CHILD OF TELEVISION

Your Mental Sorbet: Herman Munster- Dry Bones

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:00:12 PST

Here is another "Mental Sorbet" that we could use to momentarily forget about those things that leave a bad taste in our mouths.

Herman records his own version of 'Dry Bones'

Herman Munster- Dry Bones by mrdantefontana

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

TV CONFIDENTIAL Archives: Jan. 9-15, 2013

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:00:06 PST

Show No. 168
Jan. 9-15, 2013

First hour: Ed welcomes award-winning independent stage and film actress Tanna Frederick (The M Word, The Farm, Just 45 Minutes from Broadway). Tanna is currently starring in an original stage production of N. Richard Nash’s The Rainmaker at the Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica. For tickets and more information, call (310) 392-7327 or go to www.edgemarcenter.org. Also in this hour: Ed celebrates Elvis Presley’s birthday with a return visit by noted Elvis historian Cory Cooper. Cory’s knowledge is based on his deep ties to many of the people who were closest to Elvis, including members of the "Memphis Mafia."
Second hour: Ed welcomes actress and author Barbara Feldon, “Agent 99” on Get Smart. After an eight-year marriage, and a 12-year live-in relationship, Barbara found herself living by herself for the first time in her life — and though she struggled with the notion at first, she soon discovered that she was about to embark on one of the most joyous and enriching periods in her life. Barbara’s book, Living Alone and Loving It: A Guide to Relishing the Solo Life, not only speaks openly about her own experience, but challenges the often negative perceptions society has about living on one’s own. Statistics show that nearly 50 percent of the world’s population choose to live by themselves — and yet there remains a stigma to living alone that even Barbara had to overcome.

Julie Adams, plus Single Season Sitcoms: Next on TVC

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 00:00:16 PST

Actress/author Julie Adams, Emmy Award-winning film editor Mitchell Danton, and author Bob Leszczak will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Jan. 16-22 at the following times and venues:
WROM Radio
Detroit, MI
Wednesday 1/16
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Sunday 1/20
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at WROMRadio.net
Indiana Talks
Marion, INWednesday 1/16
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the player at IndianaTalks.com

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 1/18
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at KSAV.org

Talktainment Radio
Columbus, OH
Friday 1/18
3am ET, Midnight PT
Noon ET, 9am PT
9pm ET, 6pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at TalktainmentRadio.com

The Coyote KKYT 93.7 FM
Ridgecrest, CA
Sunday 1/20
9pm PT
Monday 1/21
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at Coyote395.com

The Radio Slot Network
San Francisco, CA
Monday 1/21
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Click on the Talk Slot button at RadioSlot.com

Passionate World Radio
Ann Arbor, MI
Tuesday 1/21
10:30pm ET, 7:30pm PT
Click on the Listen Now button at pwrtalk.ning.com

Many of us know Julie Adams for her starring role in one of the most famous horror movies of all time, The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Yet Creature is just one chapter in Julie’s life and career, which spans not only the Golden Age of Hollywood and Golden Age of Television, but also saw her work with such legends as Jimmy Stewart, Rock Hudson, Andy Griffith, John Wayne, Milton Berle, Barbara Stanwyck, Angela Lansbury, Elvis Presley and Raymond Burr.

Julie's autobiography, The Lucky Southern Star: Reflections from the Black Lagoon, which she co-wrote along with her son Mitchell Danton, is filled with great stories and spectacular photographs that take you behind the scenes of not just Creature from the Black Lagoon, but many of the other stage, film and TV productions on which Julie has worked in the course of her career, including Bend of the River, Mississippi Gambler, Man from the Alamo, The Last Movie, Tickle Me, Perry Mason, The Andy Griffith Show, Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, Psychic Killer, Go Ask Alice, Ellery Queen, Quincy and Murder, She Wrote. Julie’s story is also a reminder of how, with hard work and preparation, it’s possible to achieve even the most faraway dream. Julie and Mitch will join us in the studio during our second hour.

The Lucky Southern Star is now available as an audiobook that not only is narrated by Julie Adams, but includes a 35-minute bonus DVD featuring an interview with Julie by Alan K. Rode of the Film Noir Foundation. Julie also has several appearances lined up over the next few weeks, including a book signing Sat., Feb 9 at Book Soup in Hollywood, CA; a special screening of Man From the Alamo at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, CA beginning at 7pm (followed by a book signing); and the annual Festival of the West in Scottsdale, AZ that will take place Mar. 21 thru Mar. 24. For more information on these on other appearances, go to www.JulieAdams.biz.

Joining us in our first hour will be Bob Leszczak. Bob is the author of Single Season Sitcoms, 1948-1979: A Complete Guide, a new book that goes behind the scenes of notable series from the first three decades of television that, for one reason or another, only ran for one season or less. Among the shows Bob discusses in his book are The Jimmy Stewart Show, The Paul Lynde Show, The Nancy Walker Show, Blansky’s Beauties, Headmaster, The New Andy Griffith Show, My World and Welcome to It, The McLean Stevenson Show and, believe it or not, The Honeymooners.

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about televisionWed and Sun 8pm ET, 5pm PT on WROM Radio
Wed 10pm ET, 7pm PT on IndianaTalks.comFri 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
Fri 9pm ET, 6pm PT on Talktainment Radio
Sun 9pm PT, Mon Midnight ET on The Coyote KKYT 93.7 FM (Ridgecrest, Calif.)Mon 8pm ET, 5pm PT on The Radio Slot NetworkTue 10:30pm ET, 7:30pm PT on Passionate World RadioNow also heard at various times throughout the week on IndianaTalks.comTape us now, listen to us later, using DAR.fm/tvconfidential
Also available as a podcast via iTunes, FeedBurner and now on your mobile phone via www.stitcher.com/TVConfidential
Follow us online at www.tvconfidential.net
Follow us now on Twitter: Twitter.com/tvconfidential
Like our Fan Page at www.facebook.com/tvconfidential

This Week in Television History: January 2013 PART III

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 07:17:17 PST

Listen to me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:

CLICK HERE for a list of Stations

As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.

January 19, 1953

Lucy gives birth to Little Ricky.

Episode #56, “Lucy Goes to the Hospital,” of hit 1950s sitcom I Love Lucy airs for the first time. The episode, in which Lucy Ricardo, played by Lucille Ball, gives birth to a son, was one of the most popular in television history. The ground-breaking episode was one of the first American television programs to deal with the issue of pregnancy, a taboo subject in conservative 1950s America, when even married couples were not shown on television sharing the same bed. Forty-four million viewers, a full 72 percent of all U.S. homes with a television, tuned in; only 29 million viewers had watched President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s televised inauguration the previous night.

To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Chuck McCann and Dick Van Dyke--vintage comedy parody

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 00:19:38 PST

Here is another "Mental Sorbet" that we could use to momentarily forget about those things that leave a bad taste in our mouths.

This is rare footage of Chuck McCann's first network TV appearance.

Playing Oliver Hardy to Dick Van Dyke's Stan Laurel from The Gary Moore Show!

Chuck McCann and Dick Van Dyke--vintage comedy parody from Hermie Alden Hartshippe on Vimeo.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

TV CONFIDENTIAL Archives: Show No. 167

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:00:11 PST

Show No. 167
Jan. 2-8, 2013

First hour: James Rosin joins Ed as TV Confidential remembers the life and career of Jack Klugman. A longtime friend of Klugman, Jim is the author of Quincy: The Television Series and Naked City: The Television Series, plus he wrote and acted in several episodes of Quincy (including “A Test for Living,” which Jim co-wrote with Jack, and which was later recognized by the Southern California Motion Picture Council for its enlightened treatment of autism). The hour also includes clips from our interview earlier this season with Anita Gillette, who appeared with Klugman on Broadway in Gypsy, then later played Quincy’s wife in the final season of Quincy. Plus: highlights from Jack Klugman's appearance on TV Confidential from January 2010, in which he discussed The Odd Couple and his longtime friendship with Tony Randall.

Second hour: Ed welcomes Golden Globe Award-winning actress Karen Sharpe Kramer, the widow of Stanley Kramer, the legendary motion picture producer and director who was also instrumental in forming the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the people behind the Golden Globe Awards. Karen discusses the legacy of Stanley Kramer, as well as her own career in film and television, which included starring roles in such films and TV series as The High and the Mighty, Man with a Gun, The Disorderly Orderly, Johnny Ringo and I Dream of Jeannie.

Barbara Feldon, Tanna Frederick, plus Elvis’ Birthday: Next on TVC

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 00:03:38 PST

Actress/author Barbara Feldon, actress/director Tanna Frederick, and Elvis Presley historian Cory Cooper will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Jan. 9-15 at the following times and venues:
WROM RadioDetroit, MI
Wednesday 1/9
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Sunday 1/13
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at WROMRadio.net

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 1/11
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at KSAV.org

Talktainment Radio
Columbus, OH
Friday 1/11
3am ET, Midnight PT
Noon ET, 9am PT
9pm ET, 6pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at TalktainmentRadio.com

The Coyote KKYT 93.7 FM
Ridgecrest, CA
Sunday 1/13
9pm PT
Monday 1/14
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at Coyote395.com

The Radio Slot Network
San Francisco, CA
Monday 1/14
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Click on the Talk Slot button at RadioSlot.com

Passionate World Radio
Ann Arbor, MI
Tuesday 1/15
10:30pm ET, 7:30pm PT
Click on the Listen Now button at pwrtalk.ning.com
Indiana Talks
Marion, IN
Various times throughout the week
Click on the player at IndianaTalks.com
Barbara Feldon became a role model for women around the world when she played Agent 99 on the long-running, groundbreaking comedy series Get Smart. But while 99 continues to live happily ever after in reruns, Barbara found herself at a crossroads many years ago when her 12-year live-in relationship came to an end, and she found herself faced with the prospect of actually living by herself for the first time in her life. After struggling with the notion at first, Barbara discovered, with the help of some friends, that living alone is just a state of mind — and that no matter what one’s age is, there are many ways to lead a full, happy and enriching life without a permanent housemate or live-in life partner.

Barbara’s book, Living Alone and Loving It: A Guide to Relishing the Solo Life, not only speaks openly about her own experience, but challenges the often negative perceptions society has about the concept of living on one’s own. Statistics show that nearly 50 percent of the world’s population choose to live by themselves — and yet there remains a stigma to living alone that even Barbara had to overcome. We’ll talk about that, as well as discuss some of Barbara’s other work in television, when she join us in our second hour.

Also joining us this week will be award-winning independent stage and film actress Tanna Frederick. Known for her many collaborations with director Henry Jaglom — including The M Word, “a humorous look at menopause, menstruation and men” that will open in theaters later in 2013 — Tanna is about to star in an original stage production of N. Richard Nash’s The Rainmaker. We’ll talk about that, plus we’ll ask Tanna about her New Year’s resolutions and more when she joins us in our first hour.

The Rainmaker will begin a limited run at the Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica beginning Friday, Jan. 11. The production also features Robert Standley and is directed by acclaimed stage, film and television director Jack Heller. For tickets and more information, call (310) 392-7327 or go to www.edgemarcenter.org.

Plus: We’ll celebrate Elvis Presley’s birthday this week with a return visit by Cory Cooper. Recognized as one of the leading authorities on the life and career of the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, Cory’s knowledge is based on his deep ties to many of the people who were closest to Elvis, including members of the "Memphis Mafia" — the close group of bodyguards, friends and employees that worked with and protected Elvis Presley. Cory Cooper will be joining us in our first hour.

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about televisionWed and Sun 8pm ET, 5pm PT on WROM Radio
Fri 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
Fri 9pm ET, 6pm PT on Talktainment Radio
Sun 9pm PT, Mon Midnight ET on The Coyote KKYT 93.7 FM (Ridgecrest, Calif.)
Mon 8pm ET, 5pm PT on The Radio Slot NetworkTue 10:30pm ET, 7:30pm PT on Passionate World RadioNow also heard at various times throughout the week on IndianaTalks.comTape us now, listen to us later, using DAR.fm/tvconfidential
Also available as a podcast via iTunes, FeedBurner and now on your mobile phone via www.stitcher.com/TVConfidential
Follow us online at www.tvconfidential.net
Follow us now on Twitter: Twitter.com/tvconfidential
Like our Fan Page at www.facebook.com/tvconfidential

Huell Howser

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 22:08:41 PST

"That's amazing!" - Huell Howser

Television personality Huell Howser died this morning of unknown causes after battling what his producer and longtime friend Ryan Morris described as a "long illness". He was 67.

Huell Burnley Howser was born October 18, 1945 in Gallatin, Tennessee. Huell's name comes from a is a combination of his parents' names, Harold and Jewell. He received a B.A. in history from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he also served as student body president. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and on the staff of Sen. Howard Baker, Howser began his television career at WSM-TV in Nashville. He began a series of "human interest" stories for WSM. Howser became extremely popular as the host of a popular segment on what was at that time still a market-dominant station, especially with regard to local news.

After working in New York, he moved to Los Angeles in 1981 to work as a reporter for KCBS-TV. During 1982-83, he also served as weekend host and correspondent for Entertainment Tonight.

In 1985 he joined Los Angeles television station KCET, then a PBS affiliate, as a producer of Videolog, covering short topics including lint.

California's Gold highlights small towns, landmarks, events or places of interest throughout California which are not well known to the general public, with Howser conducting informal interviews with the locals. He also produced derived shows including California's Golden Parks, California's Water, Visiting... with Huell Howser, Our Neighborhoods, The Bench, Road Trip, California's Golden Fairs and various specials.

His distinctive style as host of his various travel shows led to him being impersonated and lampooned by many different comedians and radio personalities, such as Adam Carolla, Dana Gould and James Adomian.

Matt Groening has stated he is a fan of Howser, and has featured him in two episodes of The Simpsons: "There's Something About Marrying", where a character named Howell Huser fell off a turnip truck, and "O Brother, Where Bart Thou?", where the real Howser is presenting a program similar to Marc Summers's Unwrapped television program. Howser received a voice credit for the episode.
In 2011, Howser voiced the Backson in the post-credits scene of Walt Disney Animation Studios's 2011 feature film, Winnie the Pooh.

To quote Huell Howser, "People's stories are what it's all about".

Good Night Mr. Howser

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: January 2013 PART II

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 00:00:10 PST

Listen to me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:

CLICK HERE for a list of Stations

As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.

January 8, 1912

José Ferrer is born José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón. Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director. He was the first Hispanic actor to win an Academy Award.

Ferrer made his Broadway debut in 1935. In 1940, he played his first starring role on Broadway, the title role in Charley's Aunt, partly in drag. He played Iago in Margaret Webster's 1943 Broadway production of Othello, starring Paul Robeson in the title role, Webster as Emilia, and Ferrer's wife at the time, Uta Hagen, as Desdemona. It became the longest-running production of a Shakespeare play staged in the U.S., a record it still holds. His Broadway directing credits include The Shrike, Stalag 17, The Fourposter, Twentieth Century, Carmelina, My Three Angels, and The Andersonville Trial.

Ferrer may be best-remembered for his performance in the title role of Cyrano de Bergerac, which he first played on Broadway in 1946. He reprised the role of Cyrano onstage at the New York City Center under his own direction in 1953, as well as in two films: the 1950 film of Edmond Rostand's play directed by Michael Gordon and the 1964 French film Cyrano et d'Artagnan directed by Abel Gance.

Ferrer would go on to voice a highly truncated cartoon version of the play for an episode of The ABC Afterschool Special in 1974, and made his farewell to the part by performing a short passage from the play for the 1986 Tony Awards telecast.

Ferrer made his film debut in 1948 in the Technicolor epic Joan of Arc as the weak-willed Dauphin opposite Ingrid Bergman. Leading roles in the films Whirlpool (opposite Gene Tierney) (1949) and Crisis (opposite Cary Grant) (1950) followed, and culminated in the 1950 film Cyrano de Bergerac. He next played the role of Toulouse-Lautrec in John Huston's fictional 1952 biopic, Moulin Rouge.

In 1980, he had a memorable role as future Justice Abe Fortas, to whom he bore a strong resemblance, in the made-for-television film version of Anthony Lewis' Gideon's Trumpet, opposite Henry Fonda in an Emmy-nominated performance as Clarence Earl Gideon.

Among other radio roles, Ferrer starred as detective Philo Vance in a 1945 series of the same name.

On May 8, 1958, Ferrer guest starred on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.

Ferrer, not usually known for regular roles in TV series, had a recurring role as Julia Duffy's WASPy father on the long-running television series Newhart in the 1980s. He also had a recurring role as elegant and flamboyant attorney Reuben Marino on the soap opera Another World in the early 1980s. He narrated the very first episode of the popular 1964 sitcom Bewitched, in mock documentary style. He also provided the voice of the evil Ben Haramed on the 1968 Rankin/Bass Christmas TV special The Little Drummer Boy. Ferrer would don the nose and costume of Cyrano for a last time in a TV commercial in the 1970s. In the third season of Columbo Ferrer appears in the episode "Mind over Mayhem", in the main role of a ruthless military computer professor.

Ferrer had a decade-long first marriage to famed actress and acting teacher Uta Hagen (1938–1948), with whom he had a daughter, Leticia ("Lettie") Ferrer. His second wife was dancer/actress Phyllis Hill (1948–1953). His third marriage was to the singer Rosemary Clooney, actor George Clooney's aunt. The couple had five children: Miguel Jose (born February 7, 1955); Maria P (born August 9, 1956); Gabriel V (born August 1, 1957), Monsita T (born October 13, 1958) and Rafael F (born March 23, 1960). Ferrer and Clooney married in 1953, divorced in 1961 and remarried in 1964, only to divorce again three years later. Their son, Gabriel Ferrer, is married to singer Debby Boone, daughter of Pat and Shirley Boone.

At the time of his death, he was married to Stella Magee, whom he had met in the late sixties. Ferrer died following a brief battle with colon cancer in Coral Gables, Florida in 1992 and was interred in Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in Old San Juan in his native Puerto Rico.

To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: Three Kings Day

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 00:00:02 PST

Here is my final "HOLIDAY SOR-BAY" for the season. The Twelve Days of Christmas end with the Feast of Epiphany also called Three Kings Day.

In Puerto Rico, it is traditional for children to fill a box with fresh grass or hay and put it underneath their bed, for the Wise Men's camels. The three kings will then take the grass to feed the camels and will leave gifts under the bed as a reward (Traditionally, you'll find carvings and artwork of the three kings on horses instead of camels; that's because the country folk in years past didn't know what a camel was). These traditions are analogous to the customs of children leaving mince pies and sherry out for Father Christmas in Western Europe or leaving milk and cookies for Santa Claus in the United States.

Today, children typically get their main presents on the 25th, but there's always a smaller, humbler, and perhaps even more rewarding gift reserved for Three Kings Day. Many people on the island see the Three Kings as a more pure representation of the faith and season than Santa Claus. The topic of Santa versus The Three Three Kings has been politicized. Think of it as the Puerto Rico's war on Christmas. Here El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico sing La Protesta De Los Reyes where The Three Kings make their protest.

Stay Tuned and Happy Three Kings Day

Tomorrow we take down the lights.

Your Mental Sorbet: Sonny and Cher sing I Got You Babe on Letterman (Nov 14, 1987)

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 00:16:14 PST

Here is another "Mental Sorbet" that we could use to momentarily forget about those things that leave a bad taste in our mouths.

On January 5, 1998 Sonny Bono was killed in a skiing accident.
Sonny rose to fame in the early 1970s as the straight man to his wife on The Sonny and Cher Show. As a signer and songwriter he received ten gold records during his career but his biggest hit was the 1965’s "I Got You Babe."
In 1987 Sonny and Cher reunited on Late Night with David Letterman and sang "I Got You Babe."

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

TV CONFIDENTIAL Archives: Dec. 26-Jan. 2, 2012

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 00:00:08 PST

Show No. 166
Dec. 26-Jan. 2, 2012

First hour: Tony Figueroa and Donna Allen join Ed for a look at some of the major stories that shaped 2012: The Year in Television, from the Presidential election coverage and the Summer Olympics to reality TV phenomenon Honey Boo Boo. Plus: remembrances of Andy Griffith, Dick Clark, Don Cornelius, Kathryn Joosten and Larry Hagman.

Second hour: An encore presentation of our special edition of The Sounds of Lost Television that pays tribute to bandleader Guy Lombardo, the man who defined New Year's Eve on radio and television for nearly fifty years.

Karen Sharpe Kramer, plus a Tribute to Jack Klugman: Next on TVC

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 00:00:02 PST

Golden Globe Award-winning actress Karen Sharpe Kramer and author and television writer James Rosin will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Jan. 2-8 at the following times and venues:
WROM RadioDetroit, MI
Wednesday 1/2
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Sunday 1/6
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at WROMRadio.net

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 1/4
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at KSAV.org

Talktainment Radio
Columbus, OH
Friday 1/4
3am ET, Midnight PT
Noon ET, 9am PT
9pm ET, 6pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at TalktainmentRadio.com

The Coyote KKYT 93.7 FM
Ridgecrest, CA
Sunday 1/6
9pm PT
Monday 1/7
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at Coyote395.com

The Radio Slot Network
San Francisco, CA
Monday 1/7
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Click on the Talk Slot button at RadioSlot.com

Passionate World Radio
Ann Arbor, MI
Tuesday 1/8
10:30pm ET, 7:30pm PT
Click on the Listen Now button at pwrtalk.ning.com
Indiana Talks
Marion, IN
Various times throughout the week
Click on the player at IndianaTalks.com

James Rosin will join us in our first hour as we pay tribute to actor Jack Klugman, the Emmy Award-winning star of The Odd Couple and Quincy, who passed away on Monday, Dec. 24.

A longtime friend of Jack Klugman, Jim not only is the author of such books as Quincy: The Television Series and Naked City: The Television Series, he also wrote and acted in several episodes of Quincy, including “A Test for Living” and “The Hope of Elkwood.” In fact, Jim co-wrote “A Test of Living” with Jack Klugman, and the episode was later recognized by the Southern California Motion Picture Council for its enlightened treatment of autism.

We’ll talk about Jack’s work on Quincy, The Odd Couple, Gypsy, 12 Angry Men, The Twilight Zone, The Defenders, Naked City and other stage and TV productions, as well as his longtime friendship with Tony Randall. We’ll also play highlights from Jack’s appearance on TV Confidential from January 2010, plus clips from our interview earlier this season with actress Anita Gillette, who appeared with Jack Klugman on Broadway in Gypsy, then later played Quincy’s wife in the final season of Quincy.

Joining us in our second hour will be Golden Globe Award-winning actress Karen Sharpe Kramer, the widow of Stanley Kramer, the legendary motion picture producer and director who was also instrumental in forming the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the people behind the Golden Globe Awards. Karen won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in The High and the Mighty, while their daughter Kat Kramer is a former Miss Golden Globe.

2013 marks the 100^th anniversary of the birth of Stanley Kramer. We’ll ask Karen about some of the events that are scheduled to honor Stanley this year. But we’ll also talk about Karen’s own career as an actress, which not only goes back to the time when the Golden Age of Hollywood crossed over into the Golden Age of Television (and particularly, live TV dramas), but includes starring roles in such popular films and TV series as Man with a Gun, The Disorderly Orderly, Johnny Ringo, I Dream of Jeannie, Gunsmoke, Rawhide, Bonanza, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., 77 Sunset Strip and The Wild, Wild West.

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about televisionWed and Sun 8pm ET, 5pm PT on WROM Radio
Fri 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
Fri 9pm ET, 6pm PT on Talktainment Radio
Sun 9pm PT, Mon Midnight ET on The Coyote KKYT 93.7 FM (Ridgecrest, Calif.)
Mon 8pm ET, 5pm PT on The Radio Slot NetworkTue 10:30pm ET, 7:30pm PT on Passionate World RadioNow also heard at various times throughout the week on IndianaTalks.comTape us now, listen to us later, using DAR.fm/tvconfidential
Also available as a podcast via iTunes, FeedBurner and now on your mobile phone via www.stitcher.com/TVConfidential
Follow us online at www.tvconfidential.net
Follow us now on Twitter: Twitter.com/tvconfidential
Like our Fan Page at www.facebook.com/tvconfidential

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: Barney Miller - Happy New Year

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:23 PST

^{Here is a}^{"HOLIDAY SOR-BAY" that we could use to recuperate from last night.}

If you like the "HOLIDAY SOR-BAY", check out TV CONFIDENTIAL: Archives Show No. 165 Dec. 19-25, 2012
Second hour: More holiday DVD recommendations, followed by an encore presentation of our conversation with Tony, Donna, Greg, and Joanna Wilson (The Christmas TV Companion: A Guide to Cult Classics, Strange Specials and Outrageous Oddities, Tis the Season TV: The Encyclopedia of Christmas-Themed Episodes, Specials and Made for TV Movies) about favorite holiday TV specials and Christmas-themed episodes.

And now your SOR-BAY

On New Year's Eve, Wojo delivers a baby, and Fish tries to stop a jumper.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: New Years Rockin Eve 2011 Countdown with Dick Clark

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 10:18:31 PST

Here is a "HOLIDAY SOR-BAY" that we could use to artificially stimulate our festive spirit as we look forward to 2013.

As we say goodbye to 2012 I wanted to take a moment to reflect on a couple of things for the New Year.

Earlier this year I made a commitment to boost my level of civility towards my fellow man and I encouraged others to do the same. Easier said than done. I have seen a decline in civility for the last few years and it seems to have taken a nosedive during this very contentious election year. More and more I see yelling and name calling take the place of intelligent discussion and debate. We have seen a huge number of defriendings on Facebook and many Americans entered this holiday season not speaking to relatives instead of just agreeing to disagree. I feel that this needs to turn around so my resolution for 2013 is to continue to boost my level of civility towards my fellow man and I encourage you to do the same. Again, easier said than done but it must be done.

"We're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics."

President Barack Obama

2012 ended on a shocking note when on December 14^th a gunman fatally shot twenty children and six adult staff members and wounded two others at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Before driving to the school, the gunman also shot and killed his mother at their home. After killing the students and staff members, the gunman committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.

The massacre was the second-deadliest school shooting in United States history, after the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre. It also is the second-deadliest mass murder at an American elementary school, after the 1927 Bath School bombings in Michigan.

We have seen this over and over again but this time I am optimistic that 2013 will bring positive change to our gun control problem. A day has not gone by where I have not talked to friends about Sandy Hook Elementary School. The conversations have been both in person and in social media. These conversations contained intelligence, compassion, pragmatism and perspective. These four ingredients are what will create the “meaningful action” that the president was talking about. Just like during the presidential debates, whenever a politician talk like a politician we the people used social media to call them out on their B.S.. As long as the conversation continues (and we will have to do more than talk eventually) we can keep this topic on the front burner.

And now your SOR-BAY

The last time we will see a New Years Rockin Eve Countdown with Dick Clark

... AND NOW
10

Happy New Year and Stay Tuned

This Week in Television History: January 2013 PART I

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 10:18:06 PST

Listen to me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:

CLICK HERE for a list of Stations

As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.

January 1, 1943
Don Novello writer, film director, producer, actor, singer, and comedian is born. Novello is best known for his work on NBC's Saturday Night Live, from 1977 until 1980, and then 1985 until 1986, often as the character "Father Guido Sarducci".

Novello has appeared as "Sarducci" on many television shows since then, including Married... with Children, Blossom, It's Garry Shandling's Show, Unhappily Ever After and Square Pegs.

January 5, 1998

Sonny Bono, Congressman and former half of the singing duo Sonny and Cher, is killed in a skiing accident. Born in 1935, Bono rose to fame in the early 1970s as the straight man to his wife in “The Sonny and Cher Show.” As a signer and songwriter he received ten gold records during his career but his biggest hit was undoubtedly 1965’s ”I Got You Babe.”

He entered the political world in 1988 when he was elected mayor of Palm Springs. He was elected to Congress in 1994 as a Republican. He was 62.

January 6, 1973

The animated Saturday morning TV series of shorts called Schoolhouse Rock premieres on ABC with Multiplication Rock. The first song recorded was Three Is a Magic Number, written by Bob Dorough.

The short musical cartoons featured lessons in math, history, science, grammar, and more, with classics like "Conjunction Junction," "Interjections," and "The Preamble to the Constitution."

To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: What Are You Doing New Years Eve?

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 09:16:28 PST

Here is a "HOLIDAY SOR-BAY" that we could use to artificially maintain our Christmas spirit for a few more days.

What Are You Doing New Years Eve?
by Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: That 70s Show - That 70s Finale

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 00:00:03 PST

Here is a "HOLIDAY SOR-BAY" that we could use to artificially maintain our Christmas spirit for a few more days.

"That '70s Finale" is the series finale of the long-running sitcom, That '70s Show. The series ran on Fox for eight seasons, and the episode aired on May 18, 2006. The episode also marked the return of Ashton Kutcher and Topher Grace who had left the series.

It is December 31, 1979, the final day of the 1970s and the gang is getting ready to part ways so they want to spend the best moments together, so the decade can end with a bang.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: The New York City Children's Chorus opened SNL

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 00:42:45 PST

Here is a slightly different "HOLIDAY SOR-BAY" because during this holiday season I don't us to forget about the shooting death of twenty children and six adult staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut two weeks ago.

School staff

Rachel D'Avino, 29, teacher's aide
Dawn Hochsprung, 47, principal
Anne Marie Murphy, 52, teacher's aide
Lauren Rousseau, 30, teacher
Mary Sherlach, 56, school psychologist
Victoria Leigh Soto, 27, teacher

Students

Charlotte Bacon, 6
Daniel Barden, 7
Olivia Engel, 6
Josephine Gay, 7
Dylan Hockley, 6
Madeleine Hsu, 6
Catherine Hubbard, 6
Chase Kowalski, 7
Jesse Lewis, 6
Ana Marquez-Greene, 6
James Mattioli, 6
Grace McDonnell, 7
Emilie Parker, 6
Jack Pinto, 6
Noah Pozner, 6
Caroline Previdi, 6
Jessica Rekos, 6
Avielle Richman, 6
Benjamin Wheeler, 6
Allison Wyatt, 6

In honor of the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting, The New York City Children's Chorus opened Saturday Night Live and sang "Silent Night".

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: Rudolph's Shiny New Year

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 16:49:17 PST

Here is a "HOLIDAY SOR-BAY" that we could use to artificially maintain our Christmas spirit for a few more days.

Rudolph has just come back from delivering Christmas presents with Santa Claus when he is asked by Father Time to find the missing Baby New Year before midnight on New Year's Eve. The baby, named Happy, ran away because everyone laughed at his large ears, although no one meant it in a cruel way. Unless Happy is returned before December 31 to take his position as the new year, the current year will not end and the date will perpetually remain December 31 forever. If this happens, the evil buzzard named Aeon will rule the world forever.

Rudolph's Shiny New Year (Rankin Bass) by theperminator

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: The Cleveland Show - Boxing Day

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 01:11:08 PST

Here is a "HOLIDAY SOR-BAY" that we could use to artificially stimulate our Christmas spirit.

The Cleveland Show - Exclusive Clip - Boxing Day

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

TV CONFIDENTIAL Archives: Dec. 19-25, 2012

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 00:00:11 PST

Show No. 165
Dec. 19-25, 2012

First hour: Ed welcomes award-winning journalist Lesley-Ann Jones, author of Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury. Lesley-Ann's book is an unvarnished, revealing profile of the legendary songwriter and lead vocalist of Queen that also discusses the role that television played in catapulting the band to superstardom. Also in this hour: Greg Ehrbar with a look at new holiday DVDs, including Christmas with Danny Kaye, The Garry Moore Show Presents A Carol Burnett Christmas, and the Blu-ray release of Disney's Babes in Toyland.

Second hour: More holiday DVD recommendations, followed by an encore presentation of our conversation with Tony, Donna, Greg, and Joanna Wilson (The Christmas TV Companion: A Guide to Cult Classics, Strange Specials and Outrageous Oddities, Tis the Season TV: The Encyclopedia of Christmas-Themed Episodes, Specials and Made for TV Movies) about favorite holiday TV specials and Christmas-themed episodes.

Charles Durning

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 09:44:17 PST

Charles Durning (February 28, 1923 – December 24, 2012)

Good Night Mr. Durning

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: It's a Wonderful Life

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 00:17:29 PST

Here is a "HOLIDAY SOR-BAY" that we could use to artificially stimulate our Christmas spirit.

Saturday Night Live: Season 12 - Episode 8
Think you know this classic? Think again.

Stay Tuned & Merry Christmas

Tony Figueroa

Jack Klugman

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 21:43:43 PST

For 50 years, acting was the reason I got up in the morning - Jack Klugman

Jack Klugman died today at the age of 90 at his home in Northridge, California with his wife, Peggy, at his side. His sons released a statement with the New York Times saying that he lived life to the fullest and he died very peacefully and suddenly.

Jacob Joachim "Jack" Klugman was born on April 27, 1922. He began acting after being discharged in 1945 from serving in the United States Army during World War II. In 1954, Klugman played Jim Hanson on the soap opera The Greatest Gift and made multiple appearances on the NBC legal drama Justice, starring Gary Merrill and Dane Clark, that was based on cases of the Legal Aid Society of New York.

On September 4, 1955, Klugman and Tony Randall appeared together with Gena Rowlands in the episode titled "The Pirate's House" of the CBS anthology series, Appointment with Adventure.
Klugman starred in several classic films, including 12 Angry Men (1957), Days of Wine and Roses (1962), and Goodbye, Columbus (1969).

On television, he won an Emmy Award for his work on the series The Defenders and appeared in four episodes of the acclaimed series The Twilight Zone (tied with Burgess Meredith for the most appearances in a starring role).

Klugman says his greatest thrill was appearing with Humphrey Bogart and Henry Fonda in a 1955 live television broadcast of The Petrified Forest. In 1957, he appeared in the film 12 Angry Men as Juror #5. Of the twelve actors who portrayed the jurors, he was the last survivor. He was scheduled to appear in a stage production of 12 Angry Men at the George Street Playhouse in New Jersey in the spring of 2012, but on March 6 it was announced he had withdrawn from the production for health reasons. In 1963, he also appeared in The Fugitive episode titled "Terror at High Point".

Klugman also starred in the original Broadway production of The Odd Couple as a replacement for Walter Matthau. He won two Emmy Awards for the television version of The Odd Couple.

The show premiered on ABC on Thursday, September 24, 1970, at 9:30 p.m. During the first season, the show was filmed using the single camera method. The apartment set resembled the film version. A laugh track was used (to which Tony Randall objected). Thereafter, the show was filmed with three cameras and performed like a stage play in front of a studio audience. The apartment set was styled similarly, but rearranged to allow more of the apartment (especially the kitchen) to be seen by the studio audience while less important areas (like the hallway) were moved out of audience view.

In 1973, Klugman and Tony Randall recorded an album titled The Odd Couple Sings for London Records. Roland Shaw and The London Festival Orchestra and Chorus provided the music and additional vocals.

Klugman played the title role, of a Los Angeles County medical examiner in Quincy, M.E. (also called Quincy) from October 3, 1976, to September 5, 1983, on NBC. The series was inspired by the book Where Death Delights by Marshall Houts, a former FBI agent, the show also resembled the earlier Canadian television series Wojeck, broadcast by CBC Television. John Vernon, who played the Wojeck title role, later guest starred in the third-season episode "Requiem For The Living". Quincy's character is loosely modelled on Los Angeles' "Coroner to the Stars" Thomas Noguchi.

A heavy smoker, Klugman was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1974. In 1989, he lost a vocal cord to cancer, but continued to act on stage and television, though he was left with a raspy, scratchy voice.
Klugman was an avid thoroughbred racing fan. He owned Jaklin Klugman, who finished third in the 1980 Kentucky Derby behind the great filly Genuine Risk and Grade 1 stakes winner Akinemod. Klugman maintained Jaklin Klugman's success from meager beginnings was the biggest thrill in his life.

I saw John Garfield smoke. He was my idol, so I smoked. I even smoked like him - Jack Klugman

In 2005, Klugman published Tony And Me: A Story of Friendship, a book about his long friendship with his The Odd Couple co-star Tony Randall.

Good Night Mr. Klugman

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

CHILD OF TELEVISION

Your Mental Sorbet: Herman Munster- Dry Bones

TV CONFIDENTIAL Archives: Jan. 9-15, 2013

Julie Adams, plus Single Season Sitcoms: Next on TVC

This Week in Television History: January 2013 PART III

Your Mental Sorbet: Chuck McCann and Dick Van Dyke--vintage comedy parody

TV CONFIDENTIAL Archives: Show No. 167

Barbara Feldon, Tanna Frederick, plus Elvis’ Birthday: Next on TVC

Huell Howser

This Week in Television History: January 2013 PART II

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: Three Kings Day

Your Mental Sorbet: Sonny and Cher sing I Got You Babe on Letterman (Nov 14, 1987)

TV CONFIDENTIAL Archives: Dec. 26-Jan. 2, 2012

Karen Sharpe Kramer, plus a Tribute to Jack Klugman: Next on TVC

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: Barney Miller - Happy New Year

Here is a "HOLIDAY SOR-BAY" that we could use to recuperate from last night.

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: New Years Rockin Eve 2011 Countdown with Dick Clark

This Week in Television History: January 2013 PART I

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: What Are You Doing New Years Eve?

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: That 70s Show - That 70s Finale

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: The New York City Children's Chorus opened SNL

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: Rudolph's Shiny New Year

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: The Cleveland Show - Boxing Day

TV CONFIDENTIAL Archives: Dec. 19-25, 2012

Charles Durning

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: It's a Wonderful Life

Jack Klugman

^{Here is a}^{"HOLIDAY SOR-BAY" that we could use to recuperate from last night.}