TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

TVC 564.2: Emmy Award winner Ron Bacon talks to Ed about the back story of The Chicken Man , the musical stage comedy that he wrote and produced in September 2000; his remarkable encounter with legendary trumpeter Louis Armstrong; and the joy that comes from the creative process. Ron Bacon passed away Tuesday, Dec. 21 at age ninety-one. Part 2 of this conversation will air on our Jan. 28-30 progra...

TVC 564.3: Part 2 of our conversation with Jordan Young about the television career of bandleader Spike Jones , including the near-collaboration between Jones and Ernie Kovacs in the early 1950s, when Kovacs hosted The Tonight Show . Jordan's many books on entertainment history include Spike Jones, Off the Record: The Man Who Murdered Music , a comprehensive history and discography of Spike Jones...

TVC 564.4: Adam Sharp , president of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (aka the Daytime Emmys), discusses the recent collaboration between the Daytime Emmy Awards and the Prime Time Emmys regarding two major changes that will go into effect in 2022 , including the creation of the Children's and Family Emmy Awards as a standalone franchise, and the realignment of the Daytime Emmy...

TVC 564.5: Adam Sharp , president of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (aka the Daytime Emmys), shares a few thoughts on the recent passing of Betty White and John Madden. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition of our program. They're great to work with and will help...

TVC 564.6: From the floor of the Hollywood Museum 's recent Celebrity Authors Forum : Ed welcomes Geoffrey Mark , host of Geoffrey Mark Plays Ella , a new radio show that celebrates the music of the First Lady of Song, and the author of the forthcoming The New Lucy Book , a comprehensive look at the career of Lucille Ball on television, radio, stage, and film. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? T...

TVC 564.7: From the floor of the Hollywood Museum 's recent Celebrity Authors Forum : Ed welcomes Michael Stern , author of I Had a Ball: My Friendship with Lucille Ball . Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition of our program. They're great to work with and will help you advertise on ou...

TVC 563.1: Playwright and author Jordan Young joins Ed for a look at the television career of Spike Jones , the legendary bandleader and musical satirist whose influence in comedy and satire paved the way for the likes of Monty Python, Jimmy Buffett, George Carlin, Peter Sellers, and, arguably most notably, Weird Al Yankovic. Jordan Young's many books on entertainment history include Spike Jones,...

TVC 563.2: Jordan Young , author of Spike Jones, Off the Record: The Man Who Murdered Music , talks to Ed about the many ideas that Jones for television programming (even though TV itself never quite figured out how to put his talents to use); Jones' skill for marketing himself and his band; and how Dr. Demento helped create two new generations of Spike Jones fans. Want to advertise/sponsor our sh...

TVC 563.3: From the floor of the Hollywood Museum 's recent Celebrity Authors Forum : Ed welcomes Kelly Conway , the eldest of Tim Conway 's six children (and his only daughter), and the author of My Dad's Funnier Than Your Dad: Growing Up with Tim Conway in the Funniest House in America , a poignant look at who Tim Conway was, as a father and as a person. Kelly Conway will also join us in Februar...

TVC 563.4: From the floor of the Hollywood Museum 's recent Celebrity Authors Forum : Ed welcomes Carol Hoenig , author of The Greatest Reviews I've Ever Read , a collaboration with Emmy Award winner John Barbour that not only features some of John's many film reviews for Los Angeles magazine , but discusses how those movies impacted Carol's life. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidentia...

TVC 563.5: Ed welcomes Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes , the legendary stars of NBC's Days of Our Lives and daytime TV's first supercouple. Bill and Susan recently launched SoapOperaSecrets.com , a free website that not only reveals some of their many secrets for a happy, fulfilling, long lasting, and loving relationship, but features clips of Bill and Susan (as Doug and Julie) illustrating th...

TVC 563.6: Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes ( Days of Our Lives ) discuss some of their other work in television. For Bill, that includes starring on Your Show of Shows and appearing with Florence Henderson in a series of popular musical commercials for Oldsmobile automobiles; for Susan, that includes appearances in such popular series as Perry Mason, The Fugitive, The FBI, Matinee Theatre, 77...

TVC 563.7: From May 2021: New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Armstrong talks to Ed about the early television career of Betty White, including how, in many ways, White lived the life of Mary Richards long before The Mary Tyler Moore Show came into existence. Jennifer's book When Women Invented Television traces the history of the first decade of network television through the lives and acc...

TVC 563.8: From December 2017: Jim Colucci, deputy editor of CBS Watch magazine and author of Golden Girls Forever , talks to Ed and Greg Ehrbar about the circumstances that led Betty White to being cast as Rose on The Golden Girls after she had already been cast as Blanche. We are putting together a formal program-length tribute to Betty White that will air later this month on TV Confidential . W...

From December 2010: Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the network premiere of A Charlie Brown Christmas , the very first Peanuts animated special, which aired on CBS on Dec. 9, 1965. Topics include why CBS was nervous about audience and sponsor reaction to the scene in which Linus explains the true meaning of Christmas by telling the Nativity story.  Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential...

From December 2018: Greg Ehrbar and Ed discuss the new DVD release of Santa Claus is Comin' to Town ; how the various mythologies that screenwriter Romeo Muller created specifically for Santa Claus is Comin' to Town has since become part of the lore of Santa; and why the casting of Mickey Rooney, Fred Astaire and Keenan Wynn were all inspired choices. Greg not only provides audio commentary for Sa...

From December 2010: Tony, Donna, and remember the premiere of the Rankin-Bass animated special Frosty the Snowman (CBS, 1969). Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition of our program. They're great to work with and will help you advertise on our show. Please email  sales@advertisecast.co...

TVC 562.1: Ed welcomes James and Rebekah Ganiere , the husband-and-wife creative team behind Rekindling Christmas , the Emmy Award-nominated family romance movie about relationships, mistakes, miscommunications, pain of loss, assumptions, perceptions, and what really matters in life. A true family effort, Rekindling Christmas stars Ashley Atwood, Michael Patrick Lane, Stella May Grubb, and Christi...

TVC 562.2: Part 2 of our conversation with David Koenig , author of Shooting Columbo: The Lives and Deaths of TV's Rumpled Detective , a "behind the raincoat" look at the production of the Columbo television series, both on NBC and on ABC, and the development of the Lieutenant Columbo character. Topics this week include some of the various people behind the scenes of the groundbreaking mystery ser...

TVC 562.3: Greg Ehrbar discusses the DVD releases of Yogi's First Christmas (available through Warner Archive) and Yogi Bear's All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper (available through Warner Home Entertainment). Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition of our program. They're great to work with...

TVC 562.4: Ed welcomes Colleen Foy, the actress who plays Inara on ABC's Station 19 . Colleen will soon be seen opposite Ana de Armas, Bobby Cannavale, and Adrien Brody in Blonde , the highly anticipated biopic of Marilyn Monroe that is scheduled to premiere on Netflix in 2022. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship re...

TVC 562.5: Actress and voice artist Colleen Foy talks to Ed about how her experience with the National Theatre of the Deaf led to her television debut on Sesame Street. Colleen will soon be seen in Blonde , the highly anticipated biopic of Marilyn Monroe that is scheduled to premiere on Netflix in 2022. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle...

TVC 562.6: Ed remembers Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and music video pioneer Michael Nesmith by playing highlights from our April 2018 tribute to The Monkees featuring Chuck Harter . Chuck interviewed Michael Nesmith—along with Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, Davy Jones—as part of Hey, Hey, We're The Monkees , the excellent documentary on the history of The Monkees and the ongoing impact of...

TVC 562.7: From April 2018: Ed, Tony, Donna and Chuck Harter (writer of the Disney Channel documentary Hey, Hey, We're The Monkees ) discuss the success of the various Monkees reunion tours after their 1986 comeback and how the death of Davy Jones in 2012 changed the dynamics of the group. Chuck interviewed Jones, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, and Michael Nesmith for Hey, Hey, We're The Monkees . Mich...

TVC 562.8: From April 2018: Chuck Harter performs two Monkees tunes, "Sunny Girlfriend" (written by Michael Nesmith) and "Daydream Believer." Michael Nesmith passed away on Friday, Dec. 10 at the age of 78. Click here for news and updates about Chuck's latest book. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for th...