Comedy Writer David Lloyd Passes
Wrote the acclaimed “Chuckles Bites the Dust" episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
David Lloyd, a television writer who worked on some of the most popular comedies of the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s — including the memorable "Chuckles Bites the Dust" episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, regarded as one of the classics of the genre for its daring and hilarity — died November 10, 2009, at his home in Beverly Hills, California. He was 75.
The cause was prostate cancer, which reportedly was diagnosed 21 years ago.
Prolific and disciplined, Lloyd wrote numerous scripts of his own and worked with other writers to polish scripts in need of additional attention. He was credited with more than 30 episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show 1973 and 1977, and also wrote for many other series, including The Bob Newhart Show, Lou Grant, Rhoda, Phyllis, The Tony Randall Show, The Associates, Taxi, Dear John, Amen, Wings, Cheers and Frasier.
Lloyd also created the series Brothers, which ran for several seasons in the 1980s on the cable network Showtime.
Among fellow writers and producers he worked with, Lloyd was a revered figure for his talent, versatility and focus.
Lloyd’s most acclaimed effort, “Chuckles Bites the Dust,” dealt with the death of Chuckles the Clown, the host of a children’s show on the same television station as the news broadcast around which the series was framed.
After the clown dies in a parade accident, the newsroom members deal with the shock of his death by joking about it. Mary Richards, played by series star Mary Tyler Moore, disapproves, but at the funeral, when the priest leading the service lists the names of Chuckles’ silly-sounding characters and recites his catchphrase, A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants, Mary cannot restrain herself from laughing.
When the minister reassures the mortified Mary that Chuckles would have appreciated her laughter and encourages her to continue, she begins to sob. This deft balance of tragedy and comedy earned Lloyd a Primetime Emmy Award for writing the episode.
David Gibbs Lloyd was born in Bronxville, New York on July 7, 1934. He graduated from Yale and considered entering drama school afterward, but enlisted in the Navy instead.
He worked as a schoolteacher before landing jobs in television, writing monologues for Jack Paar, Johnny Carson and Dick Cavett. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1970s after a friend, Ed. Weinberger, a writer and producer for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, suggested he write a script on spec for the show. He did, and sold it.
In 2001, he received the Writers Guild of America’s Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television.
Lloyd is survived by his wife, a sister, two daughters and three sons. Two of sons also work in television comedy. Christopher is an executive producer of the ABC series Modern Family, and Stephen is a producer on CBS’s How I Met Your Mother.
A testimonial to Lloyd's legacy, written and delivered by Rob Long, a former colleague during their time on the writing staff of Cheers, is available online here.