Friday, June 17, 2016

Your Mental Sorbet: Dinner, Dykes & Damnation

Dinner, Dykes & Damnation

Performed by Donna Figueroa and Tony Figueroa

This was an actual event that took place several years ago.

We were reminded of this story in light of recent events.

Enjoy, but don't forget to say Grace.

This story was shot as part of

Guess Who's Coming To...

An evening of stories told by a typical American couple, the Figueroas. He is a Swedish-Puerto Rican television aficionado. She is an African-American Jane Pauley sound-alike shopaholic.

The audience follows their adventures in and over America as they stray from the normalcy of their home, Hollywood, CA.

The stories were developed at Story Salon Los Angeles’s longest running storytelling venue.

Performed as part of the 2006 IndyFringe at THEATRE ON THE SQUARE in Indianapolis on September 3rd 2006.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Ann Morgan Guilbert

Ann Morgan GuilbertOctober 16, 1928 – June 14, 2016

Ann Guilbert died of cancer in Los Angeles yesterday. She was 87.
She was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the daughter of Dr. Gerald Guilbert, a physician, and his wife, Cornelia. She attended Solomon Juneau High School, and after moving to San Francisco, she studied theater arts at Stanford University.

She began her acting career as a featured performer and singer in the Billy Barnes Revues of the 1950s and 1960s. She is best known for her role as Millie Helper in 61 episodes of the early 1960s sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show, and later Yetta Rosenberg, Fran Fine's doddering grandmother, in 56 episodes of the 1990s sitcom The Nanny.

After The Dick Van Dyke Show, she made guest appearances in many other television shows, including Adam-12 (the premiere episode), as well as The Andy Griffith Show, Love, American Style, That Girl, Dragnet, Picket Fences, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

She appeared in such feature films as A Guide for the Married Man, Viva Max!, Grumpier Old Men (as the mother of Sophia Loren's character), and Please Give, for which she received the CFA for Best Supporting Actress. In December 2004, she appeared in the reunion of The Nanny titled The Nanny Reunion: A Nosh to Rememberwith Fran Drescher, Lauren Lane, Rachel Chagall and other cast members of The Nanny.

Good Night Ms. Guilbert

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Charlotte Stewart: Next on TVC

Actress and author Charlotte Stewart will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing June 15-20 at the following times and venues:

WROM Radio
Detroit, MI
Wednesday 6/15
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Sunday 6/19
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 6/17
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 6/18
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Sunday 6/19
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 6/19
9am ET, 6am PT
Also streaming at KSCO.com

KHMB AM-1710
KHMV-LP 100.9 FM
Half Moon Bay, CA
Sunday 6/19
9pm PT
Monday 6/20
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at KHMBRadio.com

RadioSlot.com
San Francisco, CA
Monday 6/20
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

Known around the world as Miss Beadle on Little House on the Prairie, and Betty Briggs on Twin Peaks, Charlotte Stewart began her career as Disneyland’s first walk-around character of Alice in Wonderland ― and though she didn’t know it at the time, she would go through the looking glass on more than one occasion as she embraced the hippie movement of the ’60s and ’70s (and all that it embodied) before bottoming out in the 1980s after falling prey to alcoholism and drug addiction.

Charlotte speaks candidly about her life choices (good, bad and disastrous) in Little House in the Hollywood Hills, a book that not only gives you a good idea of what it was like to live in and survive the era of Sex, Drugs and Rock n Roll, but includes great stories about some of the many real-life characters from music, film and TV that were part of the fabric of Charlotte’s life. Charlotte Stewart will join us in our second hour.

Phil Gries will join us in our first hour for the final segment in our six-part series on the life and career of comedian Joey Bishop. Among other things, we’ll play highlights from Bishop’s final appearance from his ABC late night talk show (Nov. 26, 1969), as well as discuss his controversial choice to walk off the air that night, his fallout with Regis Philbin, his sometimes difficult relationship with writers and other show business colleagues, his place in the pantheon of late night TV hosts, and his philosophy to life in general. Plus: Greg Ehrbar with a brand new DVD report.

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!

Monday, June 13, 2016

This Week in Television History: June 2016 PART II

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.

June 16, 1976

The TV show The Jacksons began airing for four weeks on CBS.

The Jacksons was a variety show featuring the Jackson siblings (except for Jermaine, who was signed to Motown while the Jackson group was signed to the Epic/CBS record label). It was the first variety show where the entire cast were siblings. As with the Jackson 5 regular performances, Michael Jackson was the lead performer in musical and dance performances.

The thirty-minute Wednesday evening show began airing on CBS as a summer 1976 show and it continued into the 1976–1977 season, finishing on March 9, 1977 after running for 12 episodes.

CLICK HERE for a list of Stations

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Janet Waldo

Janet Marie Waldo

February 4, 1920 – June 12, 2016

Janet Waldo died today at the age of 96.

She appeared as Peggy, a teen smitten with Ricky Ricardo on a 1952 episode of I Love Lucy titled "The Young Fans" with Richard Crenna. Ten years later, Waldo again worked with Lucille Ball, this time playing Lucy Carmichael's sister, Marge, on The Lucy Show. That episode was titled "Lucy's Sister Pays A Visit". She also appeared on an episode of The Andy Griffith Show as Amanda.

Waldo also reprised the role of Emmy Lou for some early TV episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Later, she was the female lead opposite Anthony Franciosa in the short-lived sitcom Valentine's Day (1964).

In television animation, she played Judy Jetson in all versions of the Hanna-Barbera television series The Jetsons. Waldo is the last surviving main cast member of the original The Jetsons series. In 1964–66, she took over the role of Pearl Slaghoople on The Flintstones, which was originally played by Verna Felton. Waldo reprised Mrs. Slaghoople on the Flintstones TV films I Yabba-Dabba Do! and Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby in the 1990s.

She later provided the voices for Nancy in Shazzan, Granny Sweet in The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show, Josie in Josie and the Pussycats and Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, Penelope Pitstop in both Wacky Races and The Perils of Penelope Pitstop. She later guest starred in Thundarr the Barbarian as Circe in the episode "Island of the Body Snatchers".

Further guest starring roles include Beth Crane, a descendant of Ichabod Crane, in the episode "The Headless Horseman of Halloween" from the The Scooby-Doo Show in 1976. She voiced Morticia Addams in the short-lived 1973 cartoon series adaptation of The Addams Family. Waldo was the voice of Princess and Susan in the English-language version of Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman, known as Battle of the Planets, and Hogatha in The Smurfs.

Good Night
Ms. Waldo
Thanks for being part of my childhood.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Broadway Carpool Karaoke

Here is a Special Tony Awards
"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.

With James Corden hosting the Tony Awards, he calls on Lin-Manuel Miranda, Audra McDonald, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Jane Krakowski to get him through New York traffic while they sing tunes from Hamilton, Les Misérables and other Broadway classics.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Friday, June 10, 2016

Your Mental Sorbet: I Am the Greatest - The Adventures of Muhammad Ali

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.

I Am the Greatest: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali was an animated series featuring heavyweight boxing legend Muhammad Ali, who starred as his own voice. The short-lived series was broadcast Saturday mornings on NBC in the fall of 1977, but was cancelled after just 13 weeks.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Tuesday, June 07, 2016

Jimmy Weldon: Next on TVC

tvconfidential... and thanks!

Monday, June 06, 2016

This Week in Television History: June 2016 PART II

CLICK HERE for a list of Stations

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.

June 6, 1971

The Ed Sullivan Show airs for the very last time.

Sunday nights, 8:00 pm, CBS. Ask almost any American born in the 1950s or earlier what television program ran in that timeslot on that network, and they'll probably know the answer: The Ed Sullivan Show. For more than two decades, Sullivan's variety show was the premiere television showcase for entertainers of all stripes, including borscht-belt comedians, plate-spinning vaudeville throwbacks and, most significantly, some of the biggest and most current names in rock and roll. Twenty-three years after its 1948 premiere, The Ed Sullivan Show had its final broadcast on this day in 1971.

In its first eight years of existence, there was no such thing as rock and roll to be featured on the program originally called Toast of the Town, yet even its first broadcast made music history when Broadway composers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II gave the world its first taste of the score from their upcoming musical, South Pacific. Over the years, live performances of new and current Broadway shows were featured regularly on Ed Sullivan, including Julie Andrews singing "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" from My Fair Lady and Richard Burton singing "What Do The Simple Folk Do?" from Camelot. Classical and opera performers also made frequent appearances, but of course The Ed Sullivan Show is now remembered most for providing so many iconic moments in the history of televised rock and roll.

Elvis Presley's first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, in September 1956, was actually one of his most restrained and least thrilling. It was notable, however, given Ed Sullivan's assertion earlier that year that he'd never allow "The King" on his show. By the time the Beatles rolled around, Sullivan was far more comfortable with the hysteria young Elvis had caused. In fact, it was Ed Sullivan personally witnessing Beatlemania up close at London's Heathrow airport in 1963 that led the Beatles being booked for their historic February 1964 American television debut. Through the rest of the 60s, The Ed Sullivan Show continued to host the day's biggest rock acts: The Rolling Stones, The Supremes, The Doors, The Mamas and the Papas, Janis Joplin and more.

Gladys Knight and the Pips were the musical guests on the final episode of The Ed Sullivan Show, which was cancelled shortly after its rerun broadcast on this day in 1971.

June 9, 1961

Michael J. Fox was born, in Canada.

He first became known for his role as Alex P. Keaton on the popular sitcom Family Ties, and went on to star in such films as Back to the Future and Teen Wolf as well as the TV series Spin City. In 1999, he announced that he was battling Parkinson's Disease. He left Spin City in 2000 but later guest starred on such shows as Scrubs and Boston Legal.

Quotes

My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations.

– Michael J. Fox

Early Career

Actor. Born Michael Andrew Fox, on June 9, 1961, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Fox began using the middle initial 'J' (presumably smoother-sounding than 'A') professionally to distinguish himself from another acting "Michael Fox." Michael J. Fox first achieved stardom in 1982, as the acquisitive Reagan-era poster-boy Alex P. Keaton on the popular television sitcom Family Ties.

Hailing from Canada, where he grew up the youngest of five children to Bill and Phyllis Fox, Michael struggled in school and was too small - he is five feet, four inches tall - to compete in his favorite activity, ice hockey. He found an outlet in drama class, and in 1976 made his professional debut in the CBS series Leo and Me at age 15 (playing a 10-year-old). After starring in the CBS movie Letters from Frank (also filmed in Canada), Fox dropped out of high school and drove to Los Angeles with his father. There, he found work in the series Palmerstown, U.S.A. before landing the role in Family Ties, where he wooed audiences with his confident charm and impeccable comic timing for seven years.

Big Screen Success

He also had enormous success on the big screen, playing Marty McFly in Robert Zemeckis' zany romp, Back to the Future (1985). After playing comic roles in Teen Wolf and The Secret of My Success, Fox wanted to broaden his range and took some unlikely dramatic turns, playing a factory worker in Light of Day, a cocaine-snorting fact checker in Bright Lights, Big City, and earning critical acclaim for his starring role alongside Sean Penn in Brian DePalma's Vietnam saga Casualties of War.

Spin City

Audiences applauded Fox's return to Back to the Future, for sequels II and III in 1989 and 1990. His pitch-perfect portrayal of a George Stephanopoulos-type character in The American President (1995) earned Fox accolades once again, but it was his ceremonious return to prime time television in the ABC sitcom Spin City, which launched in 1996, that put Fox back where he belonged - delighting audiences on a weekly basis with a schedule that allowed him more time with his family. In 1999, he contributed his trademark voice and comic flare as the title character (a little white mouse) in the film adaptation of E.B. White's Stuart Little. Fox was honored with a star on the fabled Hollywood Walk of Fame in December 2002.

Battle with Parkinson's Disease

In late 1999, Fox made the startling announcement that he had been battling Parkinson's disease since 1991, and had even undergone brain surgery to alleviate tremors. Despite Spin City's incredible success and a showering of Emmy and Golden Globe awards, Fox announced in early 2000 that he would leave the show, which he also executive produced, to spend time with his family, and to concentrate on raising money and awareness for Parkinson's disease - including the May 2000 launch of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Fox won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his final season on Spin City, along with the respect and support of the entire Hollywood community.

In 2004, Fox guest starred in the television comedy Scrubs as Dr. Kevin Casey, a surgeon with obsessive-compulsive disorder. In 2006, he appeared in a recurring role on the drama Boston Legal. Fox was nominated for an Emmy Award for best guest appearance. In 2009, he appeared on the dark drama, Rescue Me, and his television special Michael J. Fox: Adventures of an Incurable Optimist, based on his best-selling book by the same title, aired on ABC.

Fox married the actress Tracy Pollan (who played Ellen, Alex Keaton's girlfriend, on Family Ties) in 1988. The couple has four children: son Sam, twin girls Aquinnah and Schuyler, and daughter Esmé Annabelle.