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"
Show No. 272 with guests Morgan Woodward and Sylvia Resnick Original Airdate: Week of Apr. 8-13, 2015 First hour: Longtime entertainment journalist Sylvia Resnick discusses her new book, The Evolution of the Hollywood Heartthrob, a fascinating look at Old Hollywood and New Hollywood that also profiles some of the greatest male heartthrobs in film and TV history. Also in this hour: Tony Figueroa and Donna Allen remember the premiere of Nightlineand Truth or Consequences. Second hour: Ed, Tony and Donna welcome actor Morgan Woodward (Dallas, Cool Hand Luke, Star Trek, The Waltons. Also in this hour: Greg Ehrbar discusses the recent DVD releases of Gilligan’s Planet andThundercats. Show No. 273 with guest James Wilder Original Airdate: Week of Apr. 15-20, 2015 First hour: Highlights from our June 2010 conversation with actor James Best (The Dukes of Hazzard). Also in this hour: Tony Figueroa and Donna Allen remember Starsky and Hutch (the pilot of which originally aired in April 1975), while Greg Ehrbar discusses the recent DVD releases of Paddington Bear. Second hour: Ed welcomes award-winning independent film actor James Wilder. James’ latest film, Three Holes and A Smoking Gun, is now available through many Video on Demand services. Also in this hour: An encore presentation of our August 2013 salute to comedian and satirist Stan Freberg.
Here is another "Mental Sorbet"a little spark of madnessthat we could use to momentarily forget about those things that leave a bad taste in our mouths.
Friends is now streaming on Netflix, but imagine if you will what that sitcom would like if it were released today. Nerdist Presents Friends: Rebooted!
Author, journalist and screenwriter Marvin J. Wolf will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Apr. 22-27 at the following times and venues:
WROM Radio Detroit, MI Wednesday 4/22 8pm ET, 5pm PT 2am ET, 11pm PT Sunday 4/26 8pm ET, 5pm PT 2am ET, 11pm PT Click on the Listen Live button at WROMRadio.net
Share-a-Vision Radio San Francisco Bay Area Friday 4/24 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 or hear us on the KSAV channel on CX Radio Brazil
Indiana Talks Marion, IN Saturday 4/25 8pm ET, 5pm PT Sunday 4/26 6pm ET, 3pm PT Click on the player at IndianaTalks.com or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in Indiana Talks
Pittsburgh Talks Pittsburgh, PA Saturday 4/25 8pm ET, 5pm PT Sunday 4/26 6pm ET, 3pm PT Click on the player at PittTalks.com or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in Pittsburgh Talks
KSCO-AM 1080 San Jose, Santa Cruz and Salinas, CA KOMY-AM 1340 La Selva Beach and Watsonville, CA Sunday 4/26 10am ET, 7am PT Also streaming at KSCO.com
KHMB-AM and FM Half Moon Bay, CA Sunday 4/26 9pm PT Monday 4/27 Midnight ET Click on the Listen Live button at KHMBRadio.com or use the Live365 app on your smartphone and type in KHMB
RadioSlot.com San Francisco, CA Monday 4/27 10pm ET, 7pm PT with replays Tuesday thru Friday at 10pm ET, 7pm PT Click on the Talk Slot button at RadioSlot.com
Marvin J. Wolf is the author or co-author of seventeen books, includingBeating the Odds (the memoirs of ABC founding president Leonard Goldenson), Fallen Angels (an inside look at famous crimes that took place in Hollywood), and the Rabbi Ben mystery novel series, while his credits as a screenwriter include the made-for-TV movie Ladies Night.
Marv’s latest book, Abandoned in Hell: The Fight for Vietnam’s Firebase Kate, is a gripping account of a bloody five-day battle in the central highlands of Vietnam that was led by a young captain named William Albracht. It is a very cinematic story that speaks to the transformational power of individual heroism. It is also a story that, until recently, very few people knew about. Marvin J. Wolf will join us in our first hour.
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.
April 22, 1978
The Blues Brothers make
their world premiere on Saturday Night Live.
The characters and the band that Belushi
and Aykroyd unveiled that night took more than two years to evolve. The first
incarnation came during SNL's first season, in a January 17, 1976,
appearance singing "I'm a King Bee" as "Howard Shore and his
All-Bee Band." There were no dark suits, skinny ties or Ray-Bans at that
point, but the appearance did feature Aykroyd on the harmonica and Belushi on
vocals belting out a blues classic very much in the style of the future Elwood
and "Joliet" Jake Blues, albeit while wearing bee costumes.
The Blues
Brothers' look—and much of their repertoire—would come together after Belushi's
trip to Eugene, Oregon, during the hiatus between SNL
seasons two and three to film Animal House. It was there that
Belushi, a committed rock-and-roll fan, met a 25-year-old bluesman named Curtis
Salgado, future harmonica player for Robert Cray, frontman for Roomful of Blues
and a major figure on the burgeoning Pacific Northwest blues scene of the 1970s. Belushi became a regular visitor to the Eugene
Hotel to catch Salgado's act during the filming of Animal House, and it
was from that act and from Salgado himself that he picked up a passion for the
blues as well as the inspiration for the Blues Brothers' sound and look .
Back
in New York for the third season of SNL,
Belushi and Aykroyd honed their concept for the Blues Brothers Band and
recruited an incredible roster of backing instrumentalists drawn from among the
finest blues and R&B session musicians in the country. Even if their debut
performance on this night in 1978 hadn't been a huge hit, the band was far too
good to break up after a single gig. Indeed, the closing portion of Paul
Shaffer's introduction that night—"Today they are no longer an authentic
blues act, but have managed to become a viable commercial product"—ended
up being borne out in real life, with the Blues Brothers earning three top-40
hits ("Soul Man," "Rubber Biscuit" and "Gimme Some
Lovin'"), a #1 pop album (Briefcase Full of Blues) and a piece of
screen immortality via their 1980 film, The Blues Brothers.
To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".
