TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

TVC 549.5: Award-winning actress Louise Sorel talks to Ed about playing Don Rickles' wife on The Don Rickles Show (the stand-up comedian's first network TV sitcom); working with Teresa Graves and Harry Guardino in the 90-minute pilot for Get Christie Love! ; and the treacherous shoot for "River of No Return," an episode of The FBI featuring Louise Sorel, Frank Converse, and Henry Darrow that was f...

TVC 549.6: With this weekend marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lucille Ball, we played some highlights of our coverage of an event held at the Hollywood Museum in April 2019 that honored the life and career of the legendary Queen of Comedy. Speakers that evening included Kate Luckinbill-Conner, Lucille Ball's granddaughter. Also in this segment: A conversation with Geoffrey Mark, autho...

TVC 548.1: A return visit by renowned author, director, and screenwriter Marc Cushman . Marc's latest book, These Are the Voyages: Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek in the 1970s , is a three-volume history of Star Trek /biography of Gene Roddenberry that chronicles the ten-year period spanning the cancellation of the original series in 1969 through the making and release of Star Trek: The Motion Pict...

TVC 548.2: Star Trek historian and Gene Roddenberry historian Marc Cushman discuss why production of Star Trek: The Motion Picture began before the script was even finished; why the expensive special effects nearly sank the film; and the brief yet strange furor involving Roddenberry, NBC, and the short-lived sci-fi parody Quark . All three volumes of These Are the Voyages: Gene Roddenberry and Sta...

TVC 548.3: Ed welcomes back Laura Niemi of NBC's This Is Us . Laura currently stars in Pool Boy , a new stage comedy, set in Los Angeles during the 2020 pandemic, about two people who are desperate for human contact after months of isolation. The first site-specific production of The Lost Angels Theatre Company , Pool Boy will be performed outdoors and poolside, in a Covid-friendly atmosphere, fro...

TVC 548.4: From August 2012: Ed welcomes actor, author, and screenwriter Lawrence Montaigne ( A Vulcan Odyssey , The Guardian List ). Known to fans of The Original Series as Decius in "Balance of Terror" and Stonn in "Amok Time," Lawrence also appeared in twenty-five motion pictures, including The Great Escape with Steve McQueen and James Garner, plus episodes of such classic TV series as The Fugi...

TVC 548.5: From August 2012: Actor, author, and screenwriter Lawrence Montaigne ( A Vulcan Odyssey , The Guardian List ) talks to Ed about being cast as Haines in The Great Escape , and how his connection to director Murray Golden led to many opportunities in film and television after production ended five months later. Lawrence Montaigne passed away in March 2017. Want to advertise/sponsor our sh...

TVC 548.6: From August 2012: Actor and author Lawrence Montaigne ( A Vulcan Odyssey , The Guardian List ) talks to Ed about his adventures as a gold smuggler in Bangkok and Hong Kong; working on various Irwin Allen shows; and reprising the role of the Vulcan Stonn in the web miniseries Star Trek: Of Gods and Men . Lawrence Montaigne passed away in March 2017. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV...

TVC 547.1: Part 2 of the conversation that began last week with Emmy Award winner Ron Bacon . One of the true pioneers of network television, Ronn spent thirty-five years in network TV production—mostly with ABC, where he wore many hats (including stage manager, associate director, writer, producer, and director) on more than 12,500 broadcasts, covering just about every type of programming availab...

TVC 547.2: Emmy Award winner Ron Bacon talks to Ed about some of the many game shows on which he worked when he was with ABC, including Let's Make a Deal, Split Second, Password, Queen for a Day , and Family Feud , as well as some of the mishaps that occurred during production of You Asked for It. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advert...

TVC 547.3: Ed welcomes back Michelle Danner , producer and director of The Runner , an action thriller starring Cameron Douglas (son of Michael Douglas), Eric Balfour ( 24 ), and newcomer Edouard Philipponnat about a troubled high school student who, after being arrested, finds himself going undercover to help the police bring down a drug kingpin. The Runner will be released in the fall of 2021. W...

TVC 547.4: Actress, filmmaker, and acting coach Michelle Danner talks to Ed about Bad Impulse , a psychological thriller starring Paul Sorvino and Grant Bowler about a family terrorized by a high-tech technology system (and which also has elements of The Shining ). Produced and directed by Michelle Danner, Bad Impulse is available right now on Blu-ray and for viewing on demand on Amazon Prime and...

TVC 547.5: Ed discusses the release of Code 3: The Complete Series (Synd., 1956-1957), the Dragnet -like series produced by Ben Fox and Hal Roach Studios, now available on DVD and streaming on demand for the first time through MPI Media Group . Based on actual case files from the search and rescue branch of the Los Angeles Police Department, Code 3 starred Richard Travis, Denver Pyle, and Fredd Wa...

TVC 547.6: Ed welcomes Jenna Frisby , Emmy nominated producer and journalist, and owner and operator of The William Windom Tribute Site , the most complete source of information on the Internet about the life and career of one of the most versatile and prolific actors in the history of television. Topics this segment include the series of documentaries about William Windom that Jenna is presently...

TVC 547.7: Emmy Award winner Ron Bacon talks to Ed about some of the many comedians that he either worked with or knew personally during his production career at ABC, including why it was both fun and dangerous to work with Ernie Kovacs. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition of our pro...

TVC 546.1: Part 2 of the conversation that began last week with Howard Storm and Steve Stoliar , co-authors of The Imperfect Storm: From Henry Street to Hollywood , the story of Howard's fifty-year career as a stand-up comedian, actor, and film and TV director (including nearly sixty episodes of Mork & Mindy ). Topics this segment include Howard's experience performing improve with The Committee;...

TVC 546.2: Ed welcomes Suzanne de Laurentiis , host of Suzanne's Saturday Night Scares , a fun, new homage to drive-in-type horror movies from the early 1970s that you can now enjoy on demand on Apple TV and Amazon Prime . Shot on location in an historic haunted mansion, Suzanne's Saturday Night Scares , in many respects, will remind you of the various late night Creature Features -type shows that...

TVC 546.3: From August 2011: Ed welcomes James Christie, author of You're The Director, You Figure It Out: The Life and Films of Richard Donner , a comprehensive biography and filmography that includes a detailed look at Donner's early career as a director of episodic television and made-for-TV movies. Topics this segment include why Donner particularly enjoyed directing such shows as The Wild, Wi...

TVC 546.4: Ed welcomes Emmy Award winner Ron Bacon . Ron spent thirty-five years in network TV production—mostly with ABC, where he wore many hats (including stage manager, associate director, writer, producer, and director) on more than 12,500 broadcasts, covering just about every type of programming available , including such variety shows as The Lawrence Welk Show, The Frank Sinatra Show, The H...

TVC 546.5: Emmy Award winner Ron Bacon shares a few memories about his thirty-five year career in network TV production, which began in the days of live television and included more than 12,500 broadcasts, covering just about every type of programming available , including such variety shows as The Lawrence Welk Show, The Frank Sinatra Show, The Hollywood Palace, and The Jonathan Winters Show . To...

TVC 546.6: From August 2011: Ed welcomes James Christie, author of You're The Director, You Figure It Out: The Life and Films of Richard Donner , a comprehensive biography and filmography that includes a detailed look at Donner's early career as a director of episodic television. Topics this segment include Donner's insight into the 99 character on Get Smart , and how he understood Sherwood Schwar...

TVC 546.7: From August 2011: James Christie, author of You're The Director, You Figure It Out: The Life and Films of Richard Donner , takes us behind the scenes of the making of Superman , the 1978 movie directed by Richard Donner that created the modern-day blockbuster superhero motion picture genre. Topics include how Donner saw Superman as a story about what it meant to be an immigrant in Ameri...

TVC 545.1: Part 2 of the conversation that began on our last program with Emmy Award-nominated comedy writer Jim Abel l ( Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In , Love, American Style ), including a look at some of the many cultural references that originated from Laugh-In . Jim also discusses how he came to write material for Ann-Margret, Cass Elliot, The Doobie Brothers, and Los Angeles radio and TV personal...

TVC 545.2: Emmy nominated comedy writer Jim Abel l ( Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In , Love, American Style ) talks to Ed, Tony, and Donna about writing a sketch for Carol Burnett for The Lohman and Barkley , as well as how Laugh-In executive producer George Schlatter recruited Allan Katz and Jack Douglas to write for the show. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with Adver...

TVC 545.3: Greg Ehrbar provides a capsule history of DePatie-Freleng Productions and the Pink Panther cartoon series as part of a discussion of The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection , a six-volume Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition of our program. The...