Eric Gilliland (1962-2024)
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Eric Gilliland, graduate of Northwestern University theater program and prolific TV writer/producer of lassic sitcoms as “Roseanne”, “The Wonder Years” and “That ’70s Show”, has died of colon cancer at the age of 62.
Growing up in Illinois, Gilliland’s first loves were comedy shows - The Dick Van Dyke Show, Monty Python, Jack Benny, The Carol Burnett Show, and SNL. Gilliland went on to Northwestern University’s theater program where he - in his own words - “grappled with ‘The Cherry Orchard,’ and ‘Julius Caesar’ and - the quarter I really excelled in - ‘Star Spangled Girl.’" He was also a member of the famed Mee-Ow Show. Established in 1974, the show began featuring musical comedy and comic skits with a full orchestra and evolving into a revue composed of improv games and sketches. Born out of the anarchic spirit of Chicago's renowned The Second City, The Mee-Ow Show was an anti-establishment vehicle for a variety of talents who were just beginning their comedy career, including Craig Bierko, Dermot Mulroney, Seth Meyers, Ana Gasteyer, Kristen Schaal and Peter Grosz. In 2023, Gilliland directed Paul Iacono in “Paul Iacono, Unfiltered” at New York City’s Green Room 42. Gilliland also went on to be a professor in NYU's Dramatic Writing Department where he taught a course in TV story analysis. Gilliland’s Hollywood career started in the 1980s as a member of the production staff during the first season of the Sherman Hemsley-starring sitcom “Amen”, and booked his first big TV gig as a writer on “Who’s the Boss?”. After a year with the show, he worked on the coming-of-age comedy “The Wonder Years”. He went on to serve as a writer and producer on “Roseanne” from 1992-96, with his work being recognized with a WGA Award nomination for the episode “The Dark Ages.” After Roseanne, Gilliland worked as a writer and consulting producer on “That ’70s Show” from 1998-99 and as a writer and producer on “My Boys” from 2006-10. He received a Daytime Emmy nomination in 2019 for his writing on the Netflix sketch comedy series “The Who Was? Show”. Gilliland later served as a consulting producer on the popular spinoff “The Conners” in 2019. He also reunited with stars John Goodman and Roseanne Barr in his NBC pilot “Downwardly Mobile” in 2012, which ultimately wasn’t picked up by the network. His final credit was for the 2021 podcast “The Cinnamon Bear: A Holiday Adventure”. Ryan Reynolds remembered meeting him for the first time, with the Deadpool star calling the writer-producer “kind, gentle and funny as hell.” “I had Eric as a friend for 27 years,” Reynolds wrote on social media. “He was the first bigtime meeting I had at the start of my career. He’d finished working as a writer on “Roseanne” and had a swank bungalow office on the Fox lot in LA. I was nervous as hell to meet him. I’d gotten into my cups the night before and the hangover wasn’t helping. My head was pounding like crazy, but it was my stomach that really worried me. Eric wasn’t how I imagined a seriously successful comedy writer. He was so approachable. When he smiled, his nostrils flared and his eyelids lowered by half. Imagine Pixar, but Pixar is Eric’s face. It felt like I’d known him forever. And there are hundreds, if not thousands of bartenders, cashiers and shopkeepers in dozens of countries who feel the same.” Gilliland hails from the Chicago area, and much of his humor features a healthy portion of mid-western "meat and potatoes" sensibility. He is an expert whistler, and a passionate soup enthusiast. Eric Gilliland is survived by his sister, Lisa Gilliland. |