This Week in Television History: January 2019 PART II

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.

Donna Allen-Figueroa

January 15, 1974

The first episode of Happy Days airs. 

A minor character, super-cool biker Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli, soon came to be the show's central character. The immensely popular series was the most highly rated comedy in the 1976-77 TV season and stayed in the Top 20 most highly rated shows for seven of its 10 seasons. It launched several spin-offs, including Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy.

January 16, 1949

KNBC Channel 4 in Los Angeles first went on the air with the call letters KNBH (NBC Hollywood).  

Broadcasting from the NBC Radio City Studios on Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood (The location is now a Chase Bank).

The station debuted with three hours and forty minutes of programming, which followed a fifteen-minute test pattern-and-music session. The programming included an eighteen-minute newsreel, a Review of 1948, LA’s first variety show called On the Show, and station’s first live program The Pickard Family, featuring Dad and Mom Pickard and their four children singing familiar American songs. By October 1949, KNBH had extended its operating schedule from five to seven days a week, with approximately twenty-six hours of television programming each week.

In 1954 the station changed its call letters to KRCA-TV for NBC's then-parent company, RCA (the Radio Corporation of America).

In November 1962 the station relocated to the network's color broadcast studio facility in "Beautiful Downtown Burbank" known then as NBC Color City. With the move the call letters were changed again to KNBC. NBC took the KNBC identity from its San Francisco radio station (which then became KNBR).

NBC Studio in Burbank became home to Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (Where announcer Gary Owens first coined the term “Beautiful downtown Burbank)". It was also the home to Sanford and Son, Chico and the Man, the daytime drama Days of Our Lives, countless game shows and most notably since 1972 The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and later Jay Leno.

On October 11, 2007, NBC-Universal announced that it would sell its Burbank studios and construct a new, all-digital facility near the Universal Studios lot. This is in an effort to merge all of NBC-Universal's West Coast operations into one area. When Conan O'Brien took over The Tonight Show he shot in Universal’s Sound Stage 1 (The former home to The Jack Benny Program).

And now for the news.

Tom Brokaw, Bryant Gumbel, Pat Sajak, Tom Snyder and Nick Clooney (George’s dad) worked at KNBC news early in their careers.

On a personal note: As someone who grew up in Southern California there were many local news stories that later received national or even international attention. I can also say that Channel 4 was making news while they were covering the news. 

May 17^th 1974 Channel 4 and other local TV stations covered a house in Compton that had been commandeered by the Symbionese Liberation Army, the revolutionary group that three months earlier had kidnapped 19-year-old Patricia Hearst (The granddaughter of the legendary newspaper baron). This was the first time I ever remember channel surfing because the event was being covered LIVE (not “Film at 11). Viewers got to see events play out as they happened. Shortly after 5 p.m. Los Angeles police, sheriffs and FBI agents closed in on the house. The house caught fire and 6 bodies were later recovered. Patty Hearst was not there.

In the summer of 1987 during an afternoon newscast, a gun-wielding mental patient took consumer reporter David Horowitz and the rest of the Channel 4 news team hostage while they were live on the air. The gunman was the son of a former Channel 4 News contributor and an invited guest of one of the news team members. As soon as the gunman appeared on camera the station stopped broadcasting the news, but as far as the gunman knew they were ON THE AIR. Viewers would later see tape of Horowitz calmly reading the gunman's statement on camera with a gun pointed at him. After Horowitz finished reading the statement the gunman surrendered his toy gun and was arrested. This event led Horowitz (whose long running syndicated series, Fight Back! originated from Channel 4) to start a successful campaign to ban "look-alike" toy guns in several states, including California and New York.

Later that year on October 1^st 1987 viewers watched anchorman Kent Shocknek and weatherman Christopher Nance dive under their news desk during an after shock from the Whittier Narrows earthquake. Kent Shocknek would never live down this event and forever be known as Kent “After-Shocknek”. It should also be noted that Kent Shocknek was later honored by the Red Cross and by a few cities for demonstrating how to behave during an earthquake.

On April 30^th 1992, the second day of the Los Angeles Riots, KNBC News was covering the historic event nonstop. But that evening the station decided to suspend it’s around the clock riot coverage to air the series finale of The Cosby Show giving viewers a brief Mental Sorbet. Following the broadcast Bill Cosby went on the air and asked Angelinos to pray for peace.

This studio hosted production of many of the best-remembered game and variety shows from the 1950s through the 1990s, including The Tonight Show beginning in 1972. In that year, Johnny Carson moved the show to California from New York where it remained until 2009 when Jay Leno handed hosting duties to Conan O'Brien. During the late 1960s, the Carson Tonight Show would move for periods to Burbank, using the Bob Hope Stage 3 to video-tape a live feed to the East Coast. After the permanent move to Burbank, Bob Hope's show taped on Stage 3, with The Tonight Show taking a hiatus while Hope produced his specials.

January 17, 1949

The Goldbergs debuts as television's first situation comedy. 

The show, which evolved from a nearly 20-year-old popular radio program of the same name, followed the adventures of a middle-class Jewish family in the Bronx. Gertrude Berg played gossipy housewife Molly Goldberg, and Philip Loeb played her husband, Jake, who worked in the clothing business. They had two teenagers, Sammy and Rosalie.

In each episode, the family would face another typical middle-class problem--and Molly enjoyed trying to help the neighbors in her apartment complex solve their problems, too. Later, when the fictitious family moved from the Bronx to suburban Haverville, the cast was joined by philosophical Uncle David, Sammy's fiancee (who later became his wife), her mother, and new neighbors. In 1952, Loeb was blacklisted for alleged Communist sympathies.

The show's sponsor, General Foods, dropped the series, and the show moved to NBC-without Loeb, though Berg had fought to keep him aboard. Loeb declared under oath he had never been a member of the Communist Party, and the charges were never proved, but his career was destroyed. He died in 1955 after taking a fatal overdose of sleeping pills in a hotel room. The show ran until 1954.

January 17, 1994

The Northridge earthquake at 04:31 Pacific Standard Time in Reseda, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, lasting for about 10–20 seconds. 

The earthquake had a "strong" moment magnitude (M_w) of 6.7, but the ground acceleration was one of the highest ever instrumentally recorded in an urban area in North America, measuring 1.8g (16.7 m/s²) with strong ground motion felt as far away as Las Vegas, Nevada, about 220 miles (360 km) from the epicenter. The peak ground velocity in this earthquake at the Rinaldi Receiving station was 183 cm/s (6.59 km/h or 4.09 mph), the fastest peak ground velocity ever recorded. In addition, two 6.0 M_w aftershocks occurred. The first about 1 minute after the initial event and the second approximately 11 hours later, the strongest of several thousand aftershocks in all. The death toll came to a total of 57 people, and there were over 8,700 injured. In addition, the earthquake caused an estimated $20 billion in damage, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.

Television, movie, and music productions affected

The earthquake disrupted production of movies and TV shows filming in the area at the time. The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Profit and Loss" was being filmed at the time and actors Armin Shimerman and Edward Wiley left the Paramount Pictures lot in full Ferengi and Cardassian makeup respectively. The season five episode of Seinfeld entitled "The Pie" was due to begin shooting on the day of the earthquake before stage sets were damaged. CBS's The Price is Right which shoots live in the CBS Television Center, had minor set damage. NBC's The Tonight Show, hosted by Jay Leno, took place in the NBC Studios in Burbank, close to the epicenter of the quake. Also, ABC's General Hospital, which shoots in Los Angeles, was heavily affected by the Northridge earthquake. The set, which is at ABC Television Center, suffered major damage including partial structural collapse and water damage.

All of the earthquake sequences in the Wes Craven film New Nightmare were filmed a month prior to the Northridge quake. The real quake struck only weeks before filming was completed. Subsequently, a team was sent out to film footage of the quake damaged areas of the city. The cast and crew had initially thought that the scenes that were filmed before the real quake struck were a bit overdone, but when viewed after the real quake hit, they were horrified by the realism of it.

Michael Jackson had been due to begin recording of his new album HIStory on the day of the earthquake, but Jackson's entourage moved recording to New York City. They returned to the studio in Los Angeles some six months later.

Some archives of film and entertainment programming were also affected. For example, the original 35 mm master films for the 1960s sitcom My Living Doll were destroyed in the earthquake. The earthquake knocked Los Angeles' radio and television stations off the air. However, they later came back on the air for earthquake coverage.

NBC affiliate KNBC was the first television station to go off the air while reporters and anchors Kent Shocknek, Colleen Williams and Chuck Henry were producing special reports throughout the morning. Other stations KTLA, KCAL, KCBS and KABC were also knocked off the air. Afterward, anchors and reporters Stan Chambers and Hal Fishman of KTLA, Laura Diaz and Harold Greene of KABC, John Beard of KTTV, and Tritia Toyota of KCBS were doing coverage throughout the morning.

Radio stations such as KFI, KFWB and KNX were on the air during the main tremor, causing severe static on the airwaves. KROQ-FM's Kevin and Bean morning show asked those people tuned in to stay out of their homes. KLOS Morning Duo Mark & Brian's morning show was also affected. The duo spoke to Los Angeles area residents about their situation.

FM radio stations such as KRTH, KIIS-FM, KOST-FM and KCBS-FM were bringing special reports on the earthquake when morning show host Robert W. Morgan, Rick Dees and Charlie Tuna were calling Los Angeles residents and others from its sister stations to bring their belongings to the station and advising people not to drink water.

January 18, 1974

Six Million Dollar Man debuts.

The popularity of the Six Million Dollar Man, starring Lee Majors as Steve Austin, the world's first bionic man, inspires a superhero trend in the late 1970s, which spawns shows like Wonder Woman in 1976 and The Incredible Hulk in 1978. In 1975 two-part episode entitled The Bionic Woman introduced the character of Jaime Sommers, a professional tennis player who rekindled an old romance with Austin, only to experience a parachuting accident that resulted in her being given bionic parts similar to Austin. Ultimately, however, her bionics failed and she died. The character was very popular, however, and the following season she was revived (having been cryogenically frozen) and was given her own spin-off series, The Bionic Woman, which lasted until 1978 when both it and The Six Million Dollar Man were simultaneously cancelled.

Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers returned in three subsequent made-for-television movies:

The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (1987), Bionic Showdown (1989) — which featured Sandra Bullock in an early role as a new bionic woman; and Bionic Ever After? (1994) in which Austin and Sommers finally marry. Majors reprised the role of Steve Austin in all three productions, which also featured Richard Anderson and Martin E. Brooks.

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Making of "Hamilton" in Puerto Rico

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 Puerto Rican debut of Tony Award-winning musical "Hamilton" happens today. It's part of an effort to raise money and awareness for the U.S. territory after Hurricane Maria devasted the island in 2017. Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda will play the role he developed, Alexander Hamilton. He brought the show to the island where his parents were born. David Begnaud offers a behind-the-scenes look at the production.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: January 2019 PART I

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.

Donna Allen-Figueroa

January 4, 1984

The first episode of Night Court aired on NBC. 

The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone (played by Harry Anderson). It was created by comedy writer Reinhold Weege, who had previously worked on Barney Miller in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Anderson had developed a following with his performances on Saturday Night Live and made several successful appearances as con man "Harry the Hat" on another NBC sitcom, Cheers. (For the first several years of its run, Night Court aired on NBC Thursday nights after Cheers.) In later seasons, while Anderson remained the key figure, John Larroquette became the breakout personality, winning a number of awards and many fans for his performance as the lecherous Dan Fielding.

The comedy style on Night Court changed as the series progressed. During its initial seasons, the show was often compared to Barney Miller. In addition to being created by a writer of that show, Night Court (like Barney Miller) was set in New York City, featured quirky, often dry humor, and dealt with a staff who tried to cope with a parade of eccentric, often neurotic criminals and complainants. Furthering this comparison, these characters were routinely played by character actors who had made frequent guest appearances on Barney Miller, including Stanley Brock, Philip Sterling, Peggy Pope, and Alex Henteloff. But while the characters appearing in the courtroom (and the nature of their transgressions) were often whimsical, bizarre or humorously inept, the show initially took place in the 'real world'. In an early review of the show, Time magazine called Night Court, with its emphasis on non-glamorous, non-violent petty crime, the most realistic law show on the air.

Gradually, however, Night Court abandoned its initial "real world" setting, and changed to what could best be described as broad, almost slapstick comedy. Logic and realism were frequently sidelined for more surreal humor, such as having the cartoon character, Wile E. Coyote, as a defendant and convicting him for harassment of the Road Runner with an admonition to find a meal by some other means.

January 9, 1959

Rawhide premiered. 

The Western series starring Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood aired for eight seasons on CBS network with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes. The series was produced and sometimes directed by Charles Marquis Warren, who also produced early episodes of Gunsmoke.

January 9, 1979

Pop luminaries gather at the U.N. for the Music for UNICEF concert.

In an effort to call attention to the poverty, malnutrition and lack of access to quality education affecting millions of children throughout the developing world, the United Nations proclaimed 1979 the "International Year of the Child." To publicize the proclamation and raise money for UNICEF—the United Nation's Children's Fund—plans were laid for a concert fundraiser featuring dozens of leading lights of late-70s pop. Staged in the U.N. General Assembly Hall in New York City on January 9, 1979, the show was subsequently broadcast around the world as "The Music for UNICEF Concert: A Gift of Song."

The prime movers behind the Music for UNICEF concert were the Bee Gees, their manager Robert Stigwood and the British television host David Frost, of Frost-Nixon fame. The 1971 Concert for Bangladesh, which raised millions for UNICEF through ticket sales and royalties from the concert film and album, provided the template that the Bee Gees et al. planned to follow, with an important, added twist. The organizers of the 1979 concert asked all participating stars to donate to UNICEF the royalties from the song they performed during the show. Another key difference between the two concerts was a rather dramatic difference in musical esthetics. The Concert for Bangladesh featured Ravi Shankar, George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton performing songs like "Bangla Dun," "My Sweet Lord" and "Blowin' in the Wind." The Music for UNICEF concert, on the other hand, featured ABBA, Andy Gibb and Rod Stewart singing songs like "Chiquita," "I Go for You" and, most improbably considering the occasion, "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?"

Suffice it to say that when viewed with the benefit of hindsight, there is a very strong only-in-1979 vibe about the Music for UNICEF concert: John Denver and Donna Summer on the same stage; Henry Winkler (the Fonz) introducing Rod Stewart; and, most charmingly, the late Gilda Radner introducing "Benny-Bror-Goran-Andersson-Bjorn-Christian-Ulvaeus-Agnetha-Ase-Anna-Faltskog-Ulvaeus-Anni-Frida-Lyngstad. Or to put it another way - ABBA!" It is not clear exactly how much money the Music for UNICEF concert actually raised, or whether all of the participating artists actually signed over all future royalties on the songs they performed. At the very least, the Bee Gees' contribution to the effort, "Too Much Heaven," would go on to be a #1 pop hit and raise more than $7 million for the charitable programs of UNICEF.

January 9, 1984

Clara Peller was first seen by TV viewers in the "Where's the Beef?" commercial campaign for Wendy's.

Peller's "Where's the beef" line instantly became a catchphrase across the United States. The diminutive octogenarian actress made the three-word phrase a cultural phenomenon, and herself a cult star. At Wendy's, sales jumped 31% to $945 million in 1985 worldwide. Wendy's senior vice president for communications, Denny Lynch, stated at the time that "with Clara we accomplished as much in five weeks as we did in 14½ years." Former Vice-President Walter Mondale also used the line against rival Senator Gary Hart in his bid for the Democratic nomination in the 1984 presidential campaign.

While hugely popular, the advertising campaign proved to be short-lived, at least for Wendy's. Peller had made actor scale wages – $317.40 per day – for the initial Wendy's TV commercial of the campaign in January 1984. Her fee for subsequent work as a Wendy's spokesperson was not disclosed, though Peller admitted in an interview with People magazine to having earned US$30,000 from the first two commercials and profits from product tie-in sales. Wendy's later alleged that the company had paid Peller a total of $500,000 for her work on the campaign, though Peller denied earning that much.

Per the terms of her Screen Actors Guild union contract, the actress was free to participate in any commercials for products, goods or services, which did not directly compete with Wendy's hamburgers. She subsequently signed a contract with the Campbell Soup Company to appear in an advertisement for PregoPasta Plus spaghetti sauce. In the Prego commercial, Peller examines the Prego sauce and after wondering "Where's the beef?" declares, "I found it! I really found it". However, after the Prego commercial aired on television in 1985, Wendy's management decided to terminate her contract, contending that the Prego commercial implies "that Clara found the beef at somewhere other than Wendy's restaurants". In announcing the dismissal, Wendy's Denny Lynch stated, "Clara can find the beef only in one place, and that is Wendy's". Peller's response was short and swift: "I've made them millions, and they don't appreciate me."

Following the conclusion of the "Where's the beef" campaign, Wendy's Restaurants entered a two-year sales slump. Vice President Lynch later admitted that consumer awareness of the Wendy's brand did not recover for another five years, with the advent of a new, humorous line of TV commercials featuring the brand's founder, Dave Thomas.

January 9, 1999

The first episode of Providence aired on NBC. 

The show revolves around Dr. Sydney Hansen (played by Kanakaredes), who left her glamorous job in Beverly Hills as a plastic surgeon for the rich, so she could return to her hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, and be with her family. Sydney lives with her father Jim, brother Robbie, sister Joanie, and sister's baby Hannah in a large home in suburban Providence that also houses her father's veterinary clinic. Sydney's mother dies in the first episode but continued to appear to Sydney as a spirit, and to offer advice.

The show ends rather abruptly, with a two-part wedding episode. NBC called this Providence's "winter finale," fully expecting to bring it back in the spring or autumn of 2003, but these plans were eventually scrapped when some cast members, including Melina Kanakaredes, opted out of producing a sixth season. 

January 10, 1999

HBO began airing the series The Sopranos.

S1 Ep 1: The Sopranos - Pilot

The Sopranos is an American television drama created by David Chase. The series revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads. Those difficulties are often highlighted through his ongoing professional relationship with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco). The show features Tony's family members and Mafia colleagues and rivals in prominent roles and story arcs, most notably his wife Carmela (Edie Falco) and his cousin and protégé Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli).

After a pilot of the series was ordered in 1997, the series premiered on the premium cable network HBO in the United States on January 10, 1999, and ended its original run of six seasons and 86 episodes on June 10, 2007. The series then went through syndication and has been broadcast on A&E in the United States and internationally. The Sopranos was produced by HBO, Chase Films, and Brad Grey Television. It was primarily filmed at Silvercup Studios, New York City, and on location in New Jersey. The executive producers throughout the show's run were Chase, Brad Grey, Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess, Ilene S. Landress, Terence Winter, and Matthew Weiner.

January 11, 1949

NBC links its East and Midwest TV networks, celebrating with a special ceremonial telecast. 

Radio network NBC had started experimenting with television broadcasts as early as 1938 and began regular service in 1939, starting with the World's Fair in New York. NBC and CBS both received commercial licenses for stations in New York City on July 1, 1941. NBC launched its first TV network in 1946 by transmitting programs from its New York station to its Philadelphia and Schenectady stations. The company didn't open its Midwest network until September of 1948. The West Coast was added in September 1951, creating the country's first coast-to-coast network.

January 11, 1979

Jack Soo Died. Soo was diagnosed with esophageal cancer during Barney Miller's fifth season (1978–79). 

The cancer spread quickly, and Soo died on January 11, 1979 at age 61. His last appearance on the show was in the episode entitled "The Vandal," which aired on November 9, 1978.

Because his character (and Soo himself) was so beloved, a special retrospective episode was made, showing clips of his best moments, which aired at the end of the season. The most poignant moment of the show came at the end, when the cast members raised their coffee cups in a final farewell toast to the late actor.

Soo's last words to his Barney Miller co-star Hal Linden before his death were: "It must have been the coffee."

January 12, 1949

Arthur Godfrey and His Friends was debuted on CBS-TV. 

The show stayed on the network for seven years. 

The hour-long series aired on CBS Television from January 1949 to June 1957 (as The Arthur Godfrey Show after September 1956), then again as a half-hour show from September 1958 to April 1959.

Many of Godfrey's musical acts were culled from Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, which was airing on CBS at the same time. Among the more popular of his singers were Frank Parker, Marion Marlowe, Janette Davis, Julius La Rosa, Haleloke, The Mariners, The McGuire Sisters, Carmel Quinn, Pat Boone, Miyoshi Umeki and The Chordettes. The show was live, and Godfrey often did away with the script and improvised. In addition, unlike his morning show Arthur Godfrey Time, the evening show often presented celebrity guests. He refused to participate in commercials for products he did not believe in.

The series was a hit in the Nielsen ratings in the early to mid 1950s, often finishing just behind Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. It ranked #18 in the 1950-1951 season, #6 in 1951-1952, #3 in 1952-1953, #6 in 1953-1954 and #22 in 1954-1955. Arthur Godfrey and His Friends also earned a nomination for an Emmy Award in 1953 for Best Variety Program.

January 12, 1949

Kukla, Fran and Ollie, the Chicago-based children’s show, made its national debut on NBC-TV. 

Burr Tillstrom was the creator and only puppeteer on the show, which premiered as the hour-long Junior Jamboree locally on WBKB in Chicago, Illinois, on October 13, 1947. The program was renamed Kukla, Fran and Ollie (KFO) and transferred to WNBQ (the predecessor of Chicago's WMAQ-TV) on November 29, 1948. The first NBC network broadcast of the show took place on January 12, 1949. It aired from 6–6:30 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday from Chicago.

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: LA PROTESTA DE LOS REYES MAGOS

Here is the last "HOLIDAY SOR-BAY" of the season.

a little spark of madness

that we could use to artificially maintain our Christmas spirit.

Three Kings’ Day or the Epiphany

Gilberto Santa Rosa, Victor Manuelle, and Domingo Quiñones improvise The Three King's Protest.

Stay Tuned


Tony Figueroa

Bob Einstein

I've got my balls in my throat.

Can you get me out of here please?

I'm in pain, okay?

-Super Dave Osborne

Stewart Robert "Bob" Einstein
November 20, 1942–January 2, 2019

Bob Einstein's parents were the comic Harry Einstein, best known for playing the character Parkyakarkus on radio and in the movies, and the actress-singer Thelma Leeds. His younger brother is comedian and writer Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein), and his older brother, Cliff Einstein, is a retired advertising executive in Los Angeles.

Einstein got his start writing for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour for which he won an Emmy Award. The writing team also included Steve Martin and Murray Roman. He also appeared on the show as Officer Judy.

Einstein created the goofy stuntman Super Dave Osborne character, who first made an appearance on The John Byner Comedy Hour, a 1972 TV series. The character later became a regular on the 1980 TV series Bizarre (also hosted by Byner), and was a frequent guest on Late Night with David Letterman. In 1987, Einstein got his own variety show named Super Dave, which ran from 1987 to 1991 on the Global Television Network in Canada (where the show was produced at the network's Toronto studio) and Showtime in the U.S. In 1992, an animated series Super Dave: Daredevil for Hire aired on Fox. Einstein later extended the "Super Dave" franchise by starring in the 2000 movie, The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave.

On the November 12, 2009, edition of TNA Impact!, he was the booker of the night. He made Super Dave's Spike Tacular, a four-episode sketch series on Spike TV reprising his Super Dave character, once again engaging in outrageous stunts.

Einstein has had recurring roles as Marty Funkhouser in Curb Your Enthusiasm and Larry Middleman in the third season of Arrested Development. He was also featured on the Comedy Central show Crank Yankers as obnoxious district selectman Tony Deloge. Einstein was also on The Man Show where he did Century Club with Adam and Jimmy. In Ocean's Thirteen he played Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon)'s father, Robert 'Bobby' Caldwell, a master robber and con artist whose day job is as an FBI agent.

Einstein appeared on the second season of Anger Management as Charlie Goodson's very angry neighbor, and his character in the show instantly got an unflattering nickname based on a feminine hygiene product.

Einstein has voiced two characters from The Life & Times of Tim, playing the Elephant Trainer in Tim & the Elephant in the second season, and the bookie in Pray for the Jets in the third.

Einstein was the first comedian to appear twice on Jerry Seinfeld's web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

Good Night Mr. Einstein

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: FUNNY OR DIE'S 2019 Rose Parade with Cord & Tish

Here is a "HOLIDAY SOR-BAY"

a little spark of madness

that we could use to artificially maintain our Christmas spirit.

Stay Tuned


Tony Figueroa