TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

TVC 709.4: Howard Smith shares a poignant memory of the last time he and his wife had dinner with Johnny Carson, just before a few days before Carson's death in January 2005. Also in this segment: Howard shares a few memories of his friendship with actor Lloyd Haynes, which began a few years before Haynes became a star on Room 222 (ABC, 1969-1974), and which continued until Haynes' death in Decemb...

TVC 709.5: Ed welcomes Emmy Award-winning actress, producer, and author Mariette Hartley ( The Incredible Hulk, Goodnight, Beantown, Breaking the Silence , Law and Order: SVU ). Mariette stars, along with her husband Jerry Sroka (who we also hear from in this segment), in Our (Almost Completely True) Love Story , a romantic comedy about two people of a certain age who meet online, strike up an unl...

TVC 709.6: Emmy Award-winning actress Mariette Hartley talks to Ed about some of her other movie and TV roles, including the back story of the long-running, highly successful series of commercials that she did with James Garner for Polaroid cameras—and how the chemistry between her and Garner was so natural, many viewers believed that they were actually married.  Mariette co-stars, co-wrote, and c...

TVC 708.1: From October 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the premiere of The Flintstones (ABC, 1960-1966), the first animated series development for prime time, along with the various spinoffs and reimaginings of The Flintstones over the ensuing decades.

TVC 708.2: From October 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed look back to Game 1 of the 1955 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, the first time that a World Series game was broadcast in color. Mel Allen and Vin Scully covered the game for NBC. Photo courtesy National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

TVC 708.3: From October 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the premiere of Baywatch Nights (Synd., 1995-1997), the spinoff of Baywatch starring David Hasselhoff, Gregory Alan Williams, Angie Harmon, and Donna D'Errico, the premise of which was more or less "Mitch Buchannon, private detective."  

TVC 708.4: From October 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed look back at how the print and television media covered the death of Rock Hudson. The legendary actor and screen heartthrob died from complications on Oct. 2, 1985. Photo of Rock Hudson courtesy  People magazine

TVC 708.5: TV Confidential pays tribute to Academy Award winner Robert Redford by playing highlights from conservations we've had with actors who either co-starred with Redford or were directed by him, including Hank Garrett ( Three Days of the Condor ), Basil Hoffman ( The Electric Horseman, Ordinary People, All the President's Men, The Milagro Beanfield War ), and Dinah Manoff ( Ordinary People...

TVC 708.6: Ed welcomes Howard Smith , a retired tech mogul who not only found himself living four doors down the street from Johnny Carson in 1985, but became tennis buddies and, later, best friends with the legendary King of Late Night for the next twenty years. Howard shares many stories of the Johnny Carson he knew—a funny, kind, generous, modest, shy, yet deeply complex man that he knew simply...

TVC 708.6: Howard Smith talks to Ed about the five characteristics that Johnny Carson, Sidney Poitier, Clint Eastwood, Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, and many other successful people from business, sports, politics, and entertainment have all embodied throughout their life and career. Howard's new book,  My Friend Johnny: The Last 20 Years of a Beautiful Life with Johnny Carson and Friends , is no...

From September 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed look back at the broadcast history of The Wild, Wild West (CBS, 1965-1969), which originally premiered on CBS in September 1965.

From September 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the premiere of The Smothers Brothers Show (CBS, 1965-1966), a short-lived sitcom starring Tom and Dick Smothers that is mostly remembered today for being part of Nick at Nite's weekend lineup in the late 1980s. The failure of The Smothers Brothers Show spurred the Smothers (and Tom in particular) to take more creative control when CBS gave them a...

TVC 707.1: From September 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed discuss the legacy of Get Smart (NBC/CBS, 1965-1970), which premiered on NBC on Sept. 18, 1965.

TVC 707.2: From September 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the premiere of Hogan's Heroes (CBS, 1965-1971) on Sept. 17, 1965.

TVC 707.3: From April 2012: Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the premiere of Truth or Consequences on television on Sept. 7, 1950, ten years after it had premiered on in 1940.

TVC 707.5: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with John McCafferty, the actor known around the world as Billy Joe Wright on Texas (NBC, 1980-1982), and Tom Lisanti, sixties movie historian and 1970s daytime TV historian. John is among the many actors, writers, directors, NBC executives, and other behind-the-scenes personnel that Tom interviewed for his latest book, Texas : An Oral Histo...

TVC 707.6: John McCafferty, Tom Lisanti, and Ed discuss why Texas (NBC, 1980-1982) remains popular with fans more than forty years later, and how the series was particularly popular in Canada during its original network run. Tom's latest book, Texas : An Oral History of Daytime's Answer to Dallas , is available wherever books are sold through our friends at Bear Manor Media.

TVC 706.1: From September 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed commemorate the milestone broadcast anniversaries for Green Acres (CBS, 1965-1970) and Xena: Warrior Princess (Synd., 1995-2001), both of which originally premiered during This Week in TV History.

TVC 706.2: From September 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed remember The Dean Martin Show (NBC, 1965-1974), which originally premiered during This Week in TV History. Topics this segment include Martin's initial reluctance to do a weekly series, and how the format morphed in later years into The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts .

TVC 706.3: From December 2011: Ed welcomes the Alberici Sisters (Maria Lauren and Linda Eichberg), co-authors of Beyond Our Wildest Dreams , a memoir of their two decades performing with Dean Martin as members of the Dean Martin Golddiggers that particularly focuses on the years 1973 through 1978, one of the last great eras of entertainment.

TVC 706.4: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with Ruta Lee ( High Rollers, Witness for the Prosecution, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Consider Your Ass Kissed ), entertainment legend and the chairperson emeritus of The Thalians . Ruta recently announced that The Thalians will honor Neil Sedaka with its Mr. Wonderful award at this year's Thalians Christmas gala, which will take place...

TVC 706.5: Ed welcomes John McCafferty, the actor known around the world as Billy Joe Wright on Texas (NBC, 1980-1982), and Tom Lisanti, sixties movie historian and 1970s daytime TV historian. John is among the many actors, writers, directors, NBC executives, and other behind-the-scenes personnel that Tom interviewed for his latest book, Texas : An Oral History of Daytime's Answer to Dallas —every...

TVC 706.6: TV Confidential marks the recent passing of renowned film and TV executive Frank Price by playing a clip from our April 2014 conversation with author Paul Green about the life and career of Roy Huggins. Price not only collaborated with Roy Huggins several times while they were both at Universal Television, but became Huggins' son-in-law after marrying Roy's daughter, actress Katherine C...

TVC 705.1: TV Confidential celebrates the recent centennial birthday of actress June Lockhart by bringing you an encore presentation of our conversation with June from March 2015 in which we discussed the ongoing popularity of Lost in Space (particularly, on MeTV), plus a few other stories from her showbiz career. June Lockhart turned 100 on June 25, 2025. Also in this segment: A replay from a seg...

TVC 705.2: From August 2018: Chuck Harter joins Ed for the last of our three-part look at the era of pop music TV shows from the mid to late 1960s . This segment focuses on Malibu U (ABC, 1967), a summer replacement series hosted by Rick Nelson and featuring the Bob Banas Dancers (along with such guests as Leonard Nimoy, James Darren, Dionne Warwick, The Turtles, The Doors, and The Fifth Dimension...