To Absent Friends - Sid Caesar, Ralph Waite

I keep no such records, and I'm too lazy to do the research, but February, 2014 has to be the busiest month in Grandstander history as far as the compilation of Absent Friends is concerned.  Four such citations so far, and two more to be added today, and the month is only half over.  Must be this weather.

First off, we note the passing of television comedy giant Sid Caesar at the age of 91.  Caesar's comedy-variety "Your Show of Shows" is generally considered one of television's landmark shows.  To be honest, this show, which ran in the early to mid-fifties, predates my memory of television watching, so my only reference to it is from film clips on other TV shows that followed it.  I also have a memory of Caesar on talk shows over the years where he, much like an old ballplayer, constantly bemoaned the fact that people in television "today" weren't nearly as funny, talented, innovative as people, especially himself, were in his day.

One thing about Caesar that does need to be recognized was the stable of talent that flowed from the "Your Show of Shows" writers' room.  Such giants and Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Larry Gelbart, and Woody Allen all served as writers for Caesar on that show.  Television's classic "Dick Van Dyke Show" and the great Peter O'Toole movie "My Favorite Year" also owe their lineage to Sid Caesar and "Your Show of Shows", and that is no small accomplishment.

Also headed to that great Mountain in the Sky this week is actor Ralph Waite, who played Daddy Walton in the 1970's series "The Waltons".  Waite was 85. in 1983, I spent a week in New York City for my then employer, Equitable Life. The only "celebrity" I saw during that week was Ralph Waite as I walking on the street one day during my lunch break.  Ah, those brushes with celebrity!

RIP Sid Caesar and Ralph Waite.