David Susskind: A Televised Life: Next on TV CONFIDENTIAL

The life and career of legendary television executive, producer and talk show host David Susskind will be the focus of the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, premiering Monday, Apr. 11 at 9pm ET, 6pm PT on Shokus Internet Radio, with additional airings Tuesday, Apr. 12 at 11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT on Passionate World Radio, Friday, Apr. 15 at 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org, and Saturday, Apr. 16 at 8pm PT and Sunday, Apr. 17 at 2pm PT on KWDJ 1360-AM (Ridgecrest, CA). One of the most dynamic figures that television has ever known, David Susskind took risks, broke rules and in many, many ways shaped television programming as we currently know it today. After beginning his career as a publicist and agent, and establishing his own agency, Talent Associates, Susskind went from behind the desk to behind the scenes, establishing himself as a producer of such live television productions as Armstrong Circle Theatre, where he battled network practices of blacklisting, exposed TV audiences to provocative subject matter and introduced such actors as Sir Laurence Olivier to American television audiences.

Though he was acclaimed for producing such iconic TV series as Get Smart, East Side, West Side, He and She, N.Y.P.D. and McMillan and Wife, as well as such feature films as Requiem for a Heavyweight, A Raisin in the Sun and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, it was Susskind’s groundbreaking weekly talk show, Open End, that made him a household name. Open End ran for 25 years and featured movers and shakers could speak their minds about a wide range of topics literally without restrictions. Joining us this week as we remember David Susskind will be Stephen Battaglio, business editor for TV Guide and the author of David Susskind: A Televised Life, an excellent biography of Susskind that not only covers every aspect of his life and career, but in many ways is also a capsule history of the first four decades of television. Stephen Battaglio will be joining us in our first hour. Plus: Phil Gries discusses the rarely seen television production of Annie, Get Your Gun as part of The Sounds of Lost Television, while Tony Figueroa remembers Andy Griffith’s Return to Mayberry as part of This Week in TV History. TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television Tuesdays 11:05pm, 8:05pm PT Passionate World Radio Fridays 7pm ET and PT Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org Saturdays 8pm PT Sundays 2pm PT KWDJ 1360-AM (Ridgecrest, Calif.) Three times a day, every day on Shokus Internet Radio www.tvconfidential.net blog.tvconfidential.net Also available as a podcast via iTunes and FeedBurner Find us now on Facebook