TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television brings you lively conversations every week with the stars, writers, directors and other creative people behind the scenes of some of America's most popular shows. An engaging blend of talk and entertainment, TV Confidential often compares today’s programs with those of the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.
1451
How TV Covered Nixon’s Resignation
TVC 459.1: Tony Figueroa, Donna Allen, and Ed remember how network TV news covered the resignation of President Richard Nixon on Aug. 8, 1974, his departure from the White House, and the swearing-in of President Gerald Ford the following day.
25 min
1452
Dee Wallace on Mastering “the Perry Mason Caden...
TVC 459.4: Screen legend Dee Wallace talks to Ed about being directed by her daughter, Gabrielle Stone, in the upcoming short film After Emma. Dee Wallace can also seen in Critters Attack, a reimagining of the 1986 horror classic Critters that is now...
9 min
1453
Susan McCray on How Michael Landon Embodied Fam...
TVC 459.2: Ed welcomes Susan McCray, one of the first female casting directors in network television, and a longtime collaborator of iconic actor and producer Michael Landon (Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie). Susan is also the anchor of...
33 min
1454
The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
TVC 459.6: Greg and Ed continue their look at “Hanna-Barbera: The Prime Time Edition” with a look at the DVD release of The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (NBC, 1968-1969), a blend of live action and animation that was also the most expensive...
19 min
1455
Gene Kelly’s Jack and the Beanstalk
TVC 459.5: Greg Ehrbar talks to Ed about the DVD release of Jack and the Beanstalk (NBC, 1967), the Emmy Award-winning musical collaboration between Gene Kelly and Hanna-Barbera that blended live action with animation. The special also included the...
12 min
1456
Daniel Boone star Darby Hinton
TVC 458.5: Darby Hinton, the actor known around the world as Israel Boone on Daniel Boone, talks to Ed about the approach he took to playing Cole Younger in Bill Tilghman and the Outlaws, a movie that he also produced, and filming the family drama...
19 min
1457
The Hollywood Museum Toasts Ida Lupino and Oliv...
TVC 458.4: Ed plays highlights from the recent unveiling of The Hollywood Museum’s new lobby exhibit that honors screen legends Ida Lupino and Olivia de Havilland. Mary Anderson, Lupino’s personal assistant and confidante and the author of three books...
9 min
1458
The Real McCoys on DVD
TVC 458.3: Greg and Ed review the various DVD configurations of The Real McCoys (ABC/CBS, 1957-1963), the long-running sitcom starring Walter Brennan and Richard Crenna that also spawned the era of bucolic comedies on network TV.
29 min
1459
Cowboy Up for Johnny Crawford
TVC 458.6: Darby Hinton (Daniel Boone, Wild Faith, Bill Tilghman and the Outlaws) talks to Ed about the upcoming special benefit screening of Bill Tilghman and the Outlaws that will take place Saturday, Sept. 7 at the Joel McCrea Ranch in Thousand...
20 min
1460
The Legendary Memos of Gene Roddenberry
TVC 457.1: A continuation of last week’s conversation with Marc Cushman about Volume 1 of These Are The Voyages: Star Trek The Original Series, the three-volume biography of Star Trek: The Original Series that transports readers back in time to the...
23 min
1461
Roddenberry, Lucy, The Love Boat, and M*A*S*H
TVC 457.2: Marc Cushman, author of These Are The Voyages: Star Trek The Original Series, talks to Ed about what a visionary Gene Roddenberry was early in his career, above and beyond Star Trek (including ideas for series that were, essentially,...
22 min
1462
Kathy Garver Returns to Television as Aunt Cissy
TVC 457.3: Ed welcomes back actress, author, and voice artist Kathy Garver (Family Affair, X Child Stars, Surviving Cissy: My Family Affair of Life in Hollywood). Kathy is about to start production on Aunt Cissy, a new TV series that not only brings...
20 min
1463
Jason Stuart on the Proper Inflection to Have W...
TVC 457.4: Ed welcomes film and TV actor Jason Stuart (My Wife and Kids, Gia, Kindergarten Cop, Birth of a Nation), one of the first openly gay stand-up comedians. Jason has been performing stand-up for more than thirty years, but he did not find his...
22 min
1464
Jason Stuart on The Dating Game, The Merv Griff...
TVC 457.5: Actor, comedian, and author Jason Stuart (Shut Up! I’m Talking: Coming Out in Hollywood and Making It to the Middle) talks to Ed about his appearance on The Dating Game in the late 1970s (and why Jim Lange was the perfect host for that...
32 min
1465
How Gene Roddenberry’s Drive and Ambition Both ...
TVC 456.1: Marc Cushman, author of These Are The Voyages: Star Trek The Original Series, helps Ed take a deep dive into the development of the first season of Star Trek and the early career of Gene Roddenberry, including how Perry Mason creator Erle...
43 min
1466
The real legacy of My Sister Sam actress Rebecc...
TVC 456.4: Tony, Donna, and Ed go back to July 18, 1989 as part of This Week in TV History, and how the tragic death of My Sister Sam actress Rebecca Schaeffer at the hands of a deranged fan ultimately led to changes in stalking laws. Plus: How TMZ...
23 min
1467
Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles: Now on DVD
TVC 456.2: Greg Ehrbar and Ed discusses the recent DVD release of Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles (CBS, 1966), the Hanna-Barbera animated series about a Beatles-like rock group that morphed into crime-fighting superheroes whenever trouble arose....
15 min
1468
Eat, Pray, #FML author Gabrielle Stone on how a...
TVC 456.3: Ed welcomes award-winning actress and director Gabrielle Stone (It Happened Again Last Night, After Emma). Gabrielle’s new book, Eat, Pray, #FML, asks the question “What do you do when you find your life has fallen apart and your heart has...
22 min
1469
Devlin: Hanna-Barbera’s Foray into Saturday Mor...
TVC 456.2: Greg and Ed discusses the recent DVD release of Devlin (ABC, 1974), the Hanna-Barbera animated series about a traveling motorcycle daredevil not unlike Evel Knievel. Featuring the voices of Micky Dolenz and Michael Bell, Devlin was a rare...
15 min
1470
The Sounds of Lost Merv with Jack Benny and Mon...
TVC 455.1: Steve Randisi, author of The Merv Griffin Show: The Inside Story, joins Phil Gries for Part 3 of our Sounds of Lost Television tribute to the critically acclaimed NBC daytime talk show that Merv Griffin hosted between October 1962 and March...
36 min
1471
Why Merv Ended His Long-Running Daytime Show
TVC 455.2: As long as we’re in a Merv Griffin frame of mind, Ed plays a clip from longtime radio personality Sam Yates’ interview with Merv from the 1990s in which the talk show icon reveals why he left television in 1986 after twenty-four years.
6 min
1472
C’mon Get Happy: The Partridge Family on DVD
TVC 455.3: Greg Ehrbar joins Ed for a look at the various configurations of The Partridge Family on DVD and streaming on demand.
16 min
1473
Behind the Music of The Partridge Family
TVC 455.4: Greg Ehrbar discusses the important roles that the Ron Hickland singers and songwriter and record producer Wes Farrell played in the success of the Partridge Family albums that were released in conjunction with the Partridge Family TV series.
24 min
1474
Dolly Read Martin on Match Game and more
TVC 455.5: Actress and former Playboy Bunny and Playboy Playmate Dolly Read Martin (Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Match Game, Tattletales) talks about how the loose, free-flowing vibe behind the scenes of Match Game was an integral part of the...
37 min
1475
How TV’s Longest Sustained Laugh Almost Never H...
TVC 454.3: Ed welcomes Rick Hawkins, Emmy Award-winning staff writer for The Carol Burnett Show and the co-writer of “Went with the Wind,” the famous Burnett show parody of Gone With the Wind that generated the longest sustained laugh in television...
44 min