CHILD OF TELEVISION

Your Mental Sorbet: The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour "Red River Valley"

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:29:34 PST

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

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour first aired on February 5, 1967. Happy 45

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

TV CONFIDENTIAL Archives: Feb. 1, 2012

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:14 PST

Show No. 124
Feb. 1, 2012

First hour: Ed welcomes Emmy Award-nominated broadcaster and former NBA star Tommy Hawkins, author of Life’s Reflections: Poetry for the People, a new coffee table book of poems that reflects Tommy's eclectic interests, which include sports, jazz, art, poetry, travel, life, love, family, and the 1960s. Topics discussed include the story of what first fueled Tommy's interest in writing poetry; his experience playing alongside such NBA Hall of Famers as Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Oscar Robertson; and how Regis Philbin helped Tommy land his first big break as a TV talk show host. Tommy's upcoming appearances include Thursday, Feb. 9 at the Sportsman’s Lodge in Studio City, CA; Thursday, Feb. 16 at the Pasadena Senior Center in Pasadena, CA; Wednesday, Feb. 29 at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, CA; Saturday, Mar. 3 at the Eso-Won Bookstore in Los Angeles; Tuesday, Mar. 7 at Chaucers Bookstore in Santa Barbara, CA; Tuesday, Mar. 14 at the Culver City Senior Center in Culver City, CA; and Wednesday, Mar. 15 at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Also in this hour: Highlights from an interview with actor and author Henry Winkler (Happy Days, Ghost Buddy: From Zero to Hero) that Ed conducted jointly with talk show host Gary Snyder on The Gary Snyder Show.

Pat Harrington, Plus Telly Savalas Live: Next on TVC

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:07 PST

Actor/comedians Pat Harrington and Tom Dimenna will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Feb. 8-14 at the following times and venues:

WROM Radio
Detroit, MI
Wednesday 2/8
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Sunday 2/12
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at RealmsofMusic.com

Talktainment Radio
Columbus, OH
Thursday 2/9
9pm ET, 6pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at TalktainmentRadio.com

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 2/10
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at KSAV.org

The Coyote KWTY-FM
Ridgecrest, Calif.
Sunday 2/12
9pm PT
Monday 2/13
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at Coyote395.com

Passionate World Radio
Ann Arbor, MI
Tuesday 2/14
11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at InternetVoicesRadio.com

Best known for his Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning role as superintendent Dwayne Schneider on the long-running CBS-TV comedy series One Day at a Time, Pat Harrington’s roots in television, and roots in comedy, and roots in television, date back to 1959, when he began appearing on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar (and, later, The Steve Allen Show), as a number of characters, including Italian golf pro Guido Panzini.

We’ll ask Pat about how he came to create Guido Panzini, as well as his experience working with Bill Dana, Don Knotts, Jonathan Winters, Norman Lear and other comedy and TV legends when he joins us in our second hour.

Joining us in our first hour will be actor/comedian Tom Dimenna. After channeling the legend of Telly Savalas in a series of popular short videos known as Telly Time, Tom has brought his act to the stage in Who Loves You, Baby, a full-length “posthumous lounge act” that takes a look at modern-day romance through the eyes of the iconic star of Kojak. Who Loves You, Baby is currently playing at the SoHoPlayhouse in New York City through April 15. We’ll ask Tom what first attracted him to this project, as well as learn how you can send your friends, colleagues or loved ones a special personalized “Telly Tip” for Valentines, birthdays or any special occasion.

Plus: Phil Gries with a new edition of The Sounds of Lost Television, featuring a look back at Feb. 11, 1960, the night on which Jack Paar walked off the set of The Tonight Show in protest of NBC’s decision to delete a joke about a water closet that he had told on the air the night before. Full program as always… we certainly help you’ll join us.

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Wednesdays and Sundays 8pm ET, 5pm PT
WROM: Realms of Music
Thursdays 9pm, 6pm PT
Talktainment Radio
Fridays 7pm ET and PT
Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
Sundays 9pm PT, Mondays Midnight ET
The Coyote KWTY-FM (Ridgecrest, Calif.)
Tuesdays 11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT
Passionate World Radio
Follow us online at
www.tvconfidential.net
blog.tvconfidential.net
Also available as a podcast via iTunes and FeedBurner
Find us on Facebook

This Week in Television History: February 2012 Part I

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:17 PST

Listen to me on me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:

KSAV
San Francisco Bay Area
Fridays 7pm ET and PT

The Coyote KWTY-FM
Ridgecrest, CA
Sundays 10pm PT
Mondays 1am ET

PWR
Ann Arbor, MI
Tuesdays 11:05pm ET 8:05pm PT

WROM
Detroit, MI
various times throughout the week

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.

February 10, 1992

Alex Haley, author of Roots (1976), dies of a heart attack at age 70 in Seattle.

Roots, which portrayed four generations of an African American family based on Haley's own family, became a TV miniseries in 1977. The eight-part series was aired on consecutive nights and became the most watched show in TV history. Some 130 million people-nearly half the country's population at the time--watched the last episode of the show. Haley's books led to an increased interest in the study of black history and heritage.

Born in Ithaca, New York, Haley grew up in Henning, Tennessee, where he listened to family stories told by his maternal grandmother. A mediocre student at Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College and at Elizabeth City Teachers College, Haley later spent two decades with the U.S. Coast Guard as a journalist, writing adventure stories to take the edge off his boredom. When he retired, he moved back to New York to pursue a writing career. He interviewed trumpeter Miles Davis and political activist Malcolm X for Playboy in the 1960s and later collaborated with the Black Muslim spokesman to write The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965), an acclaimed work that fueled the black-power movement in America and was cited extensively in institutions of higher learning.

Haley then started his best-known work, Roots: The Saga of an American Family, published in 1976. The blend of fact and fiction, drawn largely from stories recited by Haley's grandmother, chronicles seven generations of Haley's family history, from the enslavement of his ancestors to his own quest to trace his family tree. To write the mostly nonfiction work, Haley pored over records in the National Archives and went by safari to the African village of Juffure to meet with an oral historian (Haley later donated money to that village for a new mosque). In the early 1970s, he and his brothers founded the Kinte Foundation, named for Haley's ancestor Kunta Kinte, to collect and preserve African American genealogy records.

Haley received special citations from the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award committees in 1977 for Roots, which sold more than a million copies in one year. It was translated into 26 languages. Later in his life, Haley wrote a biography of Frank Wills, the security guard who discovered the break-in at the Watergate Hotel that brought down Richard Nixon's presidency.

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy fire back at Fox News

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:41:39 PST

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

Miss Piggy hits back at Fox News during a UK press conference following the London Premiere of their new film. Fox had criticized the film The Muppets for supposedly pushing a 'dangerous liberal agenda' at kids.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Don Cornelius

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:00:33 PST

We lost Don Cornelius of an apparent suicide on this morning at his home in Sherman Oaks . Law enforcement assumes this due to evidence of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was 75. A complete investigation is still pending.

Born Donald Cortez in Chicago on September 27, 1936. The television show host and producer is best known as the creator of the nationally syndicated dance/music franchise Soul Train, which he hosted from 1971-1993. Cornelius sold the show to MadVision Entertainment in 2008.

Originally a journalist (one of the early employees of WVON) inspired by the civil rights movement, Cornelius recognized that in the late 1960s there was no television venue in the United States for soul music, and introduced many African-American musicians to a larger audience as a result of their appearances on Soul Train, a program that was both influential among African-Americans and popular with a wider audience. As writer, producer, and host of Soul Train, Cornelius was instrumental in offering wider exposure to black musicians like James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and Michael Jackson, as well as creating opportunities for talented dancers that would presage subsequent television dance programs. Cornelius said "We had a show that kids gravitated to," and Spike Lee described the program as an "urban music time capsule."

The 2008 Soul Train Music Awards ceremony was not held due to the WGA strike and the end of Tribune Entertainment complicating the process of finding a new distributor to air the ceremony and line up the stations to air it. The awards show was moved in 2009 to Viacom's Centric cable channel (formerly BET J), which now airs Soul Train in reruns.

Cornelius most recently appeared at the 2009 BET Awards to present The O'Jays with the 2009 BET Lifetime Achievement Award.

Besides his smooth and deep voice, Cornelius is best known for the catchphrase that he used to close the show: "... and you can bet your last money, it's all gonna be a stone gas, honey! I'm Don Cornelius, and as always in parting, we wish you love, peace and soul!" After Cornelius's departure, it was shortened to "...and as always, we wish you love, peace and soul!" and was used through the most recent new episodes in 2006. Another introductory phrase he often used was: "We got another sound comin' out of Philly that's a sure 'nough dilly".

Good Night Mr. Cornelius

I wish you love, peace and soul.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

TV CONFIDENTIAL Archives: Jan. 25, 2012

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:02 PST

Show No. 123
Jan. 25, 2012

First hour: Ed welcomes actress Julie Adams, star of The Creature from the Black Lagoon and many other stage, film and TV productions. Julie and her son Mitchell Danton are co-authors of The Lucky Southern Star: Reflections from the Black Lagoon, the story of Julie’s life and career, and a book that is filled with great memories and spectacular behind-the-scenes photographs of not just Creature, but many of Julie's other film and TV projects, including Bend of the River, Mississippi Gambler, Man from the Alamo, The Last Movie, Tickle Me, Perry Mason, The Andy Griffith Show, The Jimmy Stewart Show, Rod Serling’s Night Gallery and Murder, She Wrote. Julie also has several appearances coming up in the next few weeks, including the "Women in Horror" panel at Horror Hound Weekend in Columbus, Ohio on March 23, 24, and 25, and the annual Monsterpalooza gathering in Burbank, CA on April 13, 14 and 15.

Second hour: Ed welcomes singer/actor Robert Davi (Profiler, Licence to Kill, The Goonies, The Dukes, Contract on Cherry Street). Robert’s first album, Davi Sings Sinatra: On the Road to Romance, pays tribute to not only his friend and mentor, Frank Sinatra, but also The Great American Songbook. Robert will be appearing at the Venetian Showroom in Las Vegas, the site of the historic Sands Hotel (where Sinatra held court throughout the 1960s), on February 23, 24 and 25. Also in this hour: a review of Carol Channing: Larger Than Life, a touching new documentary about the Tony Award-winning Broadway legend.

Hawkins, Dickens and Fenster: Next on TVC Emmy nominee Tommy Hawkins and DVD producer Jim Benson will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL,

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:01 PST

Emmy nominee Tommy Hawkins and DVD producer Jim Benson will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Feb. 1-7 at the following times and venues:

WROM Radio
Detroit, MI
Wednesday 2/1
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Sunday 2/5
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at RealmsofMusic.com

Talktainment Radio
Columbus, OH
Thursday 2/2
9pm ET, 6pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at TalktainmentRadio.com

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 2/3
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at KSAV.org

The Coyote KWTY-FM
Ridgecrest, Calif.
Sunday 2/5
9pm PT
Monday 2/6
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at Coyote395.com

Passionate World Radio
Ann Arbor, MI
Tuesday 2/7
11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at InternetVoicesRadio.com

An Emmy Award-nominated broadcaster, Tommy Hawkins enjoyed a 10-year career in the NBA for both the Minneapolis Lakers, the Los Angeles Lakers and the old Cincinnati Royals, playing alongside such Hall of Famers as Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Oscar Robertson. When his basketball career ended, Tommy embarked on new challenges, first in radio and television (including co-hosting Mid-Morning Los Angeles with Stephanie Edwards and Meredith MacRae, as well as broadcasting for NBC Sports), then as a baseball executive for 18 years with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

A renaissance man if ever there was one, Tommy has just published a new coffee table book, Life’s Reflections: Poetry for the People, that reflects his many interests, which include such subjects as sports, jazz, art, poetry, travel, life, love, family, and the turbulent decade known as the 1960s. Not only that, each of Tommy’s poems is accompanied by a captivating painting or photograph that illustrates his words, including works by legendary artists Leroy Neiman and Ernie Barnes. We’ll ask Tommy about his playing career, his passion for poetry, and how Regis Philbin played a role in one of his first breaks as a broadcaster, when he joins us in our first hour.

For our listeners in Southern California, Tommy Hawkins’ upcoming appearances include Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 7pm at the Pepperdine University Library in Malibu, CA; Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 7:30am at the Malibu Rotary Club; Thursday, Feb. 9 at 7pm at the Sportsman’s Lodge in Studio City, CA Thursday, Feb. 16 at 10am at the Pasadena Senior Center in Pasadena, CA; Wednesday, Feb. 29 at 7pm at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, CA; Saturday, Mar. 3 at 2pm at the Eso-Won Bookstore in Los Angeles; Tuesday, Mar. 7 at 7pm at Chaucers Bookstore in Santa Barbara, CA; Tuesday, Mar. 14 at 1pm at the Culver City Senior Center in Culver City, CA; and Wednesday, Mar. 15 at 6pm at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.

Also joining us this week will be Jim Benson, host of TV Time Machine and the executive producer of I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster: Vol. 1, the first 16 episodes of the critically acclaimed yet short-lived comedy series created and produced by Leonard Stern. An homage to Laurel and Hardy, as well as the comedies of Preston Sturges, I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster starred John Astin and Marty Ingels as construction workers who were also the best of friends. And though Leonard Stern would achieve far greater success with Get Smart and the Mad Libs book series, he always had a special place in his heart for I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster... as have those who are discovering the show for the first time, now that it is back in circulation for the first time in fifty years.

We will talk about the lengths Jim took to bring back I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster, as well as look back at the legacy of Leonard Stern in general, when Jim Benson joins us in our second hour. We’ll also discuss one of the show’s most memorable episodes, “The Joke,” as well as the contributions of Astin, Ingels, their co-star Emmaline Henry, and director Arthur Hiller.

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Wednesdays and Sundays 8pm ET, 5pm PT
WROM: Realms of Music
Thursdays 9pm, 6pm PT
Talktainment Radio
Fridays 7pm ET and PT
Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
Sundays 9pm PT, Mondays Midnight ET
The Coyote KWTY-FM (Ridgecrest, Calif.)
Tuesdays 11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT
Passionate World Radio
Follow us online at
www.tvconfidential.net
blog.tvconfidential.net
Also available as a podcast via iTunes and FeedBurner
Find us on Facebook

This Week in Television History: January 2012 Part V

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:15 PST

Listen to me on me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:

Realms of Music
WROM
Wednesday 9/7
9pm ET, 6pm PT

Share-a-Vision Radio
KSAV.org
Friday 9/9
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT

KWDJ 1360-AM
Ridgecrest, Calif.
Saturday 9/10
Following Dodgers baseball

InternetVoicesRadio.com
Tuesday 9/13
11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT

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.

February 1, 1887

Official registration of Hollywood.

Harvey Wilcox officially registers Hollywood with the Los Angeles County recorder’s office. Wilcox and his wife, Daeida, had moved to Southern California four years earlier from Topeka, Kansas, where Harvey had made his fortune in real estate. They bought 160 acres of land in the Cahuenga Valley, located in the foothills to the west of the city of Los Angeles. A once-sleepy settlement founded in 1781 as El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Poricuncula, Los Angeles was by then expanding rapidly thanks to the completion of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1876 (the Santa Fe Railroad would arrive in 1885).

Wilcox, who had lost the use of his legs as a child due to polio, envisioned the land as the perfect site for a utopian-like community for devout Christians, where they could live a highly moral life free of vices such as alcohol (Wilcox was a prohibitionist). Daeida Wilcox called the new community “Hollywood,” borrowing the name from a Chicago friend who told her that was the name of a summer home she had in the Midwest. Harvey laid out a street map of the settlement, centered on a main street he called Prospect Avenue (it was later renamed Hollywood Boulevard). After filing the map with the L.A. County recorder’s office, Wilcox set about laying out Hollywood’s streets, made of dirt and lined with pepper trees.
As Harvey sold lots, Daeida worked to raise money to build churches, a school and a library. By 1900, nine years after Harvey Wilcox’s death, Hollywood had a population of 500, compared with 100,000 people in Los Angeles at the time. It was connected to L.A. by a single-track streetcar running down Prospect Avenue; it took two hours to make the seven-mile trip, and service was infrequent. In 1910, the community of Hollywood voted to consolidate with Los Angeles due to an inadequate supply of water. Shortly thereafter, the fledgling motion-picture industry began growing exponentially, as moviemakers found their ideal setting in the mild, sunny climate and varied terrain of Southern California. As the years went by, Harvey Wilcox’s dreams of a sober, conservative religious community faded even further into the background, as Hollywood became known throughout the world as the gilded center of an industry built on fantasy, fame and glamour.

February 1, 1937

Garrett Gonzalez Morris is born.

The comedian and actor from New Orleans, Louisiana was part of the original cast of the sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live, appearing from 1975 to 1980. In 1986, Morris began playing a regular occasional character, "Arnold 'Sporty' James," on the NBC cop drama Hunter, starring Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer. Morris continually appeared as "Sporty" on "Hunter" through 1989.

In 1994, he was shot in an apparent robbery attempt but went on to make a full recovery. In a radio interview, he mentioned that the robber who shot him was eventually incarcerated, and in prison some fans of Morris's who happened to be inmates there teamed up and beat up the robber in revenge.

Morris starred on Martin as Martin's first boss Stan. Morris's shooting had caused him to be unable to continue in the role, and he was written out of the show by having the character become a national fugitive. The scene where he is about to undergo plastic surgery was shot on the hospital bed Morris occupied while recuperating from the 1994 assault.

February 1, 1982

Late Night with David Letterman premieres.

David Letterman's offbeat late-night talk show debuts on this day in 1982. A favorite of college students, the show aired after Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show. When Carson retired in 1992, Letterman and rival comic Jay Leno engaged in a heated battle for the coveted host slot. When Letterman was passed over, he left NBC for CBS, where his new program, Late Show with David Letterman, outperformed Leno's show almost every week in its first year.

February 2, 1937

Thomas Bolin "Tom" Smothers III is born.

Comedian, composer and musician, best known as half of the musical comedy team the Smothers Brothers, alongside his younger brother Dick.

February 2, 1947

Farrah Fawcett is born.

A multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she first appeared as private investigator Jill Munroe in the TV series Charlie's Angels in 1976. Fawcett later appeared off-Broadway to the approval of critics and in highly rated television movies in roles often challenging (The Burning Bed, Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story, Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story, Margaret Bourke-White) and sometimes unsympathetic (Small Sacrifices). Fawcett was also a pop culture figure whose hairstyle was emulated by millions of young women and whose poster sales broke records, making her an international sex symbol in the 1970s and 1980s.

Fawcett was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006, and began treatment, including chemotherapy and surgery. Four months later, on her 60th birthday, the Associated Press wire service reported that Fawcett was, at that point, cancer free.

Less than four months later, in May 2007, Fawcett brought a small digital video camera to document a doctor's office visit. There, she was told a malignant polyp was found in the area where she had been treated for the initial cancer. Doctors contemplated whether to implant a radiation seeder (which differs from conventional radiation and is used to treat other types of cancer). Fawcett's U.S. doctors told her that she would require a colostomy. Instead, Fawcett traveled to Germany for treatments described variously in the press as "holistic", "aggressive", and "alternative". There, Dr. Ursula Jacob prescribed a treatment including surgery to remove the anal tumor, and a course of perfusion and embolization for her liver cancer by Doctors Claus Kiehling and Thomas Vogl in Germany, and chemotherapy back in Fawcett's home town of Los Angeles. Although initially the tumors were regressing, their reappearance a few months later necessitated a new course, this time including laser ablation therapy and chemoembolization. Aided by friend Alana Stewart, Fawcett documented her battle with the disease.

In early April 2009, Fawcett, back in the United States, was rushed to a hospital, reportedly unconscious and in critical condition. Subsequent reports, however, indicated that the severity of her condition was not as dire as first reported. On April 6, the Associated Press reported that her cancer had metastasized to her liver. Fawcett had learned of this development in May 2007 and her subsequent treatments in Germany had targeted this as well. The report denied that she was unconscious, and explained that the reason for Fawcett's hospitalization was not her cancer but a painful abdominal hematoma that had been the result of a minor procedure, according to the Los Angeles cancer specialist treating Fawcett, Dr. Lawrence Piro. Her spokesperson emphasized she was not "at death's door", adding "She remains in good spirits with her usual sense of humor ... She's been in great shape her whole life and has an incredible resolve and an incredible resilience." Three days later, on April 9, Fawcett was released from the hospital, picked up by longtime companion O'Neal, and, according to her doctor, was "walking and in great spirits and looking forward to celebrating Easter at home."

A month later, on May 7, Fawcett was reported as being critically ill, with Ryan O'Neal quoted as saying that she now spends her days at home, on an IV, often asleep. The Los Angeles Times reported that Fawcett was in the last stages of her cancer and had the chance to see her son Redmond in April 2009, although shackled and under supervision, as he was then incarcerated, Fawcett seemed not to notice. Her 91-year-old father, James Fawcett, flew out to Los Angeles to visit.

Her doctor, Lawrence Piro, and Fawcett's friend and Angels co-star Kate Jackson—a breast cancer survivor—appeared together on The Today Show dispelling tabloid-fueled rumors, including the suggestions that Fawcett had ever been in a coma, had ever reached 86 pounds, and had ever given up her fight against the disease or lost the will to live. Jackson decried such fabrications, saying they "really do hurt a human being and a person like Farrah". Piro recalled when it became necessary for Fawcett to undergo treatments that would cause her to lose her hair, acknowledging that "Farrah probably has the most famous hair in the world", but acknowledged that it is not a trivial matter for any cancer patient, whose hair "affects [one's] whole sense of who [they] are". Of the documentary, Jackson averred that Fawcett "didn't do this to show that 'she' is unique, she did it to show that we are all unique ... (T)his was ... meant to be a gift to others to help and inspire them."

The two-hour documentary Farrah's Story, which was filmed by Fawcett and friend Alana Stewart, aired on NBC on May 15, 2009. The documentary was watched by nearly 9 million people in its premiere airing and it was re-aired on the broadcast network's cable stations MSNBC, Bravo and Oxygen. Fawcett earned her fourth Emmy nomination posthumously on July 16, 2009, as producer of Farrah's Story.

Fawcett died at approximately 9:28 a.m., on June 25, 2009, in the intensive care unit of Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, with O'Neal and Stewart by her side.

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

John Rich 1925 – 2012

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:20:22 PST

We lost film and television director John Rich today from heart failure after a brief illness. He directed such television shows as Where's Raymond?, Mister Ed, The Dick Van Dyke Show, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Maude, Good Times, Barney Miller, Newhart, Benson, The Brady Bunch, and Gilligan's Island. His feature film credits include Wives and Lovers, Boeing Boeing, Roustabout and Easy Come, Easy Go (the latter two starring Elvis Presley). He also participated in the live telecast of the opening day ceremonies of Disneyland in 1955. He won an Emmy for The Dick Van Dyke Show, two Emmys for All in the Family, and two Golden Globes for All in the Family. He was also an Honorary Life Member of the DGA and a recipient of the DGA's Robert B. Aldrich Award in 1993.

In the 1980s Rich and Henry Winkler formed a production company called Henry Winkler/John Rich Productions and together they produced MacGyver for Paramount Television.

Rich studied at the University of Michigan earning both a B.A. and an M.A. degree in English.

Your Mental Sorbet: Steve Allen Show - Meet Guido Panzini Italian Golf Pro

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:46:47 PST

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

We had a great time talking to Pat Harrington yesterday about Guido Panzini, One Day at a Time and comedy in general. That conversation will air next month on TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television.

Steve Interviews Italian Golf Pro Guido Panzini-Pat Harrington Jr. Prior to this Paticular bit,the US Customs & immagration Dept actually checked for a port of entry on Mr.Panzini, then Allen & Harrington Finally had to come clean on the air and reveal Panzini's true idenity-a NY born & bred irish American Actor-Comedian.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Robert Hegyes

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:57:56 PST

Robert Hegyes who was best known as Epstein on the 1970s classic Welcome Back Kotter, died this morning after an apparent heart attack in his Metuchen, N.J., home. He was 60 years old.Hegyes grew up in Metuchen, New Jersey and began acting in high school in the mid-1960s. Upon graduation from Glassboro State College (now Rowan University), with a B.A. in Speech/Theater & Secondary Education, Hegyes ventured to New York City to pursue a career in acting and soon became a member of a Greenwich Village children's theater group called, "Theater in a Trunk", performing educational theater at US President Theodore Roosevelt's birth place, on East 13 Street. Hegyes continued performing in the Village in educational children's theater, this time as a puppeteer with an arm and rod puppet company, playing "Mr. Toad," in, "The Wind & the Willows." Robert managed to work a third performing job in Washington Square Park and at the Provincetown Playhouse as a member of the political improvisational guerrilla troupe, "Jack LaRumpa's Flying Drum & Kazoo Band."

Within a year of graduating from college, Hegyes was cast to co-star in the highly acclaimed Off Broadway drama, Naomi Court, starring actor Brad Davis (Midnight Express). After completing the successful Manhattan Theater Club engagement, Robert was cast by Tony Award- winning actor Len Cariou (making his directing debut) to co-star in the Broadway drama, Don't Call Back, starring Arlene Francis and Dorian Harewood. While performing on Broadway, Hegyes auditioned for television producer James Komack and was cast to star in what was to become the award-winning ABC comedy, Welcome Back, Kotter. The show lasted four seasons, from 1975-'79. At the age of 25, Hegyes became one of the show's directors.

On Welcome Back, Kotter Hegyes played Juan Luis Pedro Philippo DeHuevos EpsteinA fiercely proud Puerto Rican Jew (his father was Puerto Rican; his mother's name was Bibbermann), and one of the toughest students at Buchanan High, despite his short stature. He normally walked with a tough-man strut, wore a red handkerchief hanging out of his right back pocket, and was voted "Most Likely to Take a Life" by his peers. In the season one episode, "One of Our Sweathogs Is Missing", Epstein was shown to be the sixth child in his family, although his mother had 10, while in the episode "I'm Having Their Baby" he mentions that his mother gave birth 8 times. The only names of his siblings mentioned in the show are two brothers, Pedro and Sanchez ("One of Our Sweathogs Is Missing") and a younger sister, Carmen ("A Love Story"). Epstein's toughness was downplayed later on, and became more of a wiseguy. He was also known to have a "buddy" relationship with Principal Lazarus as he often referred to him by his first name, Jack. On a few occasions, when Kotter would do his Groucho Marx impersonation, Epstein would jump in and impersonate Chico Marx or Harpo Marx. Epstein's diminutive height and large hair are common jokes associated with him.

Hegyes guest starred in more than thirty television shows, including Saturday Night Live, with Quentin Tarantino, NewsRadio, Diagnosis: Murder, with Dick Van Dyke, The Drew Carey Show (in an April Fools' Day episode where the character, "Oswald", was "recast" for a brief scene with Hegyes playing the role) and The Streets of San Francisco, with Michael Douglas. He also starred in the award-winning Volkswagen Passat commercial, "The Chase", for director Kinka Usher. Hegyes has starred in the following films: Honeymoon Hotel, with Jane Kaczmarek, Underground Aces, with Melanie Griffith, Bob Roberts, with Tim Robbins, The Purpose, with Mia Farrow, and Bar Hopping, with Weeds star Kevin Nealon.
Robert made his Los Angeles stage debut to rave notices as "Chico Marx" in the Westwood and National Touring Company engagements of, An Evening with Groucho. Upon returning from the tour, Robert was cast by Producer Barney Rosenswieg to star as a series regular portraying undercover detective "Manny Esposito" in the Emmy Award-winning drama, Cagney & Lacey, starring Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless.
Hegyes became "Artist-In-Residence" at his alma mater, Rowan University, teaching screenplay writing, acting for camera and public speaking, and was a guest lecturer in the Radio/Television/Film & Theater Departments. He was an adjunct instructor at Brooks College in Long Beach, California, where he taught essay writing and public speaking. Hegyes was a California Certified Secondary Education teacher, but had worked infrequently in recent years.

To quote Epstein, "When my mother was pregnant, she used to want hot peppers, you know? Every day, hot peppers, hot peppers, hot peppers. When we was born, the first thing we asked for was a glass of water!"

Good Night Mr. Hegyes

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

TV CONFIDENTIAL Archives: Jan. 18, 2012

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:07 PST

Show No. 122
Jan. 18, 2012

First hour: Ed welcomes Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Howard Gordon, co-creator, executive producer and show runner of Homeland and the bestselling author of Gideon’s War and Hard Target. Howard is also executive producer of Awake, which premieres Feb. 6 on NBC. Howard will be appearing at the Diesel Bookstore in Santa Monica, CA on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 7pm; Mysteries to Die For in Thousand Oaks, CA, on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 2pm; and Mysterious Galaxy in Redondo Beach, CA on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 2:30pm. Also in this hour: a look at entertainment headlines, including Ed's thoughts on the controversy surrounding the use of so-called "high lowbrow" humor in shows like 3 Broke Girls, plus reviews of Rob, Are You There, Chelsea? and House of Lies.

Second hour: Ed welcomes actress Jacqueline Scott, whose many film and TV appearances include such such classic shows as Gunsmoke, The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, The Streets of San Francisco, the iconic TV-movie Duel, and, of course, The Fugitive. Topics include Jacquie's work with Uta Hagen, Paul Muni, Louis Calhern, James Stewart, Walter Matthau, David Janssen and other stage and screen legends. Jacquie recently filmed a commercial, Sling Baby, that is one of five finalists in a contest sponsored by Doritos; the two spots that get the most votes will be shown during this year’s Super Bowl broadcast. To vote for Sling Baby, go to www.vote4slingbaby.com through Sunday, Jan. 29. Also in this hour: reviews of new DVD releases.

Julie Adams and Robert Davi: Next on TVC

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:08 PST

Actress and author Julie Adams, singer / actor Robert Davi and Emmy Award-winning editor Mitchell Danton will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Jan. 25-31 at the following times and venues:

WROM Radio
Detroit, MI
Wednesday 1/25
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Sunday 1/29
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Click the Listen Live button at RealmsofMusic.com

Talktainment Radio
Columbus, OH
Thursday 1/26
9pm ET, 6pm PT
Click the Listen Live button at TalktainmentRadio.com

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 1/27
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click the Listen Live button at KSAV.org

The Coyote KWTY-FM
Ridgecrest, Calif.
Sunday 1/29
9pm PT
Monday 1/30
Midnight ET
Click the Listen Live button at Coyote395.com

Passionate World Radio
Ann Arbor, MI
Tuesday 1/31
11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT
Click the Listen Live button at InternetVoicesRadio.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 has published a new book, The Lucky Southern Star: Reflections from the Black Lagoon, that 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 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. We’ll meet Julie Adams when she joins us in the studio during our first hour.

Also joining us in our first hour will be Julie’s son Mitchell Danton. Mitch not only co-authored Julie’s book, he is an Emmy Award-winning film editor who has worked on such film and TV productions as Saving Grace, Christy, Beverly Hills 90210, Dawson’s Creek, In Plain Sight, Survivor and the ABC miniseries The Path to 9/11.

Julie Adams has several appearances coming up in the next few weeks, including the "Women in Horror" panel at the upcoming Horror Hound Weekend that will take place at the Crowne Plaza Columbus North in Columbus, Ohio on March 23, 24, and 25. She’s also scheduled to appear at the annual Monsterpalooza gathering at the Burbank Marriott Convention Center in Burbank, CA on April 13, 14 and 15. For more information on these on other appearances, go to www.JulieAdams.biz.

Also joining us this week will be Robert Davi, an actor known to many of us as Agent Malone in Profiler, Franz Sanchez in License to Kill, Jake Fratelli in The Goonies, and many, many other appearances in film and television, including Contract on Cherry Street with Frank Sinatra.

What you may not know about Robert is that, in addition to being an accomplished actor, he is a classically trained singer with a deep-seeded love and appreciation for many of the greatest musical artists of all time, including his friend and mentor, Frank Sinatra.

Robert’s first album, Davi Sings Sinatra: On the Road to Romance, pays tribute to not only Ole Blue Eyes, but also The Great American Songbook, which Robert considers to be “the Shakespeare of America.” We’ll ask Robert what he means by that, as well as talk about his friendship with Frank Sinatra, when he joins us in our second hour.

Robert Davi will be appearing at the Venetian Showroom in Las Vegas, the site of the historic Sands Hotel (where Sinatra held court throughout the 1960s), on February 23, 24 and 25. He’ll be performing songs from Davi Sings Sinatra, as well as sharing anecdotes about his film and television career. For more information, go to www.DaviSingsSinatra.com.

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Wednesdays and Sundays 8pm ET, 5pm PT
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Thursdays 9pm, 6pm PT
Talktainment Radio
Fridays 7pm ET and PT
Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
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Tuesdays 11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT
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This Week in Television History: January 2012 PART IV

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 07:23:36 PST

Listen to me on me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:

Realms of Music
WROM
Wednesday 9/7
9pm ET, 6pm PT

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

January23, 1977

Theminiseries Roots debuts on ABC.

The show traced four generations of an African-American family based on thefamily of author Alex Haley. Running for eight consecutive days, the miniseriesbecame the single most watched program in American history, drawing about 100million viewers.

January 28, 1957

Jack Lescoulie takes over theshort lived Tonight! America After Dark.

Rather than continuing with the same format after Allen and Kovacs'departure from Tonight, NBC changed the show's format to a news andfeatures show, similar to that of the network's popular morning program Today. The new show, renamed Tonight!America After Dark, was hosted first by Jack Lescoulie and then by Al"Jazzbo" Collins, with interviews conducted by Hy Gardner, and music provided by the Lou Stein Trio. This new version of theshow was not popular, resulting in a significant number of NBC affiliatesdropping the show.

January 29,1977

Freddie Prinze’s family removed him from life support,and he died at 1:00 pm at the age of 22.

Prinze suffered from depression, and on January 28,1977, shot himself with a small automatic pistol after talking on the telephonewith his estranged wife. His business manager, Marvin "Dusty" Snyder,tried to intervene, but Prinze shot himself in the head, and was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center to be placed on life supportfollowing emergency surgery.

The death, initially ruled a suicide, wasyears later re-ruled accidental. Prinze had a history of playing with guns,faking suicide attempts to frighten his friends for his amusement. He had lefta note stating that the decision to take his life was his alone, but because hepulled the trigger in the presence of a witness —it gave enough weight to theargument that he really was not planning to take his own life that night.

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Colbert Super PAC Ad - Double Negative

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:48:29 PST

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

Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow believes that we all deserve a clean campaign.

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

To see all the Super PAC ads click: Colbert Super PAC | Making a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow | ColbertSuperPac.com

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

TV CONFIDENTIAL Archives: Jan. 11, 2012

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:14 PST

Show No. 121
Jan. 11, 2012

First hour: Ed welcomes award-winning writer/producer Larry Brody, whose many credits in television include such shows as Police Story, Mike Hammer, Gibbsville, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Barnaby Jones, Cannon and The Streets of San Francisco. Larry also runs TVWriter.com, an excellent resource for both new and experienced writers of television, while his books about the TV industry include Television Writing From The Inside Out and Turning Points in Television.

Second hour: Actor, author and director Walter Koenig (Star Trek, Babylon 5) talks to Ed about some of his accomplishments as a writer, including how he became involved in the comic book industry. Walter's two four-part comic book series, Raver and Things to Come, will both be released as graphic novels in 2012. Walter will also be receiving a star on the venerable Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012, making him the last of the seven cast members of the original Star Trek series to be so honored. Walter will also be appearing at OZ TREK 7 in Melbourne, Australia on Jan. 28-29, 2012, as well as at FED CON 21 in Dusseldorf, Germany on May 17-20, 2012, and the Annual Official Star Trek Convention at the Rio Suites Hotel in Las Vegas, Aug. 9-12, 2012. Also in this hour: Part 2 of our conversation with actor and author Peter Ford (Glenn Ford: A Life, A Little Prince). Topics include a look at Glenn's early years as a contract player at Columbia Pictures.

Howard Gordon and Jacqueline Scott: This Week on TVC

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:17 PST

Howard Gordon and Jacqueline Scott: Next on TVC

Actress Jacqueline Scott and Golden Globe Award-winning writer/producer Howard Gordon will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Jan. 18-24 at the following times and venues:

WROM Radio
Detroit, MI
Wednesday 1/18
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Sunday 1/22
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Click the Listen Live button at RealmsofMusic.com

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 1/20
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click the Listen Live button at KSAV.org

The Coyote KWTY-FM
Ridgecrest, Calif.
Sunday 1/22
9pm PT
Monday 1/23
Midnight ET
Click the Listen Live button at Coyote395.com

Passionate World Radio
Ann Arbor, MI
Tuesday 1/24
11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT
Click the Listen Live button at InternetVoicesRadio.com

Co-creator, executive producer and show runner of Homeland, the psychological thriller starring Claire Danes and Damian Lewis that just won the Golden Globe Award for Best Dramatic Television of 2011, Howard Gordon is also the author of Hard Target, the sequel to his best-selling debut novel, Gideon’s War, that is every bit as fast-paced and riveting as an episode of 24. We’ll talk to Howard about Hard Target, Homeland, and the appeal of characters such as Jack Bauer and Gideon Davis, as well as get a sneak peek at his latest television series, Awake, which premieres Monday, Feb. 6 on NBC. All this and more when Howard Gordon joins us in our first hour.

For our listeners in Southern California, you can meet Howard Gordon at the Diesel Bookstore at the Brentwood Country Mart, 225 26^th Street in Santa Monica on Wednesday, Jan. 25 beginning at 7pm. He’ll also be appearing at Mysteries to Die For, 2940 Thousand Oaks Blvd. in Thousand Oaks, on Saturday, Jan. 28 beginning at 2pm, as well as at Mysterious Galaxy, 2810 Artesia Blvd. in Redondo Beach on Saturday, Feb. 4 beginning at 2:30pm. For more information on these and other appearances, go to HowardMGordon.com.

Joining us in our second hour will be Jacqueline Scott, an actress who has been a staple on television over the past five decades, including appearances in just about every major show from Gunsmoke to Cold Case, as well as the classic TV-movie Duel (directed by Steven Spielberg) and many of the great shows produced by Quinn Martin. We’ll talk to Jacquie about working with such film and TV legends as James Stewart, Walter Matthau, Cliff Robertson, Dennis Weaver and, of course, David Janssen, as well as appearing on Broadway with such stars as Paul Muni.

Of course, many of us think of Jacqueline Scott as Donna Kimble Taft, Richard Kimble’s sister on The Fugitive. But if all goes well, we may also see her in a Super Bowl commercial next month on NBC. The commercial is called Sling Baby, and it’s one of five finalists in a contest sponsored by Doritos; the two spots that get the most votes will be shown during this year’s Super Bowl broadcast. But for that to happen, we need to get out the vote. So if you’d like to see Jacqueline Scott as part of the Super Bowl telecast, go to www.vote4slingbaby.com, watch the commercial, and cast your vote. There are five different ways in which you can vote, including through Facebook and your smart phone, and you can vote as often as five times a day, every day through Sunday, Jan. 29. Not only that, but Doritos will be awarding $10,000 to several voters, so the more you vote, the better your chances of winning. For more information, check out www.vote4slingbaby.com.

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Wednesdays and Sundays 8pm ET, 5pm PT
WROM: Realms of Music
Fridays 7pm ET and PT
Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
Sundays 9pm PT, Mondays Midnight ET
The Coyote KWTY-FM (Ridgecrest, Calif.)
Tuesdays 11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT
Passionate World Radio
www.tvconfidential.net
blog.tvconfidential.net
Also available as a podcast via iTunes and FeedBurner
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Today in Television History: Betty White Turns 90

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:11 PST

Listen to me on me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:

Born Betty Marion White in Oak Park, Illinois,on January 17, 1922, she is the daughter of Tess Curtis (née Cachikis), a homemaker, and Horace Lawrence White, a traveling salesman and electrical engineer. Her mother was of Greek, English, and Welsh descent, and her father was of Danish and English ancestry. White's family moved to Los Angeles, California during the Great Depression. She attended Horace Mann School in Beverly Hills,California, and Beverly Hills High School. Hoping to become a writer, she wrote and played the lead in a graduation play at Horace Mann School and discovered her interest in performing.

White began her television career in 1939, three months after high school graduation, when she and a classmate sang songs from The Merry Widow on an experimental Los Angeles channel. White found work modeling, and her first professional acting job was at the Bliss Hayden Little Theatre. White's career was disrupted immediately, as World War II broke out, causing her to join the American Women's Voluntary Services. In the 1940s, she worked in radio appearing on shows such as Blondie, The Great Gildersleeve and This Is Your FBI.She then got her own radio show, called The Betty White Show.

In 1949 she began appearing with Al Jarvis on his daily, live variety show Hollywood on Television on KLAC in Los Angeles. White began hosting the show in 1952 after Jarvis' departure. In 1950, Betty was nominated for her first Emmy Award as "Best Actress" on television, competing with such legendary stars as Judith Anderson, Helen Hayes, and Imogene Coca (the award went to Gertrude Berg). This was the very first award and category in the new Emmy history designated for women on television.

In 1952, the same year she began hosting Hollywood on Television, White co-founded Bandy Productions with writer George Tibbles and Don Fedderson, a producer. The trio worked to create new shows using existing characters from sketches shown on Hollywood on Television. White, Fedderson and Tibbles created the television comedy Life With Elizabeth,based on a Hollywood on Television sketch.

White portrayed the title character on the sitcom from 1952 to 1955, which effectively boosted her career.Life With Elizabeth was nationally syndicated by the mid-1950s, allowing White to become one of the few women in television with full creative control in front of and behind the camera at the time. Although several sources state White won an Emmy for the show this appears to be incorrect and maybe a matter of confusing the 1950 nomination with a win.

In 1954, she briefly hosted and produced her own daily talk show, The Betty White Show, on NBC(not to be confused with her 1970s sitcom of the same name). Following Life with Elizabeth, she appeared as Vicki Angel on the sitcom Date with the Angels from 1957 to 1958. The show later became another variety series before going off the air. White performed in commercials seen on live television in Los Angeles,including a spirited rendition of the "Dr. Ross Dog Food"advertisement at KTLA during the 1950s.

She made her feature film debut as Kansas Senator Elizabeth Ames Adams in the 1962 drama, Advise and Consent.It would be her only big-screen appearance for decades.

Betty White's greatest fame during the 1960's and early 1970's with the general public was likely from her long stint as hostess and commentator on the annual Tournament of Roses Parade broadcast on NBC, often co-hosting with Lorne Greene. White began a nineteen-year run as host on the program in 1956; NBC replaced her in 1975, feeling she was too identified with rival network CBS due to her new-found success on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. White admitted to People Magazine it was difficult "watching someone else do my parade", although she soon would start a ten-year run as hostess of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for CBS.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, White appeared on a number of late night talk shows and daytime game shows, including Password. White made many appearances on the hit game show Password as a celebrity guest from 1961 through 1975. She married the show's host, Allen Ludden, in 1963. She subsequently appeared on the show's three updated versions Password Plus, Super Password,and Million Dollar Password, having been on versions of the game with five different hosts (Allen Ludden, Bill Cullen, Tom Kennedy, Bert Convy, and Regis Philbin). White made frequent game show appearances on What's My Line?(starting in 1955), To Tell the Truth(in 1961 and in 1990), I've Got a Secret(in 1972–73), Match Game(1973–1982) and Pyramid(starting in 1982). Both Password and Pyramid were created by White's friend, Bob Stewart. In 1983, she became the first woman to win a Daytime Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Game Show Host, for the NBC entry Just Men!. Due to the amount of work she has done on them, she has been deemed the "First Lady of Game Shows".

In 1973, White made a guest appearance in season four of The Mary Tyler Moore Show as The Happy Homemaker. As a result of her guest appearance, White landed her most significant role at that point as the sardonic, man-hungry Sue Ann Nivens, The Happy Homemaker, on The Mary Tyler Moore Show as a full time cast member. The running gag was that Sue Ann's hard-edged private personality was the complete opposite of how she presented herself on her show."We need somebody who can play sickeningly sweet, like Betty White,"Moore herself suggested at a production meeting, which resulted in casting White herself. White won two back-to-back Emmy Awards for her role in the hugely popular series.

Following that show's end in 1977, she was given her own sitcom on CBS, The Betty White Show, during the 1977–78 season, in which she co-starred with John Hillerman and former Mary Tyler Moore co-star Georgia Engel. It was canceled after one season.

White appeared several times on the Tonight Show With Johnny Carson appearing in many sketches, and began guest-starring in a number of television movies and television miniseries, including With This Ring, The Place to Be, Before and After, and The Gossip Columnist.

From 1983 through 1985, she had a recurring role playing Ellen Harper Jackson on the series Mama's Family, along with future Golden Girls co-star Rue McClanahan.White had originated this character in a series of sketches on The Carol Burnett Show in the 1970s. When Mama's Family was picked up in syndication after being canceled by NBC in 1985, White left the show (with the exception of one final appearance in the show's syndicated version in 1986).

In 1985, she scored her second signature role and the biggest hit of her career as the St. Olaf, Minnesota-native Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls. The series chronicled the lives of four widowed or divorced women in their"golden years" who shared a home in Miami.The Golden Girls, which also starred Beatrice Arthur, Estelle Getty, and Rue McClanahan, was immensely successful and ran from 1985 through 1992. White won one Emmy Award, for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series, for the first season of The Golden Girls and was nominated in that category every year of the show's run (the only cast member to receive that distinction — Getty was also nominated every year, but in the supporting actress category). When Beatrice Arthur left in 1992, White, McClanahan,and Getty reprized their roles Rose, Blanche, and Sophia in the spin-off The Golden Palace. The series was short-lived, lasting only one season. In addition, White reprized her Rose Nylund character in guest appearances on the NBC shows Empty Nest and Nurses, both of which were set in Miami.

White was originally offered the role of Blanche in The Golden Girls, and Rue McClanahan was offered the role of Rose (the two characters being similar to roles they had played in Mary Tyler Moore and Maude,respectively). Jay Sandrich, the director of the pilot, suggested that since they had played similar roles in the past, they should switch roles, Rue McClanahan later said in a documentary on the series. White was originally scared to play Rose, feeling that she would not be able to play the role—until the show's creator took her aside and told her not to play Rose as stupid but to play her as someone "terminally naive, a person who always believed the first explanation of something." Despite being the eldest of the four women,White is the only surviving regular cast member, following the deaths of Estelle Getty in July 2008, Bea Arthur in April 2009, and Rue McClanahan in June 2010.

After The Golden Girls ended, White guest-starred on a number of television programs including Ally McBeal, The Ellen Show, My Wife and Kids, That '70s Show, Everwood, Joey, and Malcolm in the Middle.She received Emmy Award nominations for her appearances on Suddenly Susan, Yes, Dear and The Practice. She won an Emmy in 1996 for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, appearing as herself on an episode of The John Larroquette Show. In that episode, titled "Here We Go Again", a spoof on Sunset Boulevard,a diva-like White convinces Larroquette to help write her memoirs. In one bit, Golden Girls co-stars McClanahan and Getty appear as themselves. Larroquette is forced to dress in drag as Beatrice Arthur, when all four appear in public as the"original" cast members. White comically envisions her Rose as the central character with the other cast members as mere supporting players.

The actress has lent her voice to several animated shows, including The Simpsons, King of the Hill, The Wild Thornberrys,Family Guy and Father of the Pride. In 1999, she had a supporting role in the monster film Lake Placid,as a widow who later is revealed to have raised the giant crocodile (which accidentally ate her husband).

White's career has been in revival throughout the first decades of the 2000s, and her continuing cultural relevance is reflected in the numerous television and film projects she has been a part of. In December 2006, White joined the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful in the role of Ann Douglas, the long-lost mother of the show's matriarch Stephanie Forrester, who is played by Susan Flannery. In February 2007, White returned as Ann, who had an intent to move to Los Angeles to be near her daughters. The characters of Ann and Pamela Douglas (Alley Mills) disappeared after their March27, 2007, appearance and were not mentioned again until October 19, 2007, when Ann appeared briefly. White would go on to appear in three more episodes following that, one on December 10, 2007; August 28, 2008; and October 28,2008. She returned to the show on November 18, 2009 and in the November 19, 2009 episode her character revealed that she was dying of advanced pancreatic cancer. To date she has made 22 appearances as Ann Douglas. In the November 23,2009 episode Ann passes away due to complications from her illness, with both of her daughters at her side on the beach at Paradise Cove.

In the broadcast of the 2007 TV Land Awards, White starred in a parody of Ugly Betty, aptly titled Ugly Betty White, in which she played America Ferrera's title character, with Charo playing White's sister Hilda, and Erik Estrada playing her father Ignacio. Her performance earned her a part on Ugly Betty as herself, the victim of Wilhelmina Slater's temper as they vie for a cabin the episode "Bananas for Betty",which aired December 6, 2007.

White had a recurring role in ABC's Boston Legal from 2005 to 2008 as the calculating, blackmailing gossip-monger Catherine Piper, a role she originally portrayed as a guest star on The Practice in 2004.

White appeared as a roaster on the Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner in 2006. On May 19, 2008, White appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show,taking part in the host's Mary Tyler Moore Show reunion special alongside every surviving cast member of the series.

Beginning in 2007, White was featured in television commercials for Pet Meds, highlighting her interest in animal rights and welfare.

She was honored at the Sixth Annual TV Land Awards with the Pop Culture Award on June8, 2008. She accepted it along with co-stars Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan.

White returned to Password in its latest incarnation, Million Dollar Password, on June 12, 2008, (episode #3), participating in the Million Dollar challenge at the end of the show. Her quick correct responses helped the contestant win $100,000. White returned to the show again on December 28, 2008 (episode #9), helping the contestants win $25,000 each.

White has made a number of appearances in skits on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, playing the part of an Exxon representative, a Girl Scout, an accountant with a briefcase full of cocaine, a nurse who just got her medical license from El Salvador, a newspaper delivery girl, a prison guard, and an Apple representative. She appeared as herself with a shoe box full of receipts, explaining that she was doing her taxes. She appeared as herself to promote Together: A Story of Shared Vision by her and Tom Sullivan. On July 18, 2008, she appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in a skit entitled "Can You Make Betty White Flinch".

White guest starred as the "Witch Lady" on an episode of My Name is Earl,and starred on Chelsea Handler' slate night show Chelsea Lately.Some of her other most recent television credits in the 2000s include Stealing Christmas,Annie's Point and The Retrievers.^[3] Her film credits in the late 1990s and early 2000s included Hard Rain, Dennis the Menace Strikes Again and Bringing Down the House, in which she co-starred with Steve Martin and Queen Latifah.

White appeared in the 2009 motion picture The Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. White provided the English-language voice of Yoshie in the anime film Ponyo,which was released in Japan in 2008 and in the United States and Canada on August 14, 2009. She co-starred with Kristen Bell in the 2010 film, You Again.

White appeared alongside Abe Vigoda in an advertisement for Snickers during the 2010 Super Bowl XLIV. The ad won the top spot on the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter. It was also featured on Television with the caption;"You're not you when you're hungry".

A grassroots campaign on Facebook called "Betty White to Host SNL (Please)" began in January 2010. The group was approaching 500,000 members when NBC confirmed on March 11, 2010 that White would in fact host Saturday Night Live on May 8. The appearance made her, at age 88, the oldest person to host the show, beating out Miskel Spillman,the winner of SNL's "Anybody Can Host" contest, who was 80when she hosted in 1977. The May 8 SNL episode garnered the show's highest ratings since November 1, 2008, when Ben Affleck hosted. In her opening monologue,White thanked Facebook and joked that she "didn’t know what Facebook was,and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time." The appearance earned her a 2010 Prime time Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series, her seventh Emmy win overall. Years earlier, White's character Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls in an episode from season 7 while laying in a hospital bed awaiting open heart surgery, says to her daughter; "There's something else I wanna tell you. Now lean in close, this is very important... LIVE FROM NEW YORK IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT!

In June 2010, White took on the role of Elka Ostrovsky the house caretaker on TV Land’s original sitcom Hot in Cleveland, now in its third season.

In July 2010, it was announced that she posed for her own calendar for the year 2011; the calendar also features photos from her career and her pictured with various animals. She also debuted her own clothing line on July 22, 2010, which features shirts with her face on them. All proceeds will also go to various animal charities she supports.

She guest-starred in the second-season premiere of NBC's Communityas an anthropology professor. In 2010 she also guest starred in The Middle& 30 Rock. She also had a role as Mrs. Claus in Prep& Landing: Operation: Secret Santa, the sequel to Disney's Prep & Landing.

Betty also starred in the Hallmark Hall of fame presentation of The Lost Valentine on January 30, 2011. This presentation garnered the highest rating for a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation in the last four years and according to the Nielsen Media Research TV rating service won first place in the prime time slot for that date.

Betty White's latest book, If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't), was published in 2011.

NBC announced in 2011 that White will be hosting a new show on the network, [Betty White's] Off Their Rockers.

In September 2011, she teamed up with English singer Luciana to produce a remix of her song I'm Still Hot. The song was released digitally on September 22, 2011 and the video later premiered on October 6, 2011. It was made for a campaign for a life settlement program, The Lifeline.

Happy Birthday Betty

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: January 2011 PART IV

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:58:06 PST

Listen to me on me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:

Realms of Music
WROM
Wednesday 9/7
9pm ET, 6pm PT

Share-a-Vision Radio

KSAV.org
Friday 9/9
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT

KWDJ 1360-AM
Ridgecrest, Calif.
Saturday 9/10
Following Dodgers baseball

InternetVoicesRadio.com
Tuesday 9/13
11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT

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

January22, 1947

Thefirst television station west of the Mississippi River goes on the air.

The station was KTLA-TV in Hollywood. The stationbegan broadcasting at 8:30 p.m. from a converted garage. When the first EmmyAwards were handed out two years later, KTLA swept the awards for its originalprogramming.

January22, 1972

Emergencypremieres

Emergency,produced by Dragnet star and producer Jack Webb, premieres, featuringthe same semidocumentary style popularized by Webb's earlier police drama. Emergencywas based on the paramedic program that started in Los Angeles, California in1969. Senator Alan Cranston actually praised the show for informing the publicabout the value of funding such programs!
The show focused on the adventures of paramedics Roy DeSoto and Johnny Gage.The show, which ran from 1972 to 1977, foreshadowed later hits like E.R.,with its interwoven comic and serious subplots.

Julie London was married to fellow Emergency castmember Bobby Troup. In an earlier marriage, London was married to Jack Webb.Bobby Troup was a bandleader before becoming an actor.

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: How TODAY Began: Life in 1952

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:18:30 PST

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

In honor of TODAY’s 60th anniversary, take a look at how the show started in 1952 with Dave Garroway, and see what the world was like in the early 1950s.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

TV CONFIDENTIAL Archives: Jan. 4, 2012

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 07:26:17 PST

Show No. 120
Jan. 4, 2012

First hour: Tony Figueroa and Donna Allen join Ed for an expanded edition of This Week in TV History that remembers Dabney Coleman's 80th birthday, the 60th anniversary of the premiere of Dragnet, and the 40th anniversary of the death of Pete Duel.

Second hour: Ed welcomes Stephen Battaglio, business editor for TV Guide and the author of From Yesterday to Today: Six Decades of America’s Favorite Morning Show, a behind-the-scenes look at The Today Show that includes portraits of Dave Garroway, Barbara Walters, Bryant Gumbel, Tom Brokaw, Jane Pauley and Katie Couric and many of the other people who helped shape the history of the pioneering NBC program.

Bonus Segment: More This Week in TV History: Ed, Tony and Donna celebrate the 75th birthday of Mary Tyler Moore by discussing favorite episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show, the famous "Chuckles Bites the Dust" episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the Lou Grant spin-off series, and the legacy of MTM Productions.

Walter Koenig’s Things to Come: Next on TVC

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:06 PST

Authors Walter Koenig, Larry Brody and Peter Ford will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Jan. 11-17 at the following times and venues:

WROM Radio
Detroit, MI
Wednesday 1/11
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Sunday 1/15
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Click the Listen Live button at RealmsofMusic.com

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 1/13
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click the Listen Live button at KSAV.org

The Coyote KWTY-FM
Ridgecrest, Calif.
Sunday 1/15
9pm PT
Monday 1/16
Midnight ET
Click the Listen Live button at Coyote395.com

Passionate World Radio
Ann Arbor, MI
Tuesday 1/17
11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT
Click the Listen Live button at InternetVoicesRadio.com

Known worldwide to three generations of sci-fi fans for playing two iconic TV characters ― Alfred Bester on Babylon 5 and, of course, Pavel Chekhov on the original Star Trek television series and the first six Star Trek motion pictures ― Walter Koenig is also an accomplished writer, director and producer who continues to leave his mark in stage, film and publishing, including the four-part comic book series Raver and Things to Come, both of which will be released as graphic novels in 2012. We’ll ask Walter how he got involved in the comic book industry, as well as the short film he recently completed, and perhaps a question or two about Star Trek, when he joins us in our second hour.

Walter Koenig will be receiving a star on the venerable Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012, making him the last of the seven cast members of the original Star Trek series to be so honored. beginning in January. Walter will also be appearing at OZ TREK 7 in Melbourne, Australia on Jan. 28-29, 2012, as well as at FED CON 21 in Dusseldorf, Germany on May 17-20, 2012, and the Annual Official Star Trek Convention at the Rio Suites Hotel in Las Vegas Aug. 9-12, 2012.

For more information on these and other upcoming appearances, go to WalterKoenigSite.com.

Also joining us this week will be award-winning writer/producer Larry Brody, whose many credits in television include such shows as Police Story, Mike Hammer, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Barnaby Jones, Cannon and The Streets of San Francisco. Larry also runs TVWriter.com, an excellent resource for both new and experienced writers of television, while his books about the TV industry include Television Writing From The Inside Out and Turning Points in Television.

In keeping with our Star Trek theme for this program, one of the mentors who helped Larry the most in his career was none other than Gene Roddenberry. We’ll talk about that, and more, when Larry Brody joins us in our first hour.

Plus: Part 2 of our conversation with actor and author Peter Ford. Peter’s book, Glenn Ford: A Life, provides a very nuanced look at both the private and professional lives of Glenn Ford, one of America’s greatest motion picture actors. We’ll talk about Glenn’s early years as a contract player with Columbia Pictures, his troubled marriage to fellow screen legend Eleanor Powell, some of his noted love affairs, and a whole lot more.

Peter Ford is also the subject of A Little Prince, a forthcoming documentary by Alexander Roman about Peter’s life as the only son of Glenn Ford and Eleanor Powell. For more information about the film, as well as to view the trailer, go to www.alitttleprince.net.

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Wednesdays and Sundays 8pm ET, 5pm PT
WROM: Realms of Music
Fridays 7pm ET and PT
Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
Sundays 9pm PT, Mondays Midnight ET
The Coyote KWTY-FM (Ridgecrest, Calif.)
Tuesdays 11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT
Passionate World Radio
www.tvconfidential.net
blog.tvconfidential.net
Also available as a podcast via iTunes and FeedBurner
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This Week in Television History: January 2012 PART II

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 07:25:06 PST

Listen to me on me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:

Realms of Music
WROM
Wednesday 9/7
9pm ET, 6pm PT

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

January14, 1952

Todaypremieres on NBC.

It was thebrainchild of Pat Weaver, who was then vice-president of NBC. Weaver was president of the company from 1953 to1955, during which time Today's late-night companion The Tonight Show premiered. In pre-production, the show's proposed title was TheRise and Shine Revue. Today was the first show of its genre when it signed on withoriginal host Dave Garroway. The show blended national news headlines, in-depthinterviews with newsmakers, lifestyle features, other light news and gimmicks(including the presence of the chimpanzee J. Fred Muggsas the show's mascot during the early years), and local station news updates. Today'sfemale anchors were once called "Today girls." Other hosts over theyears have included John Chancellor, Hugh Downs, Florence Henderson, BarbaraWalters, Tom Brokaw, Bryant Gumbel, Jane Pauley, and Katie Couric. Current cast includes Matt Lauerand Ann Curry, with weatherman Al Roker,news anchor Natalie Morales.

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: Three Kings Day in Puerto Rico

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:01 PST

Okay, in honor of
Three Kings Day (el dia de los Reys Magos)

I thought we should have one more
"HOLIDAY SOR-BAY".

Stay Tuned &
¡Feliz día de Reyes!

Tony Figueroa

	KSAV San Francisco Bay Area Fridays 7pm ET and PT
	The Coyote KWTY-FM Ridgecrest, CA Sundays 10pm PT Mondays 1am ET
	PWR Ann Arbor, MI Tuesdays 11:05pm ET 8:05pm PT
	WROM Detroit, MI various times throughout the week