Aaron Spelling, television producer who injected the melodrama of daytime soaps into evening primetime weekly television series viewing with such shows as Dynasty, Melrose Place, and Beverly Hills 90210, died on June 23 of a stroke. Spelling, who began as a movie extra, went on to become a master at creating shows that captured the attention and following of mainstream viewers worldwide. The television series he launched are numerous -- in addition to the ones previously mentioned there was Burke's Law, Charlie's Angels, Fantasy Island, Love Boat, Hart to Hart, Hotel, Matt Houston, The Mod Squad, Starsky and Hutch, T.J. Hooker, 7th Heaven and Summerland. He produced 140 or more television films. With all that success came enormous financial fortune.
Less than a month after Spelling's death, his wife Candy and daughter Tori are reported to be squabbling over the Aaron Spelling estate, estimated to be worth a half billion dollars, with malicious accusations of impropriety and greed.
It's no respectable way to honor the dead.
But then again, for a man who elevated the superficial personality and lifestyle to an inconceivable height of popularity for the shallow -- which in essence became the definition of culture in the 1980's -- perhaps he would enjoy nothing less than the spectacle of the mother-daughter cat fights that will surely follow in the months ahead between the heirs to his estate.
