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.
A big tip of the TVWriter™ hat to screenwriter-blogger Scott Smith for reminding us this great book exists:
Offensive & Defensive Screenwriting (Tip #62) – by Scott W. Smith
“The biggest lesson a screenwriter can learn is how to master a rewrite of his own script, or someone else’s, and make the change a studio wants without destroying the story. It’s like a football game: If you think of writing an original screenplay as ‘offensive’ creativity, then rewriting is all about ‘defensive’ creativity.