Woody Fraser died this morning at the age of 90. He was one of the most prolific TV producers in the business for several decades, specializing in talk and light news shows. A very partial list of his credits would include The Mike Douglas Show, The Dick Cavett Show, The Della Reese Show, The Bill Russell Show, The Virginia Graham Show, one of the many programs called The Steve Allen Show, Good Morning America, America Alive!, That's Incredible!, Those Amazing Animals, The Richard Simmons Show, Nightline, Life's Most Embarrassing Moments, Jimmy Breslin's People, On Trial, The Home Show, What Would You Do? and I don't know how many others.
In some cases, as with Mike Douglas and Richard Simmons, he discovered a talent and built a show around them. In other cases, he was hired to invent a show and a format and then pass it on to others. He "mentored" a staggering number of people who went on to successful careers in broadcasting. One of them was Roger Ailes.
I worked for Woody for several years and he was like the little girl in the rhyme: When he was good, he was very, very good…but he was not always good. He was good to me but not to everyone. It's going to take time to write something about him that celebrates the very good part without condoning or ignoring the other side. I'll get to it but maybe not for a while.