i had no idea those little brahms would trigg rum balls would trigger a slightly salty pirate impersonation fred willard went up to phil rosenthal, the show runner, and he said, hey, this week's script is really good. he goes, i'm not funny in it, but boy, it's a good script. and phil told the writers and myself. and we kind of laughed because we knew we didn't have to write him jokes. whatever we wrote, when he said it would be twice as funny. and he was a genius. part of his genius, fred, was that he didn't know that he was a genius. >> i never enjoyed anyone more in a lifetime in our business, in the entertainment business, than i enjoyed fred willard. i loved him as a man. i adored him as a character. as unique and hilarious a character as anyone i ever worked with. i started to say i'll miss you fred, but you're with me. i see you. i laugh at you as i think about you. and -- yes, i'll miss you. >> fred willard leaves a hole that will not be filled by anybody. there was no one that could take my breath away with such outrageous and fearless leaps of originality. one of a kind. i was for