“Tales From the Darkside” producer Jerry Golod died Wednesday at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., after a brief battle with cancer. He was 87 years old.
During his career, Golod served as an executive at CBS and NBC and later founded JayGee Productions in the early 1980s. After seeing the success of Stephen King’s 1982 film “Creepshow,” Golod collaborated with director Romero and producer Richard P. Rubinstein to bring the narrative to television. The three went on to air “Tales From the Darkside,” which ran for four seasons and garnered a huge fan base.
He also helped launch “Adderly” after reading Elliott Baker’s 1971 book “Pocock and Pitt” and becoming intrigued by the secondary character of the same name. The adventure series starred Winston Rekert and aired on CBS for two seasons.
In 1975, Golod became vice president of children’s programming at CBS, and in 1979 he moved to NBC Entertainment as vice president and national programming director. While there, he oversaw daytime and children’s programming, specials, variety and the West Coast’s late-night programming. He later joined CBS Television Studios and The CW for a revival of “Tales From the Darkside,” but the series never made it past its 2015 pilot.
In 1985, Golod executive produced CBS’ “Brass” and “Return to Green Acres,” which reunited the cast of the 1960s sitcom. He also executive produced the 1991 revival of “Land of the Lost,” which ran for two seasons.
Golod was born in the Bronx on December 26, 1938, and graduated from the City College of New York. He began his career at advertising agency Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, where he became vice president and associate director of programming. He also spent three years running a television production company affiliated with the agency.
In the ’90s, Golod worked with Pet Television Network as co-president and co-owner of a cable and satellite service for animal enthusiasts.
Golod is survived by his wife of 59 years, Ruth; their children, Dori and Jason; son-in-law, Doug; daughter-in-law Danielle; grandchildren Gavin, Ramey, Morgan and Madison; great-grandchildren Everett and Winslow; and nieces and nephews, Jill, David, Elise, Renee, Celia, Ari and Ava.