“Could’ve been last season. They just fell flat,” said Jay Allendorf, of Joliet, who has been to eight openers in a row. “But that builds character.”

Despite a lackluster first week, fans who flocked to the White Sox’ unprecedented — and rain-soaked — home opener Thursday still had high hopes for a World Series run.

“Could’ve been last season. They just fell flat,” said Jay Allendorf, a Joliet resident who has been to eight straight openers. “But that builds character. … I think they got all the pieces.”

Kevin May, of Riverside, also wasn’t deterred by the Sox’ shaky 3-4 start. He brought his dad, wife and two kids to Thursday’s game.

“They’ll get it together. They’re just kind of figuring things out. I’m pretty confident,” May said shortly after the gates at Guaranteed Rate Field opened for the first time since COVID-19 upended normal life.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Inside the park, fans made their way to socially distanced seating. The unusual arrangements prompted no complaints from the fans who, after all, had not been allowed to attend any games at all during the 2020 season.

But 40 minutes before the scheduled first pitch, the announcement came that the start of the game would be delayed because of rain in the area put a damper on things.

By 3:10 p.m., the scheduled start time, a rather heavy rain put most of the fans under cover, while some stayed in their seats huddled under umbrellas.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

About an hour and a half later, though, the tarp was coming off. Shortly before 5 p.m., the festivities began, including boos for the visiting Kansas City Royals — and louder boos for the politicians (not only Gov. J.B. Pritzker, but even Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who shares some season tickets behind home plate).

The Sox were expecting a crowd of around 9,000, adhering to a 22% capacity restriction. They could go to 25% based on city guidelines but are ensuring proper distancing with every available seat.

Hours before the game, tickets were already sold out. Some fans said they shelled out over $300 for seats in stadium suites hoping that would be a good way to further keep their distance from others.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Rob Frayer, who made the trip to “the Rate” from northwest Indiana with his wife and two young kids, could barely hold back his excitement as he prepared to walk through the turnstiles.

“We’re ecstatic to be back. It’s beyond words,” he said. “I missed the smell of the grilled onions. It’s the best.”

Later, injured shortstop Tim Anderson talked to media on a Zoom call about the buzz surrounding a home opener.

“Definitely means a lot. You’re playing in one of the best cities there is in front of the greatest fans there are,” Anderson said. “Definitely excited to have fans back in the ballpark, I’m sure it’s going to be loud and they are excited to see the guys as well. We’re excited to have them as well.”

Outside Gate 4, most fans wore masks but many clustered in line and ignored decals on the ground promoting social distancing.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

While some attendees said they were concerned about the city’s surging COVID-19 cases, self-described “die-hard Sox fan” Shawn Greene noted “a lot of guys for the time being are just trying to have a good time and just take in the moment and hope for the best.”

“It’s time to get off the couch and stop watching Netflix. It’s getting old,” Greene said as he tried to scalp a ticket.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

But as life returns to some semblance of normalcy, the threat of the virus remains — and could lead the city to pull back on allowing fans at games. Over the past week, the city’s test positivity rate — a key metric for measuring the spread of the virus — has jumped from 4.5% to 5.2%.

Andrew Buchanan, a spokesman for the Chicago Department of Public Health, said that figure and other important metrics, including case numbers and hospital data, would factor into any decision to again bar fans from attending games.

But for now, the city’s two major league clubs can continue to play ball in front of a limited number of fans. The South Siders ultimately prevailed Thursday in a 6-0 rout, with Lance Lynn pitching a five-hit complete game.

Read More

Ruben Roman Jr. was supposed to appear in court Wednesday on a 2019 case but never showed up.

An arrest warrant has been issued for a man who was taken into custody when Chicago police officers responded to a call about gunfire in Little Village and fatally shot 13-year-old Adam Toledo last month.

Officers responding to the March 29 call said they saw Toledo and 21-year-old Ruben Roman Jr. standing in an alley to the west of the 2300 block of South Sawyer Avenue, according to police.

Both Toledo and Roman ran, police have said, leading an officer to fatally shoot Toledo during an “armed confrontation.” Mayor Lori Lightfoot told reporters Monday that Toledo had a “weapon that could and did irreparably change the course of his life.”

Roman was taken into custody nearby and charged with resisting arrest and released on his own recognizance from a police station with a May court date, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

“Misdemeanor charges, like the resisting charge here, are direct filed by the police department and the State’s Attorney’s Office is not alerted when someone is arrested on a misdemeanor charge and receives a bond from the police station,” a spokeswoman for the office said Thursday in an emailed statement.

Toledo’s family told the Chicago Sun-Times they do not know Roman.

Roman was expected to appear in court Wednesday for a hearing in connection with a separate 2019 gun case that he is on probation for, court records show.

Roman did not show up for the hearing and the arrest warrant was issued by Judge Timothy Chambers.

Roman was sentenced to probation in July 2019 after pleading guilty to a single count of unlawful use of a weapon, after which prosecutors dropped nearly a dozen additional weapons charges against him, according to court records.

Information about the circumstances of the case were not immediately available.

Five months later, prosecutors filed their first petition alleging Roman had violated the terms of his probation. Additional petitions alleging violations of probation were filed in March and August last year, the state’s attorney’s office said.

At the hearing Roman failed to appear for Wednesday, the county’s Adult Probation Department filed a new petition that he had violated his probation with his latest arrest, the spokeswoman said.

Read More

Donovan knows that it’s human nature to get caught up in the scores and standings on a nightly basis, but with 22 regular-season games left, he wants the focus to be in the right place.

There’s moments when Billy Donovan is wordy in his replies to the media, making sure there’s a full understanding of what he’s explaining.

Then there’s times when the Bulls coach just bottom lines it.

Like Thursday.

“Whenever our schedule is done, it’s going to be we won enough or we just didn’t,’’ Donovan said, discussing where his team was after the 122-113 win over Toronto.

Why was this even a topic for a team that was 22-28, and still stuck in the final play-in spot as the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference?

Because with just 22 regular-season games left, Donovan understands human nature.

Even veteran players like Thad Young are admittedly fixated on the standings each night, checking scores and positioning of other teams in the East. Donovan wants to make sure the energy is focused in the right place. With so many games crammed into the next five weeks, it’s a message that the coach will continue hammering home.

“Our film sessions, our shoot-arounds, our walk-throughs have got to be good, they’ve got to be detailed, and there’s gotta be great focus,’’ Donovan said. “I always say to these guys I don’t need your bodies physically right now, I need your minds.

“There’s this I think the human element of everyday looking at the standings and looking at who won, who lost, and I think what happens a lot of times is you get caught up in that stuff and fail to realize that you’ve got to focus on yourself.’’

That focus was evident against an undermanned Raptors roster, missing the lethal backcourt of Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet. Not only two of the top scorers for Toronto (20-32), but two of their better defenders.

Bulls guards weren’t feeling much sympathy.

Zach LaVine finished with 22 points and 13 assists, and Tomas Satoransky had seven assists, as the ball moved all night for the visiting team, evident by the 35 total assists.

As far as taking care of the dirty work in the paint, with Daniel Theis back in the rotation after missing the last game for personal reasons, the Bulls outrebounded the home team 49-41, with Theis responsible for 10 of those off the bench.

Not the only big off the bench to impact the game, as Lauri Markkanen added 18 points and was a plus-23 in plus/minus. He looked more physical against Toronto, and teammates like Zach LaVine felt like Markkanen was more physical.

A style of basketball that’s finally being embraced by this group in the wake of the five new faces brought in at the trade deadline.

“We’ve put a bigger emphasis on getting into bodies,’’ Markkanen said. “We’re just trying to be a more physical team and I think we’ve been able to do that.’’

If there was a moment that Donovan could pick on it was the final half of the fourth quarter, as the Bulls seemed to get bored with the process, or at least turn the attention toward the key showdown they have in Atlanta on Friday night.

Toronto outscored the Bulls 34-25 in that final stanza, and needed LaVine to end a 9-0 run and any hopes of a comeback, as the All-Star guard hit a layup with 1:27 left and then nailed a three-pointer.

“Zach has done everything he can to impact the group and impact winning,’’ Donovan said of LaVine’s night. “Besides scoring, I think he’s working defensively, he’s trying to set guys up and make the right basketball play. He continues to improve and put us as a team in position to win.’’

Read More

A 20-year-old man died hours after a shooting Monday that left another person wounded in West Englewood on the South Side.

Two men, both 20, were standing outside about 6 p.m. in the 6100 block of South Marshfield Avenue when multiple people walked up and opened fire at them, Chicago police said.

One man was struck in the chest, while the other was struck in the leg and abdomen, police said.

One of the men, identified as Vonshea Norman, was pronounced dead about three hours later, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Area One detectives are investigating the fatal shooting.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

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Bail was set at $5,000 Thursday for a man who was behind the wheel when a child was critically wounded in a road rage shooting this week on Lake Shore Drive after he was hit with a felony gun charge for possessing a weapon without proper state identification.

Jushawn Brown, 43, was found with a handgun when police officers asked whether he had “anything he wasn’t supposed to have” while at Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Tuesday, where the 1-year-old boy was taken after being shot in the head, prosecutors said in court Thursday afternoon. Contrary to initial police reports, there was no evidence, prosecutors said, that Brown fired his weapon or displayed it during the road rage incident.

Prosecutors initially described Brown as the wounded boy’s grandfather, but a spokeswoman for the Cook County state’s attorney’s later clarified that he’s “in a relationship” with the boy’s grandmother.

Brown told the officers about the gun, which he called his “protection,” and allowed the officers to take the loaded 9-mm handgun from him, prosecutors said.

Shell casings recovered at the scene of the shooting did not match the gun.

Because of that, Judge Charles Beach said he would release Brown to be with his family but sternly warned him to not miss any court dates if he posts the required $500 bond to be released.

“Mr. Brown, if there’s any time for being with your family and staying home with your family, now is that time,” Beach said.

Brown, of Englewood, was driving his car on Lake Shore Drive about 11:30 a.m. when an SUV that attempted to merge onto the highway nearly struck his car near Soldier Field, prosecutors said.

Brown pulled over and yelled at the driver of the SUV and the two exchange words until the driver of the SUV pulled out a gun and showed it to Brown while asking him, “What did he want to do about it,” prosecutors said.

Brown took out his own gun and placed it on his lap before attempting to drive away from the SUV, which followed him.

Legal Help Firm

The driver of the SUV then fired several shots at Brown’s car near the Shedd Aquarium, striking the vehicle several times. One of the bullets entered through the rear passenger window where the boy was seated in a car seat, striking the toddler in the head.

Brown continued to drive north until he lost control of his car and crashed.

A good Samaritan picked up Brown, Brown’s girlfriend and the child and drove them to Northwestern Hospital for treatment. The boy was later transferred to Lurie Children’s Hospital.

The child, Kayden Swann, suffered a severe brain injury and was put in a medically-induced coma and on a ventilator, Dr. Marcelo Malakooti, medical director of the pediatric intensive care unit at Lurie, said. The boy has shown some signs of improvement, Malakooti said Thursday in the hospital’s most recent update about the boy’s condition.

Prosecutors said the driver of the SUV has not been taken into custody as police continue to investigate.

Earlier Thursday, officers shut down the northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive near the Field Museum for about an hour to canvass the area as part of that investigation, police said.

An assistant public defender said Brown has two children, ages 16 and 21, and works as a machine operator at Blommer Chocolate Company.

Brown’s attorney asked for her client to be released on his own recognizance, saying he appeared to be a very “honest gentleman.”

Beach said that because there was no indication that the driver of the SUV even knew Brown had a weapon worked in his favor.

“Which means the other individual didn’t know you were armed and that was not a response to your actions. They were acting aggressively on their own accord,” Beach said.

However, the judge, citing the class 4 felony Brown faces — calling it a “serious offense” — said Brown should have to post some money to be released.

“The reality is that weapons unfortunately lead to this very scenario,” Beach said.

Brown was expected back in court Wednesday.

Read More

The White Sox talked about putting on a show for the fans in their home opener at Guaranteed Rate Field Thursday, and then they put one on.

The first inning alone was worth the wait for fans, who were allowed back in the ballpark for the first time since 2019. Yermin Mercedes, the toast of baseball and the first American League’s first Player of the Week after an 8-for-8 start, launched a 485-foot homer against Royals right-hander Brad Keller. Many of the 8,207 fans — a socially distanced sellout with 22 percent capacity permitted — were still on their feet after cheering Yoan Moncada’s opposite field homer, his first of the year.

That came after Jose Abreu, responding to chants of “MVP,” lined a double to right center with two out and nobody on.

Mercedes’ blast, his second of the season, added another sensational layer to the start to his unthinkable beginning to the season. Only Joe Borchard (504 feet) on Aug. 30, 2004 against the Phillies and and Frank Thomas (495 feet) on July 23, 2002 against the Twins, traveled farther on the Sox’ list of longest blasts at Guaranteed Rate Field.

On the pitching side, right-hander Lance Lynn struck out Whit Merrifield, Jason Benintendi and Carlos Santana in order in the first, then reeled off another nine outs in a row and held the Royals scoreless through seven innings.

Lynn, an offseason trade acquisition pitching in a Sox home uniform for the first time, became the first Sox from a highly-touted starting rotation to complete more than 5 ²/₃ innings.

Lynn was perfect through four innings and it was a nearly perfect home opener against a Central Division rival for fans who had to wait out a two hour delay after a scheduled 3:10 p.m. start, even without injured stars Eloy Jimenez and Tim Anderson out of the lineup.

And it was looking like a nice start at home after the Sox’ rocky 3-4 start on the road against the Angels and Mariners. The Sox played poorly defensively, didn’t run the bases well and their well-regarded bullpen surrendered three leads.

“It’s nice to have small sample sizes to overreact to,” general manager Rick Hahn said before the game.

The shaky start, Anderson said, meant nothing.

“We just keep rolling. We push and learn from it,” Anderson said before the game. “Can’t change the last three to five games, all we can do is learn from those and keep pushing.

Read More

Bail was set at $5,000 Thursday for the grandfather of a child critically wounded in a road rage shooting this week on Lake Shore Drive while he faces a felony gun charge for possessing a weapon with a state license.

Jushawn Brown, 43, was found with a handgun when police officers asked whether he had “anything he wasn’t supposed to have” while at Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Tuesday, where his grandson was taken after being shot in the head, prosecutors said in court Thursday afternoon.

Brown told the officers about the gun, which he called his “protection,” and allowed the officers to take the loaded 9-mm handgun from him, prosecutors said.

Shell casings recovered at the scene of the shooting did not match the gun, and there was no indication that Brown fired his weapon or displayed it during the road rage incident, prosecutors said.

Because of that, Judge Charles Beach said he would release Brown to be with his family but sternly warned him to not miss any court dates if he posts the required $500 bond to be released.

“Mr. Brown, if there’s any time for being with your family and staying home with your family, now is that time,” Beach said.

Brown, of Englewood, was driving his car on Lake Shore Drive about 11:30 a.m. when an SUV that attempted to merge onto the highway nearly struck his car near Soldier Field, prosecutors said.

Brown pulled over and yelled at the driver of the SUV and the two exchange words until the driver of the SUV pulled out a gun and showed it to Brown while asking him, “What did he want to do about it,” prosecutors said.

Brown took out his own gun and placed it on his lap before attempting to drive away from the SUV, which followed him.

Legal Help Firm

The driver of the SUV then fired several shots at Brown’s car near the Shedd Aquarium, striking the vehicle several times. One of the bullets entered through the rear passenger window where Brown’s grandson was seated in a car seat, striking the 22-month-old child in the head.

Brown continued to drive north until he lost control of his car and crashed.

A good Samaritan picked up Brown, Brown’s girlfriend and the child and drove them to Northwestern Hospital for treatment. The boy was later transferred to Lurie Children’s Hospital.

The child, Kayden Swann, suffered a severe brain injury and was put in a medically-induced coma and on a ventilator, Dr. Marcelo Malakooti, medical director of the pediatric intensive care unit at Lurie, said. The boy has shown some signs of improvement, Malakooti said in the hospital’s most recent update about the boy’s condition.

Prosecutors said the driver of the SUV has not been taken into custody as police continue to investigate.

Earlier Thursday, officers shut down the northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive near the Field Museum for about an hour to canvass the area as part of that investigation, police said.

An assistant public defender said Brown has two children, ages 16 and 21, and works as a machine operator at Blommer Chocolate Company.

Brown’s attorney asked for her client to be released on his own recognizance, saying he appeared to be a very “honest gentleman.”

Beach said that because there was no indication that the driver of the SUV even knew Brown had a weapon worked in his favor.

“Which means the other individual didn’t know you were armed and that was not a response to your actions. They were acting aggressively on their own accord,” Beach said.

However, the judge, citing the class 4 felony Brown faces — calling it a “serious offense” — said Brown should have to post some money to be released.

“The reality is that weapons unfortunately lead to this very scenario,” Beach said.

Brown was expected back in court Wednesday.

Read More

Count Gregula’s Crypt

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Days Of The Dead: Chicago (April 2021)

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By Count Gregula,
today at 6:11 pm

I’m so hex-cited to announce that Team Gregula is back in the business of convention coverage! And our first assignment vill be reporting from Days Of The Dead (DOTD) in Rosemont, Illinois. DOTD finally returns to Chicagoland after being postponed in November 2020 because of the pandemic restrictions imposed on public events throughout Illinois. Vell, it vas vorth the vait!

DOTD is three full DAYS of macabre movies, vigilant vendors, eerie events, ghoulish guests, freaky fans, creepy characters and much more! The ultimate fan convention vhere horror comes to party!

Celebrity guests include:

• JOE BOB BRIGGS and DARCY
• FELISSA ROSE
• DANIELLE HARRIS
• DAVE SHERIDAN
• LINNEA QUIGLEY
• AMELIA KINKADE
• WILLIAM FORSYTHE
• CHARLIE BENANTE
• CARLA HARVEY
• CJ GRAHAM
• WARRINGTON GILLETTE
• TONY TODD
• LISA LORING
• THOM MATHEWS
• DAVID NAUGHTON
• And MORE!

Days Of The Dead: Chicago vill take place at the Crowne Plaza O’Hare, 5440 N River Road, Rosemont, IL

Dates:
April 9-11, 2021

Convention hours are:
Friday 5PM-10PM
Saturday 11AM-7PM
Sunday 11AM-4PM

Ticket prices at the door are:
Friday $30
Saturday $35
Sunday $30
Veekend $75
Kids under 10 are FREE
Military are FREE

For ticket sales and updated information, click HERE.

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Despite a lackluster first week, fans who flocked to the White Sox’ unprecedented — and rain-soaked — home opener Thursday still had high hopes for a World Series run.

“Could’ve been last season. They just fell flat,” said Jay Allendorf, a Joliet resident who has been to eight straight openers. “But that builds character. … I think they got all the pieces.”

Kevin May, of Riverside, also wasn’t deterred by the Sox’ shaky 3-4 start. He brought his dad, wife and two kids to Thursday’s game.

“They’ll get it together. They’re just kind of figuring things out. I’m pretty confident,” May said shortly after the gates at Guaranteed Rate Field opened for the first time since COVID-19 upended normal life.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Inside the park, fans made their way to socially distanced seating. The unusual arrangements prompted no complaints from the fans who, after all, had not been allowed to attend any games at all during the 2020 season.

But 40 minutes before the scheduled first pitch, the announcement came that the start of the game would be delayed because of rain in the area put a damper on things.

By 3:10 p.m., the scheduled start time, a rather heavy rain put most of the fans under cover, while some stayed in their seats huddled under umbrellas.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

About an hour and a half later, though, the tarp was coming off. Shortly before 5 p.m., the festivities began, including boos for the visiting Kansas City Royals — and louder boos for the politicians (not only Gov. J.B. Pritzker, but even Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who shares some season tickets behind home plate).

The Sox were expecting a crowd of around 9,000, adhering to a 22% capacity restriction. They could go to 25% based on city guidelines but are ensuring proper distancing with every available seat.

Hours before the game, tickets were already sold out. Some fans said they shelled out over $300 for seats in stadium suites hoping that would be a good way to further keep their distance from others.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Rob Frayer, who made the trip to “the Rate” from northwest Indiana with his wife and two young kids, could barely hold back his excitement as he prepared to walk through the turnstiles.

“We’re ecstatic to be back. It’s beyond words,” he said. “I missed the smell of the grilled onions. It’s the best.”

Later, injured shortstop Tim Anderson talked to media on a Zoom call about the buzz surrounding a home opener.

“Definitely means a lot. You’re playing in one of the best cities there is in front of the greatest fans there are,” Anderson said. “Definitely excited to have fans back in the ballpark, I’m sure it’s going to be loud and they are excited to see the guys as well. We’re excited to have them as well.”

Outside Gate 4, most fans wore masks but many clustered in line and ignored decals on the ground promoting social distancing.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

While some attendees said they were concerned about the city’s surging COVID-19 cases, self-described “die-hard Sox fan” Shawn Greene noted “a lot of guys for the time being are just trying to have a good time and just take in the moment and hope for the best.”

“It’s time to get off the couch and stop watching Netflix. It’s getting old,” Greene said as he tried to scalp a ticket.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

But as life returns to some semblance of normalcy, the threat of the virus remains — and could lead the city to pull back on allowing fans at games. Over the past week, the city’s test positivity rate — a key metric for measuring the spread of the virus — has jumped from 4.5% to 5.2%.

Andrew Buchanan, a spokesman for the Chicago Department of Public Health, said that figure and other important metrics, including case numbers and hospital data, would factor into any decision to again bar fans from attending games. But for now, the city’s two major league clubs can continue to play ball in front of a limited number of fans.

• 
  
  

  A Chicago White Sox fan waits for the home opener to begin while sitting under an umbrella, at Guaranteed Rate Field, Thursday, April 8, 2021.

  Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Chicago White Sox fans wait for the home opener to begin, against the Kansas City Royals, at Guaranteed Rate Field, Thursday, April 8, 2021.

  Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Chicago White Sox fans wait for the home opener to begin while sitting under an umbrellas, at Guaranteed Rate Field, Thursday, April 8, 2021.

  Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Chicago White Sox fans walk along the 500 level grand concourse waiting on the home opener to begin, against the Kansas City Royals, at Guaranteed Rate Field, Thursday, April 8, 2021.

  Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Chicago White Sox fans David Urbauer, left, and Lauren Simon wipe down their chairs of rain water, at Guaranteed Rate Field during the White Sox home opener against the Kansas City Royals, Thursday, April 8, 2021.

  Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Chicago White Sox fan Terri Williams-Brown, waits under her umbrella for the game to begin at Guaranteed Rate Field during the White Sox home opener against the Kansas City Royals, Thursday, April 8, 2021.

  Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Chicago White Sox staff remove the tarp protecting the baseball diamond during the home opener at Guaranteed Rate Field, Thursday, April 8, 2021.

  Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Chicago White Sox staff remove the tarp protecting the baseball diamond during the home opener at Guaranteed Rate Field, Thursday, April 8, 2021.

  Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Fans wait for the home opener to begin, against the Kansas City Royals.

  Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Fans wait for the home opener to begin, against the Kansas City Royals.

  Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Anne Beatts, a groundbreaking comedy writer who was on the original staff of “Saturday Night Live” and later created the cult sitcom “Square Pegs,” has died. She was 74.

Beatts died Wednesday at her home in West Hollywood, California, according to her close friend Rona Kennedy. Kennedy, a film producer and a fellow faculty member at Chapman University, did not immediately know the cause of death.

Starting in 1975, Beatts was among a team of gifted writers that included Rosie Shuster, Alan Zweibel, Marilyn Suzanne Miller and such cast members as Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase who helped make “Saturday Night Live” a cultural phenomenon. With Shuster, she would help develop the beloved family of nerds, the Loopners, and Beatts would later draw upon her own acknowledged background as an outsider in high school for her own series “Square Pegs.”

“Anne was a throwback to a time when words were weapons. R.I.P. Anne,” Zweibel wrote on Twitter.

Premiering in 1982, “Square Pegs” was then a rare sitcom centering on teen-age girls and starring Sarah Jessica Parker in an early role as a first-year high school student trying to fit in. “Square Pegs” lasted just one season but was praised for anticipating — and even topping — the teen comedies John Hughes would soon become famous for.

“The show was also just plain cool, speaking to teens with a shared interest in their interests that made young people feel seen before the Hughes movies would have a similar effect,” New York magazine’s Jen Chaney wrote in 2020. “No other show on TV back then would have focused an entire episode on a Pac-Man addiction or a New Wave-themed bat mitzvah that featured the actual band Devo performing ‘That’s Good.’ “

Beatts was a native of Buffalo, New York, who later attended McGill University and got an early break writing comedy for National Lampoon, where numerous future “Saturday Night Live” performers and writers worked. At Lampoon, she began dating fellow writer Michael O’Donoghue, who was hired by producer Lorne Michaels for what became “Saturday Night Live.”

“I was never a real reader of Lampoon,” Michaels told Rolling Stone in 1983, “but Anne had been recommended to me by Michael O’Donoghue. She thought I was hiring her for the wrong reasons — because O’Donoghue was then her boyfriend — and when we met, she was a combination of friendly and wary. She was a little combative. But that was 1975. Everyone was a little combative in 1975.”

Beatts’ other credits included writing for “Murphy Brown” and “The Belles of Bleeker Street,” producing “A Different World” and helping to write the stage musical “Leader of the Pack.” She is survived by her daughter, Jaylene; sister Barbara Resucha; and nieces Jennifer and Kate Dreger.

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