I Forgot About The Mod Squad and The Rookies

Not the biggest fan of his daughter Tori but Aaron Spelling made the television that consumed my childhood and a good portion of my adulthood. You always want to feel bad when someone dies but sometimes, when you look at the legacy they've left behind, all you can do is marvel at what will be with us in perpetuity.

Aaron Spelling, who produced such television programs as ``Charlie's Angels,'' ``Dynasty'' and ``Beverly Hills, 90210'' featuring beautiful people in glittering settings, has died, according to the Associated Press. He was 83.

Spelling's career followed the arc of television, starting with the early TV Westerns. More than 50 years later, his name was linked to almost 200 television titles representing more than 4,200 hours of programming, earning him recognition in the Guinness Book of World Records as the ``most prolific'' TV producer.

Spelling's programs made last-place ABC a network contender beginning with ``The Mod Squad'' in 1968, and he became the network's largest program supplier under an exclusive pact. In the next decade, he delivered ``The Rookies,'' ``Starsky and Hutch,'' ``The Love Boat'' and ``Hart to Hart'' in addition to ``Charlie's Angels'' and ``Fantasy Island,'' prompting wags to say that ABC stood for ``Aaron's Broadcasting Company.''

The ABC pact lasted 18 years, until new owners ended the relationship. Spelling then helped do the same for two newer networks. He delivered hit series for Fox Broadcasting in ``90210'' and ``Melrose Place'' in the 1990s, and he provided popular programming for the WB Network well into the next decade with ``7th Heaven'' and ``Charmed.''

Spelling took his company public in 1986, then saw it folded into Viacom Inc. a decade later.

His wife, Candy, and his acting children, Tori and Randy, were tabloid favorites, along with his 56,500-square-foot mansion, which earned a second Guinness Book entry for the largest Hollywood home. Spelling said he and his wife built their dream house because they were both claustrophobic and seldom traveled because he refused to fly.

Every show mentioned above has been a favorite of mine at one time (oooooh, forgot about Hart to Hart too ... is that on DVD?).