Saturday, May 31, 2014

TV CONFIDENTIAL Archives: Show No. 234 with guests Marion Ross and Peter Key

TV CONFIDENTIALShow No. 234 with guests Marion Ross and Peter Key


Original Airdate: Week of May 21-26, 2014


First hour: Part 2 of Greg Ehrbar’s conversation with Peter Key, the son of Ted Key, the writer/cartoonist who created Hazel, developed the characters and format for what eventually became Mr. Peabody and Sherman and wrote three successful comedy movies for Disney: GusThe Million Dollar Duck and The Cat from Outer Space. Also in this hour: Tony Figueroa and Donna Allen remember the 10th anniversary of the final episode of Friends and the show’s subsequent impact on network TV comedies. 

Second hour: Ed, Tony and Donna welcome actress Marion Ross, “Mrs. C” on Happy Days, a character that TV Guide named one of the Top 10 TV Moms in television history. Marion recently filmed an episode of Hot in Cleveland that will air later this summer on TV Land, while Happy Days returns to Me-TV’s weeknight lineup beginning Monday, May 26.

Friday, May 30, 2014

Your Mental Sorbet: The Studio Tour 50 year Slide Show

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


I put together a Slide Show featuring pictures from 50 years of the Universal Studios Tour that is dedicated to everyone who ever gave a tour, drove a tram or popped a gate. 

Universal Pictures Centennial Fanfare co-composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Brian Tyler. 
Performed by the prestigious Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, Tenerife Film Choir and conducted by film music composer Diego Navarro.


Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Monday, May 26, 2014

Roy Orbison: Rhapsody in Black: Next on TVC


Author John Kruth and DVD producer Mark Milano will join us on a special encore presentation of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing May 28-June 2 at the following times and stations:

WROM Radio
Detroit, MI
Wednesday 5/28
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Sunday 6/1
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at WROMRadio.net

WYYR: Yesteryear Radio
Vero Beach, FL
Wednesday 5/28
9pm ET, 6pm PT
Click the On Air button at WYYR.com

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 5/30
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 6/1
11am ET, 8am PT
Also streaming at KSCO.com

Boost Radio Network
Paramus, NJ
Sunday 6/1
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Click on the On the Air button at BoostRadioNetwork.com

KHMB-AM 1710
Half Moon Bay, CA
Sunday 6/1
9pm PT
Monday 6/2
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 6/2
10pm ET, 7pm PT
with replays Tuesday thru Friday at 10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Talk Slot button at RadioSlot.com

2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the release of Mystery Girl, the final album by legendary singer/songwriter Roy Orbison, released just a few weeks after his tragic death on Dec. 6, 1988. Known for such iconic songs as “Blue Bayou,” “Running Scared,” “In Dreams” and, of course, “Pretty Woman,” Roy Orbison sang about love, pain and heartache like few others — no doubt, because he understood it like few others, having experienced more pain and misery than most of us will see in a lifetime, including the tragic deaths of his first wife and first two children — while his singular voice and inimitable style inspired the likes of Bruce Springsteen, k.d. lang, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, John Lennon, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, and countless other musicians.

We’ll remember The Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Famer this week with a replay of our November 2013 conversation with author and musician John Kruth. John’s book Rhapsody in Black: The Life and Music of Roy Orbison not only provides the back story behind every hit record of The Big O, but also includes information about Roy’s many appearances on television, including Roy Orbison: A Black and White Night, the award-winning special produced by Cinemax that is still considered one of the best concert films ever made. John Kruth will join us in our second hour.























Also joining us this week will be Mark Milano, curator ofKukla.tv, the official website of Kukla, Fran and Ollie, and the producer of Kukla, Fran and Ollie: The First Episodes. Mark recently released a third volume ofKukla, Fran and Ollie on DVD that includes guest appearances by guitarist Jose Greco, singer Dennis Day, and NBC news commentator H.V. Kaltenborn, plus black-and-white clips of two KFO episodes that were the first color television shows ever broadcast. Mark Milano will join us in our first hour..

Plus: Tony Figueroa and Donna Allen with an expanded edition of This Week in TV History

This Week in Television History: May 2014 PART IV

Listen to me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:




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.


May 30, 1908

Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and countless other Warner Bros. cartoon characters, was born in San Francisco. 

His parents, who ran a women's clothing business, moved with their son to Portland, Oregon, when Blanc was a child. Blanc began performing as a musician and singer on local radio programs in Portland before he was 20. In the late 1920s, he and his wife, Estelle, created a daily radio show called "Cobwebs and Nuts," which became a hit. Blanc made many other radio appearances and became a regular on Jack Benny's hit radio show, providing the sounds of Benny's ancient car (The Maxwell) and playing several other characters.

In 1937, Blanc made his debut with Warner Bros., providing the voice for a drunken bull in a short cartoon called "Picador Porky." Another actor provided the pig's voice, but Blanc later replaced him. In 1940, Bugs Bunny debuted in a short called "A Wild Hare." Blanc said he wanted the rabbit to sound tough and streetwise, so he created a comic combination of Bronx and Brooklyn accents. Other characters Blanc created for Warner Bros. included the Road Runner, Sylvester, and Tweety Bird. He performed in some 850 cartoons for Warner Bros. during his 50-year career. For other studios, he provided the voices of Barney Rubble and Dino the dinosaur in The Flintstones, Mr. Spacely for The Jetsons, and Woody Woodpecker's laugh.

In his 1988 autobiography, That's Not All Folks, Blanc described a nearly fatal traffic accident that left him in a coma. Unable to rouse him by using his real name, a doctor finally said, "How are you, Bugs Bunny?" and Mel replied, in Bugs' voice, "Ehh, just fine, doc. How are you?"

Blanc continued to provide voices until the late 1980s, most memorably voicing Daffy Duck dueling with Donald Duck in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988). After Mel Blanc died of complications from heart disease, his son Noel, trained by his father, provided the voices for the characters the elder Blanc had helped bring to life.

June 1, 2009
Conan O'Brien debuted as the host of NBC's Tonight Show

In January 2010 he stepped down after a dispute with the network. 

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




Stay Tuned



Tony Figueroa