This Week in Television History: May 2018 PART I

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.

May 5, 1993  

The final episode of Quantum Leap aired on NBC. 

Mirror Image was the 22nd and final episode of Season 5 of Quantum Leap, also the 96th and final episode of the series. Written by series creator and executive producer Donald P. Bellisario, the episode, which was directed by James Whitmore, Jr., made its premiere airing on NBC-TV on May 5, 1993.

August 8, 1953 Sam leaps into a bar in Cokeburg, PA, a coal mining town, at the exact moment of his birth, when he looks into a mirror he sees his own image looking back. As he converses with the bar's owner and bartender Al (Bruce McGill), viewers soon learn that it was Sam who wanted to put right what once went wrong; that's why he created Project Quantum Leap.

Sam is given a choice to return home or continue leaping. Sam says he wants to return home, but first he feels he needs to fix one more thing, for his friend Al. Sam leaps back to April 1, 1969 (Episode: "M.I.A.") to tell Al's first wife Beth that Al is still alive and will come home.

The episode ends with captions that state Al and Beth never divorced but instead had four daughters. The final caption reveals that Doctor Sam Beckett never returned home.

Two alternate endings for this episode are known to have been scripted in case the series was renewed for another season, both of which included a present day scene between Al and Beth, having remained married in the new timeline, discussing Al leaping himself to look for Sam. Production stills were found in February 2018 suggesting that at least one of these endings was filmed. A third, simpler alternate ending was also produced showing a family photo of Al and Beth with their four daughters instead of the ending title cards. 

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Gov. Ricardo Rossello - Building a Stronger and Better Puerto Rico post Maria

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

THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH

Gov. Ricardo Rossello - Building a Stronger and Better Puerto Rico POST-MARIA - EXTENDED INTERVIEW

Puerto Rico Gov Ricardo Rossello discusses the impediments to the island's recovery from Hurricane Maria, from government bureaucracy to a lack of political power in the U.S.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: April 2018 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.

April 25, 1908

Edward R. Murrow was born Egbert Roscoe Murrow. 

He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States.

Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick considered Murrow one of journalism's greatest figures, noting his honesty and integrity in delivering the news.

A pioneer of television news broadcasting, Murrow produced a series of TV news reports that helped lead to the censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy.

A chain smoker throughout his life, Murrow was almost never seen without his trademark Camel cigarette. It was reported that he smoked anywhere from sixty to sixty-five cigarettes a day, equivalent to roughly three packs. See It Now was the first television program to have a report about the connection between smoking and cancer; Murrow said during the show that "I doubt I could spend a half hour without a cigarette with any comfort or ease." He developed lung cancer and lived for two years after an operation to remove his left lung.

Murrow died at his home on April 27, 1965, two days after his 57th birthday. His colleague and friend Eric Sevareid said of him, "He was a shooting star; and we will live in his afterglow a very long time." CBS carried a memorial program, which included a rare on-camera appearance by Paley.

April 25, 1978

Vega$ first aired

Vegas (stylized as Vega$) is an American private detective crime drama television series that aired on ABC from April 25, 1978, to June 3, 1981. Vega$ was produced by Aaron Spelling, and created by Michael Mann. The series (with the exception of special episodes filmed in Hawaii and San Francisco) was filmed in its entirety in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The show stars Robert Urich as private detective Dan Tanna, who drove to his assignments around the streets of Las Vegas in a beautiful red 1957 Ford Thunderbird convertible, working for a wide variety of clients, helping solve crimes, and making Las Vegas a better place for residents and tourists alike.

Dan Tanna is a Las Vegas private detective whose many clients include Phillip Roth (Tony Curtis), a.k.a. "Slick", the owner of multiple hotel casinos, including the Maxim Hotel and Desert Inn Hotel & Country Club, in Las Vegas. Tanna is called often to investigate criminal cases or even sometimes more absurd situations, such as a nun who claims to own the land on which the Desert Inn Hotel Casino stands.

Tanna lives on the Las Vegas Strip next to Circus Circus Hotel/Casino, in the theatrical props warehouse owned by the Desert Inn Hotel and Country Club. The props warehouse where Tanna lives was converted into Tanna's living quarters. The design of Tanna's place allows him to park his red T-bird in his living room. Tanna also uses gadgets that were high-tech for the early 1980s, such as a car-phone and an answering machine that physically picks the phone up off the hook and into the microphone of a tape recorder.

April 26, 1933

Carol Creighton Burnett was born.

Actress, comedienne, singer and writer, whose career spans six decades of television. She is best known for her long-running TV variety show, The Carol Burnett Show, originally aired on CBS. She has achieved success on stage, television and film in varying genres including dramatic and comedy roles. She also has appeared on various talk shows and as a panelist on game shows.

Born in San Antonio, Texas, Burnett moved with her grandmother to Hollywood, where she attended Hollywood High School and eventually studied theater and musical comedy at UCLA. Later she performed in nightclubs in New York City and had a breakout success on Broadway in 1959 in Once Upon a Mattress, for which she received a Tony Award nomination. She soon made her television debut, regularly appearing on The Garry Moore Show for the next three years, and won her first Emmy Award in 1962. In 1963, she was the star of the Dallas State Fair Musicals presentation of "Calamity Jane". Burnett moved to Los Angeles, California, and began an 11-year run as star of The Carol Burnett Show on CBS television from 1967 to 1978. With its vaudeville roots, The Carol Burnett Show was a variety show that combined comedy sketches with song and dance. The comedy sketches included film parodies and character pieces. Burnett created many memorable characters during the show's run, and both she and the show won numerous Emmy and Golden Globe Awards.

During and after her variety show, Burnett appeared in many television and film projects. Her film roles include Pete 'n' Tillie (1972), The Front Page (1974), The Four Seasons (1981), Annie (1982), Noises Off (1992), and Horton Hears a Who! (2008). On television, she has appeared in other sketch shows; in dramatic roles in 6 Rms Riv Vu (1974) and Friendly Fire (1979); in various well-regarded guest roles, such as in Mad About You, for which she won an Emmy Award; and in specials with Julie Andrews, Dolly Parton, Beverly Sills, and others. She returned to the Broadway stage in 1995 in Moon Over Buffalo, for which she was again nominated for a Tony Award.

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: The Disneyland Story hosted by Harry Anderson

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

The Disneyland Story is hosted by Harry Anderson and was aired around the 1990's. You hop aboard the Disneyland railroad for a time traveling trip back into Disneyland history. The special covers the history of Disneyland from its conception to the future projects in store.

This special features music from the Back to the Future Soundtrack by Alan Silvestri.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Joyce Bulifant, Ella Fitzgerald’s Birthday, and The Birth of The Blues Brothers: Next on TVC

We’ll welcome back actress and author Joyce Bulifant and author and showbiz historian Geoffrey Mark on this weekend’s edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing April 20-23 at the following times and venues:

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 4/20
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 4/21
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Sunday 4/22
10am ET, 7am 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 4/21
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 4/22
9am ET, 6am PT
Also streaming at KSCO.com
or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in KSCO

CROC Radio
Kimberley, British Columbia, Canada
Sunday 4/22
1pm ET, 10am PT
Streaming at CROCRadio.com
or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in CROC

KHMB AM-1710
KHMV-LP 100.9 FM
Half Moon Bay, CA
Sunday 4/22
9pm PT
Monday 4/23
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at KHMBRadio.com

RadioSlot.com
San Francisco, CA
Monday 4/23
10pm ET, 7pm PT
with replays Tuesday thru Friday at 10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Talk Slot button at RadioSlot.com

PWRNetwork
A member of the Truli Media Group
Ann Arbor, MI ~ Boston, MA ~ Chicago, IL ~ Melrose, FL ~ Los Angeles, CA
Various times throughout the week
on the Entertainment Channel on PWRNetwork.com
and the PWR channel on TuneIn

Most people know Joyce Bulifant from her many appearances on such popular game shows as Password, Crosswits, Tattletales, To Tell the Truth, $25,000 Pyramid, Name That Tune, and, of course, the CBS Match Game, not to mention her roles on such film, TV and stage productions as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Love Thy Neighbor, The Bill Cosby Show, Perry Mason, Alcoa Presents, Big John, Little John, the Tom, Dick and Mary edition of 90 Bristol Court, The Paisley Convertible, Auntie Mame, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Disney’s The Happiest Millionaire and, of course, Airplane! Joyce Bulifant is also known for her effervescent personality and smile. Those were difficult for Joyce to maintain sometimes, in the face of her real-life struggle with dyslexia and feelings of self worth, and a series of tumultuous marriages characterized by alcoholism, co-dependency and addictive behavior.

A story of eternal love that is woven through the fabric of the entertainment world, Joyce’s book, My Four Hollywood Husbands, is a memoir of her life and career, interwoven through the story of her marriages to James McArthur, Edward Mallory, William Asher and Roger Perry. A beacon of hope for anyone who finds themselves caught in the web of addiction, the book also reminds us that, as Joyce herself puts it, “If you’re not afraid to learn and to keep trying, there can be a happy ending.”

My Four Hollywood Husbands has become incredibly timely since Joyce’s last visit to our program, in more ways that anyone could imagine. We’ll tell why when Joyce Bulifant joins us in our second hour.

This week being the birthday week of Ella Fitzgerald, and this year being the centennial year of Ella’s birth, we will say Happy Birthday to the First Lady of Song in our first hour when we welcome back singer, comedian and show business raconteur Geoffrey Mark. Geoffey’s latest book, Ella: A Biography of the Legendary Ella Fitzgerald, is a comprehensive biography and discography of the greatest female singer in history—a true pioneer whose personal life was one of the best-kept secrets in show business.

The Deluxe Edition of Ella: A Biography of the Legendary Ella Fitzgerald includes a two-CD set with more than forty studio/live tracks of Ella in her prime, as well as the hardcover book. All forty tracks in the CD set were personally selected by Geoffrey Mark himself from all four of her major recording labels, Decca, Verve, Capital Records and Pablo. Both the hardcover edition and the Deluxe Edition of Ella are available at Amazon.com and UltimateSymbol.com/Ella. (There is also an Ella Legend Bundle Edition that includes the book, the two bonus CDs, plus a third CD, Ella at Zardi’s. The Ella Legend Bundle is available exclusively at UltimateSymbol.com/EllaLegendBundle.)

For our listeners on the East Coast, Geoffrey will be performing some of the music of Ella Fitzgerald on Wednesday, April 25 at Germano’s in Baltimore, Maryland, and on Sunday, April 29 at the Triad Theater in New York City. Geoffrey Mark will join us in our first hour.

Also this week: Tony Figueroa and Donna Allen will bring us Part 2 of our look at the 40th anniversary of the birth of The Blues Brothers as part of This Week in TV History. This week’s segment will focus particularly on the many great musicians that Dan Ackroyd introduced to a new generation by way of The Blues Brothers.

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 10am ET, 7am PT on Indiana Talks (Marion, IN)
Sat 10pm ET, 7pm PT on WON 920 The Apple (Brooklyn, NY)
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 1pm ET, 10am PT CROC Radio (British Columbia, Canada)
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 (San Francisco, CA)
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, SoundCloud
and now on your mobile phone via Stitcher.com
Follow us online at http://www.televisionconfidential.com
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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!

Harry Anderson

Even a fool knows you can't touch the stars,

but it won't keep the wise from trying.

Harry Anderson

Harry Laverne AndersonOctober 14, 1952 – April 16, 2018

Harry Anderson Anderson died in his Asheville, North Carolina home on April 16, 2018.

Anderson was born October 14, 1952, in Newport, Rhode Island. Anderson was drawn to the art of magic in his youth. After moving to Los Angeles, he practiced his skills often. He joined the Dante Magic Club in his teens and reportedly made money as a street magician in San Francisco when he was 17. He graduated from North Hollywood High School in 1970 as class valedictorian.

His many appearances on Saturday Night Live led to his role as Harry "The Hat" Gittes on the several seasons of the TV sitcom Cheers and eventually as Judge Harry Stone on another hit television sitcom Night Court. 

Anderson went on to appear in numerous other TV specials and shows, including 12 appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. As a magician, Anderson has since toured extensively and performed many comedy/magic shows for clubs and broadcast, including Harry Anderson's Sideshow in 1987. In 1990, he starred in the television adaptation of Stephen King's It as the adult Richie Tozier. From 1993 to 1997, Anderson starred in the TV sitcom Dave's World, based loosely on the life and columns of humor columnist Dave Barry.

In 1996 Anderson starred in a made-for-television fantasy-comedy film and a remake of the 1950 Harvey as as Elwood P. Dowd, a lovable eccentric who claims to have a six-foot invisible rabbit named Harvey as his best friend. The television adaptation was directed by George Schaefer and written by Joseph Dougherty

Together with longtime friend Turk Pipkin, Anderson wrote a book called Games You Can't Lose: A Guide for Suckers, a collection of gags, cons, tricks and scams. First published in 1989, this title also contains a survey of "Games You Can't Win" told from an insider's perspective. He appeared with Criss Angel in a TV special called The Science of Magic, later released on DVD. In November 2008, Anderson played himself on an episode of 30 Rock along with fellow Night Court cast members Markie Post and Charles Robinson.

Anderson kept a nominally low profile after Dave's World was canceled. Tired of L.A.'s glaring spotlight, Anderson moved from Pasadena, California, to New Orleans in 2002. In the 1990s, he and his second wife Elizabeth (whom he met in New Orleans while she was bartending) opened a small shop in the French Quarter named "Sideshow" selling various "magic, curiosities, and apocrypha".

In 2000, Anderson hosted the pilot for a potential revival of the classic panel game show What's My Line? for CBS primetime. It was rejected later in favor of the long-running reality show Survivor.

In 2005, Anderson opened a nightclub in the French Quarter called "Oswald's Speakeasy", located at 1331 Decatur Street at the corner of Esplanade Avenue. He performed a one-man show there called Wise Guy.

Anderson appears in Hexing a Hurricane, a documentary about the first six months in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He and his wife Elizabeth sold Oswald's Speakeasy in October 2006. Anderson continued to present his evening show Wise Guy, which was originally developed for his theater in New Orleans. Popular webcomic Homestuck makes several references to Anderson, including a fictional book by Anderson called Wise Guy.

A longtime fan of singer Mel Tormé, Anderson's character Judge Stone on Night Court was also a Tormé fan; the singer appeared on the sitcom six times (as himself). Night Court's creator Reinhold Weegestated that Anderson being a Tormé fan like his character was completely coincidental. Anderson was among those who delivered eulogies at the singer's funeral in 1999.

Good Night Mr. Anderson

Stay Tuned


Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: April 2017 PART III

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.

April 22, 1978

The Blues Brothers make their world premiere on Saturday Night Live. 

The characters and the band that Belushi and Aykroyd unveiled that night took more than two years to evolve. The first incarnation came during SNL's first season, in a January 17, 1976, appearance singing "I'm a King Bee" as "Howard Shore and his All-Bee Band." There were no dark suits, skinny ties or Ray-Bans at that point, but the appearance did feature Aykroyd on the harmonica and Belushi on vocals belting out a blues classic very much in the style of the future Elwood and "Joliet" Jake Blues, albeit while wearing bee costumes. The Blues Brothers' look—and much of their repertoire—would come together after Belushi's trip to Eugene, Oregon, during the hiatus between SNL seasons two and three to film Animal House. It was there that Belushi, a committed rock-and-roll fan, met a 25-year-old bluesman named Curtis Salgado, future harmonica player for Robert Cray, frontman for Roomful of Blues and a major figure on the burgeoning Pacific Northwest blues scene of the 1970s. Belushi became a regular visitor to the Eugene Hotel to catch Salgado's act during the filming of Animal House, and it was from that act and from Salgado himself that he picked up a passion for the blues as well as the inspiration for the Blues Brothers' sound and look .

Back in New York for the third season of SNL, Belushi and Aykroyd honed their concept for the Blues Brothers Band and recruited an incredible roster of backing instrumentalists drawn from among the finest blues and R&B session musicians in the country. Even if their debut performance on this night in 1978 hadn't been a huge hit, the band was far too good to break up after a single gig. Indeed, the closing portion of Paul Shaffer's introduction that night—"Today they are no longer an authentic blues act, but have managed to become a viable commercial product"—ended up being borne out in real life, with the Blues Brothers earning three top-40 hits ("Soul Man," "Rubber Biscuit" and "Gimme Some Lovin'"), a #1 pop album (Briefcase Full of Blues) and a piece of screen immortality via their 1980 film, The Blues Brothers.

April 22, 1978

Maude aired its final episode after 6 seasons on the air.

"Maude's Big Move: Part 3"  

                        

Maude and Walter leave New York for Washington, D.C. to begin a new chapter in their lives. Final episode of the series.

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa