Prime Eighties and Nineties comedy writer-producer David W. Duclon, who created Punky Brewster and co-developed Silver Spoons, died this morning, Jan. 15, after a protracted sickness. He was 74.
Born Warren David Duclon in Rockford, Illinois, Duclon began his profession as a author on traditional Seventies sitcoms comparable to The Odd Couple, Glad Days, Laverne & Shirley, The Jeffersons and Diff’hire Strokes.
His first writing credit score was on a handful episodes of the The Odd Couple alongside Garry Marshall who took him beneath his wing and taught him the way to be a showrunner whereas Duclon labored on his hits Glad Days and spinoff Laverne & Shirley.
Over the subsequent decade, Duclon went on to create a slew of sitcoms of his personal. He developed CBS’ 1979 comedy Working Stiffs starring James Belushi and Michael Keaton, co-developed the 1982 Silver Spoons, which ran on NBC for 4 seasons and one other in first-run syndication, and co-created the 1987 Fox comedy Boys Will Be Boys starring Matthew Perry.
Duclon additionally created the 1984 sitcom Punky Brewster, which ran for 4 seasons, two on NBC and two in syndication. It catapulted its younger star Soleil Moon Frye to fame as her titular character grew to become an Eighties popular culture icon. The sequence earned three Emmy nominations together with two for Excellent Youngsters’s Program.
In a pay-it-forward trend, Duclon then helped mentor the subsequent era of showrunners.
He gave My Identify Is Earl and Elevating Hope creator Greg Garcia his first writing job on the short-lived 1994 sitcom On Our Personal, starring Jurnee and Jussie Smollett, Duncan’s final sequence as a creator. Duclon went on to government produce Garcia’s first sequence as a creator, the 1997 Constructed to Final (which he co-created with Warren Hutcherson). Duclon later wrote an episode of Garcia’s first hit, Sure, Pricey, co-created by Alan Kirschenbaum.
“While you’re first beginning out on this enterprise, discovering that one one who will consider in you is invaluable. For some motive, Dave Duclon believed in a 23-year-old me and gave me my first job,” Garcia mentioned. “In the course of the 4 years I labored beneath him, I not solely discovered the ins and outs of sitcom writing, but additionally the way to be a showrunner. Dave ran his reveals with confidence, a transparent imaginative and prescient, unbridled enthusiasm and, above all else, kindness. I’m a greater individual for having identified Dave, and I’ll all the time be in his debt for the time he took to be my mentor.”
One other profitable TV showrunner, Meg DeLoatch (Household Reunion, The Neighborhood), shared an identical story.
“Dave employed me for my first workers job and some years later, was variety and humble sufficient to be my second after I grew to become a showrunner on my first present,” she mentioned, “A writers’ author, he was all the time beneficiant, respectable and instructed the perfect tales.”
Then up-and-comer DeLoatch’s first workers job was on the hit 1989 sitcom Household Issues the place Duclon was as an government producer. He then employed her on Malcolm & Eddie, which he additionally government produced. DeLoatch went on to create her personal sequence, the 2003 Eve. Duclon government produced Eve along with her earlier than he left Hollywood and moved again to his house city in Illinois.
Duclon was just lately concerned within the 2021 Punky Brewster revival, which he government produced.
