Tributes to Barbara Hale and Mike Connors: Next on TVC

Producer/director Arthur Marks will join us as we remember Barbara Hale and Mike Connors on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Feb. 3-6 at the following times and venues:

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 2/3
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
Hear us on the KSAV channel on CX Radio Brazil
Hear us on your cell phone or landline number by dialing 712-432-4235

Indiana Talks
Marion, IN
Saturday 2/4
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Sunday 2/5
6pm ET, 3pm PT
Click on the player at IndianaTalks.com
or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in Indiana Talks

WON 920 The Apple
Brooklyn, NY
Saturday 2/4
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Streaming at www.920won.caster.fm

KSCO AM-1080 and FM-104.1
San Jose, Santa Cruz and Salinas, CA
KOMY AM-1340
La Selva Beach and Watsonville, CA
Sunday 2/5
9am ET, 6am PT
Also streaming at KSCO.com
or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in KSCO

KHMB AM-1710
KHMV-LP 100.9 FM
Half Moon Bay, CA
Sunday 2/5
9pm PT
Monday 2/6
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at KHMBRadio.com

RadioSlot.com
San Francisco, CA
Monday 2/6
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

Arthur Marks will join us this week as we pay tribute to television icons Barbara Hale, the actress known to three generations as Della Street on Perry Mason, and Mike Connors, the star of Mannix. Hale passed away on Jan. 27 at the age of 94, while Connors died Jan. 26 at the age of 91.

Arthur Marks directed seventy-six episodes of the original Perry Mason television series, more than any other director. He also worked behind the scenes in nearly every episode of the long-running series (CBS, 1957-1966), first as assistant director, then as a director, then as associate producer, and, finally, producer and showrunner for the last five seasons. Art will share a few memories of Barbara Hale, but he’ll also talk about a little about his friend Mike Connors, whom he directed both on Perry Mason (“The Case of the Bullied Bowler”) and on Mannix. Arthur Marks will join us in our first hour.

The second hour of this week’s show will include a replay of our March 2014 conversation with Barbara Hale in which she talked about playing Della Street, both on CBS and on NBC, her friendship with Raymond Burr (which spanned five decades), and her long motion picture career, which included films with the likes of James Stewart, Rock Hudson, Anthony Quinn, James Arness, Frank Sinatra and James Cagney.

In addition, our first hour will include a replay of our May 2014 conversation with Mike Connors. Known to three generations of viewers as Joe Mannix, Connors arguably defined the private eye on television more than any other actor. We talked to Mike about Mannix, Tightrope, his work with William Wellman and John Wayne, and more.

Also this week: Chris Korman will discuss his upcoming appearance at the 54^th annual Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA) conference, which will take place Feb. 16-19 in Baltimore, Maryland. Chris’ father, actor Harvey Korman (The Carol Burnett Show), was once national spokesman of the LDA. Chris will also share a few memories of his friendship of Mike Connors, which stemmed from the annual charity golf tournament that benefited The Frostig School for children with learning disabilities—a tournament that Chris and Harvey hosted together for many years. Chris Korman will join us in our first hour.

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
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
Sat 10pm ET, 7pm PT on WON 920 The Apple
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. It’s easy to do, it does not cost much, plus you can receive some cool rewards (such as coupons that will allow you to download up to six free programs every month from the TV CONFIDENTIAL Archives store). For more information, please visit www.Patreon.com/tvconfidential... and thanks!

This Week in Television History: January 2017 PART V

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.

January 30, 1977

The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries debuted on ABC. ABC turned teenage detectives Frank and Joe Hardy, lead characters of The Hardy Boys book series, into TV stars with The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. The series starred teen heartthrobs Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy as the Hardy brothers; actress Pamela Sue Martin portrayed amateur sleuth Nancy Drew.

At first, the Hardy Boys Mysteries and Nancy Drew Mysteries — which were based on the young adult novels written under the pseudonyms Franklin W. Dixon and Carolyn Keene, respectively — alternated on ABC’s Sunday night schedule. By the second season, Martin’s Nancy Drew was incorporated into the Hardy Boys’ mysteries, a move that prompted the actress to leave the show before the season’s end. She was replaced by Janet Louise Johnson.

The show’s title was shortened to The Hardy Boys Mysteries for its third and final season.

February 1, 1887

Official registration of Hollywood. On this day in 1887, Harvey Wilcox officially registers Hollywood with the Los Angeles County recorder’s office. 

Wilcox and his wife, Daeida, had moved to Southern California four years earlier from Topeka, Kansas, where Harvey had made his fortune in real estate. They bought 160 acres of land in the Cahuenga Valley, located in the foothills to the west of the city of Los Angeles. A once-sleepy settlement founded in 1781 as El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Poricuncula, Los Angeles was by then expanding rapidly thanks to the completion of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1876 (the Santa Fe Railroad would arrive in 1885).

Wilcox, who had lost the use of his legs as a child due to polio, envisioned the land as the perfect site for a utopian-like community for devout Christians, where they could live a highly moral life free of vices such as alcohol (Wilcox was a prohibitionist). Daeida Wilcox called the new community “Hollywood,” borrowing the name from a Chicago friend who told her that was the name of a summer home she had in the Midwest. Harvey laid out a street map of the settlement, centered on a main street he called Prospect Avenue (it was later renamed Hollywood Boulevard). After filing the map with the L.A. County recorder’s office, Wilcox set about laying out Hollywood’s streets, made of dirt and lined with pepper trees.

As Harvey sold lots, Daeida worked to raise money to build churches, a school and a library. By 1900, nine years after Harvey Wilcox’s death, Hollywood had a population of 500, compared with 100,000 people in Los Angeles at the time. It was connected to L.A. by a single-track streetcar running down Prospect Avenue; it took two hours to make the seven-mile trip, and service was infrequent. In 1910, the community of Hollywood voted to consolidate with Los Angeles due to an inadequate supply of water. Shortly thereafter, the fledgling motion-picture industry began growing exponentially, as moviemakers found their ideal setting in the mild, sunny climate and varied terrain of Southern California. As the years went by, Harvey Wilcox’s dreams of a sober, conservative religious community faded even further into the background, as Hollywood became known throughout the world as the gilded center of an industry built on fantasy, fame and glamour.

February 1, 1937

Garrett Gonzalez Morris is born. 

The comedian and actor from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was part of the original cast of the sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live, appearing from 1975 to 1980. In 1986, Morris began playing a regular occasional character, "Arnold 'Sporty' James," on the NBC cop drama Hunter, starring Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer. Morris continually appeared as "Sporty" on "Hunter" through 1989.

In 1994, he was shot in an apparent robbery attempt but went on to make a full recovery. In a radio interview, he mentioned that the robber who shot him was eventually incarcerated, and in prison some fans of Morris's who happened to be inmates there teamed up and beat up the robber in revenge.

Morris starred on Martin as Martin's first boss Stan. Morris's shooting had caused him to be unable to continue in the role, and he was written out of the show by having the character become a national fugitive. The scene where he is about to undergo plastic surgery was shot on the hospital bed Morris occupied while recuperating from the 1994 assault.

February 1, 1982

Late Night with David Letterman debuted. 

After his morning show on NBC got cancelled in October 1980 after only 18 weeks on the air, David Letterman was still held in sufficient regard by the network brass (especially NBC president Fred Silverman) that upon hearing the 33-year-old comedian is being courted by a syndication company, NBC gave him a $20,000 per week deal to sit out a year and guest-host a few times on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.

February 2, 1937

Thomas Bolin "Tom" Smothers III is born. 

Comedian, composer and musician, best known as half of the musical comedy team the Smothers Brothers, alongside his younger brother Dick.

February 2, 1947

Farrah Fawcett is born. 

A multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she first appeared as private investigator Jill Munroe in the TV series Charlie's Angels in 1976. Fawcett later appeared off-Broadway to the approval of critics and in highly rated television movies in roles often challenging (The Burning Bed, Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story, Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story, Margaret Bourke-White) and sometimes unsympathetic (Small Sacrifices). Fawcett was also a pop culture figure whose hairstyle was emulated by millions of young women and whose poster sales broke records, making her an international sex symbol in the 1970s and 1980s.

February 5, 1967

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour first aired. 

The comedy and variety show hosted by the Smothers Brothers aired on CBS from 1967 to 1969. The show started out as only a slightly "hip" version of the typical comedy-variety show of its era, but rapidly evolved into a show that extended the boundaries of what was considered permissible in television satire. While the Smothers themselves were at the forefront of these efforts, credit also goes to the roster of writers and regular performers they brought to the show, including Jim Stafford (who served as their head writer and producer), Steve Martin, Don Novello ("Father Guido Sarducci"), Rob Reiner ("Mike Stivic"), Presidential candidate Pat Paulsen, Bob Einstein ("Super Dave Osborne", "Marty Funkhouser", and "Officer Judy"), Einstein's brother, Albert (who works professionally as Albert Brooks), and resident hippie Leigh French ("Share a Little Tea with Goldie"). The show also introduced audiences to pop singer Jennifer Warnes (originally billed as Jennifer Warren or simply Jennifer), who was a regular on the series. The television premiere of Mason Williams' hit record, Classical Gas, took place on the show.

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: "Mary" and the "The Mary Tyler Moore Hour"

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.

Mary was a comedy-variety show hosted by and starring Mary Tyler Moore that aired Sundays at 8:00 pm (EST) on CBS from September 24 to October 8, 1978, with a total of three episodes produced over one season. Moore's supporting cast included a repertory company of young actors and actresses, most notably Swoosie Kurtz, Dick Shawn, Michael Keaton, Merrill Markoe, and David Letterman.

The Mary Tyler Moore Hour was an sitcom-variety show starring Mary Tyler Moore, Dody Goodman, Joyce Van Patten and Michael Keaton as a studio page named Kenneth (Sound familiar?). The show aired on CBS from March 4, 1979 to June 10, 1979, with a total of 11 episodes spanning over one season.

In the 4th episode that aired March 25, 1979.

Mary is worried when a brush fire nears her California home and she may be forced to evacuate. At the same time, Dick Van Dyke meets the show's creative team to mull over ideas for a possible guest appearance and they fantasize about what a sketch of The Dick Van Dyke Show would look like on Rob and Laura Petrie's 50th wedding anniversary.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Mike Connors

Mike Connors (born Kreker OhanianAugust 15, 1925 - January 26, 2017

Mike Connors died today in Tarzana, California, after being diagnosed with leukemia. 

His film career started in the early 1950s. Connors was cast in the critically acclaimed John Wayne film, Island in the Sky in which he was a crewman on one of the search-and-rescue planes. In 1956, still billed as Touch Connors, he played an Amalekite herder in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments starring Charlton Heston.

He appeared in numerous television series, including the co-starring role in the 1955 episode "Tomas and the Widow" of the NBC Western anthology series Frontier. He guest-starred on the early sitcoms, Hey, Jeannie! and The People's Choice. He guest-starred in two Rod Cameron syndicated crime dramas, City Detective and the Western-themed State Trooper, and played the villain in the first episode filmed (but second one aired) of ABC's smash hit Maverick opposite James Garner in 1957.

In 1958, Connors appeared in the title role of the episode "Simon Pitt", the series finale of the NBC Western Jefferson Drum, starring Jeff Richards as a frontier newspaper editor. He also appeared in another NBC Western series, The Californians.

That same year, Connors was cast as Miles Borden, a corrupt US Army lieutenant bitter over his $54 monthly pay, on NBC's Wagon Train in the episode "The Dora Gray Story", with Linda Darnell in the title role.^[5] About this time, he also appeared on an episode of NBC's Western series Cimarron City.

Connors appeared in other syndicated series: The Silent Service, based on true stories of the submarine section of the United States Navy; Sheriff of Cochise, set in and about Bisbee, Arizona; Whirlybirds, an aviation adventure series; and Rescue 8, based on stories of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. An episode of Studio 57 starring Connors and titled "Getaway Car" was proposed as a pilot for a series about the CHP to be called Motorcycle Cop.^[7] Connors also co-starred (as the villain) in the classic 1956 Roger Corman sci-fi film, The Day The World Ended, and also co-starred in Roger Corman's Swamp Women that same year.

Later, he was cast in the episode, "The Aerialist", of the anthology series, Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond. In 1963, he guest-starred as Jack Marson in the episode "Shadow of the Cougar" on the NBC modern Western series, Redigo, starring Richard Egan. In 1964, Connors appeared in a pinch-hit role for Raymond Burr as attorney Joe Kelly in the Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Bullied Bowler". In 1965, he co-starred in one of Robert Redford's earliest film roles, a World War II black comedy, Situation Hopeless... But Not Serious alongside Sir Alec Guinness.

Connors later took the starring roles in Tightrope! (1959–1960), Mannix (1967–1975), and Today's F.B.I. (1981–1982). Mannix was originally produced by Desilu Productions (later absorbed by Paramount Television). Then-president Lucille Ball pushed for CBS to keep the show on air after a lackluster first season in the ratings. This move enabled the show to become a long-running hit for the network. Connors was able to work with his boss on-screen during a cross-promotion episode of Ball's Here's Lucy series in 1971, showing his skill at comedy. The episode, which opened Lucy's fourth season, is entitled "Lucy and Mannix are Held Hostage". This was notable as the first episode shot at Universal Studios, after Ball ceased producing her program at Paramount Studios.

Connors played Air Force Colonel Harrison "Hack" Peters in Herman Wouk's 1988 World War II-based miniseries War and Remembrance.

Good Night Mr. Connors
Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Mary Tyler Moore

I've had the fame and the joy of getting laughter

- those are gifts.

Mary Tyler Moore

Mary Tyler Moore

December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017

Mary Tyler Moore died today at Greenwich Hospital in Greenwich, Connecticut, after having been placed on a respirator the previous week. She was 80.

A lot will be said today about the woman who could turn the world on with a smile. 
I just wanted to share my two favorite Mary moments.

The first one is from The Dick Van Dyke Show - Coast to Coast Big Mouth



The second one is from The Mary Tyler Moore Show - Chuckles Bites the Dust



Good Night Mary and thanks for the Songs, the Dance and the Seltzer down our pants.

Linda Lawson, plus the Man Behind Batman’s Butler: Next on TVC

Singer/actress Linda Lawson and author James Bigwood will join us on an encore presentation of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Jan. 27-30 at the following times and venues:

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 1/27
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
Hear us on the KSAV channel on CX Radio Brazil
Hear us on your cell phone or landline number by dialing 712-432-4235

Indiana Talks
Marion, IN
Saturday 1/28
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Sunday 1/29
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 and FM-104.1
San Jose, Santa Cruz and Salinas, CA
KOMY AM-1340
La Selva Beach and Watsonville, CA
Sunday 1/29
9am ET, 6am PT
Also streaming at KSCO.com
or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in KSCO

KHMB AM-1710
KHMV-LP 100.9 FM
Half Moon Bay, CA
Sunday 1/29
9pm PT
Monday 1/30
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at KHMBRadio.com

RadioSlot.com
San Francisco, CA
Monday 1/30
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

Our first hour will include an encore presentation of our April 2012 conversation with singer/actress Linda Lawson. Linda began her career in the 1950s as a nightclub performer at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. That led to a recording session with Henry Mancini, who later introduced her to Blake Edwards, who later cast Linda in an episode of Peter Gunn, which opened the door to an acting career that included appearances on such shows as Adventures in Paradise, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Perry Mason, Sea Hunt, Adventures in Paradise, Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, The Virginian, and It Takes a Thief, as well as such feature motion pictures as Night Tide with Dennis Hopper, and Sometimes a Great Notion with Paul Newman, Henry Fonda and Richard Jaeckel.

Our second hour will include a replay of our January 2016 conversation with James Bigwood, writer, producer and co-author of Not Just Batman’s Butler: The Autobiography of Alan Napier, a combination memoir, biography and filmography of Alan Napier, the tall, distinguished British actor best known for playing Alfred the butler on the Batman television series (ABC, 1966-1968). Though Batman brought Napier fame (and some fortune), it also overshadowed a lifetime of work on stage, film and television that saw him work with the likes of Marlon Brando, Ingrid Bergman, John Wayne, Laurence Olivier, George Bernard Shaw, Paul Muni, Sean Connery, Alfred Hitchcock, James Whale, Fritz Lang, Otto Preminger, Orson Welles and John Houseman.

Largely based on a manuscript that Napier wrote himself in 1969, Not Just Batman’s Butler not only explores the actor’s life and career before, during and after Batman, but shows how Napier led a very full and somewhat bohemian life outside of show business. Not Just Batman’s Butler: The Autobiography of Alan Napier is available through McFarlandPub.com. You can also order it by calling (800) 253-2187.

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
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. It’s easy to do, it does not cost much, plus you can receive some cool rewards (such as coupons that will allow you to download up to six free programs every month from the TV CONFIDENTIAL Archives store). For more information, please visit www.Patreon.com/tvconfidential... and thanks!

This Week in Television History: January 2017 PART IV

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.

January 23, 1977

The miniseries Roots debuts on ABC. 

Roots 1977 EP 1 Part 1 OF 2 by tigerbully-gallagher

The show traced four generations of an African-American family based on the family of author Alex Haley. Running for eight consecutive days, the miniseries became the single most watched program in American history, drawing about 100 million viewers.

January 24, 1917

Ernest Borgnine was born Ermes Effron Borgnino. 

The American film and television actor whose career spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1955 for Marty. On television, he played Quinton McHale in the 1962–1966 series McHale's Navy and co-starred in the mid-1980s action seriesAirwolf, in addition to a wide variety of other roles. Borgnine earned an Emmy Award nomination at age 92 for his work on the series ER. He was also known for being the original voice of Mermaid Man on SpongeBob SquarePants from 1999 to 2012.

Borgnine died of kidney failure on July 8, 2012 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California with his family at his side. He was 95 years old.

January 25, 1937

NBC radio presented the first broadcast of The Guiding Light. 

The show remained on radio until 1956 and began on CBS-TV in 1952. 

January 28, 1957

Jack Lescoulie takes over the short lived Tonight! America After Dark. 

Rather than continuing with the same format after Allen and Kovacs' departure from Tonight, NBC changed the show's format to a news and features show, similar to that of the network's popular morning program Today. The new show, renamed Tonight! America After Dark, was hosted first by Jack Lescoulie and then by Al "Jazzbo" Collins, with interviews conducted by Hy Gardner, and music provided by the Lou Stein Trio. This new version of the show was not popular, resulting in a significant number of NBC affiliates dropping the show.

January 29, 1977

Freddie Prinze’s family removed him from life support, and he died at 1:00 pm at the age of 22. 

Prinze suffered from depression, and on January 28, 1977, shot himself with a small automatic pistol after talking on the telephone with his estranged wife. His business manager, Marvin "Dusty" Snyder, tried to intervene, but Prinze shot himself in the head, and was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center to be placed on life support following emergency surgery.

The death, initially ruled a suicide, was years later re-ruled accidental. Prinze had a history of playing with guns, faking suicide attempts to frighten his friends for his amusement. He had left a note stating that the decision to take his life was his alone, but because he pulled the trigger in the presence of a witness —it gave enough weight to the argument that he really was not planning to take his own life that night. 

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa