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A TV producer (and not to be confused with veteran TV news producer Fred Friendly), Ed Friendly brought shows to the screen for adults and children alike. For adults that included the ground-breaking Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1968-1973). "Ed could really make the deals," said his production partner George Schlatter. "He sold the 'Laugh-In' pilot to Timex to sponsor and then to NBC. The cost of the special was about $200,000, which seems impossible now." The show went on to be a hit with its cutting edge comedy. For children, Friendly's wife urged him to create a series from a book their daughter was reading. He didn't do it until he noticed his daughter was reading the books again and again, so he purchased the rights to Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie. The resulting show was also a hit, running from 1974 to 1983. Friendly was a bit upset that the show became a starring vehicle for Michael Landon, so he also produced "a faithful adaptation" of Little House as a miniseries in 2005. Friendly died from cancer at his southern California home on June 17. He was 85. From This is True for 17 June 2007 Suggestions for further reading:
 By: Laura Ingalls Wilder List Price: $6.99 Amazon Price: $6.99 Editorial Review: Laura Ingalls is heading west! The Ingalls family packs up their covered wagon and sets off for the big skies of the Kansas Territory, where wide open land stretches as far as the eye can see. Just when they begin to feel settled,they are caught in the middle of a dangerous conflict.  By: Laura Ingalls Wilder List Price: $14.95 Amazon Price: $10.17 Editorial Review: Pa Ingalls decides to sell the little log house, and the family sets out for Indian country! They travel from Wisconsin to Kansas, and there, finally, Pa builds their little house on the prairie. Sometimes farm life is difficult, even dangerous, but Laura and her family are kept busy and happy with the promise of their new life on the prairie. Little House on the Prairie is the second book in the Laura Years series.  By: Laura Ingalls Wilder List Price: $16.99 Amazon Price: $11.55 Editorial Review: The little settlement that weathered the long, hard winter of 1880-81 is now a growing town. Laura is growing up, and she goes to her first evening social. Mary is at last able to go to a college for the blind. Best of all, Almanzo Wilder asks permission to walk home from church with Laura. And Laura, now fifteen years old, receives her certificate to teach school.  By: Melissa Wiley List Price: $6.99 Amazon Price: $6.99 Editorial Review: In this fourth book in the Martha Years series, ten–year–old Martha journeys to the bustling city of Perth to visit her newly married sister Grisie. This is Martha's first time beyond the familiar heather hills and this city on the River Tay is more exciting than she could have ever imagined! Ages 8–12
 By: Laura Ingalls WilderGuillermo Solana List Price: $9.50 Amazon Price: $9.50 |
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