TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

TVC 493.4: From May 2011: Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the tragic murder of actor/comedian Phil Hartman ( Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, NewsRadio ) in May 1998 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 great to work with and...

TVC 493.5: From May 2011: Tony, Donna, and Ed revisit May 20, 2007, the night on which The Simpsons aired its 400th episode. Topics include how The Simpsons was originally considered controversial when it premiered in 1989, only to be seen as mainstream with age, as well as how the show's number of episodes ranks with other long-running series.  Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential...

TVC 493.6 : Ed welcomes film and TV Western actor  Don Collier  ( The High Chaparral ,  The Outlaws ) and radio host, documentary film maker, and pioneer TV casting director  Susan McCray . Susan produced  Don Collier: Confessions of an Acting Cowboy , a new DVD based on Don's popular one-man show, and  Kent McCray: Laughter, Love and Television , an excellent documentary about the life and career...

TVC 493.7 : Actor  Don Collier  ( The High Chaparral ,  The Outlaws ) and pioneer TV casting director  Susan McCray  ( Little House on the Prairie ) share some more memories about their mutual love for  Kent McCray . Plus: Don talks about playing cards with John Wayne and golfing with Dean Martin, while Susan shares the latest developments of her popular radio magazine show,  Kaleidoscope —includi...

In light of the passing earlier this week of comedian Jerry Stiller, we thought we'd post this clip from a conversation that Greg Ehrbar and Ed had in June 2015 about the career of Anne Meara, including her years performing stand-up alongside her husband as the landmark comedy team Stiller and Meara, as well as her solo effects on television, including The Corner Bar and the short-lived legal dram...

From May 2011: Tony, Donna, and Ed take us back to May 13, 1999, when Susan Lucci (All My Children) won her first Emmy Award after nineteen Emmy nominations. 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. Pleas...

TVC 492.1: From May 2011: Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the death of Moe Howard of The Three Stooges on May 4, 1975 as part of This Week in TV History. Topics include why Curly Howard was the Stooge that seemed to resonate the most with fans. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition of ou...

TVC 492.2: From May 2011: Tony, Donna, and Ed go back to May 9, 1971, when the final segment of The Honeymooners was broadcast as part of The Jackie Gleason Show (CBS, 1962-1970). Though CBS had canceled Gleason at the end of the 1969-1970 season, it aired reruns of the show on Sunday nights from January 1971 through May 1971. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with...

TVC 492.3: Ed welcomes three-time Emmy nominated writer/producer Phil Savenick . After thirty-five years in TV production, during which time he created many highly regarded compilation documentaries concerning TV and its history, Phil decided to devote the third act of his life to expressing the impact that the medium of television continues to have all over the world. That expression takes severa...

TVC 492.4: Three-time Emmy nominee Phil Savenick talks to Ed about how he came to develop TheHistoryofTV.com , a virtual museum devoted to the creation of television, which Phil curates from his home in Los Angeles. The mission statement of TheHistoryofTV.com is to celebrate the life and career of Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor of television. This interview was recorded via remote in January 20...

TVC 492.5: Ed welcomes back actress, comedienne and producer Kat Kramer . Kat is one of the producers, as well as one of the cast members, of Turnover , an uplifting independent film that celebrates the resilience that resides in all of us, particularly after life suddenly throws us a curve. Co-written and directed by Linda Palmer, and also featuring Paul Guilfoyle, Donna Mills, Beverly Todd, and...

TVC 492.6: Actress and producer Kat Kramer ( Turnover ) talks to Ed about some of her upcoming projects, including the independent drama Mother's Day Memories . Plus: Since we'll all at home for the foreseeable future, Kat recommends some films of her father, Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning producer/director Stanley Kramer, to watch or revisit during this time. Turnover is currently...

TVC 492.7: Via remote from TheHistoryofTV.com : Phil Savenick gives Ed a guided tour of his virtual museum dedicated to the history of television . Besides celebrating the life and legacy of Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of television, TheHistoryofTV.com includes many authentic Farnsworth artifacts (including the original drawing for the first television camera, which Farnsworth conceived at age...

From May 2011: Stephen Battaglio, author of David Susskind: A Televised Life, discusses former FCC chairman Newton Minow's famous "vast wasteland" speech on the state of network television, which he delivered on May 9, 1961 at that year's convention of the National Association of Broadcasters. Battaglio interviewed Minow for his Susskind biography; topics this segment include how Minow's speech ul...

From May 2011: Ed welcomes back actor and author Dan Frischman (Head of the Class, Kenan & Kel, Jackons & Jenks: Master Magicians). Also an accomplished singer, songwriter, musician, stand-up comedian, and stage magician, Dan talks about his background in music and how magic has always played a vital role throughout his life and career.  Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has par...

TVC 491.1: A return visit by Adam Sharp , president of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (aka the Daytime Emmys). Topics this segment include how viewership of the nightly network evening news broadcasts has increased by about 50 percent since the national lockdown began in March, plus the impact that news coverage of COVID-19 may have on next year's Emmy categories.  Want to ad...

TVC 491.2: Part 2 of our conversation with Adam Sharp , president of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (aka the Daytime Emmys). The National Academy oversees The Daytime Emmys, the Sports Emmys, the News and Documentary Emmys, and the technical and engineering Emmys—the ceremonies for which have all been postponed for the time being because of the corona virus pandemic.  Want to...

TVC 491.3: Adam Sharp , president of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences , tells Ed the back story of the Daytime Emmys' new logo—a dynamic new emblem that, in many respects, reflects the forward thinking embodied by the National Academy in recent years.  Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship request...

TVC 491.4: Donelle Dadigan , founder and president of The Hollywood Museum , talks to Ed about the various ways in which the Museum is using its social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) to bring the museum to the public during this time of national lockdown, including a series of videos that will see Ruta Lee, Dee Wallace, Judy Tenuta, Bob Bergen and other stars sharing memories a...

TVC 491.5: Donelle Dadigan , founder and president of The Hollywood Museum and chair of both the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to and the Hollywood Historic Tour, talks to Ed about the various Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremonies that are available for streaming on demand , for free, during this time of national lockdown. Other topics include which of the current exhibits at the Hollywood Museum...

TVC 491.6: From December 2013: Ed, Tony, and Donna welcome Mark Milano, curator of Kukla.tv , the official website of Kukla, Fran and Ollie, and the producer of Kukla, Fran and Ollie: The First Episodes . Volume 3 of The First Episodes includes guest appearances by guitarist Jose Greco, singer Dennis Day, and NBC news commentator H.V. Kaltenborn, plus black-and-white clips of two KFO episodes that...

TVC 491.7: From December 2013: Ed welcomes author, musician, and storyteller John Kruth . John's book Rhapsody in Black: The Life and Music of Roy Orbison is a comprehensive biography and discography of Roy Orbison , the legendary balladeer who sang about love, pain and heartache like few others—no doubt, because he understood it like few others, having experienced more pain and misery than most o...

TVC 491.8: From December 2013: Part 2 of our conversation with John Kruth , author of Rhapsody in Black: The Life and Music of Roy Orbison . Topics this segment include some of Orbison's notable appearances on television, including Roy Orbison: A Black and White Night , the award-winning special produced by Cinemax that is still considered one of the best concert films ever made. Want to advertise...

From May 2011: Donna, Tony, and Ed remember the passing of Hubert Schafly, the engineer who invented the TelePrompTer in 1950. Schafly's device not only enabled actors and politicians to read scripts on TV without looking down, but shaped the content and presentation of TV newscasts on local, network, cable, satellite, and digital television all over the world.  Want to advertise/sponsor our show?...

From April 2011: Phil Gries says Happy Birthday to Ann-Margret by playing highlights from "Today," an NBC special hosted by Andy Williams that also marked one of the singer/actress' very first network TV appearances. Originally broadcast in May 1962, "Today" was also one of several Williams specials for the Peacock Network that eventually led to his popular NBC variety hour.  Want to advertise/spo...