Had set out to be a songwriter and, eventually, co-wrote the theme for That Girl (1966), as well as a 1957 tune called "Let's Keep the Dodgers in Brooklyn".
Carl Reiner described their working relationship together on the The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961): "Sam and I had a wonderful contrapuntal relationship: I would fight with him as if I were fighting with a wife. It makes for good jokes".