Brett Merhar, originally from Rapid City, South Dakota, was the creator of the comic strip and subsequent TV series 'Free For All'. The strip began its run as an alternative comic strip published in the college newspaper The Collegian of Colorado State University in 1992. The comic was nationally syndicated by King Features between 1995 and 1999. The comic is about a gang of Generation X kids trying to make their way in the big world, and shows influences of Berkeley Breathed's 'Bloom County' and Garry Trudeau's 'Doonesbury'.
Merhar developed the feature into an animated TV show with more edgier jokes in cooperation with head writer Merriwether Williams. According to legend, he had managed to get it aired on Showtime in 2003 by lying that the comic strip was still in print, while it had been discontinued by King Features a few years before. After the show was cancelled, Merhar launched the web series 'Beverly Hills Anger Management' on YouTube. Brett Merhar passed away on 27 July 2016 at the age of 46, after sustaining blunt force trauma in Hollywood, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.
