R.I.P. Ron Friedman 1932 - 2025

Transformers: The Movie writer Ronald Irwin Friedman passed away at the age of 93 on September 15th. Yep, he killed Optimus Prime (and wrote a book about it) and most of the G1 cast (as the orders of Hasbro). He also wrote scripts for G.I. Joe the series and write G.I. Joe: The Movie.

From THR: “To remove Optimus Prime, to physically remove ‘Daddy’ from the family, that wasn’t going to work,” Friedman said in 2013. “Hasbro didn’t know how to evaluate it. They didn’t recognize that Optimus Prime was the heartbeat of the Autobots. You cannot pass that over and have any hope of duplicating the success you had. Once you establish an icon, you’re a fool if you don’t try to preserve it.”

That was just the tip of the iceberg as he wrote over 700 hours of television in his career including for classics like The Andy Griffith Show, Happy Days, Get Smart, The Fall Guy, Fantasy Island, and so many more. He was a frequent guest at the TFCon conventions as their montage below shows. Here is a Q&A from his one of his last convention appearances. Condolences to his family and friends.