TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

TVC 530.3: From October 2020: Ed Asner shares a few memories of working with Cloris Leachman on The Mary Tyler Moore Show . Also in this segment: Tony, Donna, and Ed discuss Leachman's performance in Young Frankenstein and what made the "Frau Blucher" gag so funny. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for th...

TVC 530.4: Ed plays Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with Walter Koenig , the actor known around the world as Mr. Chekhov on the original Star Trek TV series (and the first seven Star Trek movies) and Alfred Bester on Babylon 5 . Topics this segment includes what Walter describes as the "complexity of character" of actor William Shatner; why Leonard Nimoy was arguably the most indispe...

TVC 530.5: Walter Koenig talks to Ed about how playing Bester on Babylon 5 , in some ways, brought his career full circle. Walter's memoir, Beaming Up and Getting Off: Life Before and Beyond Star Trek , walks you through Walter's growing up years as the son of Russian immigrants in 1940s Manhattan; his formative years as an actor with the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York (where Walter learned hi...

TVC 530.6: Ed welcomes Darren Wadyko, the distributor of Betty White's The Pet Set: The Complete Series , an excellent new DVD set featuring all thirty-nine episodes of the long-lost syndicated talk show from 1971 that Betty White always considered to be among her favorite projects. The Pet Set blended White's lifelong passion for animals of all kind, both domestic and wild, with her gift for conv...

TVC 530.7: From June 2013: Jennifer Armstrong, author of Mary and Lou and Rhoda and All the Brilliant Minds Who Made The Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic , talks to Ed, Tony, and Donna about where the characters of Phyllis Lindstrom and Sue Ann Nivens fit in the "sexy feminism" pantheon. Jennifer's latest book, When Women Invented Television: The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered...

From September 2014: Singer/actress Connie Stevens shares a few memories of working with James Garner, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lewis, Patrick Macnee, and Marty Allen. 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....

From June 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the premiere of The Lawrence Welk Show on ABC in July 1955. 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.com  or click the link b...

From June 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed discuss how the success of The Lawrence Welk Show in the late 1950s changed the landscape of television in the 1960s. 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 em...

From January 2013: Barbara Feldon became a role model for women around the world when she played Agent 99 on the long-running, groundbreaking comedy series Get Smart . But while 99 continues to live happily ever after in reruns, Barbara found herself at a crossroads many years ago when her 12-year live-in relationship came to an end, and she found herself faced with the prospect of actually living...

TVC 529.1: A return visit by sci-fi screenwriter and sci-fi and fantasy film historian Gary Gerani . Gary provides commentary for the Blu-ray release of Dark Intruder , a horror/thriller/fantastical type movie starring Leslie Nielsen and Peter Mark Richman . Released in theaters in 1965, Dark Intruder was actually conceived by Universal as a pilot for The Black Cloak , a prospective TV series abou...

TVC 529.2: Documentary filmmaker and film/TV historian Gary Gerani updates Ed on the latest developments about Romantic Mysticism (his upcoming documentary on the life and music of Billy Goldenberg ), and discusses some of his other upcoming projects. The Dark Intruder Blu-ray release , now available from Kino Lorber, includes commentary by Gary Gerani, plus an interview with Mike Westmore, son of...

TVC 529.3: From March 2011: Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the birthdays of Ben Murphy and Billy Crystal, the death of George Burns, and the anniversary of the first Academy Awards telecast as part of This Week in TV History.  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...

TVC 529.4: Ed welcomes back actor, author, producer, director, screenwriter, and novelist Walter Koenig ( Star Trek , Babylon 5 ). Walter's latest book, Beaming Up and Getting Off: Life Before and Beyond Star Trek , is actually two books in one: Part One is a reissue of Walter's memoir, Warped Factors (originally published in 1997), while Part Two includes nearly 100 new pages of material that bri...

TVC 529.5: Walter Koenig talks to Ed about the events that led to his being cast as Alfred Bester on Babylon 5 . Walter's memoir, Beaming Up and Getting Off: Life Before and Beyond Star Trek , walks you through Walter's growing up years as the son of Russian immigrants in 1940s Manhattan; his formative years as an actor with the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York (where Walter learned his craft al...

TVC 529.5: Ed welcomes screenwriter and director Giorgio Serafini. Giorgio's latest movie, Senior Moment , is a delightful romantic comedy starring William Shatner, Jean Smart, and Christopher Lloyd about a retired NASA pilot who must learn how to navigate life and love all over again when he finds himself stripped of his drivers license and unable to drive his beloved vintage Porsche. Senior Mome...

From February 2011: Ed welcomes Charles Tranberg, author of I Love The Illusion , a comprehensive biography of Emmy Award-winning actress Agnes Moorehead. Topics this segment include how Agnes inherited much of her theatricality from both her father, a charismatic Presbyterian minister, and her mother, a former singer whose flamboyant personality Chuck describes as "a mortal version of Endora." Wa...

From February 2011: Ed welcomes Charles Tranberg, author of I Love The Illusion , a comprehensive biography of Emmy Award-winning actress Agnes Moorehead. Topics this segment include how Agnes came up with the name for Endora on Bewitche d, how she approached playing the character, and why she was particularly close to Dick York when they worked together on the show.  Want to advertise/sponsor our...

From March 2011: Actor John O'Hurley ( Seinfeld ) talks to Ed about the appeal of appearing on Dancing with the Stars .  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.com  or...

TVC 528.1: From March 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed pay tribute to George Kennedy, the Oscar-winning actor who passed away five years ago This Week in TV History. This segment originally aired on the occasion of Kennedy's 90th birthday. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition of our program....

TVC 528.2: From September 2013: Ed, Tony, and Donna welcome Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In star Jo Anne Worley . Topics this segment include Jo Anne's background with the renowned Chicago improv group Second City; her stage career (including playing both characters, on different occasions, in the female version of The Odd Couple ); playing Mrs. Arthur, aka Nana Banana, in the Disney series Jessie ; and...

TVC 528.3: From September 2013: Jo Anne Worley shares a few memories about her years on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In , including how the boa became her fashion trademark. Time-Life's comprehensive DVD release Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In: The Complete Series is now available at retail for the very first time .  Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to han...

TVC 528.4: Greg and Ed celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of The Point , the first feature-length animated movie made for television, which premiered on the ABC Movie of the Week in February 1971. Written by Harry Nilsson, and featuring the voice of Mike Lookinland ( The Brady Bunch ) and original songs by Nilsson, The Point remains an iconic film, despite a somewhat convoluted broadcast and distr...

From November 2010: Emmy Award-winning and Grammy Award-winning composer Charles Fox tells Ed the backstory of how the theme song for The Love Boat came together, and why a really good theme song is like an old friend who immediately puts us in the mood to watch our favorite show. Charles' memoir, Killing Me Softly: My Life in Music , not only discusses his collaborations with such artists as Robe...

From February 2016: Tony, Donna, and Ed discuss the early television career of Sandy Duncan, including her two TV series from the early 1970s ( Funny Face, The Sandy Duncan Show ), as well as her dramatic turn opposite Leslie Uggams in the original Roots . Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcas...

From February 2016: Tony, Donna, and Ed discuss the circumstances that led to Sandy Duncan replacing Valerie Harper as the star of Valerie (later renamed Valerie's Family , and then The Hogan Family ). 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 an...