eddie albert

I never heard of Vic Mizzy, but he was a professional songwriter who specialized in TV themes. Vic Mizzy passed away on Saturday at the age of 93. I may not have recognized his name, but I know Vic Mizzy's music... and I've had his tunes in my head for decades. Mizzy was the man who wrote two classic TV themes, Green Acres and The Addams Family. And they really were classic. To this day, I remember every word and can sing them at the drop of a hat (if you were wearing one and decided to drop it).

Mizzy had written songs that the likes of Dean Martin and Doris Day recorded, even the great Billie Holiday. But those TV themes are his legacy. That's not a bad thing. Mizzy made music that people remember because they were catchy themes attached to quirky series. And his songs were perfect because in 90 seconds or so, he captured the gist of the sitcom. Think about it:

Richard Bare spent most of his directing career helming the productions of every single episode of Green Acres. You'd think after all that time spent directing what some consider to be the dumbest sitcom ever he'd never want anything to do with the show ever again. WRONG!

Bare recently bought the rights to remake the series from the widow of creator Jay Sommers. According to Bare, now is the perfect time for a remake of GA to hit the airwaves.

Albert was the son of actor Eddie Albert (Green Acres), and a veteran actor in his own right. Besides starring in movies like Butterflies Are Free, Guarding Tess, Death Cruise, and The Greek Tycoon, Albert was a regular on the TV shows Dr. Quinn, Port Charles, and Power Rangers Time Force, as well as guest starring on everything from Kung Fu and Ellery Queen to Nash Bridges and Profiler.

For the past several years he took care of his dad, who died in 2005.

Albert died last week in Malibu, CA of lung cancer.