A few more words about Robin Williams

I want to spend a few more words about Robin Williams because a) he deserves it, and b) my memorial was rushed.

One thing that makes me nuts is when there is a suicide by a public figure, and people look for a logical rational reason for a completely irrational act.  Some columns have speculated that the failure of his television series The Crazy Ones was the reason for his decision to take his own life.

The reason why Robin Williams committed suicide is because he had a disease called depression.  If his series had been renewed, he would have made the same decision because of his on-coming Parkinsons Disease. Or because the San Francisco Giants were behind the Dodgers. Or because . . . pick a reason.  There can be no further analysis as to the why of his suicide than the fact that he had a disease whose symptoms included making the decision to kill one’s self.

As to The Crazy Ones, I liked it.  I thought it was smart not to make it all about Robin Williams, who at 62 had slowed a step since Mork and Mindy, but to build an ensemble around him.  The show took some time to figure out what everyone did (it only failed with Geller, who was either smart or kooky or sexy or unavailable as the script demanded).  Adding Brad Garrett as Williams’ neurotic, gay business partner was a nice addition.

The main cast was an excellent ensemble.  Sarah Michele Geller is an excellent actress (she was robbed of at least two Emmy nominations for Buffy; her work in the episode “The Body” is some of the best acting I have ever seen). Comedy is not her forte, but she provided excellent gravitas to play off Williams.  My favorite joke on the show was when Williams said something like “Have I ever let you down?” and Geller shoots him a stern, disapproving glare.  Williams then said, “Oh look, it’s your mother.”

James Wolk had done excellent work being really creepy on Mad Men.  Hamish Linklater did solid work on The New Adventures of Old Christine (and on an episode of Pushing Daisies). It took them a while to find a voice for Amanda Setton, but she eventually became the source of some of the most unexpected punch lines; my favorite was when they were choosing sides for a softball game and Setton’s character caught a ball barehanded and Wolk said, “She’s on our team!” and she replied, “Thanks, but I used to be into girls and they’re too high maintenance.”

The show started off with 16 million viewers for the Pilot, but the number had fallen to 9 million after a couple of episodes.  It ended up with 5.2 million. The numbers were not bad, but the show was expensive to produce and under-performed given the casting of Williams and the imprimatur of David E. Kelly. One can’t blame CBS for cancelling it, but a better lead in and some re-tooling might have saved it if CBS had been interested.

The fallout since Williams’ death has generally not associated him with the failure.  Williams had clearly done all he could, even luring former co-star Pam Dawber out of retirement for a nice guest appearance. It’s not always easy for Oscar winners to move to the small screen; just ask Halle Berry.

It’s been a week since Williams’ death and the public continues to reel.  Because Williams was so beloved and his death was so tragic, I can’t recall the last time there has been such a prolong reaction to a celebrity death. I am reminded of what a dorm mate of mine would have said: these things happens in threes; there was Robin Williams, there was Lauren Bacall . . . and there was Elvis.