David Lloyd, 75; won Emmy, kept sitcom viewers chuckling

Mr. Lloyd died of prostate cancer Tuesday at his home in Beverly Hills, said his son, writer-producer Christopher Lloyd.

“I do think he was the preeminent writer of television comedy,’’ said Les Charles, cocreator of “Cheers,’’ for which Mr. Lloyd wrote numerous episodes.

“If you consider how long his career was and how much he wrote for such really popular shows, he’s got to have been responsible for a record number of laughs in this world,’’ Charles said.

In a four-decade comedy writing career that began with writing jokes for Jack Paar on “The Tonight Show’’ in 1962, Mr. Lloyd’s situation comedy credits include “The Bob Newhart Show,’’ “Phyllis,’’ “Rhoda,’’ “Lou Grant,’’ “Taxi,’’ “Frasier,’’ and many other shows.

“He was a remarkable writer,’’ said Allan Burns, who cocreated “The Mary Tyler Moore Show’’ with James L. Brooks and began working with Mr. Lloyd when he came to Hollywood in 1974.

“The word wit doesn’t come up an awful lot when you’re talking about television comedy, but that’s what David was, a genuine wit,’’ Burns said. “And he was just remarkable in his ability to write wonderful stuff very quickly.

“I would sit at my desk and laugh out loud, which I don’t do often. His drafts always made me laugh out loud and with such unexpected, off-the-wall humor.’’

Said Brooks: “From the moment he came out until now, he was the very best. I mean, I was saying the other day he was a one-man writing staff. The work was always that good and that witty. And it was extraordinary that it was that fast.

“He was a perfect writer and a great guy and was a major part of every show he was connected to.’’

Mr. Lloyd’s most famous piece of writing is his Emmy Award-winning 1975 script “Chuckles Bites the Dust,’’ in which the WJM-TV news staff deals with the death of one of their Minneapolis TV station colleagues: kiddie-show host Chuckles the Clown, who died while serving as grand marshal for a visiting circus.

As Ed Asner’s Lou Grant informs the newsroom staff: “It was a freak accident. He went to the parade dressed as Peter Peanut . . . and a rogue elephant tried to shell him.’’

For a man whose clown credo was “A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants,’’ the reaction to his being crushed to death by an elephant quickly generates newsroom quips.

Although Mary thinks there is nothing funny about Chuckles’s death, even she gets a case of uncontrollable giggles at the funeral for the man whose characters included Mr. Fee-Fi-Fo, Billy Banana, and Aunt Yoo-Hoo.

“I think it was David’s sort of mordant take on what is funny and what isn’t,’’ Burns said of the episode, “and that you can make death a subject and wring a lot of humor out of it. I mean, a lot. As people say, it’s the funniest episode we ever did.’’

Said Brooks: “We were laughing as hard on the stage as we ever did. It was a joy to do.’’

Burns said he feels it was ironic that Mr. Lloyd’s most famous television episode dealt with death “and here we are mourning his death.’’

“And I wonder how funny a funeral it’s going to be, Burns said. “I have an idea it’s going to be funny because that’s what he’d want.’’