Friday, September 30, 2011

Your Mental Sorbet: Soap - Chuck, Bob, Jodie and the Refrigerator

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

Jay Johnson is best known for his role on the television show Soap. He played Chuck Campbell, a ventriloquist who believed his puppet Bob was real and demanded everyone treat Bob as human. Chuck never went anywhere (even on dates) without his dummy Bob, who basically said all the things that Chuck was too polite (or repressed) to say. 

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

TV CONFIDENTIAL Archives: Sept. 23, 2011

Show No. 105
Sept. 23, 2011
First hour: Film and TV animator Gene Hamm (The Smurfs, SuperFriends, The Dream Hat, Created Equal) joins Ed to discuss his work with the artists of Alchemia, a Northern California program that provides classes and venues for mentally or physically challenged adults. Also in this hour: Tony Figueroa, Donna Allen and Wesley Hyatt (Emmy Award Winning Nighttime Television Shows, Television’s Top 100) join Ed for a look at the highs and lows of this year's Emmy Awards telecast.
Second hour: Ed welcomes Tony Award-winning actress Julie Newmar (Batman, Li’l Abner, Silk Stockings, The Marriage-Go-Round, My Living Doll). Julie's new book, The Conscious Catwoman Explains Life on Earth, is a delightful collection of her wit and wisdom that shows how real beauty, for all of us, lies in cultivating a happy, healthy inner life. Julie's upcoming appearances include Sunday, Oct. 2 at the West Hollywood Book Fair; Wednesday, Oct. 5 at Book Soup in Los Angeles; Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Santa Monica Library in Santa Monica; and Saturday, Nov. 12 at Vromans Bookstore in Pasadena.

The Road to Freedom, Forever Families and British TV Imports: Next on TV CONFIDENTIAL


Join us for a look back at American adaptations of popular British TV series on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Sept. 2-Oct. 4 at the following times and venues:

WROM Radio
Wednesday 9/28
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Sunday 10/2
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Share-a-Vision Radio
KSAV.org
Friday 9/30
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT

KWDJ 1360-AM
Ridgecrest, Calif.
Saturday 10/1
8pm PT
Sunday 10/2
2pm PT

InternetVoicesRadio.com
Tuesday 10/4
11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT

British television series have been a fertile source of inspiration for American TV producers for more than four decades, not just comedies such as Til Death Do Us Part and Steptoe and Son (from which All in the Family and Sanford and Son were developed, respectively), but also dramatic programs such as Life on Mars, The Killing and Prime Suspect. In some cases, such as All in the Family, Three’s Company and The Office, the American version proved just as successful as the British original. More other than not, however (such as the attempts to adapt Fawlty Towers, Couplings and Absolutely Fabulous), the American counterparts fall woefully short.

We’ll take a look at notable American adaptations of British shows — some that work, and some that didn’t — when television historian
Paul Green (Pete Duel: A Biography, Jennifer Jones: The Life and Films
) and writer, producer and comedy scholar Dan Farren (Story Salon) join Tony Figueroa and me in our second hour.




















Also joining us this week will be Christine Devine, Emmy Award-winning news anchor for KTTV, FOX 11, and the spokesperson for Wednesday's Child, a national program that helps children from the foster care system find permanent families. The Wednesday's Child feature is seen every week on FOX affiliates in Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. Christine's book, Finding a Forever Family: A News Anchor's Notebook on Adoption Within the Foster Care System, is a very touching story of how the Wednesday’s Child program changed not only her life, but also the lives of more than 500 foster children and foster parents across the country.

Christine Devine recently received the prestigious Governor’s Award from the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences for the Los Angeles area in recognition of her efforts on behalf of Wednesday’s Child. In addition, the Wednesday’s Child program will be receiving the National Congressional Coalition's Angels in Adoption Award in Washington, D.C. during the month of in October. Only a select number of individuals, including Laura Bush and Muhammad Ali, have received the national honor. We’ll talk about how Christine came to be involved with Wednesday’s Child, and more, when she joins us in our first hour.


Also in our first hour, we’ll meet rising independent film director Brendan Moriarty. Brendan’s first film, The Road to Freedom, tells the story of Sean Flynn, the son of legendary movie actor Errol Flynn, who gave up a promising film career to become a photojournalist for TIME magazine — where he not only helped bright to light images of the Vietnam War that were not known to the American public, but also discovered a sense of purpose for himself. The Road to Freedom opens in Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, Austin, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities across the country during the week of Oct. 3.





TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about televisionWednesdays and Sundays
10pm ET, 7pm PT
WROM: Realms of Music
Fridays 7pm ET and PT Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
Saturdays 8pm PT
Sundays 2pm PT
KWDJ 1360-AM (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
Find us now on
Facebook

Monday, September 26, 2011

This Week in Television History: September 2011 Part IV

Listen to me on me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:

Share-a-Vision Radio
KSAV.org
Friday 9/2
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT

KWDJ 1360-AM
Ridgecrest, Calif.
Saturday 9/3
8pm PT
Sunday 9/4
2pm PT

InternetVoicesRadio.com
Tuesday 9/6
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.

 
September 26, 1986

Dallas episode Return to Camelot airs. Pam's stunned to find Bobby alive in her shower, the events from his death onward all a dream.


September 28, 1901

Ed Sullivan is born in New York City.  
During the peak of its popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, Sullivan’s program showcased a wide range of entertainers, including Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Rudolf Nureyev, Jerry Lewis and Bob Hope.

Sullivan worked as a newspaper reporter and columnist in New York during the 1920s and 1930s and also hosted and produced vaudeville shows and benefits. In 1948, he became the master of ceremonies of a weekly TV variety show dubbed Toast of the Town. In 1955, the program, which aired Sunday nights on CBS, was renamed The Ed Sullivan Show. Although Sullivan was often awkward and self-conscious on camera, he was a hit with audiences and his program had broad appeal. In addition to big-name entertainers, the show featured animal acts, athletes, comedians, dancers and opera singers, along with such regulars as Topo Gigio, a mouse puppet with an Italian accent, and a ventriloquist named Senor Wences.

Notable moments in the history of The Ed Sullivan Show include its broadcast on January 6, 1957, when Elvis Presley appeared on the program and the cameras shot him from the waist up because his gyrating hips were considered too scandalous for family television.  On February 9, 1964, more than 70 million viewers tuned in to the show for the American TV debut of the Liverpool-based rock quartet The Beatles.

Sullivan was also notable for featuring African-American performers on his program. According to the Museum of Broadcast Communications: “At a time when virtually all sponsors balked at permitting black performers to take the stage, Sullivan embraced Pearl Bailey over the objections of his sponsors. He also showcased black entertainers as diverse as Nat “King” Cole, Leontine Price, Louis Armstrong, George Kirby, Richard Pryor, Duke Ellington, Richie Havens and the Supremes.”

The Ed Sullivan Show was cancelled in 1971. Sullivan died of cancer at the age of 73 on October 13, 1974. In 1967, CBS renamed the Billy Rose Theater, from which Sullivan broadcast his show, the Ed Sullivan Theater. Since 1993, David Letterman has hosted his late-night talk show from the Ed Sullivan Theater, which is located at Broadway and 53rd Street in Manhattan.


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



Tony Figueroa

Friday, September 23, 2011

Your Mental Sorbet: Ladies of comedy Emmys 2011

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

Emmy win Melissa McCarthy

 

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

TV Confidential Archives: Sept. 16, 2011

Show No. 104
Sept. 16, 2011
First hour: Television critic Jane Boursaw joins Ed for a preview of the fall TV season, including a look at such notable new series as Pan Am, The Playboy Club, Terra Nova, New Girl, The X Factor, Person of Interest, Up All Night, Revenge and Ringer. Also in this hour: Pop culture historian Martin Grams with a sneak peak at the Sixth Annual MidAtlantic Nostalgia Convention, which takes place Sept. 22-23-24 at the Marriott Hotel in Hunt Valley, Maryland.

Second hour: Ed welcomes Jennifer Armstrong, senior writer for Entertainment Weekly and the author of Why? Because We Still Like You, an oral history of The Mickey Mouse Club featuring behind-the-scenes recollections from Annette Funicello, Cubby O’Brien, Lonnie Burr, Doreen Tracey, Darlene Gillespie, Don Grady and other members of the original Mousketeers. Also in this hour: Phil Gries with Part 1 of a special look back at Jackie Gleason, the short-lived prime talk show hosted by the Great One on the heels of the collossal failure of his game show, You're in the Picture.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Julie Newmar: Next on TV CONFIDENTIAL

Actress and author Julie Newmar and animator Gene Hamm will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Sept. 21-27 at the following times and venues:
WROM Radio
Wednesday 9/21
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Sunday 9/25
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Share-a-Vision Radio
KSAV.org
Friday 9/23
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT

KWDJ 1360-AM
Ridgecrest, Calif.
Saturday 9/24
Following Dodgers baseball

InternetVoicesRadio.com
Tuesday 9/27
11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT

Known to audiences worldwide as the original Catwoman on the Batman television series, as well as her stage roles as Stupefyin' Jones in Li’l Abner, Vera in Silk Stockings, Tony Award-winning performance as Katrin Sveg in The Marriage-Go-Round, and her appearances on such classic shows as The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Get Smart and Columbo,
Julie Newmar is also an accomplished dancer, entrepreneur, inventor and now, author
.

Julie’s new book,
The Conscious Catwoman Explains Life on Earth
, is a delightful collection of her wit and wisdom that shows how real beauty, for all of us, lies in cultivating a happy, healthy inner life. We’ll talk about that, her fondness for the Catwoman character, and some of her other favorite roles when Julie Newmar joins us in our second hour.
Julie Newmar has several appearances lined up in October and November, including:

Sunday, Oct. 2 at the West Hollywood Book Fair in West Hollywood Park beginning at 3:30pm;

Wednesday, Oct. 5 at Book Soup, 8818 West Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, beginning at 7pm;

Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Santa Monica Library, 601 Santa Monica Blvd in Santa Monica beginning at 7pm;

and Saturday, Nov 12 at Vromans Bookstore, 395 East Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena beginning at 5pm.

























Our program this week will also include a return appearance by
film and TV animator Gene Hamm. Gene’s credits include The Smurfs, SuperFriends, Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings, Art Clokey’s Gumby and his own original animated feature, The Dream Hat. Gene’s latest effort, Created Equal, is a documentary about the art and artists of Alchemia, a program in Northern California that provides classes and venues for mentally or physically challenged adults. Julie Newmar is the narrator of Created Equal. We’ll talk about the film, and more, when Gene joins us during our first hour.

We’ll also talk about this week’s Emmy Awards telecast (the good, the bad and the fashions) along with Tony Figueroa, Donna Allen and Wesley Hyatt. Full program as always... we certainly hope you'll join us. 






TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about televisionWednesdays 10pm ET, 7pm PT
WROM: Realms of Music
Fridays 7pm ET and PT Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
Saturdays 8pm PT
Sundays 2pm PT
KWDJ 1360-AM (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
Find us now on
Facebook

Monday, September 19, 2011

This Week in Television History: September 2011 PART III

Listen to me on me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:


KSAV – San Francisco Bay Area


Fridays 7pm ET and PT


KWDJ 1360 AM – Ridgecrest, CA


Saturdays 11pm ET, 8pm PT Sundays 5pm ET, 2pm PT


Passionate World Radio -


Tuesdays 11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT


As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and 0.
legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.


September 23, 1961

Weekly TV movie program Saturday Night at the Movies debuts on NBC, starting with the 1953 film How to Marry a Millionaire.


The program was the first major network initiative to broadcast recent movies on the air. Although movies from the 1930s and '40s had appeared on TV, the networks had resisted showing more recent films. Until the 1960s, a fierce rivalry existed between the television and movie industries, and neither wanted to promote the other. However, with the success of Saturday Night at the Movies, relatively recent films became a staple of TV programming.

September 24, 1936

Muppet creator Jim Henson is born in Greenville, Mississippi.

Henson joined a puppet club in high school and used his skills to land a job at a local TV station between high school and college. His homemade puppets delighted audiences, and during his freshman year at the University of Maryland the TV station gave him his own five minute show, called Sam and Friends. The show ran twice a day, just before popular news show the Huntley-Brinkley Report and again before the Tonight Show with Steve Allen. Henson's program ran for eight years and won a local Emmy in 1958.

In 1955, Henson took an old green coat of his mother's, attached two halves of a ping-pong ball for eyes, and created a lizard-like character named Kermit, who later evolved into Kermit the Frog. Other familiar characters took shape on Sam and Friends, as Henson's Muppets multiplied. In 1957, Henson made the first of more than 300 TV commercials for Wilkins Coffee. In 1963 Rowlf the Dog became a regular on variety program The Jimmy Dean Show, which ran until 1966.

Henson showed an interest in filmmaking in the mid 1960s, making a short film called Timepiece in 1965, which was nominated for an Oscar. A few years later, he met Joan Ganz Cooney, a TV producer heading up a study of children and television at a seminar for educators in Boston. Ganz was formulating an idea for a kids' TV program she called The Preschool Educational Television Show, and she quickly persuaded Henson and his Muppets to join her. The show, with its new, snappier title, Sesame Street, was launched in 1969, and generations of children fell in love with Big Bird, Kermit the Frog, Ernie and Bert, Oscar the Grouch, Grover, Cookie Monster, and many other Henson creations.

After seven years of children's television, Henson wanted to explore more sophisticated possibilities for his Muppets. He shopped around an idea for a variety show starring Kermit, but none of the networks were interested. Undeterred, Henson created The Muppet Show as a syndicated series, which became the world's most watched TV show, with 235 million viewers in more than 100 countries. The program ran from 1976 to 1981 and won three Emmys. Meanwhile, the Muppets launched a movie career in 1979 with The Muppet Movie, followed by The Great Muppet Caper (1981) and The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984).

Other, less familiar Henson creatures appeared in The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986) with David Bowie, as well as in two cable TV series, Fraggle Rock and The Ghost of Faffner Hall. His Saturday morning cartoon, Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, was launched in 1984 and won four Emmys. Henson died of pneumonia in 1990.



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



Stay Tuned




Tony Figueroa

Friday, September 16, 2011

Your Mental Sorbet: Budweiser's 9/11 tribute commercial

Normally the "Mental Sorbet" is something that we could use to momentarily forget about those things that leave a bad taste in our mouths. This one is different because it is about a day we should never forget.


This Budweiser's 9/11 tribute commercial was making the rounds on Facebook for the last few days. This HD version was uploaded by on Sepember 11, 2011.

 

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa