Bruce Geller

Bruce Geller, man, this guy had his fingerprints all over classic TV. Born and bred in New York City, he kicked off his career in the early ‘50s, writing for shows like “Rock King, Detective” and “Flash Gordon” (honestly, that’s pretty wild—who starts with sci-fi and ends up re-inventing spy TV?). By the time the 1960s rolled around, Geller wasn’t just writing—he was out here making TV history. He cooked up “Mission: Impossible,” the spy show that basically set the bar for every undercover, super-slick TV agent that followed. That show ran from ‘66 to ‘73, racking up two Emmys for Geller and a fat stack of nominations. Not too shabby. But the guy wasn’t a one-hit wonder. He also produced “Mannix,” a detective show that was pretty much everywhere in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Seriously, if you had a TV, you probably caught at least one episode. Geller didn’t just stick to the small screen, either—he dipped his toes into movies with “Harry in Your Pocket” in 1973, handling both producing and directing duties. The movie didn’t exactly blow the doors off the box office, but hey, he did it. Tragically, Geller’s run came to a sudden stop. In 1978, while piloting his own Cessna near Santa Barbara, he died in a plane crash at just 47. Wildly talented, gone way too soon, but man, the guy left a mark.