Biography
Earl Pomerantz (4 February 1945 – 7 March 2020) was a Canadian-born screenwriter and producer who worked primarily in American television comedy. He began his career writing a weekly column for the Toronto Telegram in the late 1960s and contributed to the Canadian variety series The Hart & Lorne Terrific Hour in 1970, which starred his brother Hart Pomerantz and Lorne Michaels. He moved to Hollywood in 1974.
Pomerantz wrote episodes for series including The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show (1972), Taxi (1978), Rhoda, Phyllis, Cheers, Newhart (1982) and The Cosby Show (1985), on which he also served as co-executive producer and showrunner. He created or developed Major Dad, Best of the West and Family Man. He received two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Writers Guild of America Award, the Humanitas Prize and a CableACE Award. In later years he contributed commentaries to NPR’s All Things Considered.
