Richard L. Bare

Director, producer, and screenwriter -- via Variety. A well-traveled but little-hailed comic creator, he started off with a string of 63 comedy shorts for Warners featuring Joe McDoakes (George O'Hanlon) a beleaguered Everyman. (O'Hanlon is best remembered as the voice of George Jetson.) He moved on to television, where he helmed episodes of such series as "77 Sunset Strip," "Maverick" (he is rumored to have "discovered" James Garner), "The Twilight Zone" (most notably the classic episode "To Serve Man"), and "Petticoat Junction."

His biggest achievement was guiding "Green Acres" to success. One of the most bizarre sitcoms made, its air of deadpan surreality was unique -- no doubt in part of Bare's direction.