TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

TVC 499.5: Part 4 of Ed's four-part conversation with five-time Emmy Award-winning talk show host , comedian, critic at large , and documentary film maker John Barbour , creator, producer, principal writer, and one of the original co-hosts of Real People (NBC, 1979-1984). Topics this segment include what a valuable commodity Real People T-shirts were during the show's original network run. John Ba...

TVC 499.6: John Barbour provides Ed with the back story of his guest appearance opposite Tim Conway in the "Take My Life, Please" episode of the original CSI , and the events that led John to write and produce Ernie Kovacs: Television's Original Genius , the 1982 Showtime documentary that is still considered the definitive look at Kovacs' life and career. John Barbour's memoir, Your Mother's Not a...

TVC 499.8: From June 2011: Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the first TV commercial to be sanctioned by the FCC—a ten-second spot for Bulova watches ("America runs on Bulova time"), which NBC affiliate WNBT (now WNBC) aired on July 1, 1941 before the start of the broadcast of a Major League Baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies. The price of the ad was nine dollars—f...

From November 2015: Part 3 of our roundtable discussion with Anne Serling ( As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling ), Joseph Dougherty ( Pretty Little Liars ), Dan Farren ( Story Salon ), and Tony Figueroa about the legacy of Rod Serling and episodes of The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery that continue to resonate with us. Topics this segment include Anne's thoughts on what particularly makes a good T...

From November 2015: Part 2 of our roundtable discussion on the legacy of Rod Serling featuring Anne Serling, Rod's daughter, and the author of As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling. Topics this segment include the Night Gallery episode "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar" (one of the best scripts Serling ever wrote), and the sheer number of people who became writers because of Serling, despite Serl...

TV Confidential commemorates the fortieth anniversary of the death of Rod Serling with a special multi-part minisode edition of our November 2015 conversation with Anne Serling, Rod's daughter. Anne joins Joseph Dougherty, Dan Farren, and Tony Figueroa for a special roundtable discussion of the legacy of Rod Serling, his impact on three generations of television writers, and episodes of Twilight Z...

From June 2011: Tony, Donna, and Ed discuss the premiere of the television adaptation of Amos 'n' Andy (CBS, 1951-1953) on June 28, 1951; the controversy that preceded and followed the series, as it aired during the era of segregation in the U.S. that led to the Civil Rights Movement; why CBS pulled the series from syndication in 1966; and how some of the stereotypes in casting the series—particul...

TVC 498.1: Ed welcomes four-time Emmy Award-winning talk show host, producer, author and entrepreneur Bill Boggs ( Midday Live, My Generation, Bill Boggs Corner Table, Comedy Tonight, The Morton Downey Jr. Show ). Bill's latest book, The Adventures of Spike the Wonder Dog , is a comic novel loosely based on Bill's TV career that also satirizes today's media and political culture. With many of us s...

TVC 498.2: Four-time Emmy Award-winning talk show host and producer Bill Boggs ( Midday Live, My Generation, Bill Boggs Corner Table ) talks to Ed about his experiences working with such legends as Dick Clark, Frank Sinatra, and John "the voice of NFL Films" Facenda, and why a good talk show host also think like a producer. Bill's latest book, The Adventures of Spike the Wonder Dog , is a comic no...

TVC 498.3: A brief segment about James Garner's passion for golf that includes a clip from a conversation with Jon Winokur, co-author of The Garner Files (Garner's memoir), that originally aired in November 2011. Bonhams Auction House will auction select personal items from James Garner , including a golf club once presented to Jim by President Bill Clinton, through Monday 6/29 . Proceeds from sal...

TVC 498.4: Part 1 of a two-part segment in which Tony, Donna, and Ed remember actor, comedian, singer, and jazz trumpeter extraordinaire Jack Sheldon ( The Merv Griffin Show ), with a particular focus on his contributions to the iconic Saturday morning educational series Schoolhouse Rock . Sheldon wrote and performed seven tunes for Schoolhouse Rock , including "Conjunction Junction" and "I'm Just...

TVC 498.5: Part 3 of a conversation that began earlier this spring with John Barbour , the five-time Emmy Award-winning talk show host , comedian, critic at large , and documentary film maker who is also the creator, producer, principal writer, and one of the original co-hosts of Real People (NBC, 1979-1984). In this segment, John shares a few more stories about his show business career (including...

TVC 498.6: John Barbour , creator, producer, principal writer, and one of the original co-hosts of Real People (NBC, 1979-1984), talks to Ed about the impact that Real People continues to have on our culture, including the role it played in establishing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the platform of future America's Most Wanted host John Walsh. John Barbour's memoir, Your Mother's Not a Virgin:...

TVC 498.7: Part 2 of a special edition of This Week in TV History that remembers the contributions of Jack Sheldon to the iconic Saturday morning series Schoolhouse Rock . Sheldon wrote and performed seven songs for Schoolhouse Rock , including "The Tale of Mr. Morton," "Energy Blues," "Where the Money Goes," and, of course, "Conjunction Junction" and "I'm Just a Bill." Want to advertise/sponsor o...

TVC 497.1: Tony, Donna, and Ed pay tribute to actor, comedian, and improvisational genius Fred Willard ( Modern Family, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, Fernwood Tonight, Roseanne ). Topics include a look at Willard's early comedy partnership with Vic Greco and his years as a founding member of the improv group Ace Trucking Company; how Willard developed the Jerry Hubbard character on Fernwood T...

TVC 497.2: Tony, Donna, and Ed discuss some of Fred Willard's early TV roles, including D.A. Bud Nugent on Sirota's Court (a precursor to the character that John Larroquette played on Night Court ), and how Willard brought an Everyman quality to just about every character he played. Fred Willard passed away on Friday, May 15 at the age of 86. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  ha...

TVC 497.3: Iconic television producer Marty Krofft of Sid & Marty Krofft Productions talks to Ed about the star that he and his brother received in February of this year on the Hollywood Walk of Fame , as well as some of their upcoming projects. The 2019-2020 season marks the fiftieth anniversary of Sid and Marty Krofft Productions . Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partner...

TVC 497.4: Author, producer, and Hollywood historian Laurie Jacobson talks to Ed about her years studying improv with Harvey Lembeck (and the many famous actors who often dropped in Harvey's classes unannounced), taking acting lessons from Russell Johnson (and how The Professor took his role as teacher very seriously), and why cookbooks will never go out of style, especially right now. Laurie's la...

TVC 497.5: Greg and Ed discuss the Our Gang DVD collection from Warner Bros. Archive and the Little Rascals DVD collection from Genius 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 and will help you advertise on our show. Please email ...

TVC 497.6: Greg Ehrbar continues his review of the various Best of Sesame Street titles that are available on DVD, including Sesame Street Spoofs and Sesame Street: Old School .  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 adverti...

From November 2011: Jon Winokur, co-author of The Garner Files, the memoir of actor James Garner, provides insight into the production of My Name is Bill W., the Emmy Award-winning Hallmark Hall of Fame production starring and produced by Garner that tells the story of the co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. Also in this segment: How Garner overcame his own problems with alcohol early in his life...

From November 2011: Jon Winokur, co-author of The Garner Files, the memoir of James Garner's life and career in show business, talks to Ed about the friendship and frequent collaborations between Garner and James Woods, including the time when Garner taught Woods how to play golf after making the acclaimed TV-movie Promise. Bonhams Auction House will auction select personal items from James Garner...

From May 2011: This Week in TV History: Tony, Donna and Ed go back to June 10, 2007, the night that the final episode of The Sopranos originally aired on HBO, as well as the uproar sparked by how the final scene ended. 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 grea...

TVC 496.1: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with author, screenwriter, raconteur, and novelist Marvin J. Wolf . Marv's latest book, They Were Soldiers: The Sacrifices and Contributions of Our Vietnam Veterans (a collaboration with New York Times bestselling author Joseph L. Galloway), profiles fifty men and women from various walks of life who all served in Vietnam in one capacity or...

TVC 496.2: Tony, Donna, and Ed pay tribute to actor/comedian Jerry Stiller, including a round-up of the various tributes on late night television from Stiller's friends and colleagues. Jerry Stiller passed away on Monday, May 11 at age 92. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition of our...