I represent the first generation whom, when we were born, the television was now a permanent fixture in our homes. When I was born people had breakfast with Barbara Walters, dinner with Walter Cronkite, and slept with Johnny Carson.
Read the full "Pre-ramble"
Actress Shirley Jones and authors Barry Monush and James Sheridan will join us as part of a “Best of” edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Apr. 16-21 at the following times and stations:
WROM Radio Detroit, MI Wednesday 4/16 8pm ET, 5pm PT 2am ET, 11pm PT Sunday 4/19 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 4/18 7pm ET, 4pm PT 10pm ET, 7pm PT Click on the Listen Live button at KSAV.org or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in KSAV
Indiana Talks Marion, IN Weekends, various times Click on the player at IndianaTalks.com or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in Indiana Talks
KSCO-AM 1080 San Jose, Santa Cruz and Salinas, CA KOMY-AM 1340 La Selva Beach and Watsonville, CA Sunday 4/20 11am ET, 8am PT Also streaming at KSCO.com
KHMB-AM 1710 Half Moon Bay, CA Sunday 4/20 9pm PT Monday 4/14 Midnight ET Click on the Listen Live button at KHMBRadio.com or use the Live365 app on your smartphone and type in KHMB
The Radio Slot Network San Francisco, CA Monday 4/21 10pm ET, 7pm PT with replays Tuesday thru Friday at 10pm ET, 7pm PT Click on the Talk Slot button at RadioSlot.com
This week’s program will feature encore presentations of segments about people who were recently in the news, including Shirley Jones and Hugh Hefner — both of whom celebrated birthdays earlier this month.
Long before she began playing Mrs. Partridge, Shirley Jones was not only one of the top musical stars in film and on Broadway (includingOklahoma, Carousel and The Music Man), but an accomplished dramatic actress in such films as Silent Night, Lonely Night, The Happy Ending and, of course, her Academy Award-winning turn as Lulu Baines in Elmer Gantry. But because she left such a lasting impression as an ingénue in the ’60s, and as the beloved mom on The Partridge Family in the 1970s, many people tend to assume that Shirley Jones is as squeaky clean in real life as the fictional characters she’s played.
Shirley debunks that myth in a very candid new book, Shirley Jones: A Memoir, that not only discusses her life and career on stage, film and television, but reveals for the first time the story of her often tumultuous marriage with the love of her life, actor Jack Cassidy. In fact, in many ways Shirley’s book is much a biography of Jack Cassidy as it is the story of her own life. We’ll talk about that, as well as ask her aboutThe Partridge Family and some of her other famous film and TV roles when Shirley Jones joins in our second hour.
Our first hour will include a look back at April 25, 1989 — the day on which television icon Lucille Ball passed away — as part of This Week in TV History. Although known by three generations for her comic genius, Lucille Ball was also the first woman to head a major production company, Desilu Productions, during which time she gave the greenlight to some of the most popular and profitable TV shows of all time, including Star Trek and Mission: Impossible. We’ll then round out the hour with a replay of our October 2011 conversation with James Sheridan and Barry Monush, co-authors ofLucille Ball FAQ, a full portrait of Lucy from her life growing up, her love interests, her various inspirations, and, of course, tons of information about her films and TV series.
Also this week: An encore presentation of a July 2011 edition of The Sounds of Lost Television in which Phil Gries remembers some of the early television ventures of Playboy magazine Hugh Hefner, includingPlayboy’s Penthouse (a precursor to Playboy After Dark) and 1962 profile on Keyhole, a documentary series produced by Ziv.
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.
April 16, 1949
Garroway
at Large debuts.
Radio personality Dave Garroway moves to TV, as the host of one of television's
earliest musical-variety shows. Garroway at Large was one of the two
most important series to be made in Chicago, along with Kukla, Fran &
Ollie, during the city's brief period in the late 1940s as an important
production center for network programs. Garroway at Large ran until
1951.
Dave Garroway started out
as a page at NBC and worked his way up to the position of radio announcer for
various NBC programs. From 1944 to 1948, he announced for the NBC radio series The
World's Great Novels. The show featured dramatic readings of classic novels
and later evolved into NBC University of the Air, which offered
accredited radio-assisted degrees in literature. Garroway also hosted his own
radio talk show with music, which aired under various names from 1946 to 1955.
Starting
in 1952, Garroway became the longtime host of NBC's Today show. He
continued some prime-time work, though, and when Garroway at Large
ended, he tried another show, called The Dave Garroway Show, in 1953.
The second show, however, didn't take off, partly because of stiff competition
from the other networks, which were airing popular programs Mama and
Ozzie and Harriet.
April 18, 1929
First Our Gang film with sound debuts. Watch Our Gang Rascals Small Talk Now with Music Score in Entertainment | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com Small Talk,
the first "Our Gang" picture with sound, debuts on this day in 1929.
Producer Hal Roach had started producing the Our Gang short comedies in 1922.
The series' mischievous band of kids, later known as the "Little
Rascals," quickly caught on with the public, especially after characters
Spanky, Alfalfa, and Darla were added in the early 1930s. In 1938, Roach sold
the Our Gang rights to MGM, which produced the shorts until 1944. In total,
more than 100 Our Gang films were made.
April 18, 1979
Real People premiered.
Real Peoplehad the format of a comedy talk show taped in front of a large studio audience. Each segment featured a news report consisting of visits to people with unique occupations or hobbies, occasionally bringing some of them in-studio to interact with the audience. In its early seasons,Real Peoplewas NBC's most popular series, often scoring at the top of theratings, and was a rare hit for thenetworkat a time when NBC was a distant third in the ratings and struggling with numerous flops. Segments included "funny pictures" and funny newspaper errors sent in by viewers, who were awarded aReal PeopleT-shirt. According to a 2008 interview with producerGeorge Schlatter, who also co-createdRowan & Martin's Laugh-Infor NBC, the show had covered serious topics like war heroes.
