TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

TVC 484.2: From May 2019: Marc Cushman , author of These Are The Voyages , a three-volume biography of Star Trek: The Original Series , on the loyalty Leonard Nimoy showed to his fellow cast mates on Star Trek , and the actor's mindset when he wrote his two memoirs, I Am Not Spock (1975) and I Am Spock (1995). Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to...

TVC 484.3: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with eight-time Emmy Award winner Ed Asner ( The Mary Tyler Moore Show , Lou Grant , Elf , Disney Pixar's UP , Briarpatch ), including why his experience providing the voice of Carl Fredericksen in UP gave him a feeling of rebirth. Ed's new memoir, SON OF A JUNKMAN: My Life from the West Bottoms of Kansas City to the Bright Lights of Hollywo...

TVC 484.4: Ed welcomes back two-time Emmy nominee Lee Purcell ( Adam at 6 A.M. , Valley Girl, Big Wednesday , Long Road Home, Secret Sins of the Fathers ). Lee can currently be seen , along with Donna Mills, Donna Pescow, Geri Jewell, and RJ Mitte, in Carol of the Bells , a heartwarming feature film directed by Joey Travolta and his company, Inclusion Films, that is now available on DVD and stream...

TVC 484.5: Lee Purcell talks to Ed about the wonderful letter she received earlier this year from Kirk Douglas (her co-star on Eddie Macon's Run ), just a few weeks before he passed; her experience playing Olivia de Havilland in the CBS miniseries My Wicked, Wicked Ways ; and why it's apparently difficult to teach people who are ambidextrous how to play tennis. Lee's latest film , Carol of the Bel...

TVC 484.6: Greg Ehrbar reviews some of the many editions of Sesame Street that are on available on DVD, including Sesame Street: 50th Anniversary Celebration , Sesame Street: 50 Years and Counting , 40 Years of Sunny Days , and the Barnes and Noble picture disc record featuring music from the first five decades of Sesame Street .  Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered...

From March 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed say Happy Birthday to Judd Hirsch, who was born March 15, 1935 during This Week in TV History. Topics include the legacy of Taxi as well as some of Hirsch's other television work, including The Law, Delvecchio, and Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsors...

TVC 483.2: Part 1 of a three-part interview with Carol Ford and Linda Groundwater , two of the co-authors (along with Dee Young) of Bob Crane: The Definitive Biography , a comprehensive, cradle-to-grave look at the life and career of the beloved Hogan's Heroes star, including the impact he had on radio. The book includes first-hand insight from more than two hundred people who knew Bob Crane perso...

TVC 483.1: Tony and Ed commemorate the fortieth anniversary of Pink Lady and Jeff (NBC, 1980), the short-lived and, in many respects, infamous variety series produced by Sid & Marty Krofft, which premiered forty years ago This Week in TV History. Tony's coverage includes first-hand knowledge: He was in the studio audience at NBC/Burbank on the night that the first episode of Pink Lady was taped in...

TVC 483.3: Ed welcomes back eight-time Emmy Award winner Ed Asner ( The Mary Tyler Moore Show , Lou Grant , Elf , Disney Pixar's UP , Briarpatch ). Ed's new memoir, SON OF A JUNKMAN: My Life from the West Bottoms of Kansas City to the Bright Lights of Hollywood , is a charming, funny, and often very poignant look at his life and career, from his colorful childhood as the son of a junkman in Kansas...

TVC 483.4: Legendary actor, author, and activist Ed Asner ( The Mary Tyler Moore Show , Lou Grant , Elf , Disney Pixar's UP , Briarpatch ) talks about the roles that actor Richard Crenna and The House on Greenapple Road —a made-for-TV movie produced by Quinn Martin—both played in helping him land his signature role of Lou Grant. Ed can currently be seen as town boss James Staghorne Sr. in Briarpat...

TVC 483.5: Greg and Ed discuss the DVD release of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (BBC, 1976-1979); why the humor of the series is not for everyone; and why the American adaptation, Reggie (ABC, 1983), starring Richard Mulligan, failed to catch on.  Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast...

TVC 482.3: Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the Miracle on Ice, the U.S. men's hockey team's win over the Soviet Union's men's hockey team in the medal-round game on Feb. 22, 1980 during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.  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 482.1: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with author, screenwriter, and voice artist Steve Stoliar . Steve's career in the entertainment industry began in the early 1970s, when a series of events led to a job as the personal secretary and archivist of the one, the only Groucho Marx during the last three years of Groucho's life—a period of time in which Steve went from being a starr...

TVC 482.2: Author, screenwriter, and voice artist Steve Stoliar talks to Ed about how he came to develop his skill for mimickry; his recent collaboration with director Howard Storm ; and the wisdom that Jack Lemmon once shared during a conversation with Bill Marx , Harpo's son. Steve's memoir, Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho's House , is available in hardcover, paperback, as an eBook and...

TVC 482.5: Ed welcomes actress and voice artist Joan Van Ark ( Knots Landing , Dallas , Spider-Woman ). Topics include Joan's background as a stage actress; the role that Knots producer Michael Filerman played in bringing Julie Harris to the series; and how the costumes of Joan's that are currently on display at the Hollywood Museum are an example of how Valene Ewing evolved as a character on Knot...

TVC 482.6: Joan Van Ark talks to Ed about her background as a voice artist; some of her early TV roles; and the advice that James Garner once gave her early in her career. The Knots Landing lobby exhibit is on display through Wednesday, April 1. For more information, go to TheHollywoodMuseum.com . 2019-2020 also the marks the fortieth anniversary of the premiere of Spider-Woman , the first TV adap...

From September 2012: Ed talks to Charlene Tilton, Lucy Ewing on Dallas (both the original series on CBS and the new Dallas on TNT), and the president of Actors for Autism, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to the advancement, education and training of children and adults with autism. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertisin...

From September 2012: Ed welcomes Charlene Tilton, Lucy Ewing on Dallas (both the original series on CBS and the new Dallas on TNT), Charlene is also the president of Actors for Autism, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to the advancement, education and training of children and adults with autism. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to hand...

TVC 481.1: Part 1 of a two-part conversation with author, screenwriter, and voice artist Steve Stoliar . Steve's book Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho's House is a memoir of his experience as the personal secretary and archivist of the one, the only Groucho Marx during the last three years of Groucho's life—a period of time in which Steve went from being a starry-eyed fan to becoming Grouc...

TVC 481.2: Greg and Ed discuss the Shout! Factory Blu-ray release of Abbott & Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection , as well as the Warner Archive releases of Abbott and Costello in Hollywood , Lost in a Harem , Rio Rita , and Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd . Topics include how Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was one of the inspirations for the Scooby-Doo franchise. Wa...

TVC 481.3: Greg and Ed discuss the various configurations of The Abbott and Costello Show (CBS, 1952-1954) available for home entertainment and how the series itself influenced Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David when they went on to develop Seinfeld . Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition...

TVC 481.4: Ed welcomes back stage and TV actor Stacy Keach ( Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer , Titus , Man with a Plan ). Topics include how Stacy's love of radio dramas helped inspire him to become an actor; why humor is the best way to approach the humanity of a character; and why the works of Mary Shelley, Rod Serling, and Bob Kane have all stood the test of time. Stacy Keach will be starring as...

A special edition of This Week in TV History in which Tony, Donna, and Ed discuss what a brilliant comedienne Gracie Allen was and the influence that The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show had on many other sitcoms, including It's Garry Shandling's Show. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast...

Ed and Phil close out this week's program with an encore presentation of The Sounds of Lost Television that includes a clip from Meet Mr. Lincoln , a short film about the life of Abraham Lincoln that originally aired on Project Twenty (NBC, 1954-1970), the documentary series that, in many respects, was a precursor to the type of documentaries that Ken Burns has produced over the past three decades...

From October 2014: Bill Marx, son of Harpo Marx, talks to Ed about how all four Marx Brothers were good athletes as well as gifted comedians; how the Brothers "trained" every week for twenty years, honing their act in vaudeville and on Broadway before they made movies; and why Chico was such a great straight man for both Harpo and Groucho. An accomplished musician in his own right, Bill Marx is al...