Soap, Susskind and Efrem Zimbalist Jr.: Next on TVC

 Authors A.S. Berman and Cary O’Dell will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing May 7-12 at the following times and stations:

WROM Radio
Detroit, MI
Wednesday 5/7
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Sunday 5/11
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at WROMRadio.net

WYYR: Yesteryear Radio
Vero Beach, FL
Wednesday 5/7
9pm ET, 6pm PT
Click the On Air button at WYYR.com

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 5/9
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

Indiana Talks
Marion, IN
Weekends, various times
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 5/11
11am ET, 8am PT
Also streaming at KSCO.com

Boost Radio Network
Paramus, NJ
Sunday 5/11
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Click on the On the Air button at BoostRadioNetwork.com

KHMB-AM 1710
Half Moon Bay, CA
Sunday 5/11
9pm PT
Monday 5/12
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 5/12
10pm ET, 7pm PT
with replays Tuesday thru Friday at 10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Talk Slot button at RadioSlot.com

The story of two sisters, Jessica Tate (Katherine Helmond) and Mary Campbell (Cathryn Damon), Soap(ABC, 1977-1981) was a show that was as passionate and controversial as the era in which it was made. Though often dismissed as a mere parody of daytime soap operas, Soap tackled sex, death, depression, infidelity, homosexuality, transsexuality and other taboo subjects with a wit and gentleness that had never been seen on American television. It was also a show that both ad-hoc groups and the mainstream media universally hated ― albeit for different reasons ― long before a single episode ever actually aired. But Soapnot only survived all the controversy, it thrived, launching the careers of Billy Crystal, Robert Guillaume, and Katherine Helmond, while also establishing Susan Harris as one of television premier writer/producers.

Soap is also the subject of Soap: The Unauthorized Inside Story of the Sitcom That Broke ALL Th... an excellent new book by A.S. Berman. Aaron’s book, saysSoap actor Jay Johnson, “doesn’t pull punches, but there are no round-house sucker punches, either. It is the story of people just trying to do their job, never realizing that 40 years later someone would be asking questions about it…. It is a familiar tale of how things change but remain the same as attitudes and morés are the last to update themselves.” A.S. Berman will join us for an extended conversation that will begin near the end of our first hour.

This week’s program will also include an encore presentation of our January 2011 conversation with Efrem Zimbalist Jr., the iconic television actor who passed away on Friday, May 2. Described by several guests on our program have described as “the Rolls-Royce of actors,” Efrem shared some memories of his work on The F.B.I., Maverick and 77 Sunset Strip. But we also chatted about his musical lineage, his formative years as a young man and the path that led him to Hollywood. We will replay our conversation with Efrem Zimbalist Jr. during our first hour.

Also joining us this week will be author and archivist Cary O’Dell (June Cleaver Was a Feminist: Reconsidering the Female Characters of...). Cary has launched a crowdsourcing campaign through Kickstarter that hopes to raise funds to transfer more than 200 episodes of The David Susskind Show from their original bulky 2-inch videotape to digital format so that they can be preserved and enjoyed by future generations. Many of these videotapes are more than 40 years old and are danger of decomposing and becoming lost forever. The campaign continues through Saturday, June 7. For more information, go to Kickstarter.com and type in David Susskind, for Preservation not Profit.

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Wed and Sun 8pm ET, 5pm PT on WROM Radio
Wed 9pm ET, 6pm PT on WYYR: Yesteryear Radio
Fri 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
Weekends, various times, on IndianaTalks.com
Sun 11am ET, 8am PT KSCO-AM 1080 (San Jose, Santa Cruz and Salinas, CA)
Sun 11am ET, 8am PT KOMY-AM 1340 (La Selva Beach and Watsonville, CA)
Sun 8pm ET, 5pm PT Boost Radio Network
Sun 9pm PT, Mon Mid ET on KHMB-AM 1710 (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 www.stitcher.com/TVConfidential
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