TV CONFIDENTIAL Archive: Oct. 5, 2011

Show No. 107 Oct. 5, 2011

First hour: Ed welcomes actor/comedian Sandy Hackett and singer/songwriter Lisa Dawn Miller, two of the stars and producers of Sandy Hackett’s Rat Pack Show, the critically acclaimed musical tribute to Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop that is about to embark on its annual national theatre tour, with stops in more than 45 cities across the country. Also in this hour: actress Tanna Frederick (Queen of the Lot, Hollywood Dreams, Sylvia) tells Ed about Project SOS: Save Our Surf, the charity she founded that supports clean water and clean oceans around the world. Tanna will be co-hosting a celebrity surfathon on Oct. 15-16 that will benefit the global charities Waves for Water and Tumelo Home, as well as Santa Monica Baykeeper and Inside the Outdoors in Southern California. Plus: Stephen Battaglio, business editor for TV Guide, helps Ed sort through the first two weeks of the new TV season, including the early success of such FOX shows as New Girl and The X Factor, the rise of network comedy series, and the demise of NBC's The Playboy Club. Second hour: Phil Gries joins Ed for a special expanded edition of the Sounds of Lost Television commemorating the 50th anniversary of Oct. 1, 1961, the day on which New York Yankees right fielder Roger Maris hit his 61st home run, surpassing Babe Ruth’s single-season record — an accomplishment that has nearly been forgotten in the wake of the Steroids Era, but which many traditionalists still consider to be the record for most home runs in a Major League Baseball season. Topics include a look at the various controversies that plagued Maris in 1961 as he neared Ruth's record.