TV CONFIDENTIAL Archives: Sept. 9, 2011

Show No. 103 Sept. 9, 2011

First hour: Actress Natasha Gregson Wagner (Two Girls and a Guy, Lost Highway, High Fidelity) joins Ed to talk about her latest film, A Kiss and a Promise, a stylishly filmed psychological thriller with elements of Alfred Hitchcock and David Lynch. Also in this hour: Tony Figueroa and Donna Allen join Ed for a look at how television news covered the events of Sept. 11, 2001, as well as 9/11’s impact on prime time television, late night television, and our culture in general. Second hour: Ed, Tony and guest co-host Dan Farren welcome Emmy-winning writer, producer and director Joseph Dougherty (Pretty Little Liars, thirtysomething, Saving Grace). Joe’s film Cast a Deadly Spell, an homage to Raymond Chandler and H.P. Lovecraft that he wrote for HBO, will receive a special 20th anniversary screening at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in San Pedro, Calif. on Sept. 16 and 17.

Fall TV Preview and a Mouseketeer Roll Call: This Week on TV CONFIDENTIAL

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television

Go behind the scenes of the original Mickey Mouse Club on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Sept. 14-20 at the following times and venues:

Realms of Music
WROM
Wednesday 9/14
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Sunday 9/17
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Share-a-Vision Radio
KSAV.org
Friday 9/16
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT

KWDJ 1360-AM
Ridgecrest, Calif.
Saturday 9/17
Following Dodgers baseball

InternetVoicesRadio.com
Tuesday 9/20
11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT


For millions of Baby Boomers growing up in the mid-1950s, the original Must See TV took place every weekday afternoon at five o’clock when The Mickey Mouse Club aired on ABC. And though it ran for just three seasons, the original Mickey Mouse Club remains one of the most iconic television programs ever made, more than fifty years later.

We’ll talk about the legacy of The Mickey Mouse Club along with 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 recollections from virtually every member of the original Mouseketeers, including Cubby O’Brien, Lonnie Burr, Doreen Tracey, Darlene Gillespie and, of course, Annette Funicello. Jennifer will join us in our second hour.

Also this week: Television critic Jane Boursaw will join us for a preview of some of the new shows that will premiere on network television over the next few weeks: which ones to watch, which to avoid, and which ones look to be breakaway hits. Are Pan Am and The Playboy Club worth all the hype? Will Terra Nova and The X Factor pay off for FOX? Can Ashton Kutcher breathe new life into Two and a Half Men? We’ll talk about these items and more when Jane joins us in our first hour.

Plus: Pop culture historian Martin Grams with a sneak peak at the Sixth Annual MidAtlantic Nostalgia Convention, which will take place Sept. 22-23-24 at the Marriott Hotel in Hunt Valley, Maryland; and Phil Gries with a brand new edition of The Sounds of Lost Television. Full program as always… we certainly hope you’ll join us.

Wednesdays 10pm ET, 7pm PT
WROM: Realms of Music
Fridays 7pm ET and PT Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
Saturdays 8pm PT
Sundays 2pm PTKWDJ 1360-AM (Ridgecrest, Calif.)
Tuesdays 11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PTPassionate World Radio
www.tvconfidential.net
blog.tvconfidential.net
Also available as a podcast via iTunes and FeedBurner
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This Week in Television History: September Part II

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 legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.

September 16, 1927
Peter Falk was born. The actor is best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo.

He appeared in numerous films and television guest roles, and has been nominated for an Academy Award twice, and won the Emmy Award on five occasions and the Golden Globe award once. The Columbo character was originally played in a 1960 episode of the NBC anthology series The Chevy Mystery Show, where the detective was played by Bert Freed, and in a subsequent Broadway play by Thomas Mitchell. Falk first appeared as Columbo in Prescription: Murder , a 1968 TV movie, but the character was not the subject of a show of its own until 1971. Columbo aired regularly from 1971 to 1978 on NBC, and then more infrequently on ABC as TV movies beginning in 1989. The most recent episode was broadcast in 2003.

Despite his frazzled exterior, Columbo possesses a keen mind and invariably solves his cases by paying close attention to tiny inconsistencies in suspects' stories, hounding them until they confess; he merely puts on a good show of being dimwitted so that the criminals will be more at ease around him. Columbo's signature technique is to exit the scene of an interview, only to stop in the doorway to ask a suspect "just one more thing," which often brings to light the key inconsistency. Four of Columbo's cases gave Falk the chance to work with his longtime friend Patrick McGoohan, the latter playing the episodes' villain roles.

In May 2009, it was reported that Falk is suffering from dementia, and he no longer remembers his role in Columbo. In June 2009, a conservatorship was placed on him by a California court.

At a two-day conservatorship trial in Los Angeles in June 2009, one of Falk's personal physicians, Dr. Stephen Read, reported Falk rapidly slipped into dementia after a series of dental operations in 2007. Dr. Read said it was unclear whether Falk's condition had worsened as a result of anesthesia or some other reaction to the operations. He went on to add that Falk's condition was so bad he could no longer remember the character of Columbo. Shera Danese Falk was appointed as her husband's conservator.

Falk died at his Beverly Hills home on June 23, 2011, at the age of 83. The cause of death was later revealed as cardiorespiratory arrest, with pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease as underlying causes. Falk was survived by his wife and two daughters. His daughters said they would remember his "wisdom and humor".

The Los Angeles Police Department also issued a statement of condolence to Falk's family, stating they were "proud" to be associated with Columbo as well as stating that he was "one of the all-time great TV cops."

September 17, 1951
Cassandra Peterson is born. The actress s best known for her on-screen horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. She gained fame on Los Angeles television station KHJ wearing a black, gothic, cleavage-enhancing gown as host of Movie Macabre, a weekly horror movie presentation. Her wickedly vampish appearance was offset by her comical character, quirky/quick-witted personality, and valley girl-type speech.

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Monkees On Glen Campbell

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

Rare Monkees 1969 appearance on "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour" 1969. Doing a Medley of their hits, a comic look back at "yester-year", and singing their new smash single!

 

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Joseph Dougherty and Natasha Gregson Wagner: This Week on TV CONFIDENTIAL

Emmy Award-winning writer/producer Joseph Dougherty and independent film actress Natasha Gregson Wagner will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Sept. 7-13 at the following times and venues:

Realms of Music
WROM
Wednesday 9/7
9pm ET, 6pm PT
Share-a-Vision Radio
KSAV.org
Friday 9/9
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT

KWDJ 1360-AM
Ridgecrest, Calif.
Saturday 9/10
Following Dodgers baseball

InternetVoicesRadio.com
Tuesday 9/13
11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT

Known for her roles in such films as Two Girls and a Guy (with Robert Downey Jr. and Heather Graham), Lost Highway (directed by David Lynch), and High Fidelity (with John Cusack and Jack Black), Natasha Gregson Wagner plays a woman whose husband harbors a disturbing secret in A Kiss and a Promise, a stylishly filmed psychological thriller that begins a limited engagement at Laemmle’s Sunset 5 Theater in West Hollywood, Calif. on Friday, Sept. 9. We’ll talk about A Kiss and a Promise, as well as some of Natasha’s other movies, when she joins us in our first hour.









Our second hour will feature a return appearance by Emmy-winning writer/producer Joseph Dougherty (Pretty Little Liars, thirtysomething, Saving Grace). Among other things, we’ll go behind the scenes of Pretty Little Liars, which recently aired its midseason finale on ABC Family, but will be coming back in October as part of the 13 Days of Halloween.



Joe’s film Cast a Deadly Spell, an homage to Raymond Chandler and H.P. Lovecraft that he wrote for HBO, will receive a special 20^th anniversary screening at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in San Pedro, Calif. on Sept. 16 and 17.








Also this week: A look at how television news covered the events of Sept. 11, 2001, as well as 9/11’s impact on prime time television, late night television, and our culture in general.







TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about televisionWednesdays 9pm ET, 6pm PT
WROM: Realms of Music Fridays 7pm ET and PT Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
Saturdays 8pm PT
Sundays 2pm PTKWDJ 1360-AM (Ridgecrest, Calif.)
Tuesdays 11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PTPassionate World Radio
www.tvconfidential.net
blog.tvconfidential.net
Also available as a podcast via iTunes and FeedBurner
Find us now on Facebook

This Week in Television History: September 2011 PART I

Listen to me on me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:

InternetVoicesRadio.com
Tuesday 8/2
11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT

Share-a-Vision RadioKSAV.org
Friday 8/5
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT
KWDJ 1360-AM
Ridgecrest, Calif.
Saturday 8/6
8pm PT
ShokusRadio.com
Tuesday 8/2 – Sunday 8/7
11am ET, 8am PT
9pm ET, 6pm PT
2am ET, 11pm 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 8, 1966

Star Trek premieres.
Although Star Trek ran for only three years and never placed better than No. 52 in the ratings, Gene Roddenberry's series became a cult classic and spawned four television series and ten movies.

The first Star Trek spin-off was a Saturday morning cartoon, The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, which ran from 1973 to 1975 (original cast members supplied the voices). The TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation first aired in 1987 and was set in the 24th century, starring the crew of the new, larger U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D, captained by Jean-Luc Picard (played by Patrick Stewart). This series became the highest-rated syndicated drama on television and ran until 1994.

Another spin-off, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, premiered in 1992, featuring a 24th-century crew that lived in a space station rather than a starship. Star Trek: Voyager, which debuted in 1995 and ran until 2001, was the first to feature a female captain, Kathryn Janeway (played by Kate Mulgrew). In this series, the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager is stranded more than 70,000 light years from Federation space and is trying to find its way home. The final spin-off to air on TV was Enterprise, which premiered in the United States on September 26, 2001. The final two episodes of that show aired in May 2005.

Setember 8, 1986

The Oprah Winfrey Show is broadcast nationally for the first time.
A huge success, her daytime television talk show turns Winfrey into one of the most powerful, wealthy people in show business and, arguably, the most influential woman in America.

Winfrey, who was born in rural Mississippi to a poor unwed teenage mother on January 24, 1954, began her TV career as a local news anchor in Nashville and Baltimore before moving to Chicago in 1984 to host a low-rated morning talk program. She quickly turned the show into a ratings winner, beating out a popular talk program hosted by Phil Donahue. At the urging of the Chicago-based movie critic Roger Ebert, Winfrey signed a syndication deal with King World and The Oprah Winfrey Show was broadcast nationally for the first time on September 8, 1986. It went on to become the highest-rated talk show in TV history.
Proving that talk-show host wasn’t the only role she could play, Winfrey made her big-screen debut as Sofia in director Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple(1985), based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name and co-starring Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover. The film earned Winfrey a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination, although she lost the gold statue to Anjelica Huston (Prizzi’s Honor). Winfrey went on to star in and produce in 1998’s Beloved, based on Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, and voice characters for 2006’s Charlotte’s Web and 2007’s Bee Movie, which co-starred and was co-written by Jerry Seinfeld. In addition to TV and film, Winfrey became a true media mogul, branching out to books and magazines, radio, musical theater and the Web. In 2008, she announced plans to launch her own network, named OWN, in 2009.
In 2008, The Oprah Winfrey Show had an estimated weekly audience of some 46 million viewers in the United States and was broadcast around the world in 134 countries. Winfrey wields enormous influence when it comes to promoting products: A recommendation on her show can turn a book, movie or just about anything else into a bestseller, a phenomenon that has been dubbed the “Oprah Effect.”
September 9, 1956

Elvis Presley sang "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog" on Ed Sullivan's show Toast of the Town.

Presley scandalized audiences with his suggestive hip gyrations, and Sullivan swore he would never book the singer on his show. However, Presley's tremendous popularity and success on other shows changed Sullivan's mind. Although Elvis had appeared on a few other programs already, his appearance on Ed Sullivan's show made him a household name.

September 11, 2011

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

Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Reporter Tucker Barnes covered in raw sewage foam during Hurricane Irene

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

WTTG-TV reporter Tucker Barnes

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Jack Bauer, Ozzie and Harriet, and Paul Newman: This Week on TV CONFIDENTIAL

Spend part of your Labor Day weekend by joining us for the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing the weekend of Sept. 2 at the following times and venues:

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

Tony Figueroa and Donna Allen will join us in our first hour as we pay tribute to Ozzie and Harriet, the life of Frank Capra and other notable events that originally occurred This Week in TV History. We’ll also replay our conversation with Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning writer/producer Howard Gordon about his work on such shows as 24, The X Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Spenser: For Hire, as well as his novel, Gideon’s War, which none other than Kiefer Sutherland describes as a “rip-roaring thriller.”

Our second hour will include an encore presentation of our conversation with author Marian Edelman Borden. Marian’s books include Paul Newman: A Biography, a comprehensive look at Newman’s long and distinguished motion picture career, his early work in television, his passion for auto racing, his business acumen, his work with various charities, his political activism, and his 50-year marriage to actress and fellow Oscar winner Joanne Woodward.

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
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

This Week in Television History: August 2011 PART III

Listen to me on me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:

InternetVoicesRadio.com

Tuesday 8/2

11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT



Share-a-Vision Radio

KSAV.org

Friday 8/5

7pm ET, 4pm PT

10pm ET, 7pm PT



KWDJ 1360-AM

Ridgecrest, Calif.

Saturday 8/6

8pm PT



ShokusRadio.com

Tuesday 8/2 – Sunday 8/7

11am ET, 8am PT

9pm ET, 6pm PT

2am ET, 11pm PT

September 3, 1966

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet airs its last episode. The sitcom focused on the comic antics of a young family based on the real-life family of show founders and stars Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. The show premiered as a radio comedy in 1944 and ran for 10 years. Even before the radio show ended, a TV version launched in 1952; the television show ran until 1966. The Nelson's two sons, Ricky and David, played themselves on the TV version.

September 3, 1991

Frank Capra dies at the age of 94 at his home in La Quinta, California.



According to his obituary in the New York Times: “Capra movies were idealistic, sentimental and patriotic. His major films embodied his flair for improvisation and spontaneity, buoyant humor and sympathy for the populist beliefs of the 1930s.”

Capra was born in Sicily, on May 18, 1897, and as a young boy sailed to America in steerage with his family, who settled in Los Angeles. After graduating from the California Institute of Technology and serving in the U.S. Army, Capra worked his way up through the movie industry; he had his first big success as a director with 1933’s Lady for a Day, which received a Best Picture Academy Award nomination. The following year, Capra helmed the comedy It Happened One Night, starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. The film took home Oscars in five categories: Best Director, Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor and Actress. Capra won a second Best Director Oscar for Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), which starred Gary Cooper as a man who inherits a large fortune and wants to use it to help Depression-era families. Capra received a third Best Director Oscar for You Can’t Take It With You (1938), a movie about an eccentric family that starred James Stewart, Jean Arthur and Lionel Barrymore and was based on the Pulitzer prize-winning play of the same name by Moss Hart and George Kaufman.

In 1940, Capra took home a fourth Best Director Oscar for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), which featured Stewart as an incorruptible U.S. senator. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Capra joined the Army again and during his time in the service made several well-received propaganda films, including Prelude to War (1943), which earned an Academy Award for Best Documentary. Capra went on to co-write and direct 1946’s It’s a Wonderful Life, perhaps his best-known work. The film again starred Stewart, this time as George Bailey, a small-town man who is saved from suicide by a guardian angel. Although the film was considered a box-office disappointment when it was first released, it garnered five Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture, and eventually gained widespread appeal when it was broadcast annually on TV around Christmastime, starting in the 1970s.

Capra’s final film was Pocketful of Miracles (1961), a remake of Lady for a Day starring Bette Davis as a street vendor who needs to remake herself into a society dame in order not to disappoint her daughter.

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.

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

TV Confidential Archives Aug. 22, 2011

Show No. 102 Aug. 22, 2011

First hour: Tony Figueroa, Donna Allen and Ed celebrate the legacy of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, who was born 90 years ago This Week in Television History. Also in this hour: DVD picks, plus Ed discusses the findings of a recent study in Australia that suggests watching too much television can reduce one's lifespan. Second hour: Ed welcomes James Christie, author of You’re the Director, You Figure It Out: The Life and Films of Richard Donner, a comprehensive biography that also examines Donner’s career in film and television. Topics include Donner's work on Superman, The Omen and the Lethal Weapon series, plus a look at how his early experiences on such TV series as The Twilight Zone, Get Smart, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Wild, Wild West helped shape many of his sensibilities as a motion picture director.