TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

TVC 480.1: TV Confidential marks the passing of screen legend Kirk Douglas with an encore presentation of our December 2016 centennial tribute to the Academy Award-winning actor featuring audio highlights from some of Douglas' appearances on television throughout the 1960s and '70s. This segment includes a clip of Douglas on The Tonight Show in April 1962 in which he discusses the film Lonely Are...

TVC 480.3: Phil Gries of Archival Television Audio plays a clip from the Oct. 28, 1963 of Tell Us More , a precursor to Biography that aired on WNBC-TV in New York in the early 1960s. In this segment, actress and Tell Us More correspondent Muriel Davidson shares a few anecdotes about her friendship with Kirk Douglas during the late 1940s, around the time of the actor's first marriage. Kirk Douglas...

TVC 480.2: Phil Gries of Archival Television Audio plays highlights of a May 1963 radio interview with Kirk Douglas in which the actor discusses, among other topics, his often hectic daily schedule as an actor while in New York City. Kirk Douglas passed away on Feb. 5, 2020 at age 103. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/spons...

TVC 480.4: TV Confidential pays tribute to TV icon Robert Conrad by playing highlights from our October 2013 conversation with Bob Herron, one of the five core stuntmen who worked with Conrad every week on The Wild, Wild West , and Susan Kesler, author of The Wild, Wild West: The Series . Robert Conrad passed away on Feb. 8, 2020 at age 84. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has...

TVC 480.5: Ed welcomes back Michelle Danner, the legendary Hollywood acting coach whose students include such A-list actors as Jason Alexander, Chris Rock, Marcia Cross, Seth MacFarlane, Christian Slater, Selma Hayek, Gerald Butler, Norman Reedus, Zooey Deschanel, Gabrielle Union, and Penelope Cruz. Also an accomplished actress and director, Michelle recently completed principal filming of The Run...

TVC 480.6: From October 2013: Actor/stuntman Bob Herron ( The Wild, Wild West ) and author Susan Kesler ( The Wild, Wild West: The Series ) talk about the fight sequences that Robert Conrad choreographed each week on The Wild, Wild West , and how Conrad did his own stunts every week until early 1968, when CBS required him to have a double after the actor suffered a serious injury that shut down pr...

TVC 480.7: A few final thoughts on the passing of Robert Conrad.  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 below to get started: https://www.advert...

This special minisode edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL includes a bonus segment from our December 2016 tribute to Kirk Douglas. Phil Gries plays audio highlights of Douglas' February 1970 appearance on The Johnny Cash Show (ABC, 1969-1971) and the actor's musical duet with singer Tom Jones from the Special London Bridge Special (NBC, 1972). Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partne...

Tony, Donna, and Ed remember The Wonder Years (ABC, 1988-1993), the coming of age dramedy that premiered on Jan. 31, 1988. Topics included how the series was an early example of a prime time network series with a cable TV sensibility. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition of our progr...

Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the premiere of The Midnight Special (NBC, 1972-1981) and how the series paved the way for "late late" night TV programming as we know it today, both on a network level as well as on cable TV and local stations. Also in this segment: The premiere of Project UFO , the last network TV series produced by Jack Webb. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has...

From February 2018: Ed welcomes  actor ,  director  and screenwriter  Lou Antonio ( Cool Hand Luke, Splendor in the Grass, Star Trek, The Snoop Sisters, Dog and Cat, Makin' It, Something for Joey ). Topics this segment include "Roundabout," one of five episodes of The Rockford Files that Lou directed, and a show that includes an offbeat foot chase filmed on location at the Hoover Dam in Las Vegas....

In light of the passing of Robert Conrad earlier today, we are posting a bonus minisode featuring an excerpt from our October 2013 conversation with actor and stuntman Bob Herron, Ross Martin's stunt double on The Wild, Wild West, and author Sue Kesler (The Wild, Wild West Book). In this clip, Bob talks about his early background in movie and TV Westerns at Warner Bros. (including a brief time wor...

From March 2013: Kathleen Sharp , author of Mr. and Mrs. Hollywood: Edie and Lew Wasserman and Their Entertainment Empire , discusses the instrumental role that Universal Television, under Lew Wasserman 's leadership, played in developing original full-length two-hour movies made expressly for television—and how the studio would've cornered the market by developing the 90-minute "Movie of the Week...

TVC 479.1: Ed welcomes Ian Nathan, one of the best known film journalists in the UK, and the author of Quentin Tarantino: The Iconic Filmmaker and His Work , an engaging new book that explores the entirety of Tarantino's career—from his early writing on such screenplays as True Romance and Natural Born Killers to his break-out directorial debut, Reservoir Dogs , the career-defining Pulp Fiction ,...

TVC 479.2: Ian Nathan, author of Quentin Tarantino: The Iconic Filmmaker and His Work , talks to Ed about the lengths that Tarantino took to recreate footage of the episode of The FBI that appears in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood ; how the film, in many respects, pays homage to the many working actors who appeared in the TV shows that Tarantino devoured as a youth; the role that Tarantino played i...

TVC 479.4: An encore presentation of our February 2015 conversation with Ida Lupino biographer Mary Anderson that includes audio highlights from a 1991 interview between Lupino and author A.M. Sperber that was among the last formal interviews that Lupino gave before her death in 1995. Mary's books include Ida Lupino: Beyond the Camera and The Making of The Hitch-Hiker: Illustrated . Want to advert...

TVC 479.3: TV Confidential brings you special remote coverage of the recent unveiling ceremony for the new lobby exhibit at the Hollywood Museum honoring the 40th anniversary of Knots Landing . The event included remarks by each of the three leading ladies of Knots Landing — Michele Lee , Joan Van Ark, and Donna Mills —plus Museum president Donelle Dadigan. Now open to the public through Wednesday...

TVC 479.5: Ida Lupino biographer Mary Anderson plays more highlights from a 1991 interview between Lupino and author A.M. Sperber . Topics this segment include The Hitch-Hiker , the iconic film noir thriller directed by Lupino that starred Edmund O'Brien and William Tallman, and Lupino's experiences working with Humphrey Bogart and director Raoul Walsh on High Sierra . Mary's books include Ida Lup...

TVC 479.6: Ida Lupino biographer Mary Anderson discusses "I Will Be Remembered," the 1977 episode of Charlie's Angels that marked Lupino's final onscreen acting appearance. Mary's books include Ida Lupino: Beyond the Camera and The Making of The Hitch-Hiker: Illustrated . Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship request...

From March 2013:Ed talks to Chris Robinson , the actor/director also known as Dr. Rick Webber on General Hospital , Jack Hamilton on The Bold and the Beautiful, and Sgt. Sandy Komansky on Twelve O'Clock High . The complete interview with Chris is available online for listening on demand at Shop. TVConfidential.net . Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has partnered with AdvertiseC...

TVC 478.1: Ed welcomes film and TV actor Massi Furlan , the "go-to" guy for European crime roles over the past decade. Currently seen as Switchblade in Jumanji: The Next Level and the villainous Lee Taglin in Bad Boys for Life , Massi is a renaissance man off-camera, with a background that includes stand-up comedy. Both Bad Boys for Life and Jumanji: The Next Level are playing in theaters everywhe...

TVC 478.4: Ed welcomes Golden Globe Award-winning actor and director Richard Benjamin ( The Sunshine Boys , The Last of Sheila , He and She , Quark , Catch-22 , Goodbye, Columbus, Diary of a Mad Housewife, Westworld, Portnoy's Complaint ). Topics include Richard's many collaborations with the likes of Buck Henry, Neil Simon, and Carl Reiner, and how Anthony Perkins and Steven Sondheim infused the...

TVC 478.2: Ed welcomes Golden Globe Award-winning and three-time Oscar nominee Dyan Cannon ( Heaven Can Wait, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Honeysuckle Rose, The Last of Sheila ). Topics include playing Judge "Whipper" Cone on Ally McBeal , working with Crystal Hunt on the Pure Flix comedy series Mood Swings , and Dyan's background in music, which includes adapting her best-selling memoir, Dear Cary...

TVC 478.3: Movie and TV actor Massi Furlan ( Jumanji: The Next Level , Bad Boys for Life ) discusses some of his notable non-villain roles, including playing a priest on Supernatural . Other topics include the upcoming production Experiment 77 . Both Bad Boys for Life and Jumanji: The Next Level are both playing in theaters everywhere.  Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential  has part...

TVC 478.5: Golden Globe Award-winning actor/director Richard Benjamin discusses some of the films that he has helmed (including My Favorite Year , The Money Pit , and Mermaids ); why he takes his "director's hat" off whenever he acts in a film; and the word of advice that Carl Reiner gave him when it came to casting My Favorite Year .  Richard Benjamin and Dyan Cannon appeared at the Egyptian Thea...