The Wild, Wild West Revisited: Next on TVC

Authors Sue Kesler and Jude Bradley and actor/stuntman Bob Herron will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Jan. 1-7 at the following times and venues:

WROM RadioDetroit, MI
Wednesday 1/1
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Sunday 1/5
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at WROMRadio.net

WYYR: Yesteryear Radio
Vero Beach, FL
Wednesday 1/1
9pm ET, 6pm PT
Click the On Air button at WYYR.com

Indiana Talks
Marion, INWednesday 1/1
11pm ET, 8pm PT
with replays at various times throughout the week
Click on the player at IndianaTalks.com
or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in Indiana Talks

Talktainment Radio
Columbus, OH
Thursday 1/2
2am ET, 11pm PT
Friday 1/3
3am ET, Midnight PT
Noon ET, 9am PT
Click on the Listen Live button at TalktainmentRadio.com

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 1/3
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at KSAV.org
or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in KSAV

Boost Radio Network
Paramus, NJ
Sunday 1/5
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Click on the On the Air button at BoostRadio.com

KHMB Radio 1710 AM
Half Moon Bay, CA
Sunday 1/5
9pm PT
Monday 1/6
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at KHMBRadio.com
or use the Live365 app on your smartphone and type in KHMB

The Radio Slot Network
San Francisco, CA
Monday 1/6
10pm ET, 7pm PT
with replays Tuesday thru Friday at 10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Talk Slot button at RadioSlot.com

Passionate World Radio
Ann Arbor, MI
Tuesday 1/7
8:30pm ET, 5:30pm PT
with replays at various times throughout the week
Click on the Live Radio button at PWRTalk.com

We’ll usher in 2014 by presenting Part 2 of our conversation aboutThe Wild, Wild West, one of the most unusual Western series ever made on television, and an unique blend of action, adventure, humor and memorable characters (such as Dr. Miguelito Loveless) that is as much fun to watch today as it was when it originally ran on CBS back in the mid 1960s.

Our guests this week will include Sue Kesler and Jude Bradley. Sue is the author, and Jude the editor, of The Wild, Wild West: The Series, everything you wanted to know about the classic TV series starring Robert Conrad and Ross Martin, from the early struggles between CBS and series creator Michael Garrison, to the intricate disguises and splendidly choreographed action sequences that gave the show its mark. A devout enthusiast of 1960s television, Sue has also worked in television as a film editor for more than 30 years, including such top shows as The X Files, The Gilmore Girls, American Dreams, Crossing Jordan, Heroes and Falling Skies, whileJude has extensive experience as a writer, editor and producer for such publications as LA Weekly, as well as companies like Time/Life and HBO, plus she was recently seen on Extreme Cougar Wives on TLC.
Also returning to the program this week will be Bob Herron, one of the regular stuntmen on The Wild, Wild West, as well as Ross Martin’s double for almost the entire run of the show. Bob’s career as a stuntman and actor spans more than six decades, and hundreds of films and TV shows, including Star Trek, The Rockford Files, The Wild Bunch, Paint Your Wagon, Rio Bravo, Hawaiian Eye, Oklahoma Crude and Gunsmoke. Sue, Jude and Bob will join us for a special 90-minute conversation that begins in our first hour.









Also this week: Greg Ehrbar with an expanded DVD report that will include a look at the histories of That Girland The Doris Day Show.




 

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about televisionWed and Sun 8pm ET, 5pm PT on WROM Radio
Wed 9pm ET, 6pm PT on WYYR: Yesteryear Radio
Wed 11pm ET, 8pm PT on IndianaTalks.comFri 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
Fri Noon ET, 9am PT on Talktainment Radio
Sun 8pm ET, 5pm PT Boost Radio Network 
Sun 9pm PT, Mon Midt ET on KHMB Radio 1710 AM (Half Moon Bay, Calif.)
Mon 10pm ET, 7pm PT on The Radio Slot NetworkTue 8:30pm ET, 5:30pm PT on PWRNetworkTape us now, listen to us later, using DAR.fm/tvconfidential
Also available as a podcast via iTunes, FeedBurnerand now on your mobile phone via www.stitcher.com/TVConfidential
Follow us online at www.tvconfidential.net
Follow us now on Twitter: Twitter.com/tvconfidential
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Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: The Last New Years Rockin Eve with Dick Clark

Here is a "HOLIDAY SOR-BAY" that we could use to artificially stimulate our festive spirit as we look forward to 2014. 

The last time we will see a New Years Rockin Eve Countdown with Dick Clark

... AND NOW
10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Happy New Year and Stay Tuned  

This Week in Television History: January 2014 PART I

Listen to me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:

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.

December 30, 1959

Comedian Tracey Ullman is born in Hackbridge, England. 

She attended theater school from ages 12 to 16. At age 21, she began performing with an avant-garde drama group, the Royal Court Theater, where she won rave reviews. She landed her own U.S. TV show in 1987. 

The Emmy-winning Tracey Ullman Show ran from 1987 to 1990. The show featured short skits starring Ullman and a regular cast of players, and also aired short animated segments-one was an offbeat cartoon about underachieving 10-year-old named Bart Simpson and his oddball family. The cartoon was later spun off into its own hit show, The Simpsons.

December 30th, 1963

Lets Make a Deal debuted on NBC.  

Let's Make a Deal is a television game show which originated in the United States and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The show is based around deals offered to members of the audience by the host. The traders usually have to weigh the possibility of an offer for valuable prizes, or undesirable items, referred to as "Zonks". Let's Make a Deal is also known for the various unusual and crazy costumes worn by audience members, who dressed up that way in order to increase their chances of being selected as a trader.^[2] The show was hosted for many years by Monty Hall, who co-created and co-produced the show with Stefan Hatos. The current version is hosted by Wayne Brady, with Jonathan Mangum (announcer), Danielle Demski (model), and Cat Gray (live musician) assisting.

January 3, 1949

Colgate sponsors the early anthology series, Colgate Theater. Like most dramatic programming at the time, the show consisted of weekly plays and/or scripts adapted for television. Among many other stories, the show produced two of the earliest TV adaptations of radio programs: Vic and Sade and Mr. and Mrs. North.

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.

 

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa