TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

TVC 695.1: Ed welcomes Academy Award-nominated director and animator Bill Kroyer ( FernGully: The Last Rainforest , Tron , Technological Threat ). The title of Bill's memoir, Mr. In-Between: My Life in the Middle of the Animation Revolution , is a play on words: He began his career in animation drawing something known as "in-betweens," while the story arc of his career in animation happens to coin...

TVC 695.2: Academy Award-nominated director and animator Bill Kroyer talks to Ed about what an "in-between" is in animation; why it took more than the success of Tron , the first feature motion picture to integrate computer-generated imagery, for CGI to take off; what led Bill into directing; and how he came to work with Mick Jagger on the music video for "Hard Woman," one of the first videos to u...

TVC 695.4: Via remote from the back patio of Davenport's Restaurant in Encino, California: Ed welcomes back Robert Crane , eldest son of Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane , and the author or co-author of several books on movies and television, including My UnHollywood Family , Hollywood Plateau , Jack Nicholson: The Early Years , Bruce Dern: Things I've Said, But Probably Shouldn't Have: An Unrepentan...

TVC 695.5: Ed welcomes back Christopher Fryer , co-author, along with Robert Crane , of Three-Cornered Circle and other books on movies and television. Topics this segment include how Chris and Bob worked together on Crane: Sex, Celebrity, and My Father's Unsolved Murder (and, to some degree, on Three-Cornered Circle ); the importance of using dialogue to conveying the emotion necessary to drive t...

TVC 694.1: Ed welcomes back Tom Lisanti , renowned historian of sixties cinema, and the author of such books as Carol Lynley: Her Film & TV Career in Thrillers, Fantasy and Suspense and Ryan's Hope: An Oral History of Daytime's Groundbreaking Soap . Tom's recent books include Dueling Harlows: The Race to Bring the Actress's Life to the Silver Screen , everything you wanted to know about the two ma...

TVC 694.2:  Tom Lisanti , author of Dueling Harlows: The Race to Bring the Actress's Life to the Silver Screen , talks to Ed about his forthcoming oral history of the brief period in which the daytime soap Another World (NBC, 1964-1999) expanded from sixty minutes in length to ninety minutes.

TVC 694.5: Part 2 of a conversation that began two programs ago with Steve Aldous and Gary Gillies , co-authors of The Harry O Viewing Companion: History and Episodes of the Classic Detective Series , a deep dive into the making of Harry O (ABC, 1974-1976), the short-lived but fondly remembered private eye series starring David Janssen, Henry Darrow, and Anthony Zerbe, that also offers insight int...

TVC 694.6:  Steve Aldous and Gary Gillies , co-authors of The Harry O Viewing Companion: History and Episodes of the Classic Detective Series , talk to Ed about the various reasons why Harry O was canceled in the spring of 1976, despite holding its own in the ratings; the contributions of producer Jerry Thorpe and director Richard Lang; and why part of the allure of Harry O stems from the fact tha...

TVC 693.1: From January 2017: Emmy Award-winning actress Loretta Swit joins Ed for a conversation about her lifelong interest in watercolor painting, her "proprietary relationship" with wildlife, her vast stage career (including her then-recent portrayal of former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt), and, of course, a few questions about M*A*S*H . Loretta Swit passed away on Friday, May 30 at the age of...

TVC 693.2: Part 2 of our January 2017 conversation with Loretta Swit about her lifelong interest in watercolor painting, her "proprietary relationship" with wildlife, her vast stage career (including her then-recent portrayal of former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt), and a few questions about M*A*S*H, including Loretta's deep respect for real-life nurses; "The Nurses," the famous episode, written b...

TVC 693.3: Part 3 of our January 2017 conversation with  Loretta Swit , including questions about her vast stage career (including her then-recent portrayal of former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt) and the close-knit, almost theatre-like camaraderie between Loretta and her fellow cast members on  M*A*S*H . Also in this segment: A quote from actor Jamie Farr, courtesy of B. Harlan Boll. Loretta Swit...

TVC 693.4: From February 2019: Ed, Tony, and Donna accompany Emmy Award-winning actress, artist and animal rights activist Loretta Swit ( M*A*S*H , SwitHeart: The Watercolour Artistry & Animal Activism of Loretta Swit ) on a walk through Central Park as she discusses her efforts on behalf of all animals ; her support of our veterans; how she keeps herself in shape; and why she will never retire. A...

TVC 693.5: Part 2 of a conversation that originally aired in February 2019 in which Ed, Tony, and Donna accompany  Loretta Swit ( M*A*S*H , SwitHeart: The Watercolour Artistry & Animal Activism of Loretta Swit ) on a walk through Central Park. Also in this segment: A quote from JoAnne Worley, president of Actors and Others for Animals, that lauds Loretta's efforts  on behalf of all animals (quote...

TVC 692.1: Ed welcomes Steve Aldous and Gary Gillies , co-authors of The Harry O Viewing Companion: History and Episodes of the Classic Detective Series , a new book that not only takes a deep dive into the making of Harry O (ABC, 1974-1976), the short-lived but fondly remembered private eye series starring David Janssen, Henry Darrow, and Anthony Zerbe, but offers insight into what made Harry O s...

TVC 692.2: Steve Aldous and Gary Gillies , co-authors of The Harry O Viewing Companion: History and Episodes of the Classic Detective Series , talk to Ed about why Harry O has more in common with the Lew Archer novels by Russ MacDonald than the Raymond Chandler novels featuring Philip Marlowe or the Dashiell Hammett novels with Sam Spade; how David Janssen's skill at performing voice-overs was one...

TVC 692.4: A return visit by Dean Butler , the actor known around the world to three generations to television viewers as Almanzo Wilder, Laura Ingalls' husband on Little House on the Prairie . Among other topics this segment, Dean and Ed discuss the forthcoming Netflix reimaging of Little House; Dean's early experiences working as an extra (then, later, as an actor) on The Streets of San Francisc...

TVC 692.5: Dean Butler talks to Ed about how the documentary films of Ken Burns served as a major inspiration when Dean transitioned from acting to production; how Dean's connection with producer/director Keith Allo led to Dean producing the award-winning NBC Golf Channel talk show Feherty , hosted by former golf professional David Feherty; and the back story behind Feherty's interview with comedi...

TVC 691.1: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with Harry Castleman and Walter J. Podrazik, co-authors of Watching TV: American Television Season by Season , a sweeping look at the history of television, from its early inception in 1944 through the present day, that not only takes you behind the scenes of every prime time season and prime time schedule over the past nine decades, but tel...

TVC 691.2: Harry Castleman and Walter J. Podrazik, co-authors of Watching TV: American Television Season by Season , talk to Ed about the 1965-1966 television season, a landmark year that not only saw the premiere of many series that are still considered classics (including Get Smart, I Dream of Jeannie, Green Acres , and The FBI ), but the start of the now-common network practice of midseason rep...

TVC 691.3: Ed welcomes Tim Gray , award-winning documentary filmmaker, founder of The World War II Foundation , and the producer and director of Miles, Morale and Memories: Bob Hope and World War II , a new documentary about Bob Hope and his dedication to entertaining the troops of World War II. Narrated by Gary Sinise, the documentary features insight and commentary from Linda Hope, Bob Hope's da...

TVC 691.4: Tim Gray , producer and director of Miles, Morale and Memories: Bob Hope and World War II , talks to Ed about the many ways in which Gary Sinise can be considered the "Bob Hope of our generation"; how Hope often ran through his monologue with his wife, Dolores, before he performed it in front of our troops; and why, in many respects, Hope was the first comedian ever to perform stand-up...

TVC 690.1: Ed welcomes back film and television actor James DuMont ( The Righteous Gemstones , American Sports Story, The Butler ). One of the busiest performers in and out of Hollywood, James can currently be seen opposite Don Johnson, Isabelle Fuhrman, and Jack Huston in Unit 234 , the new thriller directed by Andy Tennant that is currently available for viewing on demand after a limited theatri...

TVC 690.2: James DuMont talks to Ed about working opposite Don Johnson in the new action thriller Unit 234 ; his approach to playing the detective who prosecuted fallen NFL superstar Aaron Hernandez in American Sports Story ; and the joy of working alongside his son, actor Kelton DuMont, on The Righteous Gemstones . Unit 234 is now available for viewing on demand on Amazon Prime and other steaming...

TVC 690.3: Ed welcomes back Harry Castleman and Walter J. Podrazik, co-authors of Watching TV: American Television Season by Season , a sweeping look at the history of television from 1944 through the present day, from its early inception as a passive activity to its current form as a multi-tiered experience. Recently updated and re-released as a fourth edition, Watching TV not only takes you behi...

TVC 690.4: Harry Castleman and Walter J. Podrazik, co-authors of Watching TV: American Television Season by Season , talk to Ed about how the phenomenon of "time shifting" for TV viewers began long before the era of streaming; why Jack Gould, television critic for the New York Times during the 1950s and '60s, can be considered one of the first "influencers" of television (and why Gould was particu...