TVC 681.3: Ed welcomes back singer/actress Linda Purl ( Happy Days, Matlock, The Office ). Linda is about to star in Crazy Mama , a riveting one-woman play that not only sheds light on the issue of mental illness with Southern-style humor and directness, but will feature Linda playing sixteen different characters. Ed asks Linda what first attracted her to the play and how she approaches to taking on the various personalities she must assume over the course of the story, plus Linda shares a few m...
Mar 10, 2025•26 min•Season 17Ep. 681
TVC 681.4: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with Anne Serling and Jodi Serling, the daughters of Rod Serling, and Marc Scott Zicree , longtime television writer/producer and the author of The Twilight Zone Companion . Dec. 25, 2024 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Rod Serling, while the 2024-2025 television season marks the 65th anniversary of the premiere of The Twilight Zone on CBS. In this segment, Anne and Jodi share a few examples of the "many moments of helpless hi...
Mar 10, 2025•18 min•Season 17Ep. 681
TVC 681.5: Anne Serling and Jodi Serling, the daughters of Rod Serling, and Marc Scott Zicree , author of The Twilight Zone Companion , share some final thoughts with Ed about the legacy of Rod Serling, including how Serling never "saw the signpost up ahead" with regard to the tremendous impact that his writing continues to have. Both The Twilight Zone Companion and Anne's book, As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling , are available wherever books are sold....
Mar 10, 2025•13 min•Season 17Ep. 681
TVC 680.3: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with Harrison Page , the actor known around the world as Joshua in Lionheart , Captain Trunk on Sledge Hammer! , CPO Robinson on CPO Sharkey , and Niles in Russ Meyer's Vixen! Topics this segment include how Harrison approached playing Niles when he first read the script for Vixen ; why it's important for every actor to know the difference between listening and hearing every time they take the stage or work; and the success of Vixen at the...
Mar 03, 2025•15 min•Season 17Ep. 680
TVC 680.4: Harrison Page talks to Ed about how the success of Vixen led Michael Landon to cast him in "The Wish," an episode of Bonanza written and directed by Landon that not only aired in 1969, but also marked Harrison's first network appearance; how, upon completing production of "The Wish," Landon made a phone call that resulted in Harrison being cast in "Tooth of the Serpent," an episode of Mannix that also aired in 1969; and how Peter Falk immediately made Harrison feel at ease by paying h...
Mar 03, 2025•22 min•Season 17Ep. 680
TVC 680.5: Ed welcomes Anne Serling and Jodi Serling, the daughters of Rod Serling, and Marc Scott Zicree , longtime television writer/producer and the author of The Twilight Zone Companion , for a celebration of both the 100th anniversary of the birth of Rod Serling and the 65th anniversary of the premiere of The Twilight Zone on CBS television. Anne's book, As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling , is an intimate portrait of the Emmy Award-winning writer/producer that is also a moving testament to ...
Mar 03, 2025•19 min•Season 17Ep. 680
TVC 680.6: Anne Serling and Jodi Serling, the daughters of Rod Serling, and Marc Scott Zicree , author of The Twilight Zone Companion , talk to Ed about how Rod Serling was not only the first modern-day show runner, in that he was a writer who also served as his own producer, but also the "Leonardo da Vinci of television," in that he represented the pinnacle of what the medium can do. Other topics this segment include thoughts on such notable Twilight Zone episodes as "Eye of the Beholder," "Wal...
Mar 03, 2025•17 min•Season 17Ep. 680
We'll be back with a brand new edition of TV Confidential later this week. In the meantime, please enjoy this clip from February 2020 in which Tony and Ed remember Pink Lady and Jeff (NBC, 1980), the short-lived and, in many respects, infamous variety series produced by Sid & Marty Krofft, which premiered on Mar. 1, 1980 during This Week in TV History. Tony's coverage includes first-hand knowledge: He was in the studio audience at NBC/Burbank on the night that the first episode of Pink Lady ...
Mar 01, 2025•8 min•Season 12Ep. 483
We'll be back with a brand new edition of TV Confidential later this week. In the meantime, please enjoy this clip from February 2015 in which Tony, Donna, and Ed remember some of the early TV roles of Howard Hessman, before he became known as Dr. Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati , as part of This Week in TV History. Howard Hesseman was born on this day in 1940.
Feb 27, 2025•11 min
TVC 679.1: TV Confidential remembers actor, author, playwright, and decorated U.S. Army veteran James McEachin ( Tenafly, Matlock, The Perry Mason Mysteries , Play Misty for Me , The Heroin Factor , Farewell to the Mockingbirds , The Alpha Caper, Above the Call: Beyond the Duty, Reveille, Swing Low, My Sweet Chariot: The Ballad of Jimmy Mack ) by bringing you an encore presentation of a conversation with James that originally aired in February 2013. James McEachin passed away on Jan. 11, 2025 at...
Feb 24, 2025•23 min•Season 17Ep. 679
TVC 679.5: From February 2013: Actor, author, playwright, and decorated Korean War veteran James McEachin talks to Ed about why he re-enlisted in the U.S. Army to serve in Korea after previously serving in Japan (and why it was important to James that he serve on the frontlines in Korea); serving with the 9th Infantry Regiment, an all-black unit; living with post-traumatic stress disorder after being shot at in Korea; working with Gary Sinise on behalf of U.S. veterans; reuniting with David Hudd...
Feb 24, 2025•19 min•Season 17Ep. 679
TVC 679.6: From February 2013: James McEachin talks to Ed about the important role that Jack Webb played early in his acting career, particularly when James was under contract at Universal. He also shares a few memories of working with Clint Eastwood, Charles Floyd Johnson, David Janssen, and James Garner. James McEachin passed away on Jan. 11, 2025 at the age of ninety-four. TV Confidential spoke to James McEachin a second time in November 2014 . That conversation is available for listening on ...
Feb 24, 2025•9 min•Season 17Ep. 679
TVC 679.4: Ed welcomes Harrison Page , the actor known around the world as Joshua in Lionheart , Captain Trunk on Sledge Hammer! , CPO Robinson on CPO Sharkey , and Niles in Russ Meyer's Vixen! Topics this segment include how Meyer first cast Harrison in Vixen! ; working with Erica Gavin in Vixen! (and, particularly, how she and Harrison approached playing the controversial scene in the film in which Niles rapes Vixen); how Harrison came to be cast in Sledge Hammer! , and how he drew on some of ...
Feb 24, 2025•22 min•Season 17Ep. 679
We'll be back with a brand new edition of TV Confidential later this week. In the meantime, please enjoy this clip from February 2015 in which Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the Miracle on Ice, the U.S. men's hockey team's win over the Soviet Union's men's hockey team in the medal-round game on Feb. 22, 1980 during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.
Feb 22, 2025•7 min
TVC 678.1a: From February 2015: Tony Figueroa and Donna Allen remember the origins of The Andy Griffith Show (CBS, 1960-1968), the pilot of which originally aired during This Week in TV History as "Danny Meets Andy Griffith," an episode of Make Room for Daddy . Topics this segment include how the Andy Taylor we see in "Danny Meets Andy Griffith" is much closer in spirit to the character that Griffith played in No Time for Sergeants , and how the dynamics of The Andy Griffith Show changed once Do...
Feb 17, 2025•20 min•Season 17Ep. 678
TVC 678.1: Ed and guest co-host Chuck Harter welcome back actress, author, songwriter, composer, filmmaker, and reverend Alison Mills Newman ( Julia , The Leslie Uggams Show , The Tree Widow ). Alison's novel, Francisco , is a genre-bending, autobiographical story about a young black actress in the early 1970s who falls in love with an intensely driven filmmaker, makes her way through the Black Arts movement, and searches searching for her own way of seeing. Originally published in 1974, Francis...
Feb 17, 2025•24 min•Season 17Ep. 678
TVC 678.2: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with Laurence Luckinbill ( The Boys in the Band , The Delphi Bureau , Star Trek V: The Final Frontier , Lyndon, Hemingway, Teddy Tonight!, Clarence Darrow Tonight! ). Topics this segment include how Larry's guest appearance on Harry O in the summer of 1974 resulted in Larry adopting an Alaskan Malumute, whom Larry named Mush (and who remained a beloved part of the Luckinbill family for the next thirteen years), and how William Shatner cast...
Feb 17, 2025•19 min•Season 17Ep. 678
TVC 678.3: Actor and author Laurence Luckinbill talks to Ed about working with William Shatner, both as an actor and as a director, in Star Trek V , as well as the approach he took toward playing Sybok, Spock's half-brother, in that film. Larry's autobiography, Affective Memories: How Chance and The Theater Saved My Life , is available wherever books are sold through Sunbury Press....
Feb 17, 2025•16 min•Season 17Ep. 678
TVC 677.1: An encore presentation of an edition of The Sounds of Lost Television that originally aired in February 2012 in which Phil Gries plays audio highlights from the Feb. 11, 1960 broadcast of The Tonight Show , the night when host Jack Paar walked off the air after NBC had edited out a joke that Paar had told the night before without his consent. Topics this segment include how Paar was the first host of The Tonight Show to pre-record his show earlier in the day (prior to Paar, The Tonigh...
Feb 10, 2025•21 min•Season 17Ep. 677
TVC 677.2: From February 2012: Phil Gries shares more audio highlights from the Feb. 11, 1960 edition of The Tonight Show , including on-air reaction from co-host Hugh Downs and guests Orson Bean and Shelley Berman in the moments after host Jack Paar had walked off the air to protest NBC's decision to edit out a joke that Paar had told on the previous night's show. Also in this segment: Phil discusses that the role that Jonathan Winters played in convincing Paar to return to The Tonight Show (wh...
Feb 10, 2025•23 min•Season 17Ep. 677
TVC 677.3: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with Erica Gavin , the actress known around the world as the star of Vixen! (1968), the satiric sexploitation movie produced, directed, and co-written by Russ Meyer that none other than Roger Ebert once described as "the quintessential Russ Meyer film." Topics this segment how Erica initially clashed with Meyer over how to approach the famous "lesbian scene" in Vixen! between her and Vincene Wallace, and how she worked out a solution that ...
Feb 10, 2025•19 min•Season 17Ep. 677
TVC 677.4: Actress Erica Gavin talks to Ed and guest co-host Chuck Harter about the time when she and Russ Meyer both met film critic and future Meyer collaborator Roger Ebert for the first time while doing promotion for Vixen! (1968), how Erica had earned Meyer's trust by convincing him to let her break the fourth wall while filming the final shot of Vixen , and how Meyer paid homage to Alfred Hitchcock by making a cameo appearance in the final scene of Vixen . Severin Films has just released R...
Feb 10, 2025•14 min•Season 17Ep. 677
TVC 677.5: Ed welcomes actor, author, playwright, and Emmy Award-winning producer Laurence Luckinbill ( The Boys in the Band , The Delphi Bureau , Star Trek V: The Final Frontier , Lyndon, Hemingway, Teddy Tonight!, Clarence Darrow Tonight! ). Larry's autobiography, Affective Memories: How Chance and The Theater Saved My Life , is a page-turning, brutally honest story of how Larry overcame a meager upbringing up in the Ozark Mountains to forge his way into a successful career as a working actor ...
Feb 10, 2025•20 min•Season 17Ep. 677
TVC 677.6: Actor and author Laurence Luckinbill ( The Boys in the Band , The Delphi Bureau , Star Trek V , Affective Memories: How Chance and The Theater Saved My Life ) shares a few memories of his years in Oakland, California, where he moved to be with his family in the 1950s; the many mentors in his life, including the Catholic nun who taught him to appreciate the power of words; and how he first came to learn the difference between a "movie horse" and a "horse" horse while filming an episode...
Feb 10, 2025•21 min•Season 17Ep. 677
We'll be back with a brand new edition of TV Confidential later this week. In the meantime, please enjoy this clip from February 2015 in which Tony, Donna, and Ed remember Khan! (CBS, 1975), the short-lived yet controversial series starring Khigh Dheigh as a contemporary private eye who is reminiscent of Charlie Chan. Khan! premiered Feb. 7, 1975 as part of This Week in TV History.
Feb 07, 2025•10 min
TVC 676.1: An encore presentation of an edition from The Sounds of Lost Television that originally aired in September 2011 in which Phil Gries plays audio highlights from Jackie Gleason , the short-lived CBS prime talk show that The Great One hosted for two months in early 1961, and a show that was borne out of necessity following the demise of You're in The Picture , the infamous game show hosted by Gleason, which CBS canceled after its one and only broadcast on Jan. 20, 1961. This segment incl...
Feb 03, 2025•19 min•Season 17Ep. 676
TVC 676.2: From September 2011: Phil Gries plays a clip from Jackie Gleason's interview with Bobby Darin on the Mar. 17, 1961 edition of Jackie Gleason , the short-lived prime talk show (CBS, 1961) that was borne out of necessity following the demise of You're in The Picture , the infamous game show hosted by The Great One that CBS canceled after its premiere broadcast on Jan. 20, 1961. This segment also includes audio from Darin's appearance on Stage Show (CBS, 1954-1956), a music variety serie...
Feb 03, 2025•12 min•Season 17Ep. 676
TVC 676.3: Ed and guest co-host Chuck Harter welcome Erica Gavin , the actress known around the world as the star of Vixen! (1968), the satiric sexploitation movie produced, directed, and co-written by Russ Meyer that esteemed critic Roger Ebert once described as "the quintessential Russ Meyer film." Despite numerous attempts at censorship (including one of the first-ever X ratings and twenty-three separate U.S. prosecutions for obscenity), Vixen! became one of the top-grossing movies of 1968, f...
Feb 03, 2025•27 min•Season 17Ep. 676
TVC 676.4: A return appearance by Jeffrey Sitcov , founder and president of Doors of Change , the non profit organization that uses arts and music to help keep teenage homeless youths off the streets (and, in many cases, find safe forever homes), and Lucie Arnaz , one of the celebrity spokespeople for Doors of Change. Topics this segment include the many partnerships that Jeffrey has forged with such music superstars as Billy Joel and Elton John to help create awareness of Doors of Change among ...
Feb 03, 2025•20 min•Season 17Ep. 676
TVC 676.5: Jeffrey Sitcov , founder and president of Doors of Change , and Lucie Arnaz , one of the celebrity spokespeople for Doors of Change, talk to Ed about the annual Concert of Hope that will benefit Doors of Change, and which is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 6 in San Diego. Also in this segment: Lucie shares a few memories of working with Neil Simon, Marlin Hamlisch, Carole Bayer Sager, and Robert Klein in the original Broadway production of They're Playing Our Song . To learn more about ...
Feb 03, 2025•15 min•Season 17Ep. 676
