Tribute to Peter Falk: Next on TVC

Emmy Award-winning writer/producer William Link and television critic Mark Dawidziak will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing July 22-25 at the following times and venues:

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 7/22
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 7/23
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Sunday 7/24
6pm ET, 3pm PT
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 7/24
9am ET, 6am PT
Also streaming at KSCO.com

KHMB AM-1710
KHMV-LP 100.9 FM
Half Moon Bay, CA
Sunday 7/24
9pm PT
Monday 7/25
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at KHMBRadio.com

RadioSlot.com
San Francisco, CA
Monday 7/25
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
Various times throughout the week
on the Entertainment Channel at PWRNetwork.com
and the PWR channel on TuneIn

This week we’ll commemorate the five-year anniversary of the death of Peter Falk with an encore presentation of our special July 25, 2011 tribute to the Emmy Award-winning star of Columbo, Murder by Death, The Cheap Detective, Pocketful of Miracles, Murder, Inc. and Trials of O’Brien.

Emmy Award-winning writer/producer William Link (Columbo, Mannix, Ellery Queen, Murder, She Wrote, The Columbo Collection) will join us in our second hour as we discuss the origins of the Columbo character (which Bill created along with his longtime collaborator, Richard Levinson); Falk's friendship with Levinson and Link, which predated their work on the Columbo television series; how Falk came to be cast as Columbo; and the enduring appeal of the Columbo character.

Our first hour will feature Mark Dawidziak, television critic for the Cleveland Plain-Dealer and the author of such books as The Columbo Phile, the definitive book on the classic TV mystery series. Among other things, we’ll talk about Falk's dedication to Columbo, both on camera and behind the scenes; his favorite episodes and favorite Columbo clues; and his collaborations with Neil Simon, Frank Capra, Ben Gazzara and John Cassavetes.

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
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 9pm PT, Mon Mid ET on KHMB-AM and FM (Half Moon Bay, CA)
Mon 10pm ET, 7pm PT on The Radio Slot Network
Replays various times throughout the week on the Entertainment Channel at PWRNetwork
Tape us now, listen to us later, using DAR.fm/tvconfidential
Also available as a podcast via iTunes, FeedBurner
and now on your mobile phone via Stitcher.com
Follow us online at www.tvconfidential.net
Follow us now on Twitter: Twitter.com/tvconfidential
Like our Fan Page at www.facebook.com/tvconfidential

If you listen to TV CONFIDENTIAL, and like what you’ve heard, please consider supporting our efforts by becoming a patron of our show through Patreon. For as little as a dollar a month, you will help offset the costs of production and receive some cool rewards. For more information, please visit www.Patreon.com/tvconfidential... and thanks!

This Week in Television History: July 2016 PART IlI

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.

July 21, 1951

Robin Williams was born Robin McLaurin Williams at St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. 

July 24, 1956bn

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis perbform their last comedy show together at New York's Copacabana Club. 

Born Dino Paul Crocetti in Steubenville, Ohio, Martin started a nightclub act after working as a prizefighter and a steelworker in the 1940s. Lewis, the son of performers, debuted in comedy acts with his parents at age five and was working steadily as a comic by 1946, when he met Dean Martin. The pair performed an act in which screwball Lewis constantly interrupted straight man Martin's singing. They made their first appearance in 1946 at a club in Atlantic City and were an instant hit, soon in demand for radio and movie performances. The pair made 16 movies together, starting with My Friend Irma in 1949. By 1956, though, the pair decided to call it quits.

After the duo split up, Martin launched his own TV variety show, which ran from 1965 to 1974. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Martin teamed up with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop to perform in Las Vegas. The group quickly became known as the Rat Pack, a suave group of young, fast-living entertainers. The group made several movies together in the early 1960s, including Ocean's Eleven (1960), Sergeants Three (1962), and Robin and the Seven Hoods. Martin died in 1995.

Lewis went on to sign one of the most lucrative film contracts of the day, a $10 million deal for 14 films with Paramount. Lewis' films, including Cinderfella (1960) and The Nutty Professor (1963), failed to attract much praise from American critics but made him a star in France, where he has long been considered a comic genius. After a long absence from film, he gave an acclaimed performance in the 1986 film The King of Comedy, co-starring Robert De Niro.

CLICK HERE for a list of Stations

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Captain Kangaroo and Bunny Rabbit on Mr Roger's Neighborhood

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.

This is a Mr. Rogers Neighborhood program where Captain Kangaroo and Bunny Rabbit appear as guest stars. It looks like a 1970s show. I found this partial show on an early VHS tape recording so the quality is not the best.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

The Seinfeld Phenomenon: Next on TVC

TV historian and entertainment writer Jennifer Armstrong pays a return visit on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing July 15-18 at the following times and venues:

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 7/15
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 7/16
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Sunday 7/17
6pm ET, 3pm PT
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 7/17
9am ET, 6am PT
Also streaming at KSCO.com

KHMB AM-1710
KHMV-LP 100.9 FM
Half Moon Bay, CA
Sunday 7/17
9pm PT
Monday 7/18
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at KHMBRadio.com

RadioSlot.com
San Francisco, CA
Monday 7/18
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
Various times throughout the week
on the Entertainment Channel at PWRNetwork.com
and the PWR channel on TuneIn


Once described as a show that blurred between reality and fiction beyond convention, Seinfeld was a bona fide cultural sensation that not only drew heavily from the idiosyncrasies of everyday ordinary life, but bled into the real world, altering the lives of everyone it touched in ways no one could have imagined.

We’ll talk about Seinfeld and more when Jennifer Armstrong joins us in our second hour. Jennifer’s latest book, Seinfeldia: How a Show About Nothing Changed Everything, not only walks you through the origins of Seinfeld (and how it barely got on the air), but provides an inside-the-writers-room perspective on how many of the show’s most famous (and infamous) storylines and catchphrases came to be. We’ll talk about why NBC was worried about “The Chinese Restaurant,” but surprisingly had no qualms about “The Contest.” We’ll also get some insight into who Larry David is (both as a person and as a showrunner), and why Curb Your Enthusiasm is, in some ways, even better than Seinfeld; get the inside scoop on the fierce Twitter rivalry between @SeinfeldToday and @Seinfeld2000; and see how Larry Thomas, the actor played the Soup Nazi, best embodies the phenomenon that Jennifer that defines as Seinfeldia more than anyone (or anything) else.







Our first hour will include a tribute to Ann Morgan Guilbert (The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Nanny), plus an expanded DVD report on three popular shows from the ’60s and ’70s.

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
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 9pm PT, Mon Mid ET on KHMB-AM and FM (Half Moon Bay, CA)
Mon 10pm ET, 7pm PT on The Radio Slot Network
Replays various times throughout the week on the Entertainment Channel at PWRNetwork
Tape us now, listen to us later, using DAR.fm/tvconfidential
Also available as a podcast via iTunes, FeedBurner
and now on your mobile phone via Stitcher.com
Follow us online at www.tvconfidential.net
Follow us now on Twitter: Twitter.com/tvconfidential
Like our Fan Page at www.facebook.com/tvconfidential

If you listen to TV CONFIDENTIAL, and like what you’ve heard, please consider supporting our efforts by becoming a patron of our show through Patreon. For as little as a dollar a month, you will help offset the costs of production and receive some cool rewards. For more information, please visit www.Patreon.com/tvconfidential... and thanks!

This Week in Television History: July 2016 PART Il

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.

July 12, 1976

Family Feud Premiered 

Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson where two families compete to name the most popular responses to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes.

The program premiered on ABC on July 12, 1976, and ran as part of its daytime schedule until June 14, 1985. The program was re-launched by CBS on July 4, 1988, and ran until September 10, 1993. Three separate editions for syndication were also produced. The first aired from September 19, 1977 to September 6, 1985. The second aired from September 19, 1988 to September 8, 1995. The current syndicated series premiered on September 20, 1999.

The ABC network version of the show and the first syndicated series were hosted by Richard Dawson. Ray Combs hosted the CBS series and the first six seasons of the accompanying syndicated version, then was replaced by Dawson for the final season. The 1999 syndicated series has been hosted by Louie Anderson (1999–2002), Richard Karn (2002–06), John O'Hurley (2006–10), and Steve Harvey (2010–present). Announcers for the series have included Gene Wood (1976–95), Burton Richardson (1999–2010), Joey Fatone(2010–15), and Rubin Ervin (2015–present).

The program has spawned multiple regional adaptations in over 50 international markets outside the United States. Within a year of its debut, the original version became the number one game show in daytime television; however, as viewing habits changed, the ratings declined. Harvey's takeover in 2010 increased Nielsen ratingssignificantly and eventually placed the program among the top five most popular syndicated television shows in the country. In 2013, TV Guide ranked Family Feud third in its list of the 60 greatest game shows of all time.

CLICK HERE for a list of Stations

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Robin Williams & John Ritter

Robin Williams & John Ritter

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.

Robin Williams HBO Comedy Special 1978 encores with John Ritter.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

The Songs of John Mitchum: Next on TVC

Cindy Mitchum Azbill, daughter of longtime film and TV character actor John Mitchum, will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing July 6-11 at the following times and venues:

WROM Radio
Detroit, MI
Wednesday 7/6
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Sunday 7/10
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 7/8
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 7/9
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Sunday 7/10
6pm ET, 3pm PT
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 7/10
9am ET, 6am PT
Also streaming at KSCO.com

KHMB AM-1710
KHMV-LP 100.9 FM
Half Moon Bay, CA
Sunday 7/3
9pm PT
Monday 6/27
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at KHMBRadio.com

RadioSlot.com
San Francisco, CA
Monday 7/11
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
Various times throughout the week
on the Entertainment Channel at PWRNetwork.com
and the PWR channel on TuneIn

The younger brother of screen legend Robert Mitchum, John Mitchum was an accomplished character actor in his own right who appeared in sixty films and more than 800 television episodes in the course of his 60-year career, including such classic shows as The Twilight Zone, F Troop, Bewitched, Perry Mason, Batman, Maverick and The Rockford Files. He was a frequent co-star of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood (among others), while Robert Fuller once said that he shot John Mitchum [on film] “more than anyone else in Hollywood.”

What you may not know is that John Mitchum was also an accomplished singer, songwriter and poet who not only wrote the lyrics for America: Why I Love Her (a spoken-word album that was also the only album ever recorded by John Wayne), but collaborated with Dan Blocker on the album Our Land, Our Heritage, as well as wrote such songs as “Ode to a Mule,” a tribute to Ruth (Festus’ mule on Gunsmoke) that was eventually recorded by Ken Curtis (Festus on Gunsmoke).

John Mitchum died in 2001, but his accomplishments as a poet and songwriter will be honored as part of two events coming up in September―one of which is the release of The John (The Humble) Mitchum Legacy CD, a two-disc CD set featuring fifty recordings of Mitchum’s poetry. John’s daughter, Cindy Mitchum Azbill, is the producer of The John (The Humble) Mitchum Legacy CD; she will share some memories of her dad when she joins us in our second hour.

The John (The Humble) Mitchum Legacy CD features fifty recordings of such stars as Robert Duvall, James Drury, Ernest Borgnine, Andrew Prine, Wilford Brimley, Randy Boone, Morgan Woodward, James Hampton, Robert Fuller, Ann Rutherford, Dick Van Patten, Denny Miller, and The Sons of the Pioneers, all recording John’s poems or singing a song. Nearly all of the contributors knew and/or worked with John Mitchum one way or another. The John (The Humble) Mitchum Legacy CD is available as a two-disc CD set through Mitchum Media Productions for $35 (including shipping). To pre-order, email djw7749@yahoo.com.

If you listen to us in Southern California (or plan on being in Southern California during Labor Day Weekend), there will be an official CD release party on Sunday, Sept. 4 at Paramount State Park in Los Angeles. The event will feature many of the celebrities who appear on the John (The Humble) Mitchum Legacy CD. Tickets for the Sunday, Sept. 4 event are $150 (which includes a signed CD) or $100 (without CD). Space is limited. For more information on the Sept. 4 CD party, email mitchummedia@gmail.com.

The first hour of this week’s show will include This Week in TV History, our DVD report, plus a surprise feature.

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Wed and Sun 8pm ET, 5pm PT on WROM Radio
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
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 9pm PT, Mon Mid ET on KHMB-AM and FM (Half Moon Bay, CA)
Mon 10pm ET, 7pm PT on The Radio Slot Network
Replays various times throughout the week on the Entertainment Channel at PWRNetwork
Tape us now, listen to us later, using DAR.fm/tvconfidential
Also available as a podcast via iTunes, FeedBurner
and now on your mobile phone via Stitcher.com
Follow us online at www.tvconfidential.net
Follow us now on Twitter: Twitter.com/tvconfidential
Like our Fan Page at www.facebook.com/tvconfidential

If you listen to TV CONFIDENTIAL, and like what you’ve heard, please consider supporting our efforts by becoming a patron of our show through Patreon. For as little as a dollar a month, you will help offset the costs of production and receive some cool rewards. For more information, please visit www.Patreon.com/tvconfidential... and thanks!

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

This Week in Television History: July 2016 PART I

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.

July 4, 1976

The Bicentennial Minute on  was narrated by First Lady Betty Ford.

From July 4, 1976, here is some coverage of some Bicentennial events from ABC News and Harry Reasoner, beginning at 1 PM EST

This psychedelic cartoon was produced by the U.S. Government with taxpayer dollars in 1976 to mark two hundred years of independence.

Of course we cant forget "Fireworks" is a Schoolhouse Rock! segment, featuring a song of the same title written by Lynn Ahrens. 

CLICK HERE for a list of Stations

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Angels on Skates 1979 - Charlie's Angels - Mini Episode

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.

Charlie's Angels careen onto the Venice Beach scene to solve a roller-disco kidnapping! Ed Begley, Jr. and Rene Auberjonois guest star.

On a slight personal note:

Some scenes were shot at Flipper's Roller Boogie Palace. It was only open for two years. This was where all the cool kids hung out and I spent many hours there. My friends and I missed that place for many years.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa