The headline of this post is our typically sensitive TVWriter™ way of reporting the death of very funny writer Bob Brunner, the dood who gave Fonzie his name and even came up with the idea for the HAPPY DAYS scene where a water-skiing Fonzie does in fact “jump the shark.”
Bob died of a heart attack October 28th at the age of 78. A long-time buddy of HAPPY DAYS honcho Garry Marshall, he wrote LAVERNE & SHIRLEY and BLANSKY’S BEAUTIES as well as HAPPY DAYS.
In closing, we’d like to wish Bob a merry afterlife by shouting out to him with the immortal phrase that, yes, he created: “Sit on it, Bob!”
And thanks for all those wonderfully happy evenings of TV viewing.
EDITED TO ADD: We’d like to think that somebody as funny as Bob Brunner would understand and forgive our insensitive headline, taking it in the anything-for-a-joke spirit of wannabe sitcom writers everywhere. But to any and all of you who read this and disagree: We apologize in advance.