David Lloyd was one of those TV writers whose work spread across the history of television. He worked on shows ranging from The Tonight Show in the 60s to Frasier in the 90s and early 2000s.

Lloyd died last night after a long illness.

Lloyd had a part in many memorable TV shows over the years, as a writer and/or a producer, including Cheers, Wings, Taxi, Lou Grant, Rhoda, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Phyllis, The Tony Randall Show, Dear John, The Dick Cavett Show, The Associates, The Best of the West, and many other shows.

Ken Levine has a great tribute to Lloyd on his site, including a discussion of how Lloyd was as a writer. It includes an example of Lloyd's script for the classic Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Chuckles Bites The Dust."

When Mary Richards burst out laughing at Chuckles the Clown's funeral, I could totally understand that. She's mortified, of course, and when the minister says it's ok, that laughter is what Chuckles would have wanted, Mary starts sobbing. It seemed both funny and realistic.

I was trying to decide if the laughing scene at George's funeral in this week's Grey's Anatomy was realistic, and I guess it is. No one really knows how grief will affect someone, and laughter is as good as any method of handling grief.

I mean, the whole thing was sort of crazy -- that George would be hit by a bus while saving someone. And then that "someone" would be crying more than anyone else at the funeral. No doubt, she was filled with guilt and grief over the whole thing.

I don't mean of one particular show, I'm talking about the best episode of any TV series? Not an easy thing to do. Just think of how many shows and how many episodes we've had in 60+ years. The new issue of TV Guide is out, and while the full list of the 100 best episodes isn't online yet (here are #'s 100-81), we do know some episodes in the top ten (TV Guide did a similar issue back in 1997).

The number one ep? "The Contest" from Seinfeld. "Chuckles Bites The Dust" from The Mary Tyler Moore Show and "Opie The Birdman" from The Andy Griffith Show are up there too, as is the pilot episode of Lost and the "College" episode of The Sopranos. What's the first episode that comes to mind when you think of great TV?