by Maureen Ryan
RICH FURY/INVISION/AP
It's unclear what we've done to make the universe angry, but Death keeps taking legends from us: David Bowie, Prince, and now Garry Marshall. Marshall is gone at age 81.
Marshall did far more than create hit shows and cast actors who went on to be enormously influential in their own rights. He also appeared in a host of movies and films, always giving off the vibe of your cool, understanding, funny uncle, a guy who is game for just about anything and always encouraging. Who can say they worked on "The Dick Van Dyke Show," one of the foundational shows of television, and also voiced a character on "BoJack Horseman" and made appearances on "Louie"? It's not just that Marshall wanted to stay relevant. He understood that those shows boast the same kind of finely honed humanism that was at the core of his best work.
An actor, director and writer whose career spanned more than six decades, Marshall was a Hollywood giant, but he became one by telling stories on a very human scale.
His movies and TV shows weren't dominated by high-concept themes - well, not overly so. Yes, "Mork and Mindy" was about an alien, and sure, "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley" were allegedly set in the past. But all those shows were really about lovable goofs who got in their own way and memorable oddballs with good hearts. Any gimmick that set his stories in motion never overwhelmed the curiosity and understanding spirit that characterized his work.
It's hard to overstate how successful Marshall's mid-career sitcoms were. When I was in my tweens and teens, there were only the Big Three networks and PBS. Take the success of "American Idol" or "Empire" at their height and multiply it by two or three or four, and you're probably still not close to understanding how big "Happy Days" was. I feel nothing but gratitude that Marshall - and the still-alive-and-kicking Norman Lear - were among the most dominant creators of that era. These shows taught empathy like it's an easy thing to do, and it's not.