Eric Preven, a writer-producer on the sitcom Reba who produced hundreds of episodes of the daytime drama Santa Barbara , worked on several other shows and was a Los Angeles journalist, died November 8 in Studio City. He was 62.

The local news outlet CityWatch LA confirmed the news, writing, “It is with deep sorrow that we at CityWatch LA announce the passing of our longtime contributor, Eric Preven, who died suddenly on Saturday of an apparent heart attack.”

Preven got his start as an assistant producer on the NBC soap opera Santa Barbara in 1988 and later became an associate producer. He was promoted to coordinating producer in 1992 and served in that role until the following year.

He launched his writing career on the Fox sitcom Partners in 1995, penning three episodes of the

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