Theodore J. Flicker(1930-2014)

One of his television movie ideas that didn't get made was "My Husband the Detective," written for comedian Alan King, which led to his biggest hit. He recalled, "Alan King loved it, the network hated it. But a smart agent saw a sitcom in it." He teamed with sitcom veteran Danny Arnold and together they created Barney Miller (1975), about a mismatched group of police detectives in a gritty New York City precinct. "Barney Miller" ran from 1974-82, giving Flicker and his wife Barbara enough money to say goodbye to Hollywood. Flicker, by his own admission, did not play studio politics well, As detailed in the 2008 documentary Ted Flicker - A Life in Three Acts (2008), he fought often with network executives and didn't always choose his battles wisely, at least in terms of career advancement. Shortly after he'd have a blowup with someone in the front office, Flicker would say, "They were on the cover of Time magazine and then be a new head of the studio." People would ask Ted, "Why are you leaving?" Flicker's response: "We had enough".

[on Shelley Berman] Shelley was a swine. I didn't bring Shelley from Chicago to St. Louis. He was a greedy, selfish performer. Severn [Severn Darden] would come onstage and hold his hands out like he had something in them and say, "Look at my rabbit." Shelley would do the cardinal sin of improvisation. He made the audience his ally in making a fool of Severn because there was no rabbit. I saw him do that and said, "When it's my company, he ain't going to be with it." He was a mean man. I didn't like Shelley. But he was talented and he was funny.