This Week in Television History: April 2014 PART II

Listen to me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:

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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 8, 1979

The last episode of All In The Family aired. 

April 13, 1986

Return to Mayberry airs on NBC. 

The cast of the popular Andy Griffith Show is reunited for a one-time television special. Besides stars Andy Griffith and Don Knotts, the original show featured little Ronny Howard, who grew up to become a star of television's Happy Days and, later, a famous film director. The Andy Griffith Show ran from 1960 to 1968.

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Mickey Rooney

A lot of people have asked me how short I am. Since my last divorce, I think I'm about $100,000 short - Mickey Rooney

We lost a five foot two giant in Hollywood today. Mickey Rooney was born Joseph Yule, Jr. on September 23, 1920. He received multiple awards, including a Juvenile Academy Award, an Honorary Academy Award, two Golden Globes and an Emmy Award.

I was a thirteen-year-old boy for thirty years - Mickey Rooney 

Working as a performer since he was a child, he was a superstar as a teenager for the films in which he played Andy Hardy, and he has had one of the longest careers of any actor, spanning 92 years actively making films in ten decades, from the 1920s to the 2010s. For a younger generation of fans, he gained international fame for his leading role as Henry Dailey in The Family Channel's The Adventures of the Black Stallion.

Rooney appeared in three other television series': 
The Mickey Rooney Show (1954-1955)

A comedy sit-com in 1964 with Sanunee Tong called Mickey

And One of the Boys in 1982 with Dana Carvey and Nathan Lane

In 1981, Rooney won an Emmy Award for his portrayal of a mentally challenged man in Bill.

Rooney provided the voices for four Christmas TV animated/stop action specials: Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970),

The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)

Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979), and A Miser Brothers' Christmas (2008)—always playing Santa Claus.

Mickey Rooney plays hated TV clown Sammy Hogarth in a "Playhouse 90'' drama, written by Rod Serling and filmed live in 1957.


Good Night Mr. Rooney
Say "Hi" To Judy

Stay Tuned


Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Dancing With the Stars - Amy Purdy & Derek Hough

Here is another "Mental Sorbet" that we could use to momentarily forget about those things that leave a bad taste in our mouths.

Amy Purdy and Derek Hough – Contemporary – Dancing with the Stars: Season18

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

The Life and Career of Roy Huggins: Next on TVC

Film and television author Paul Green will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Apr. 2-7 at the following times and stations:

WROM Radio
Detroit, MI
Wednesday 4/2
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Sunday 4/5
8pm ET, 5pm PT
2am ET, 11pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at WROMRadio.net

WYYR: Yesteryear Radio
Vero Beach, FL
Wednesday 4/2
9pm ET, 6pm PT
Click the On Air button at WYYR.com

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 4/4
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 4/6
11am ET, 8am PT
Also streaming at KSCO.com

Boost Radio Network
Paramus, NJ
Sunday 4/6
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Click on the On the Air button at BoostRadioNetwork.com

KHMB-AM 1710
Half Moon Bay, CA
Sunday 4/6
9pm PT
Monday 4/7
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 4/7
10pm ET, 7pm PT
with replays Tuesday thru Friday at 10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Talk Slot button at RadioSlot.com

One of the first “star” producers to emerge from the Golden Age of Television, Roy Huggins not only created and/or produced such classic shows asThe Fugitive, Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, Run For Your Life and The Rockford Files, but in many ways elevated the form of television writing while also leaving his distinct mark in the genres of Westerns, private eye dramas, and hour-long anthology series. One of the first to recognize the potential of television, Huggins initiated many staples of the medium that are still very relevant today. He was also a complex man who, like many successful people, was not universally liked, for reasons we’ll discuss when Paul Green joins us in the second hour of this week’s program.

Paul’s latest book, Roy Huggins: Creator of Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, The Fugitive and..., is an intimate portrait of the Emmy Award-winning writer/producer that includes in-depth interviews with many members of Huggins’ personal and professional family, including actress Katherine Crawford (Roy’s daughter), film and television executive Frank Price (Roy’s colleague on The Virginian and, later, his son-in-law), actress Stepfanie Kramer (Hunter), and Roy’s longtime right-hand man at Universal Television, Jo Swerling Jr. Paul was also granted access to Roy’s personal papers and unpublished memoirs, giving the book direct insight into Huggins’ formative years and early career at RKO, Columbia Pictures, 20^th Century Fox and Warner Bros. Television.

Roy Huggins: Creator of Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, The Fugitive and... also includes one of the last interviews given by Juanita Bartlett, the Emmy-nominated writer-producer who passed away on Tuesday, Feb. 25. Bartlett collaborated on many occasions with both Roy Huggins and James Garner, most notably on The Rockford Files. With that in mind, we will replay our August 2012 conversation with Juanita as part of our first hour.

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 (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 Entertain Channel at PWRNetwork
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