A Millennial's Appreciation of Garry Marshall

Yesterday we lost another legend. This legend was huge in television and movies. We lost the great Garry Marshall at the age of 82.

Marshall was one of the great writers and directors that Hollywood had ever seen. Marshall had his hand in on many, many great television shows. Among many other things, Marshall created "Happy Days", "Mork and Mindy", "Angie" and "Laverne and Shirley". He wrote on classic TV shows like "The Dick Van Dyke Show", "The Odd Couple" and "The Lucy Show". He directed classic movies like "Pretty Woman", "Beaches", "Overboard" and a bunch of the television shows he created and wrote on. He was a master of comedy in the 60's and the 70's. "Happy Days" is a timeless television show that, at least the first couple of seasons, still holds up. "Mork and Mindy" was the coming out party for the greatness that was Robin Williams(another person we lost way too young). "Laverne and Shirley" was, and still is, one of my mom's favorite TV shows, and I really enjoy it as well. It was one of the first shows that featured 2 females in lead roles. Marshall was an innovator.

Writing for the shows he wrote for was just incredible. During that era, there were very few channels, so whatever the higher ups at the channels wanted on TV, that what was on. That included some great shows like "The Dick Van Dyke Show", "The Lucy Show" and "The Odd Couple". Those shows are all timers and Marshall was one of the lead writers on each one. Dick Van Dyke was an enormous star and a lot of his spoken words were lines written by Gary Marshall. There is almost no one as big as Lucille Ball in the history of TV, and Marshall wrote a lot of her jokes. "The Odd Couple", featuring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, again, written by Gary Marshall. Lemmon and Matthau are two of the biggest stars of all time, and Gary Marshall was one of the leaders in the writers room, feeding these guys their iconic lines.

I know that his movies near the end have become a punchline, but look at the ones I mentioned above. "Pretty Woman" was Julia Roberts coming out party. That movie made her a star. Also, to get a movie made in the 80's about a prostitute with a heart of gold, that's super impressive. Like I said, he was ahead of his time. "Beaches" is one of the saddest, most heart wrenching movies ever made, but I do not know one person that hasn't seen at least most of that movie. That movie is so sad, but it is also very well made and excellently directed. "Overboard" is a great comedy movie starring two fairly unknown people at the time. Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn were marginally famous, but that movie put them over the top. That movie is also very, very funny and it does hold up. The farcical story is so out there, but due to Marshall's directing, it's believable and executed exceptionally. I never thought of Kurt Russell or Goldie Hawn as comedic actors until I saw "Overboard".

He also had a hand in on a lot of the stuff his sister, Penny Marshall, was involved with. Be it helping her write or cast or perform himself in the movies, he was a big help. His minimal role in "A League of Their Own" stands out among many great things in that wonderful movie. I'm sure he helped some way in one of my favorite movies, "Big". He directed, and gave his sister her start, in the wonderful "Laverne and Shirley". He also never had any problems helping his sister out. When he was called out for nepotism, he didn't hide from it, he embraced it. His famous quote about hiring family members, "When in doubt, you bring in relatives. Nepotism is a part of my work", is incredible.

I know it might seem weird that the millennial of the site is writing about Garry Marshall, but he has been involved, some way, throughout my entire life of watching TV and movies. I adore Gary Marshall's TV shows and most of his movies. I'm also curious as to how the podcast "Comedy Bang! Bang!" will approach this news. For those that don't know, Paul F Tompkins plays a lot of characters on the podcast and the TV show, but I think his most beloved is his impression of Gary Marshall. He does a spot on impersonation, and I hope they do something special to remember the man. I'm sure they will and I'm sure it will be hilarious and heartfelt. I eagerly await your move "Comedy Bang! Bang!".

Rest in Peace Garry Marshall. You were an innovator, a genius, a writer ahead of his time and an all around fantastic TV and movie personality. Your directing and writing will go down in history. Enjoy the afterlife good sir.

ed note: We forgot an extra r in Garry when the article was first published. We have corrected the mistake. Sorry that we are idiots.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

Comedy is thriving with podcasts. Get the best with the new app Howl.

Where do I turn the dial to hear this great comedy?

As all of you know, I'm a big, big fan of podcasts. 

I listen to podcast ranging from sports to comedy. Comedic podcasts are where my bread is buttered. I love listening to funny people being funny. There's something great about podcasting that allows these comedians and comedy writers to be funny in a free flowing environment. There's no real structure. Sure, you have an intro and an outro, but what happens in the middle is the best part. You get to hear these people use improv. That's so cool, because a lot of these people are great improvisors. People like Doug Benson, Scott Aukerman, Mike Mitchell, Nick Wiger, The Sklar Brothers, Paul F Tompkins and Matt Gourley are all great comics and actors, but on podcasts, they shine. Podcasting gives them the ability to do whatever they want. No notes from network executives, or people telling them to wrap something up. They have free rein. 

Podcasts have also introduced me to very funny up and coming actors and comedians like Lauren Lapkus, Jon Gabrus, Hayes Davenport, Sean Clements and even an old timer like Brendon Walsh. Ben Schwartz is so hilarious whenever he and Scott Aukerman do their "solo bolos" on Comedy Bang! Bang!. Actor Adam Scott is very, very funny during his appearances on multiple podcasts. Nick Kroll is a comedy powerhouse, especially with his many different characters on Comedy Bang! Bang!.  How Did This Get Made introduced me to Paul Scheer, June Diane Rapheal and the extremely funny, Jason Mantzoukas. I had barely ever seen or heard from Andy Daly until he started to pop up on different podcasts and now he has one of the best shows on TV, "Review". I could go on and on and on.

The main reason I'm writing today is to tell you about the great new podcast app called Howl. Howl gives you unlimited access to every single Earwolf, Wolfpop and WTF With Marc Maron that's ever been recorded. That means every episode of Comedy Bang! Bang!, How Did This Get Made, U Talkin U2 To Me, Analyze Phish, what I'm trying to say is, you get every single episode of every single Earwolf show. On most podcast apps, you get the last six months. On Howl, you get every episode ever, and the old ones are remastered with no commercial interruption. Same thing goes for the fairly new sister network of Earwolf, Wolfpop. You get Maltin on Movies with Baron Vaughn, I Was There Too, The Canon and so on and so forth. Every episode ever and the old ones are commercial free.

That would be enough for me, but they also give you every single WTF with Marc Maron. On his free app, he only gives the last sixty episodes for free. Howl gives you every episode ever. That's right, you can go back and listen to the two part Louis CK episode, voted best podcast ever, commercial free as many times as you want. You can hear Marc Maron interview Robin Williams. You can hear him from his start, interviewing his comedy buddies all the way to his high point of interviewing President Barack Obama.

Now, this app does cost money, but it's only 5 dollars a month. That's not much at all considering what you're getting. There is also shows that are only part of the premium Howl app. New shows from the Sklar Brothers, Lauren Lapkus and Jermaine Clement just to name a few will be on the premium app soon. There's also a TON of comedy albums available. You can hear albums from comics like Jen Kirkman, Doug Benson, Jim Gaffigan, Nick Kroll, Aziz Ansari and many, many more. I know, this sounds like an add, but it's not, I really just love this app and I think comedy podcast listeners will too. This is the holy grail for comedy podcasts. All these hours upon hours of uninterrupted shows is, in a word, phenomenal. It's a nice way to give back to these people that give us all this free content. Five dollars a month is nothing, and it's totally worth it. I love the Howl app and I'm really happy to have it. This is the first movement in the future of podcasting and I couldn't be happier about having all this content. Keep up the great work people of Earwolf, Wolfpop and WTF.

You guys have a fan for life.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and co-host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He did not get paid by any advertisers for writing this, . Follow Ty on twitter .