Where have you gone, Sam the Butcher?

Tim Russert was a great broadcaster, and from all reports a great all-around guy. Plus, he was a baseball fan, so there was more than one reason for me to like him.

But, I have to agree with other critics I have heard bemoan the obnoxious amount of coverage that all media outlets dedicated to Russert. He was a great broadcaster, but not a head of state. So, did his death deserve more media coverage than president Gerald Ford received when he died in 2006?

Meanwhile, where was the media when Allan Melvin died earlier this year? That's right, Allan Melvin, star of stage and screen. He won us over in Brady Bunch as Alice's boyfriend Sam the Butcher; then he continued to wow his audience with his excellent portrayal of Barney Hefner in the all-time great comedy All in the Family. Added to that, he voiced dozens of cartoon characters, including Magilla Gorilla.

Allan Melvin's career was more than twice as long as Tim Russert's, yet his death warranted no more than a brief mention at the end of the nightly newscast, and a short obit in the next day's paper.

Tim Russert will definitely be missed, and I wouldn't say the copious coverage of his death sucked, but I wanted to dedicate some space here in the hopes that America's favorite corner butcher, Allan Melvin, won't be forgotten.