Earl Barret, Co-Creator of Too Close for Comfort, Dies at 94

Earl Barret, the television writer who helped create the sitcom Too Close for Comfort, has died at the age of 94. His daughter, J.K. Barret, announced the death, and Deadline reported it on 29 October.

Barret died of natural causes at his home in Sherman Oaks, California, on Thursday, 22 October. He was a native of Canton, Ohio.

He is best known to many viewers for Too Close for Comfort, which he co-created in 1980 with Brian Cooke and Arne Sultan. The show ran for six seasons, from 1980 to 1987. It first aired on ABC, then moved into syndication, meaning it was sold to local stations to run outside the networks' own schedules. The series was later renamed The Ted Knight Show.

Barret also worked behind the camera on the show's day-to-day running. He served as executive producer, the senior producer who oversees a series from start to finish, and he directed 13 episodes. Writing and producing were only part of his career, though.

Earlier, in 1966, he wrote four episodes of the superhero series Batman. Those episodes featured Victor Buono as King Tut, a villain who became one of the show's best-remembered guest roles. Decades later, Barret co-wrote the 1989 comedy See No Evil, Hear No Evil, which starred Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.

Barret is survived by his wife, Barbara Barnett Barret, and by his son, John Nelson, and his daughter, J.K. Barret. He also leaves five grandsons. His daughter Lisa Nelson died before him.

For the writers and crews who worked on his shows, Barret's career is a reminder of how much television depends on people who never appear on screen. Writers, directors and producers shape a series long before an audience sees the first episode. His family and friends are now marking his passing.