This Week in Television History: July 2021 PART I

July 10, 1989

Mel Blanc died.

Mel Blanc began smoking cigarettes when he was 9 years old. He continued his pack-a-day habit until he was diagnosed with emphysema, which pushed him to quit at age 77. On May 19, 1989, Blanc was checked into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center by his family when they noticed he had a bad cough while shooting a commercial; he was originally expected to recover. While sleeping in his hospital bed, Blanc accidentally fell and broke his femur resulting in fat embolism in the brain. He died on July 10 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California at the age of 81. He was interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California. Blanc's will stated his desire to have the inscription on his gravestone read, "THAT'S ALL FOLKS" (the phrase was a trademark of Blanc's character Porky Pig).

Blanc is regarded as the most prolific voice actor in the history of the industry. He was the first voice actor to receive on-screen credit.

Blanc's death was considered a significant loss to the cartoon industry because of his skill, expressive range, and sheer volume of continuing characters he portrayed, which are currently taken up by several other voice talents. Indeed, as movie critic Leonard Maltin once pointed out, "It is astounding to realize that Tweety Bird and Yosemite Sam are the same man!"

According to Blanc, Sylvester the Cat was the easiest character to voice because "It's just my normal speaking voice with a spray at the end." Yosemite Sam was the hardest because of his loudness and raspyness.

A doctor who once examined Blanc's throat found that he possessed unusually thick, powerful vocal cords that gave him an exceptional range. The doctor reported that they rivaled only those of famed opera singer Enrico Caruso.

After his death, Blanc's voice continued to be heard in newly released productions, such as recordings of Dino from The Flintstones in the 1994 live-action film based on the series and its sequel. Archive recordings of Blanc's performance as the Maxwell automobile from The Jack Benny Program were also used in the 2003 movie Looney Tunes: Back in Action. More recently, archive recordings of Blanc have been featured in new CGI-animated Looney Tunes theatrical shorts; I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat (shown with Happy Feet Two) and Daffy's Rhapsody (shown with Journey 2: The Mysterious Island).

Blanc trained his son Noel in the field of voice characterization. Although the younger Blanc has performed his father's characters (particularly Porky Pig) on some programs, he has chosen not to become a full-time voice artist.

For his contributions to radio and animation, Mel Blanc has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6385 Hollywood Boulevard. His character Bugs Bunny also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (the only others to have received this honor are Walt Disney as both himself and Mickey Mouse; Jim Henson as both himself and Kermit the Frog; and Mike Myers as both himself and Shrek).

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

This Week in TV History February 28, 2021 Gavin MacLeod 90th Birthday

Your Mental Sorbet: The Love Boat TV Cast Reunion | Stars in the House

Here is another

"Mental Sorbet"

A little spark of madness

that we could use to momentarily forget about those

things that leave a bad taste in our mouths

.

The Love Boat TV Cast Reunion with cast members Gavin MacLeod (Captain Stubing), Fred Grandy (Gopher), Ted Lange (Isaac), Bernie Kopell (Doc), Lauren Tewes (Julie) and Jill Whelan (Vicki) joined by frequent guest star Charo (April Lopez) and Jack Jones, who will perform the series' theme song.

To make a tax deductible donation to The Actors Fund: https://www.starsinthehouse.com #starsinthehouse

Stay Tuned and Wash Your Hands 

Tony Figueroa

Dawn Wells

I have been resonating with young boys for 50 years, [But] it was wholesome and not risque. So mom and dad didn’t care what you watched. And I think we raised a good generation because of that… I’ve had soldiers tell me, ‘I carried your picture in my helmet.’ I had families say, ‘The only way we ever got along was when we were watching your show.’ It had an impact that was far more than just 30 minutes. 

– Dawn Wells

Dawn Elberta Wells
October 18, 1938 – December 30, 2020

Dawn Wells died today at the age of 82 in Los Angeles, due to COVID-19 complications.

In 1959, Wells was crowned Miss Nevada and represented her state in the Miss America 1960 pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

In Hollywood, Wells made her debut on ABC's The Roaring 20s and the movie The New Interns and was cast in episodes of such television series as The Joey Bishop Show, 77 Sunset Strip, The Cheyenne Show, Maverick, and Bonanza, before she took the role of Mary Ann on Gilligan's Island. She reprised her character in the various Gilligan's Island reunion specials, including the reunion cartoon spin-off Gilligan's Planet and three reunion movies: Rescue from Gilligan's Island, The Castaways on Gilligan's Island, and The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island.

She also appeared as a guest star on Wagon Train, Tales of Wells Fargo, 87th Precinct, Surfside 6, Hawaiian Eye, Ripcord, The Everglades, The Detectives, It's a Man's World, Channing, Laramie, Burke's Law, The Invaders, The Wild Wild West, The F.B.I., Vega$, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Matt Houston, ALF, Herman's Head, Three Sisters, Pastor Greg, and Roseanne.

Wells had small roles in the early 1960s films Palm Springs Weekend

 and The New Interns, and later starred with Michael Dante in the independent 1975 film Winterhawk, playing a Western settler kidnapped by a Native Ametican chief. Her other films include The Town That Dreaded Sundown, Return to Boggy Creek, Lover's Knot, Soulmates, Forever for Now, and Super Sucker. In fall 2011, she began filming Silent But Deadly (originally titled Hotel Arthritis),^[4] a comedy horror film released in 2012.

Following Gilligan's Island, Wells embarked on a theater career, appearing in nearly one hundred theatrical productions as of July 2009. She spent the majority of the 1970s, and 1980s, touring in musical theater productions. She also had a one-woman show at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in 1985.

In 1993, Wells published Mary Ann's Gilligan's Island Cookbook with co-writers Ken Beck and Jim Clark, including a foreword by Bob Denver. She was close to Alan Hale Jr., who played The Skipper on Gilligan's Island, even after the series completed its run, and he contributed a family recipe ("Kansas Chicken and Dumplings") to her cookbook. Hale's character was the inspiration behind such concoctions as Skipper's Coconut Pie, Skipper's Navy Bean Soup, and Skipper's Goodbye Ribeye, and he is depicted as Skipper Jonas Grumby in numerous photographs throughout the book. She said in a 2014 interview with GoErie.com, "Alan could not have been kinder to a young actress. He was a real peach."

In 2005, Wells consigned for sale her original gingham blouse and shorts ensemble from her signature role. Beverly Hills auction house Profiles in History sold it for $20,700.

In 2014, Wells released What Would Mary Ann Do? A Guide to Life, which she co-wrote with Steve Stinson. The book was released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Gilligan's Island.

In May 2016, Wells was named Marketing Ambassador to MeTV Network. In January 2019, she promoted the Gilligan's Island television series on the MeTV television network.

Wells lent her support to the Denver Foundation, a West Virginia charity chaired by Dreama Denver, widow of Wells' Gilligan’s Island co-star Bob Denver. In November 2009, she appeared at the Denver Foundation's Christmas Wish Celebrity Auction, helping to raise funds for the disabled and disadvantaged in West Virginia.For several years, Wells operated a business, Wishing Wells Collections, making clothing for people with limited mobility. She was the founder of the Idaho Film and Television Institute, a not-for-profit educational organization with "a vision of education, technical training and economic development in Southeastern Idaho." She organized Spud Fest, a regional annual family movie festival, and was a spokeswoman for Idaho Potatoes.   

Good Night Dawn

Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa

This Week in TV History December 22th 2020 "Christmas Lists" Edition

Donna and I Share our Christmas Viewing Lists

Dee Wallace, 007, and the Most Interesting Man in the World: Next on TVC

Actress, author, teacher and radio host Dee Wallace and actor and author Jonathan Goldsmith will join us this weekend on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing July 7-10 at the following times and venues:

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 7/7
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at KSAV.org
Use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in KSAV
Hear us on the KSAV channel on CX Radio Brazil
Hear us on your cell phone or landline number by dialing 712-432-4235

Indiana Talks
Marion, IN
Saturday 7/8
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Sunday 7/9
10am ET, 7am PT
Click on the player at IndianaTalks.com
or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in Indiana Talks

WON 920 The Apple
Brooklyn, NY
Saturday 7/8
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Streaming at www.920won.caster.fm

KSCO AM-1080 and FM-104.1
San Jose, Santa Cruz and Salinas, CA
KOMY AM-1340
La Selva Beach and Watsonville, CA
Sunday 7/9
9am ET, 6am PT
Also streaming at KSCO.com
or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in KSCO

CROC Radio
Kimberley, British Columbia, Canada
Sunday 7/9
1pm ET, 10am PT
Streaming at CROCRadio.com
or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in CROC

KHMB AM-1710
KHMV-LP 100.9 FM
Half Moon Bay, CA
Sunday 7/9
9pm PT
Monday 7/10
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at KHMBRadio.com

RadioSlot.com
San Francisco, CA
Monday 7/10
10pm ET, 7pm PT
with replays Tuesday thru Friday at 10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Talk Slot button at RadioSlot.com

PWRNetwork
Ann Arbor, MI ~ Boston, MA ~ Chicago, IL ~ Melrose, FL ~ Los Angeles, CA
Various times throughout the week
on the Entertainment Channel on PWRNetwork.com
and the PWR channel on TuneIn

Known around the world as the mom on E.T., not to mention the legendary “scream queen” of such modern classic horror movies as The Howling, The Frighteners and Cujo, Dee Wallace is also an accomplished teacher, having earned her teaching credentials from The University of Kansas and taught in the public school system. She has also expanded her teaching platform, and the principles that she had found empowering for children, into daily sessions, her weekly radio show, Conscious Creation, and the stuffed bear Buppa LaPaloo, which also serves as an important teaching tool for children ages four to seven.

Dee Wallace currently stars in the popular Amazon Prime series Just Add Magic. She also has two movies coming out this year, Red Christmas and Charlie’s Gift—both of which challenged her as an actress, but in completely different ways. We’ll talk about this, and more, with Dee when she joins us in our second hour.

This week’s show will also include a conversation with actor Jonathan Goldsmith, the man known around the world as The Most Interesting Man in the World in a wildly popular series of commercials for Dos Equis beer that ran from 2007 to 2016. Though he patterned his delivery for The Most Interesting Man after his longtime friend Fernando Lamas, Jonathan brought more real world experience to the role than anyone could have imagined, from driving a garbage truck to make ends meet when he first came out to Hollywood, to saving a man from freezing to death in the High Sierras, to saving a woman from drowning, to debunking a mystic healer in the Philippines and defying the legendary curse of the ghost town of Bodie, California.

Jonathan shares these stories, plus many anecdotes from his fifty-year career in film and television, in his new book, Stay Interesting: I Don't Always Tell Stories About My Life, But Wh.... Jonathan Goldsmith will join us in our first hour.

Plus: Tony Figueroa and Donna Allen will pay tribute to the late Roger Moore as part of an expanded edition of This Week in TV History that will include highlights from Ed’s interview with Sir Roger in March 1994 in which the actor discussed his experience as a contract player at Warner Bros. and playing cousin Beau Maverick on Maverick. As Moore did not often speak publicly about his experience on Maverick, this is a rare interview indeed.  

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Fri 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org and CX Radio Brazil
Sat 8pm ET, 5pm PT and Sun 6pm ET, 3pm PT on Indiana Talks (Marion, IN)
Sat 10pm ET, 7pm PT on WON 920 The Apple (Brooklyn, NY)
Sun 9am ET, 6am PT KSCO-AM 1080 (San Jose, Santa Cruz and Salinas, CA)
Sun 9am ET, 6am PT KOMY-AM 1340 (La Selva Beach and Watsonville, CA)
Sun 1pm ET, 10am PT CROC Radio (British Columbia, Canada)
Sun 9pm PT, Mon Mid ET on KHMB-AM and FM (Half Moon Bay, CA)
Mon 10pm ET, 7pm PT on The Radio Slot Network (San Francisco, CA)
Replays various times throughout the week on the Entertainment Channel at PWRNetwork
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Jack Riley

John A. "Jack" Riley Jr.
December 30, 1935 - August 19, 2016

Jack Riley, died of pneumonia and infection today in Los Angeles. He was 80. 

Riley became a popular radio personality in Cleveland, along with his radio partner and "straight man" Jeff Baxter; The Baxter and Riley Show on WERE (1300 AM) featured not only music but comedy sketches and a slew of offbeat characters which Riley and Baxter voiced.

The show expanded for a time to local television on WEWS.

Riley gave up the radio show in the mid 1960s and moved to Los Angeles, where his friend Tim Conway helped him receive work writing comedy sketches, which later led to acting opportunities.

On May 18, 1975, he married Ginger Lawrence. They have two children.Riley was first a semi-regular in the cast of the 1960s sitcom Occasional Wife, a short-lived show on NBC in which he played Wally Frick, although, and perhaps, his greatest fame came in the character of Elliot Carlin, the neurotic, sour and selfish patient on The Bob Newhart Show.

He soon became one of the busiest guest stars on television in the 1970s and '80s.

Among his other TV credits are multiple appearances on such shows as Barney Miller, Hogan's Heroes, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, One Day at a Time,Gomer Pyle, Diff'rent Strokes and Night Court.

In 1973, he was cast as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family Fun-House, then in 1979, he starred in ABC's holiday telefilm The Halloween That Almost Wasn't (aka The Night Dracula Saved The World) as Warren the Werewolf (Wolf Man) of Budapest.

Riley appeared in a little-known HBO comedy special in 1980 called The Wild Wacky Wonderful World of Winter.

He was a regular cast member in The Tim Conway Show, a comedy-variety show that aired on CBS from March 1980 through the late Summer of 1981, acting in sketch comedy in each episode.

Riley was also a favorite of Mel Brooks, appearing in several of his films: High Anxiety, History of the World: Part I, To Be or Not to Be, and (cameo only) Spaceballs.

In 1985, he reprised his Bob Newhart Show role of Elliot Carlin on St. Elsewhere.

Riley has also been a ubiquitous voice in television and radio commercials, most notably in spots for Country Crock margarine. He also voiced the character "P.C. Modem, the computer genius" in radio commercials for CompUSA which aired in the 1990s, and the character Stu Pickles in Rugrats and All Grown Up!.

He continued to make guest appearances during the 1990s in popular sitcoms, showing up in episodes of Seinfeld, Son of the Beach, Friends, Coach, The Drew Carey Show, That '70s Show and, in a gag appearance, as an unnamed but obvious Mr. Carlin in an episode of Newhart.

He made a cameo appearance on the November 23, 2013, episode of Saturday Night Live, as a subway passenger during the skit "Matchbox 3". One camera angle lingered for an extra moment on Riley.

Good Night  Mr. Riley

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Noel Neill

Fame has never been an issue for me.

I can honestly say that I have never,

ever had any unpleasant encounters with fans or autograph collectors.

I guess I just attract the mature, respectful fan.

- Noel Neill

Noel Neill died yesterday at her home in Tucson, Ariz., after a long illness. She was born Noel Darleen Neill was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Neill; her father was a journalist, and her mother a dancer on the stage. When she was 4 years old, she enrolled at "a school for aspiring performers." While still in her teens, "she danced, sang and even played the banjo at county fairs throughout the midwest." She graduated from high school in 1938. She earned her first money by writing articles for Women's Wear Daily.

In her teens, she was a popular photographic model. Betty Grable's pin-up was number one among GIs during World War II, and Neill was ranked number 2.

Signing a contract with Paramount Pictures led to appearances in many of the studio's feature films and short subjects. In the mid-1940s, Noel had a leading role in one of Monogram Pictures' wayward-youth melodramas, and she became a familiar face in Monogram features for the next several years, especially in the recurring role of Betty Rogers. She appeared in the last of the original Charlie Chan movies, Sky Dragon (1949), and also played damsels in distress in Monogram Westerns and Republic Pictures serials. Overall, Neill appeared in more than 40 films.

Neill sang with Bob Crosby and his orchestra. She also sang at the Del Mar Turf Club, which was owned by Bing Crosby.

In 1945, producer Sam Katzman gave Noel Neill the recurring role of Betty Rogers, aggressive reporter for a high-school newspaper, in his series of "Teen Agers" musical comedies, beginning with Junior Prom in 1946. When Katzman was casting his Superman serial for Columbia Pictures, he remembered Noel Neill's newshawk portrayals and signed her to play Lois Lane. She played the role in the film serials Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950) with Kirk Alyn portraying Superman/Clark Kent.

When Adventures of Superman came to television in 1951, veteran movie actors George Reeves and Phyllis Coates took the leading roles for the first season. By the time the series found a sponsor and a network time slot, Coates had committed herself to another production, so the producers called on Noel Neill, who had played Lois Lane in the movies. She continued in the role for five seasons until the series went off the air in 1958. She was scheduled to appear in the seventh season with co-star Jack Larson in 1960, but after Reeves's tragic and sudden death, the seventh season was cancelled, officially ending the show. 

While Phyllis Coates generally distanced herself from the role, Neill embraced her association with Lois Lane, giving frequent talks on college campuses during the 1970s, when interest in the series was revived, endearing herself to audiences with her warmth and humor.

Neill has continued to appear in Superman-related productions. She originated the role of Lois Lane's mother, Ellen (alternatively, Ella) Lane, in a cameo for the 1978 film Superman, with Kirk Alyn as Lois' father, Sam Lane -- as was the case in reverse with the role of Lois in 1951, Phyllis Coates would later succeed Neill in the role of Ella in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman; Lois & Clark star Teri Hatcher continued the tradition when she made a guest appearance on Smallville as Ella Lane. In an episode of the TV series Superboy, Neill appeared alongside her former cast-mate Jack Larson, who had played Jimmy Olsen on TV. 

Her personal appearance at the Metropolis, Illinois, Superman Festival was featured on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. As "Aunt Lois", she made a guest appearance in the independent superhero film Surge of Power: The Stuff of Heroes, and she played Gertrude Vanderworth (the dying elderly wife of Lex Luthor) in the 2006 film Superman Returns.

Truth, Justice, & The American Way:

The Life And Times Of Noel Neill

In 2003, an authorized biography of Neill was published. It was entitled Truth, Justice, & The American Way: The Life And Times Of Noel Neill, The Original Lois Lane by Larry Thomas Ward (Nicholas Lawrence Books, softcover; ISBN 0-9729466-0-8). A limited-edition, expanded version of the book was released in 2006. Ward later wrote another book, Beyond Lois Lane (Nicholas Lawrence Books, hardcover, ISBN 978-09729466-1-2) in 2007 which focused on Neill's other acting work and modeling work presented in an array of rare publicity stills, studio press releases, film reviews, newspaper commentaries, and candid photographs.

Neill and Jack Larson donated their time to record commentaries for the DVD releases of the Superman TV episodes. On the documentary Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman, Neill remarked that a frequent question she would get from children was, "Why don't you know that Clark Kent was Superman, just wearing a pair of those darn eyeglasses?" She replied to the children (and later to college audiences), "I don't want to lose my job!"

On June 15, 2010, the southern Illinois city of Metropolis (the city that calls itself the "official home of Superman"), unveiled a statue of Lois Lane. The Lois Lane statue is modelled on Noel Neill. Neill stated that she was honored to be memorialized with the statue.

Good Night Lois

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa