TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

TVC 683.2: Music photographer David Arnoff discusses some of the photographs that appear in his book Shot in the Dark , including the ones of Lou Reed, Elvis Costello, and The Kramps. Other topics this segment include what first sparked David's interest in photography, why he is particularly drawn to "journalistic photography" (i.e., photos that capture candid moments off-stage, but which do not a...

TVC 683.5: Ed, Tony, and Donna welcome back 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. Topics this segment include how Hank first developed his skill for dialects after watching Sid Caesar rehearse for Your Show of Shows . Hank's memoir, From Harlem Hoodlum to Hollywood...

TVC 683.6: Hank Garrett talks to Ed, Tony, and Donna about competing against Sammy Davis Jr. in a "quick draw" competition, sparring with Elvis Presley in Las Vegas, and co-starring opposite James Earl Jones on Paris (CBS, 1979-1980). Hank's memoir, From Harlem Hoodlum to Hollywood Heavyweight , is available through Briton Publishing, Amazon.com, and other online retailers.

TVC 682.1: Ed welcomes Elva Green , author of The Jeffersons: A fresh look back at The Jeffersons (CBS, 1975-1985), Norman Lear's longest-running sitcom, starring Isabel Sanford, Sherman Hemsley, an Marla Gibbs, and Eddie Green: The Rise of an Early 1900s Black American Entertainment Pioneer . Chuck Harter co-hosts. Topics this segment include how, while The Jeffersons was an immediate hit among v...

TVC 682.2: Elva Green , author of The Jeffersons: A fresh look back , talks to Ed and guest co-host Chuck Harter about such notable episodes of The Jeffersons as "George's First Dollar" and "And The Doorknobs Shone Like Diamonds," plus she gives a preview of her upcoming book on Good Times . The Jeffersons: A fresh look back is available through Bear Manor Media.

TVC 682.3: Ed and guest co-host Chuck Harter welcome award-winning producer, director, writer, journalist, and author Burt Kearns. Burt's latest book, SHEMP! The Biography of The Three Stooges' Shemp Howard: The Face of Film Comedy , not only takes a deep dive into the life and career of Shemp Howard — one of the original members of The Three Stooges and, in real life, the older brother of Moe How...

TVC 682.4: Burt Kearns, author of SHEMP! The Biography of The Three Stooges' Shemp Howard: The Face of Film Comedy , talks to Ed and guest co-host Chuck Harter about some of the more notable roles in Shemp Howard's diverse career as a solo actor, including Private Buckaroo (1942), a musical comedy featuring Harry James, The Andrews Sisters, and Mary Wickes that Burt says is as close to a star vehi...

TVC 682.5: Burt Kearns, author of SHEMP! The Biography of The Three Stooges' Shemp Howard: The Face of Film Comedy , talks to Ed and guest co-host Chuck Harter about how the repeated blows to the head that Shemp Howard, Curly Howard, and Larry Fine all took during the many live appearances that The Three Stooges made every year during their annual hiatus from Columbia Pictures resulted in cerebral...

We'll be back with a brand new edition of TV Confidential later this week. In the meantime, please enjoy this clip from March 2012 in which Tony, Donna and Ed remember "A House Divided," the famous episode of Dallas that launched the "Who Shot J.R.?" phenomenon of 1980. "A House Divided" originally aired Mar. 21, 1980.

We'll be back with a brand new edition of TV Confidential later this week. In the meantime, please enjoy this clip from March 2013 in which Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the first nationally televised broadcast of the Academy Awards ceremony, which took place on Mar. 19, 1953 during This Week in TV History.

TVC 681.1: Music journalist A. Scott Galloway joins Ed as TV Confidential remembers the life and legacy of Grammy Award-winning recording artist Roberta Flack . Scott interviewed Flack in 1988 for her comeback album, Oasis , plus he wrote a very eloquent essay on his Facebook page that captures why the news of her death struck a chord with music lovers around the world, particularly those of us wh...

TVC 681.2: From October 2010: Charles Fox , the Grammy Award-winning and Emmy Award-winning composer who co-wrote "Killing Me Softly with His Song" along with Norman Gimbel, talks to Ed about the phone call he received from Roberta Flack in 1972, asking if she could perform "Killing Me Softly," and how that call changed Charles' life . Nearly forty years later, Flack wrote the foreword to Charles'...

TVC 681.2a: From January 2012: Television writer/producer Larry Brody takes Ed and his listeners behind the scenes of Police Story (NBC, 1973-1979), the Emmy Award-winning police anthology series created by Joseph Wambaugh and executive produced by David Gerber . Larry received one of his first breaks in television working with Gerber. Topics this segment include Gerber's peculiar mandate that dis...

TVC 681.3: Ed welcomes back singer/actress Linda Purl ( Happy Days, Matlock, The Office ). Linda is about to star in Crazy Mama , a riveting one-woman play that not only sheds light on the issue of mental illness with Southern-style humor and directness, but will feature Linda playing sixteen different characters. Ed asks Linda what first attracted her to the play and how she approaches to taking...

TVC 681.4: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with Anne Serling and Jodi Serling, the daughters of Rod Serling, and Marc Scott Zicree , longtime television writer/producer and the author of The Twilight Zone Companion . Dec. 25, 2024 marked the 100 th anniversary of the birth of Rod Serling, while the 2024-2025 television season marks the 65th anniversary of the premiere of The Twilight...

TVC 681.5: Anne Serling and Jodi Serling, the daughters of Rod Serling, and Marc Scott Zicree , author of The Twilight Zone Companion , share some final thoughts with Ed about the legacy of Rod Serling, including how Serling never "saw the signpost up ahead" with regard to the tremendous impact that his writing continues to have. Both The Twilight Zone Companion and Anne's book, As I Knew Him: My...

TVC 680.3: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with Harrison Page , the actor known around the world as Joshua in Lionheart , Captain Trunk on Sledge Hammer! , CPO Robinson on CPO Sharkey , and Niles in Russ Meyer's Vixen! Topics this segment include how Harrison approached playing Niles when he first read the script for Vixen ; why it's important for every actor to know the difference b...

TVC 680.4: Harrison Page talks to Ed about how the success of Vixen led Michael Landon to cast him in "The Wish," an episode of Bonanza written and directed by Landon that not only aired in 1969, but also marked Harrison's first network appearance; how, upon completing production of "The Wish," Landon made a phone call that resulted in Harrison being cast in "Tooth of the Serpent," an episode of M...

TVC 680.5: Ed welcomes Anne Serling and Jodi Serling, the daughters of Rod Serling, and Marc Scott Zicree , longtime television writer/producer and the author of The Twilight Zone Companion , for a celebration of both the 100 th anniversary of the birth of Rod Serling and the 65th anniversary of the premiere of The Twilight Zone on CBS television. Anne's book, As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling ,...

TVC 680.6: Anne Serling and Jodi Serling, the daughters of Rod Serling, and Marc Scott Zicree , author of The Twilight Zone Companion , talk to Ed about how Rod Serling was not only the first modern-day show runner, in that he was a writer who also served as his own producer, but also the "Leonardo da Vinci of television," in that he represented the pinnacle of what the medium can do. Other topics...

We'll be back with a brand new edition of TV Confidential later this week. In the meantime, please enjoy this clip from February 2020 in which Tony and Ed remember Pink Lady and Jeff (NBC, 1980), the short-lived and, in many respects, infamous variety series produced by Sid & Marty Krofft, which premiered on Mar. 1, 1980 during This Week in TV History. Tony's coverage includes first-hand knowledge...

We'll be back with a brand new edition of TV Confidential later this week. In the meantime, please enjoy this clip from February 2015 in which Tony, Donna, and Ed remember some of the early TV roles of Howard Hessman, before he became known as Dr. Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati , as part of This Week in TV History. Howard Hesseman was born on this day in 1940. 

TVC 679.1: TV Confidential remembers actor, author, playwright, and decorated U.S. Army veteran James McEachin ( Tenafly, Matlock, The Perry Mason Mysteries , Play Misty for Me , The Heroin Factor , Farewell to the Mockingbirds , The Alpha Caper, Above the Call: Beyond the Duty, Reveille, Swing Low, My Sweet Chariot: The Ballad of Jimmy Mack ) by bringing you an encore presentation of a conversati...

TVC 679.5: From February 2013: Actor, author, playwright, and decorated Korean War veteran James McEachin talks to Ed about why he re-enlisted in the U.S. Army to serve in Korea after previously serving in Japan (and why it was important to James that he serve on the frontlines in Korea); serving with the 9 th Infantry Regiment, an all-black unit; living with post-traumatic stress disorder after b...

TVC 679.6: From February 2013: James McEachin talks to Ed about the important role that Jack Webb played early in his acting career, particularly when James was under contract at Universal. He also shares a few memories of working with Clint Eastwood, Charles Floyd Johnson, David Janssen, and James Garner. James McEachin passed away on Jan. 11, 2025 at the age of ninety-four. TV Confidential spoke...