| Stay Tuned Tony Figueroa |
I represent the first generation who, 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"
Thursday, August 27, 2026
Peter Cullen
Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Dolly Parton's appearance on 'The Cas Walker Show'
Monday, August 24, 2026
Shelley Fabares
![]() |
| Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares January 19, 1944 – August 22, 2026 |
Shelley Fabares was known for her television roles as Mary on the sitcom The Donna Reed Show (1958–1963), Francine Webster on One Day at a Time, and as Christine Armstrong on the sitcom Coach (1989–1997), the latter of which earned her two Primetime Emmy Awards nominations. After Coach ended in 1997, Fabares voiced the role of Martha Kent on Superman: The Animated Series.[28] She reprised the role twice, once in Justice League and again for the direct-to-video film Superman: Brainiac Attacks (2006). Her film roles included playing the leading lady to Elvis Presley in Girl Happy (1965), Spinout (1966), and Clambake (1967). In 1962, her recording of "Johnny Angel" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
![]() |
| Good Night Ms. Fabares |
| Stay Tuned Tony Figueroa |
Friday, July 10, 2026
Randolph Mantooth
People tell me this all the time...they come up to me and say, 'You're my hero,' I say no. I'm just the face. You're the body. You do the work. You're on the front line. Believe me, when I tell you from the bottom of my heart -- if you're a firefighter...an EMT...a paramedic -- you're my hero.
-Randolph Mantooth
![]() |
| Randy DeRoy Mantooth September 19, 1945 – July 9, 2026 |
Randolph Mantooth was discovered in New York by a Universal Studios talent agent while performing the lead in the play Philadelphia, Here I Come! After signing with Universal and moving back to California, he slowly built up his resume with work on such dramatic series as Adam-12 (1968); Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969); McCloud (1970) and Alias Smith and Jones (1971).He portrayed paramedic John Gage in the 1970s medical drama Emergency!. Randolph Mantooth spoke regularly at Firefighter and EMS conferences and symposia across the United States while maintaining an active acting career. He was a spokesperson for both the International Association of Firefighters [IAFF] and the International Association of Fire Chiefs [IAFC] for firefighter health and safety, and honored over the years with numerous awards and recognition.Mantooth appeared in numerous films and television series in lead and supportive roles including miniseries adaptations of Testimony of Two Men (1977) and a starring role as Abraham Kent in The Seekers (1979). Through the 1990s and 2000s, he appeared in daytime soap operas, earning him four Soap Opera Digest Award nominations. He frequently returns to performing in theatrical productions. He serves as an associate artist at Jeff Daniels' Purple Rose Theatre. His performances include Mark Kaufman's Evil Little Thoughts, Black Elk Speaks, Carey Crim's Morning after Grace, Lanford Wilson's Rain Dance, and innumerable works by Native American playwrights including William S. Yellow Robe Jr.
![]() |
| Emergency +4 is a 1973–1974 American animated television series based on the live action prime-time series Emergency!, running concurrently for two seasons. |
| Good Night Mr. Mantooth |
![]() |
| Stay Tuned Tony Figueroa |
Friday, June 19, 2026
James Burrows
Script comes first, then the actors, then you gotta be lucky enough to get the right time slot. Then people have to watch.
-James Burrows

James Edward Burrows
December 30, 1940 – June 19, 2026

December 30, 1940 – June 19, 2026
James Burrows was employed as a dialogue coach on O.K. Crackerby!, a television series starring Burl Ives and created by Burrows' father, Abe. Burrows then took a job as an assistant stage manager for the 1967 play Holly Golightly, an adaptation of the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's. The production was unsuccessful, but the job served as Burrows' introduction to its star, Mary Tyler Moore. Early on, Burrows also worked for the road company of Cactus Flower and the Broadway production of Forty Carats. He also went to direct the short lived Broadway play The Castro Complex. Burrows continued working in theater as a stage manager and transitioned into directing plays. Burrows directed traveling plays and a production at a Jacksonville, Florida dinner theater.
In 2007, he directed episodes of the Chuck Lorre created CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory starring Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Sara Gilbert, and Mayim Bialik. From 2003 to 2006 he directed numerous episodes of another Chuck Lorre created CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men starring Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer. During this time he also directed episodes of shows such as the CBS sitcoms The Class, Courting Alex, and Gary Unmarried, the Fox sitcom Back to You, and the ABC sitcom Hank.
Burrows directed high-profile sitcoms during the 2010s including the CBS sitcoms Mike & Molly (2010–2016) starring Billy Gardell, and Melissa McCarthy, and The Millers (2013–2015) starring Will Arnett, Margo Martindale, Beau Bridges. Burrows reunited with Matt LeBlanc with Man with a Plan (2016–2020). He also directed the sitcom B Positive (2020–2022) starring Annaleigh Ashford. Burrows directed episodes of numerous television series including the ABC sitcoms Romantically Challenged, Better with You, the CBS sitcoms $#*! My Dad Says, 2 Broke Girls, Partners, Friends with Better Lives, Superior Donuts, and The Neighborhood, the NBC sitcoms Sean Saves the World, Crowded, and the Netflix comedy series Disjointed.By 2012, Burrows had directed over 50 pilots for television series. Burrows has directed over 1,000 episodes of television, a milestone he achieved in November 2015 with the NBC sitcom Crowded. To celebrate Burrows' achievement, NBC aired a special tribute on February 21, 2016, titled Must See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows featuring cast reunions from many of the series Burrows has directed such as Cheers, Taxi, Friends, Frasier, The Big Bang Theory, Will & Grace and Mike & Molly. In January 2020, Andy Fisher and Burrows won the Directors Guild of America Award for Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials for Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons.In 2016, Burrows directed his 1,000th TV episode, on NBC's Crowded. Burrows took part in two revivals, Will & Grace (2017–2020) with the original cast reunited. He received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for the episode, "We Love Lucy". In 2023, he directed the first two episodes of the revival of Frasier on Paramount+.Stay Tunes








