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Alan Rafkin Papers

An inventory of the collection at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: --
Date: unknown

Biographical History

Alan Rafkin is an alumnus of Syracuse University and one of the most talented directors of television sitcoms. His career, spanning over forty years, has included such shows as The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, M*A*S*H, Coach and Suddenly Susan among many others. Rafkin won an Emmy Award in 1982 for directing One Day at a Time and in 1998 he wrote his autobiography entitled, Cue The Bunny On The Rainbow: Tales From TV's Most Prolific Sitcom Director.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Alan Rafkin Papers is divided into scripts, videos and memorabilia. Scripts contains more than 700 scripts from television shows, mostly situation comedies; shows represented include Alice, The Bob Newhart Show, Charles in Charge, Coach, The Governor and J.J., It's Gary Shandling's Show, Laverne and Shirley, Love American Style, The Love Boat, Me & the Chimp, One Day At a Time, Sanford and Son, and Viva Valdez. Videos contains nearly 200 recordings of television shows, most of which are those represented in the scripts series. Videotapes are in one of three formats: VHS, Beta, U-matic. The format for each tape is given in parenthesis. Memorabilia comprises 2 boxes of miscellaneous memorabilia.

Arrangement of the Collection

Scripts and Videos are arranged alphabetically by title and within that in order by catalog number. Memorabilia is unprocessed and remains as received by Special Collections Research Center.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

Special Collections Research Center has a number of television-related collections. Please refer to the SCRC Subject Index for a complete listing

Subject Headings

Persons

Rafkin, Alan, 1928-2001.

Subjects

Television -- Production and direction.
Television broadcasting -- Auditions.
Television broadcasting -- Awards.
Television broadcasting.
Television comedies.
Television pilot programs.
Television plays.
Television producers and directors -- United States.
Television scripts.
Television series -- United States.
Television specials.

Genres and Forms

Betacam (TM)
Memorabilia.
Television scripts.
VHS.
Videotapes.

Occupations

Producers and directors.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Alan Rafkin Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Alan Rafkin, 1994.

Table of Contents

Scripts

Videos

Memorabilia

Inventory