By Gillian Flaccus
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Glen A. Larson, the writer and producer behind well-loved TV series such as the original "Battlestar Galactica," ''Knight Rider," ''Magnum, P.I." and "Quincy, M.E.," has died. He was 77.
Larson died at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center on Friday night of complications from esophageal cancer, his son, James Larson, said in a phone interview Saturday.
Glen Larson, also an accomplished singer and composer, was a powerhouse in the television landscape in the 1970s and 1980s, when he churned out hits that became staples in millions of living rooms every night.
He also co-composed the theme songs for some of his hits, including the frequently sampled tune from "Knight Rider" and the orchestral music behind "Battlestar Galactica," his son said.
"He was sort of an icon," James Larson said. "There are a lot of interesting things like that."
Glen Larson was nominated three times for an Emmy, once for a Grammy for the original score of "Battlestar Galactica," and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1985.
Glen Larson was born on Jan. 3, 1937 to a Swedish immigrant mother and a Swedish-American father in Long Beach, California.
In 1956, Glen Larson joined a vocal group called The Four Preps and, with them, appeared in a Gidget film and earned three gold records. He helped write and compose some of their hits, including "26 Miles (Santa Catalina)," ''Big Man" and "Down by the Station."
Where he would make a lasting mark, however, was in television.
His first writing credit came in 1966 on an episode of "The Fugitive."
By 1968, he had worked his way up to an associate producer on the series "It Takes a Thief" and quickly rose through the ranks to produce some of the biggest TV shows of the time. At one point, he had five shows airing at once, his son said.
A list of nearly four dozen TV credits also includes "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries," ''B.J. and the Bear," ''The Fall Guy" and the TV movie "The Six Million Dollar Man."
Glen Larson is survived by his wife, Jeannie Pledger, a brother, and nine children from two different marriages.
California governor signs law to protect children from social media addiction
California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent beginning in 2027 under a new law Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday.
California follows New York state, which passed a law earlier this year allowing parents to block their kids from getting social media posts suggested by a platform's algorithm. Utah has passed laws in recent years aimed at limiting children's access to social media, but they have faced challenges in court.
The California law will take effect in a state home to some of the largest technology companies in the world. Similar proposals have failed to pass in recent years, but Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation law in 2022 barring online platforms from using users' personal information in ways that could harm children. It is part of a growing push in states across the country to try to address the impacts of social media on the well-being of children.
"Every parent knows the harm social media addiction can inflict on their children — isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night," Newsom said in a statement. "With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits."
The law bans platforms from sending notifications without permission from parents to minors between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays from September through May, when children are typically in school. The legislation also makes platforms set children's accounts to private by default.
Opponents of the legislation say it could inadvertently prevent adults from accessing content if they cannot verify their... Read More