TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

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...

TVC 705.3: From August 2018: Chuck Harter and Ed remember The Music Scene (ABC, 1969), the short-lived music comedy series from the fall of 1969 that featured such top Billboard artists as The Beatles, James Brown, Neil Diamond, Three Dog Night, Tom Jones, Janis Joplin, Sly and The Family Stone—all performing live every week. Hosted by comedian David Steinberg, and also featuring a house band led...

TVC 705.4: Ed welcomes back Ruta Lee ( High Rollers, Witness for the Prosecution, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Consider Your Ass Kissed ), legendary singer, actress, and philanthropist, and the chairperson emeritus of The Thalians , the charitable organization to which Ruta has dedicated much of her life over the past seventy years, and which to date has raised has raised more than $50 million...

TVC 705.5: Entertainment legend Ruta Lee talks to Ed about why live theatre has always been near and dear to her heart. The Thalians , the charitable organization to which Ruta has dedicated much of her life over the past seventy years, will present Neil Sedaka with its annual Mr. Wonderful award at this year's Thalians Christmas gala, which will take place at the Bel Air Country Club Saturday, De...

TVC 704.1: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with award-winning producer, director, and author Joseph Wallenstein ( Knots Landing, Hotel, Seventh Heaven, Flynn vs. Miranda, Nothing Dies for Film ), longtime director of physical production for the USC School of Cinematic Arts and the host of the new podcast Whatcha Know Joe? Topics this segment include Joe's experience working with Chuc...

TVC 704.2: Ed welcomes retired U.S. Army Airborne Ranger Barry Todd . Barry is the author of Stand Your Ground: One Man's Self-Defense Nightmare , a firsthand look at the emotional and financial toll of defending oneself within a flawed judicial system, which Barry had to do in 2014 after he was wrongfully incarcerated on charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault—despite overwhelming vide...

TVC 704.3: TV Confidential commemorates August 29, The Day The Running Stopped, the date on which the famous final episode of The Fugitive originally aired in 1967, by bringing you encore presentations of some of our interviews with actors who appeared on The Fugitive , beginning with a clip from a conversation that originally aired on Talking Television in which Barry Morse shares a few memories...

TVC 704.4: TV Confidential commemorates August 29, The Day The Running Stopped, by bringing you encore presentations of some of our interviews with actors who appeared on The Fugitive , including this clip from August 2015 in which Richard Anderson ( The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Perry Mason, Dan August ) talks to Ed and guest co-host Alan Doshna about meeting Gary Cooper and Clark...

TVC 704.5: TV Confidential commemorates August 29, The Day The Running Stopped, with an encore presentation of our January 2012 conversation with actress Jacqueline Scott ( The Fugitive, Duel ). Among other topics in this segment, Jacqui answers email questions from listeners about working with David Janssen and Barry Morse on The Fugitive .