Yesterday we lost comedy legend, Fred Willard, a master of improv, a first-class actor, and by all reports, one of the nicest guys in show business.  One indicator of how much people liked Willard was that this blog, which posted an episode of Fernwood 2 Nite about eleven and a half months ago, saw a surge as hundreds of people found us via Google to watch Fred Willard in all his glory.

I first saw Willard almost fifty years ago as part of the Ace Trucking Company, an improv group he co-founded, which appeared on variety shows like Flip Wilson’s program in the early 1970s.

It’s time for one more look at Willard’s work, with the little-seen Cinemax series History of White People in America, which also co-stars his Fernwood 2 Nite partner, Martin Mull, and several other comedy legends. That’s the second series of four episodes, combined into one mockumentary feature, posted up above. This series was written by Mull, directed by Harry Shearer, and co-starred Mary Kay Place and Edie McClurg alongside Willard.

Here’s to one of the nicest funny guys who ever existed.