TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

TVC 689.1: Part 2 of a conversation that began two programs ago with Dore Page, author of Leslie Stevens Goes to Hollywood: Daystar Productions, Kate Manx and the Making of Private Property , a deep dive into the life and career of the maverick television writer and producer best known as the creator of The Outer Limits that particularly focuses on the making of Private Property  (1960), the New W...

TVC 689.2: Dore Page, author of Leslie Stevens Goes to Hollywood: Daystar Productions, Kate Manx and the Making of Private Property , talks to Ed and guest co-host Chuck Harter about Stoney Burke (ABC, 1962-1963), the "art house" look at the lives of 20 th -century rodeo riders starring Jack Lord, Bruce Dern, and Warren Oates and produced by Leslie Stevens that ABC canceled after one season—despit...

TVC 689.3: Ed welcomes back singer, actress, and philanthropist Ruta Lee ( High Rollers, Witness for the Prosecution, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Consider Your Ass Kissed ). Ruta will celebrate her ninetieth birthday this coming Friday, May 30 with an evening of song and stories at the Debbie Reynolds Main Stage at the historic El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood. Proceeds for the evening wi...

TVC 689.4: Entertainment legend Ruta Lee talks to Ed about how she landed her role in Witness for the Prosecution after producer Arthur Hornblow Jr. spotted her in the audience at a Frank Sinatra concert; why it's important to recognize those moments in life when a benefit happens, and to be grateful for that benefit; the story of Dean Martin's playful nickname for Ruta; and the great compliment t...

TVC 688.1: TV Confidential remembers longtime radio host, author, recording artist, and game show legend Wink Martindale ( Gambit , Debt , Tic Tac Dough , Winking at Life , " Deck of Cards ") with a special program-length tribute to the man who became synonymous with the words "emcee" and "host." Wink Martindale passed away on Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2025 at the age of ninety-one. In this segment, Steve...

TVC 688.2: Steve Beverly , retired professor of broadcast journalism at Union University in Jackson, TN (the hometown of Wink Martindale), game show historian, and the host of Steve Beverly's TV Classics , talks to Ed about how Wink never lost sights of his roots in Jackson, TN; how the success of the Martindale version of  Tic Tac Dough in the 1970s forever changed the public perception of that p...

TVC 688.3: Longtime television announcer Randy West joins Ed as TV Confidential continues its special program-length tribute to game show legend Wink Martindale. Randy was Wink's announcer on five game shows for the Family Channel, including Trivial Pursuit , Boggle , and Jumble . Among other topics in this segment, Randy mentions what he believes are the two reasons for Martindale's great success...

TVC 688.4: Randy West, Wink Martindale's announcer on five game shows for the Family Channel, talks to Ed about Wink's career as a spoken-word recording artists (including "Deck of Cards," "Heavenly Child," and "I Stand for Everyone"). He also shares a funny story about Wink and Mary Steck, the cue card lady on  Trivial Pursuit , that gives you a window into who Martindale was a person. Wink Marti...

TV Confidential continues its program-length tribute to Wink Martindale by bringing you an encore presentation of Wink's appearance on our program in December 2018. Topics this segment include how Wink taught himself how to become an announcer when he was a kid by reading ads from Life magazine aloud; the back story of "Deck of Cards," the spoken word recording that Wink first released in 1959 and...

From December 2018: Wink Martindale talks to Ed about why game shows remain a popular form of entertainment on television; the importance of matching the right host with the right game format; how Wink happened to be at radio station WHBQ in Memphis, TN on the night of July 8, 1954, when deejay Dewey Phillips played an Elvis Presley record ("That's All Right, Mama") on the radio for the very first...

TVC 687.1: Ed and guest co-host Chuck Harter welcome Dore Page, author of Leslie Stevens Goes to Hollywood: Daystar Productions, Kate Manx and the Making of Private Property , a deep dive into the life and career of Leslie Stevens—the maverick television writer and producer whom most of us know best as the creator of The Outer Limits —that particularly focuses on Stevens' early career as a playwri...

TVC 687.2: Dore Page, author of Leslie Stevens Goes to Hollywood: Daystar Productions, Kate Manx and the Making of Private Property , talks to Ed and guest co-host Chuck Harter about the fragile mix of ambition, frustration, and insecurity that comprised the psyche of actress Kate Manx, and the extent to which depression may have factored into the circumstances leading up to Manx's death in Novemb...

TVC 687.3:  Peter Ford , son of screen legends Glenn Ford  and Eleanor Powell and the author of Glenn Ford: A Life , talks to Ed about how his dad used his star power to hire directors and actors on Cade's County (CBS, 1971-1972) with whom he'd worked before, including George Marshall, Leo Penn, Edgar Buchanan, Barbara Rush, and Broderick Crawford; how James Woods saved Peter's life in 1976 while...

TVC 686.1: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with Laurel and Hardy historian Randy Skretvedt. Chuck Harter co-hosts. Topics this segment include what first sparked Randy's interest in Laurel and Hardy; Randy's favorite scene in March of the Wooden Soldiers ; and why Wooden Soldiers remains so popular, more than ninety years after its original release. Randy's latest book, March of the...

TVC 686.2: Peter Ford , son of screen legends Glenn Ford and Eleanor Powell, helps Ed celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the release of Blackboard Jungle , the iconic film from 1955 that not only starred Glenn Ford as a young English teacher in an inner-city high school, but which prominently featured the song "Rock Around the Clock" in its soundtrack, putting Bill Haley and the Comets on the...

TVC 686.3: Peter Ford , son of screen legends Glenn Ford and Eleanor Powell and the author of Glenn Ford: A Life , talks to Ed about working with his dad and Edgar Buchanan on Cade's County (CBS, 1971-1972), including the back story for why the series did not last more than one season; how Peter became a reserve deputy for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department a few years after Cade's County...

From August 2014: Authors Paul Green and Mary Ann Anderson join Ed for a look back at the life and career of Jeffrey Hunter. Paul's book Jeffrey Hunter: The Film, Television, Radio and Stage Performances is a comprehensive look at the actor best known for his starring roles as Martin Pawley in The Searchers , Christopher Pike in the original pilot episode of Star Trek , and Jesus Christ in Nichola...

TVC 685.1: Ed and guest co-host Chuck Harter welcome author, voice artist, radio host, and Laurel and Hardy historian Randy Skretvedt. Randy's latest book, March of the Wooden Soldiers: The Amazing Story of Laurel & Hardy's Babes in Toyland , is a detailed, behind-the-scenes look at the making of March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934), the adaptation of the Victor Herbert operetta Babes in Toyland (w...

TVC 685.2: Laurel and Hardy historian Randy Skretvedt, author of March of the Wooden Soldiers: The Amazing Story of Laurel & Hardy's Babes in Toyland , talks to Ed and guest co-host Chuck Harter about how Stan Laurel not only acted as the de facto director on many of the comedy team's films, but closely oversaw the editing of their films, and how Oliver Hardy was an accomplished actor who was belo...

TVC 685.3: Ed welcomes renowned actress, teacher, and independent filmmaker Michelle Danner ( Hello Herman, The Runner, Bad Impulse ). Michelle's latest film, The Italians , is an ensemble comedy-drama about an idiosyncratic Italian-American family that drive each other crazy, but who pull themselves together upon learning that the matriarch (Michelle's character) has a serious heart condition—a c...

TVC 684.1: Ed welcomes Nelson Aspen , award-winning entertainment reporter, one of the leading authorities on the subject of the sinking of the Titanic on Apr. 15, 1912, and the author of Kindred Spirits: A Titanic Tale . Inspired by Nelson's personal experiences, Kindred Spirits not only spans the time between the night when the Titanic met her tragic fate and the hedonistic party scene of contem...

TVC 684.2: Nelson Aspen, author of Kindred Spirits: A Titanic Tale , tells Ed the back story of his decades-long friendship with actress Carol Lynley, plus he recommends some film adaptations of the Titanic story, including A Night to Remember , the 1958 film starring Kenneth More that is based on Walter Lord's book of the same name. (Nelson wrote the foreword to Tom Lisanti's excellent book Carol...

TVC 684.2a: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with Hank Garrett , the actor known around the world as Officer Nicholson on Car 54, Where Are You? and one of the most accomplished voice artists in the entertainment industry. In this segment Hank shares a few memories of working with Peter Falk on Columbo: Undercover and with Buddy Hackett at one of the nightclubs in the Catskill Mountai...

TVC 684.3: Hank Garrett talks to Ed, Tony, and Donna about working with Sophia Loren in the 1979 thriller Firepower ; the night Hank once escorted Audrey Hepburn for a Hollywood event; and the generosity that Tony Bennett showed Hank when he opened for Bennett at the Copa Cabana. Hank's memoir, From Harlem Hoodlum to Hollywood Heavyweight , is available through Briton Publishing, Amazon.com, and o...

TVC 683.1: Ed welcomes back David Arnoff , one of the best music photographers of his generation. David's book Shot in the Dark  is a collection of photos featuring Patti Smith, The Clash, Devo, Blondie, Lydia Lunch, The Cramps, The Ramones, David Johanson, Misfits, Nick Cave, Siouxsee and the Banshees, Joan Jett, Elvis Costello, and other music artists—all taken circa 1976 to 1985, and nearly of...