There were broadcasters (Howard Cosell) and the occasional talk show host (Joan Rivers), but no Jews leading a cast on prime time. Then in the final year of the decade, that changed, and a glut of anxious men arrived, kvetching, quipping and dating shiksas. For those who know him as the cranky friend of Larry David on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” it may be a surprise that Richard Lewis, who died at 76 this week, cut a seductive figure: clever, cool, darkly morose. (Second place: “Family Ties.”) But Lewis brought a nervy energy that pushed against the saccharine instincts of network sitcoms. He once told David Letterman, “The woman I’m with now insisted on having intercourse only with a raven on her shoulder.”

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Persons: Howard Cosell, Joan Rivers, Jackie Mason, Jerry Seinfeld, Rob Morrow, Richard Lewis, ”, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Myers, Lewis bellyached, Larry David, Seinfeld, Lewis, David Letterman, “ Locations: Alaska, Chicago