TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

From July 2013: Comedy writer Bob Mills joins Ed for Part 2 of our conversation about Bob Hope. Bob's book, The Laugh Makers, not only provides great insight into Bob Hope, but takes you behind the scenes of the last decades of the network variety show while also paying tribute to the "Gag Men" and "Gag Women" who made it happen.  Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered...

From August 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed look back at the film career of Bugs Bunny. The iconic Warner Bros. character made his first official screen appearance on July 27, 1940 in the Tex Avery cartoon A Wild Hare . 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...

TVC 502.1: Tony and Donna join Ed as TV Confidential dedicates its two-hour program this week to the life and career of Carl Reiner , the Grammy Award-winning and multiple Emmy Award-winning actor, writer, producer, director, author, philanthropist and humanitarian who passed away on Monday, June 29 at age 98. Topics include Reiner's humanity, his service in the Pacific as a member of the Army Ent...

TVC 502.2: Tony, Donna, and Ed discuss Carl Reiner 's lifelong friendship with Mel Brooks, which began when they wrote for and performed with Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows (NBC, 1950-1954) and continued for the next seventy years.  Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition of our progr...

TVC 503.3: Comedy historian and longtime entertainment publicist Jeff Abraham talks to Ed about how " The 2,000 Year Old Man ," the classic comedy routine by Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks, morphed from a dinner party act that Reiner and Brooks used to perform before friends into a series of international smash record albums. Jeff worked with Carl Reiner on many occasions over the past seventeen years...

TVC 503.4: Singer/actress Ilene Graff ( Mr. Belvedere ) joins Ed as TV Confidential continues its program-length tribute to Carl Reiner . Irene's father, singer Jerry Graff, served with Reiner in the same Special Services unit of the U.S. Army in World War II—a unit that also happened to include Howard Morris ( Your Show of Shows ), Allen Ludden ( Password ), and Maurice Evans ( Bewitched )—plus s...

TVC 503.5: Film and television actor Basil Hoffman talks to Ed about why Carl Reiner was an "actor's director." Hoffman was directed by Reiner twice in his career, including the feature motion picture All of Me (1984).  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 gre...

TVC 503.6: Emmy Award-winning actress Loretta Swit ( M*A*S*H , SwitHeart ) talks to Ed about acting with and being directed by Carl Reiner in the "Good Neighbor Maxine" episode of his short-lived but fondly remembered comedy anthology series Good Heavens (ABC, 1976). Topics include how, in many respects, the premise of Good Heavens embodied who Reiner was as a person.  Want to advertise/sponsor ou...

TVC 503.7: Director, voice actor, and former child star Moosie Drier joins Ed as TV Confidential continues its program-length tribute to Carl Reiner . Moosie was directed by Reiner directed in Oh, God! (1976), and he shares a few memories of working with Reiner, John Denver, George Burns, Teri Garr, and Rachel Longaker on the set of the film. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  ha...

TVC 503.8: Tony, Donna, and Ed talk about some of Carl Reiner 's other work as a motion picture director and screenwriter, including Enter Laughing, Where's Poppa, The Thrill of It All, and The Jerk, as well as his onscreen appearances in the Ocean's Eleven movies. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for t...

TVC 503.9: Singer/actress Roslyn Kind ( Light of Love, Save the Country ) shares some memories of her longtime friendship with Estelle Reiner , the actress and cabaret singer also known as Mrs. Carl Reiner (and who had a memorable cameo appearance in When Harry Met Sally , directed by Rob Reiner).  Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle adve...

TVC 503.10: Tony, Donna, and Ed with some final thoughts on the life and legacy of Carl Reiner , including his activism and how Reiner used Twitter to provide his fans with a window into his mind on a variety of topics. Carl Reiner passed away on Monday, June 29 at age 98. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship reques...

TVC 503.11: Tony, Donna, and Ed discuss Carl Reiner 's decision to end production of The Dick Van Dyke Show (CBS, 1961-1966) after five seasons, as well as some of Reiner's other efforts in television, including The New Dick Van Dyke Show (CBS, 1971-1974). This segment was not included in the terrestrial broadcast of this week's program because of time constraints . Carl Reiner passed on Monday, J...

From September 2016: Award-winning writer Vince Waldron, author of The Official Dick Van Dyke Show Book, joins Tony, Donna, and Ed for a behind-the-scenes look at the making of The Dick Van Dyke Show, the most acclaimed comedy series of TV's golden age. Vince's book tells you everything you wanted to know about the iconic sitcom, as seen through the eyes of the cast and crew, including Carl Reiner...

From October 2011: A special edition of the Sounds of Lost Television that looks back at how TV covered New York Yankees slugger Roger Maris' then-record 61st home run, which he hit on Oct. 1, 1961, the final day of the 1961 Major League Baseball season. This segment includes audio highlights of an interview with Maris that aired on the Oct. 8, 1968 edition of the CBS Evening News, shortly before...

From October 2011: Phil Gries joins Ed for a special edition of the Sounds of Lost Television that commemorates how TV covered New York Yankees slugger Roger Maris' then-record 61st home run, which he hit on Oct. 1, 1961, the final day of the 1961 Major League Baseball season. This segment includes audio highlights of Yankees announcer Red Barber interviewing manager Ralph Houk after the game, whi...

From October 2011: Phil Gries joins Ed for a special edition of the Sounds of Lost Television that commemorates the 50th anniversary of Oct. 1, 1961, the day on which Roger Maris hit his 61st home run, surpassing Babe Ruth's record for most home runs in a Major League Baseball season. This segment includes audio highlights of Red Barber and Mel Allen calling Maris' 61st homer on WPIX-TV. Want to a...

TVC 501.1: Suzy Friendly talks to Ed about her three-decade-plus career in network television production, which saw her work behind the scenes in many capacities (both above the line and below the line) on projects that span many genres, including variety specials like The AFI Tribute to John Ford , live telecasts such as the Emmy Awards and the NAACP Image Awards, scripted series (including Maggi...

TVC 501.2: Ed continues his conversation with Suzy Friendly about her career in network TV production. Topics include Suzy's years working with Emmy Award-winning producer Bob Banner and Emmy-nominated writer/producer Kari Lizer.  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 501.3: From July 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed commemorate the birthday of Merv Griffin with a look at his long-running daytime talk show (NBC/Westinghouse/CBS/Metromedia, 1962-1986) and his contributions to the world of TV game shows, including Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship r...

TVC 501.4: Ed welcomes film and TV actor, author, and noted acting teacher Basil Hoffman ( Acting and How to Be Good at It , Cold Reading and How to Be Good at It ). In a screen career that spans five decades, Basil has appeared in two Academy Award-winning Best Pictures ( Ordinary People, The Artist ), plus he's worked with fourteen Oscar-winning actors (including Jason Robards, Sophia Loren, Dus...

TVC 501.5: Actor, author and acting teacher Basil Hoffman ( Acting and How to Be Good at It , Cold Reading and How to Be Good at It ) talks to Ed about the difference between "actor first" directors and "camera first" directors, plus he shares some memories of working with directors Sydney Pollack, Carl Reiner, and Robert Redford. Basil is one of just two actors to work with Redford four times—twi...

TVC 501.6: Actor, author and acting teacher Basil Hoffman ( Acting and How to Be Good at It , Cold Reading and How to Be Good at It ) shares a few memories of working with Peter O'Toole in My Favorite Year , James Garner in The Rockford Files , and Peter Falk in Columbo . NOTE: Out of an abundance of caution due to local government quarantine regulations, the two-day acting workshop that Basil Hof...

TVC 501.7: From July 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the premiere of Pantomime Quiz , a variation of Charades that began as a locally produced game show in Los Angeles (KTLA, 1947-1949) before airing in prime time on ABC, NBC, CBS and the Dumont network at various points between 1949 and 1959. One of the first TV shows to win an Emmy Award (which it did in 1949), Pantomime Quiz later morphed in...

From July 2013: Tony, Donna, and Ed commemorate the 40th anniversary of the death of Bruce Lee with a look at the actor's life and career in movies and television, in the U.S. and overseas, as well as his influence on such martial arts stars as Chuck Norris and Jackie Chan.  Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requ...