composed the latter's theme song).
Gelbart was instrumental in getting the popular M*A*S*H on the air, and wrote the screenplays for Oh God! and Tootsie.
In addition to creating The Brady Bunch, Schwartz also created Gilligan's Island. Like Griffin, Schwartz also had a hand in television theme songs, creating the jingles to both the aforementioned shows.
No date has been announced for the induction ceremony.
Comments (16)
Sherwood Schwartz? And how could ANYONE mention Gilligans Island and The Brady Bunch in the same breath as MASH????? Two of the lamest sitcoms of all time? Thats an insult to one of the greatest, most intelligient sitcoms of all time! But Im glad Gelbart is getting his due. Bea Arthur deserves it too. And even Merv Griffin deserves recognition.
All classics.
I'm so excited for Bea.She's been overlooked too much.
I love MASH.
Brady Bunch was great!
When we lost Gilligan's Island we lost as lot! M.A.S.H. WAS all about war in comedy. Right!
ok then...
Good choices. However, the article ignores Merv Griffin's years as a talk show host and singer. The 1970s would have been a lot different (at least at my house) if he never had a talk show.
Zebrok, Thank you! This info makes me never want to consider this an actual hall of fame.
Way overdue ;) but well deserved.
interesting
That there was a TV hall of fame that didn't already include Griffin, Gelbart and Schwartz means that it wasn't much of a hall of fame. Those 3 are icons in TV history. I mean come on, MASH, Gilligan's Island, The Brady Bunch, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and even DANCE FEVER! ;)
cool cool love golden girls
I think those are some amazing choices. Well done to who picked them. Bea Arthur is so versatile and hysterical in both "The Golden Girls" and "Maude". "M*A*S*H" is one of my all-time favorites because of how clever the show is. Sherwood Schwartz created two of the most iconic shows in TV history. And without Merv Griffith the TV history would certainly be sparse.
How could the most watched first run show of all time not be in the hall of fame already?
love MASH