TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

TVC 527.1: Ed welcomes novelist, essayist, and TV historian Mitchell Hadley . Mitchell's latest book, The Electronic Mirror: What Classic TV Tells US About Who We Were and Who We Are (and Everything in Between) , is a series of essays that take a look at what classic television is, what it says about the culture that produced it, and why the shared experience of television that marked the lives of...

TVC 527.2: Novelist, essayist, and TV historian Mitchell Hadley talks to Ed about the eternal appeal of Perry Mason ; the genius of Ernie Kovacs; and how prime time game shows such as What's My Line? also serve as "inadvertent documentaries" about the culture of the early 1960s. Mitchell's latest book, The Electronic Mirror: What Classic TV Tells US About Who We Were and Who We Are (and Everything...

TVC 527.3: Greg Ehrbar reviews The Flintstones: The Complete Series (Blu-ray) . Topics this segment include how The Flintstones was the first prime time animated series with an air of sophistication; the origin of the "Meet the Flintstones" theme song; and a capsule history of Hanna-Barbera animation.  Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle a...

TVC 527.6: Greg and Ed discuss The Man Called Flintstone , the 1966 animated feature motion picture that is included as an extra feature in The Flintstones: The Complete Series Blu-ray release, now available from WarnerBrothers Home Entertainment. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition...

From July 2013: Mark Dawidziak, television critic for the Cleveland Plain-Dealer , joins Ed in remembering novelist and screenwriter Richard Matheson. Mark not only covered Matheson's career in television, but also edited three collections of the works of Richard Matheson, all of which are available through Gauntlet Press. Often classified as a science fiction writer, Matheson not only wrote for m...

From July 2013: Mark Dawidziak, television critic for the Cleveland Plain-Dealer , joins Ed in remembering novelist and screenwriter Richard Matheson. Mark not only covered Matheson's career in television, but also edited three collections of the works of Richard Matheson, all of which are available through Gauntlet Press. Topics this segment how Mark's friendship and professional collaborations w...

From July 2013: Mark Dawidziak, television critic for the Cleveland Plain-Dealer , joins Ed in remembering novelist and screenwriter Richard Matheson. Mark not only covered Matheson's career in television, but also edited three collections of the works of Richard Matheson, all of which are available through Gauntlet Press. Topics this segment include why the vampires that Matheson wrote about were...

TVC 526.1: Part 2 of a conversation with Marc Cushman that began on our last program about These Are the Voyages: Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek in the 1970s , a three-volume history of Star Trek /biography of Gene Roddenberry that covers the ten years spanning the cancellation of the original series in 1969 and the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979. Volume 2 includes a fascinating...

TVC 526.2: From September 2018: Television producer Cy Chermak , author of The Show Runner: An Insider's Guide to Successful TV Production , uses his experience on CHiPs to illustrate why a successful show must have a believable concept as well as likeable characters. Cy Chermak passed away on Jan. 29, 2021 at age ninety-one. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with A...

TVC 526.3: From September 2018: Television producer Cy Chermak , author of The Show Runner: An Insider's Guide to Successful TV Production , talks to Ed about working with writers David Chase, Rudolph Borchert, Robert Zemeckis, and Bob Gale on Kolchak: The Night Stalker ; while Kolchak was particularly popular with college students when it originally aired; and Cy's penchant for casting comic acto...

TVC 526.4: From September 2018: Television producer Cy Chermak , author of The Show Runner: An Insider's Guide to Successful TV Production , talks to Ed about Amy Prentiss , the Emmy Award-winning police drama starring Jessica Walter that was created by Cy's wife, Francine Carroll. Cy Chermak passed away on Jan. 29, 2021 at age ninety-one.  Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has p...

TVC 526.5: From September 2018: Emmy Award-winning and Grammy Award-winning writer/producer Geoffrey Mark talks to Ed about the life and music of Ella Fitzgerald —including Ella's many collaborations with Louis Armstrong, and the pivotal stance she took against NBC in 1959, just before her appearance on The Bell Telephone Hour . Geoff is the host of Geoffrey Mark Plays Ella , a new hour-long radio...

TVC 526.6: Emmy Award-winning actor, writer, and producer Kevin Spirtas pays tribute to his colleague Michael Slade . Kevin and Michael co-created After Forever , the multi Emmy Award-winning digital series that has won critical acclaim not only for its portrayal of gay men in their fifties, but for its unflinching honesty in dealing with loss. In an untimely example of life imitating art, Michael...

TVC 526.7: TV Confidential honors our colleague Paul Green with a replay of our conversation from December 2015 about the life and career of Pete Duel . Author of many books on film and television (including Pete Duel: A Biography ), and a frequent guest on our program since its inception, Paul Green passed away on Sunday, Jan. 17 at age sixty-five . Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confiden...

TVC 526.8: From September 2018: Geoffrey Mark, host of Geoffrey Mark Plays Ella , provides the backstory of "Miss Otis Regrets," one of Ella Fitzgerald's many collaborations with the legendary Cole Porter. The premiere edition of Geoffrey Mark Plays Ella airs Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 8am ET, 5am PT on Metromedia Radio . Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseC...

TVC 450.3: From the floor of The Hollywood Museum: Geoffrey Mark, author of The Lucy Book and other books on film and television, tells Ed the question he asked Ms. Ball that immediately got her attention, as well as why Lucy's radio interview show, Let's Talk to Lucy , was such a great vehicle for her. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle...

TVC 450.1: Star Trek historian Mark Cushman takes us behind the scenes of The Questor Tapes , the critically acclaimed series pilot that many consider to be Gene Roddenberry's best work (other than Star Trek). Marc's latest book, These Are the Voyages: Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek in the 1970s , is the first of a two-volume biography that chronicles the career of the Great Bird of the Galaxy bet...

TVC 450.2: Marc Cushman, author of These Are the Voyages: Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek in the 1970s and other books on film and television, tells Ed the story of how his research for his I Spy book uncovered the reason why I Spy was canceled—and how that revelation had a tremendous effect on series star Robert Culp. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with Advertis...

TVC 450.5: Greg Ehrbar and Ed discuss the special picture disc soundtrack commemorating the 90th anniversary of the release of Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie . Plus: Greg recommends the album Songs from Alice in Wonderland , an interpretation by legendary music director/composer Tutti Camarata of the musical score of the classic Disney film. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has...

TVC 450.4: From the floor of The Hollywood Museum: Ed interviews Susan Olsen ( The Brady Bunch ) and Frank Sheftel of KABC Radio's Sunday Night Live with Susan and Frank . Susan and Frank were among the special guests who attended the recent unveiling of the Remembering Lucy exhibit that is currently on display at the Museum. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with...

TVC 450.7: Robert Hooks talks about the role that one of his sons played in convincing him to join the cast of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Chuck Harter co-hosts. 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 450.6: Robert Hooks, founder of the Negro Ensemble Company, joins Ed and guest co-host Chuck Harter for Part 2 of a conversation about his film, TV and stage career, including Trouble Man, the cult classic from 1972 that, tough widely considered a "blaxploitation" film, is really a private eye movie. Topics include the iconic soundtrack of Trouble Man by Marvin Gaye; singer/actor Bill Henderso...

From June 2014: Ed welcomes Bill Daily, the actor known around the world as Roger Healey on  I Dream of Jeannie  and Howard Borden on  The Bob Newhart Show . Bill began his career in television in Chicago directing such shows as  Kukla, Fran and Ollie  and  Garroway at Large , and later worked with the likes of Steve Allen and Mike Douglas. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has...

From June 2014: Part 2 of our conversation with Bill Daily ( The Bob Newhart Show , I Dream of Jeannie ). 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...

From September 2018: TV Confidential pays tribute to legendary actor Burt Reynolds. Though you probably know Reynolds as a major motion picture star (including five consecutive years as the No. 1 star at the box office), he was also a steady presence on television, both early and late in his career, including supporting roles on Gunsmoke and Riverboat and starring roles in four shows of his own: H...