TV CONFIDENTIAL

Your Mental Sorbet: Mother Dexter's Wedding Bell Blues

Tony Figueroa — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

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

Judith Lowry (July 27, 1890 - November 29, 1976) was best remembered role was as the acid-tongued "Mother Dexter" on the 1970s sitcom, Phyllis, which starred Cloris Leachman. Phyllis is the second spin-off of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (the first being Rhoda) created by Ed Weinberger and Stan Daniels. The show starred Cloris Leachman as Phyllis Lindstrom, who was previously Mary Richards' landlady on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. In the new series, Phyllis and her daughter Bess Lindstrom moved from Minneapolis to San Francisco, after the death of her husband, Dr. Lars Lindstrom. It was revealed that San Francisco was Phyllis' and Lars' original hometown, prior to their moving to Minneapolis, and that his mother and stepfather still resided there.

Fiesty octogenarian Mother Dexter is late for her wedding because Phyllis forgot to pick her up, so she is forced to hail a taxi on her wedding day.

In a 1976 episode, Jonathan's cranky and outspoken Mother Dexter (Judith Lowry), Phyllis' main nemesis, married Arthur Lanson (Burt Mustin); both Lowry and Mustin died within a month of the episode's airing.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

This week in Television History: March 2010 Part II

Tony Figueroa — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

The Man Behind Dr. Miguelito Loveless: Next on TV CONFIDENTIAL

TV Confidential — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:25:00 GMT

The life and career of dwarf actor Michael Dunn will be among the topics of conversation on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, premiering Monday, March 8 at 9pm ET, 6pm PT on Shokus Internet Radio, with a rebroadcast Friday, March 12 at 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org.

Best known for playing the evil Dr. Miguelito Loveless on television’s The Wild, Wild West, as well as his Oscar-nominated performance in the 1965 film classic Ship of Fools, singer/actor Michael Dunn led an amazing life from childhood until his sudden death in 1973 at the age of thirty-eight. Born with dwarfism, Dunn overcame constant pain throughout his brief life to leave an inimitable mark on stage, screen and television. Joining us this week as we remember this TV icon will be Sherry Kelly, author of a new biography on Michael Dunn, The Big Life of a Little Man. She’ll be with us in our first hour.

If you want to be part of our conversation, we invite you to join us for our live broadcast Monday, March 8 beginning at 9pm ET, 6pm PT on Shokus Internet Radio. Phone number is (888) SHOKUS-5 / (888) 746-5875. Email address is talk@tvconfidential.net.

TV CONFIDENTIAL with Ed Robertson and Frankie Montiforte
Every night at 9pm ET, 6pm PT
Shokus Internet Radio
Fridays 7pm ET and PT
Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
www.tvconfidential.net
blog.tvconfidential.net
Also available as a podcast via iTunes and FeedBurner

Your Mental Sorbet: Streaker at the 46th Annual Academy Awards

Tony Figueroa — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

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

Perhaps the most widely-seen streaker in history was 34-year-old Robert Opel, who streaked across the stage flashing the peace sign on national US television at the 46th Academy Awards in 1974. Recovering quickly, the bemused host David Niven quipped, "Isn't it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?" Later, some evidence arose suggesting that Opel's appearance was facilitated as a stunt by the show's producer Jack Haley, Jr. Robert Metzler, the show's business manager, believed that the incident had been planned in some way; during the dress rehearsal Niven had asked Metzler's wife to borrow a pen so he could write down the famous ad-lib. Niven's brush with the streaker was voted the top Oscars moment by film fans in 2001. Ironically, Opel's run across the stage occurred with Niven mostly between him and the camera, so nothing below the waist was visible to the TV audience. The first one or two frames of Opel's appearance do provide a blurred view of Opel's genitalia, but since they appeared at the very edges of the image they were probably never seen by viewers due to the overscan common in TV sets at the time.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

This week in Television History: March 2010 Part I

Tony Figueroa — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

TV CONFIDENTIAL Show No. 41: Hour 2 with guests Jan Alan Henderson and Bruce Dettman

TV Confidential — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:10:00 GMT

TV CONFIDENTIAL Show No. 41: Hour 1 with Tony Figueroa

TV Confidential — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:05:00 GMT

Your Mental Sorbet: The "Late Night" Anthem

Tony Figueroa — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:03:00 GMT

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

Tom Jones does his rendition of The Late Night Anthem for David Letterman's 7th anniversary show in 1989.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

This week in Television History: February 2010 Part IV

Tony Figueroa — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Listen to me on TV CONFIDENTIAL with Ed Robertson and Frankie Montiforte Broadcast LIVE every other Monday at 9pm ET, 6pm PT (immediately following STU'S SHOW) on Shokus Internet Radio. The program will then be repeated Tuesday thru Sunday at the same time (9pm ET, 6pm PT)on Shokus Radio for the next two weeks, and then will be posted on line at our archives page at TVConfidential.net. We are also on Share-a-Vision Radio (KSAV.org) Friday at 7pm PT and ET, either before or after the DUSTY RECORDS show, depending on where you live.

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.

February 23, 1997
Schindler's List is shown on NBC, the first network to broadcast a movie without commercial interruption. Ford Motor Company, which sponsored the broadcast, showed one commercial before and after the film.

The 1993 film about German factory owner Oskar Schindler, who saved the lives of Jewish workers in his factory during World War II, was Spielberg's most ambitious movie to date. The picture, filmed in black and white, won Spielberg his first Academy Award as Best Director, and it also garnered Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay awards. The film's screenplay, by Thomas Keneally and Steven Zallian, was adapted from Keneally's novel, Schindler's Ark, published in 1982.
Spielberg started making amateur films in his teens, and by the late 1970s he had become heavily involved in production and scriptwriting. He gained fame early in his career for directing such blockbusters as Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Poltergeist, and a string of other phenomenal successes. He established his own independent production company, Amblin' Entertainment, in 1984, where he produced Gremlins, Back to the Future, Arachnophobia, Cape Fear, and more. In 1994, he formed DreamWorks SKG with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, and the following year the trio announced a partnership with Microsoft Corporation, called DreamWorks Interactive, which produced interactive games and teaching tools. Just months before he released Schindler's List, Spielberg released Jurassic Park, which featured computer-generated dinosaurs that took the world by storm. He won his second Academy Award for Best Director in 1999 for Saving Private Ryan. Virtually all of Spielberg's films have been box office smashes.

February 24, 1980
The U.S. Hockey Team won its “Do you believe in miracles?” gold medal during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games beating Finland (4-2) in their final medal round game. The Soviet Union took the Silver Medal by beating Sweden in their final game. Sweden took home the Bronze Medal, with Finland finishing fourth.

Two days prior on February 22, 1980 was the "Miracle on Ice". The U.S. men's ice hockey team, led by coach Herb Brooks, defeated the Soviet Union team, 4 - 3. The Soviet Union team, who were considered to be the best international hockey team in the world, they entered the Olympic tournament as heavy favorites, having won every ice hockey gold medal since 1964, and all but one gold medal since 1956. On February 9, the American and Soviet teams met for an exhibition match at Madison Square Garden in order to practice for the upcoming competition. The Soviet Union won (10-3) so the odds were in favor of the Russians.

The day before the match, columnist Dave Anderson wrote in the New York Times, "Unless the ice melts, or unless the United States team or another team performs a miracle, as did the American squad in 1960, the Russians are expected to easily win the Olympic gold medal for the sixth time in the last seven tournaments."

The game ended with Al Michaels delivering the most famous call in Hockey history, "Eleven seconds, you've got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow, up to Silk...five seconds left in the game... Do you believe in miracles? YES!!!"

Though the Olympic Games are supposed to be an arena free of politics the Soviet and American teams were long time rivals due to the Cold War.
President Jimmy Carter was considering a U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics , to bheld in Moscow out of protest to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. President Carter eventually confirmed the boycott on March 21, 1980.

At the same time there was another international drama playing out. Despite President Carter’s initial refusal to admit the Shah of Iran into the United States, on October 22, 1979, he finally granted the Shah entry and temporary asylum for the duration of his cancer treatment. In response to the Shah's entry into the U.S., Iranian militants seized the American embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981.
The "Miracle on Ice" was a shot in the country’s morale during a time of great uncertainty.

February 25, 1928
The Federal Radio Commission issues the first television license. The license went to the Charles Francis Jenkins Laboratories for a television broadcast station on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C. The station later moved to Maryland and operated until 1932.
Government regulation of broadcasting has been in existence almost as long as the broadcast industry itself. The Wireless Act of 1910 required American ships to carry a broadcasting transmitter and qualified radio operator on all sea voyages. In the early 1920s, laws were passed governing transmission power, use of frequencies, station identification, and advertising. The Radio Act of 1927 shifted regulatory powers from the Department of Commerce to the new Federal Radio Commission, which became the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1934.
Today, the FCC still regulates broadcasting and communications. The U.S. president appoints its five commissioners with the Senate's consent. The commission licenses and regulates radio and TV broadcasters as well as other communications mediums, such as telephone and cable television. It assigns frequencies and call signs to radio stations and is responsible for ensuring rapid, efficient telephone and telegraph service. The FCC also operates the Emergency Broadcast System, which provides a vehicle for authorities to communicate with the public and disseminate critical information immediately when national disaster strikes (though the system can also be used to broadcast weather warnings and local emergencies).
More expansive policy issues under the purview of the commission include deciding how much sex and violence is permissible on television. Deregulation of the industry in the 1980s reduced the FCC's size from seven to five commissioners and increased the term of radio and television station licenses. In the 1990s, the FCC developed a television rating system, much like the one used in movies, which helps people decide which shows are appropriate for the viewers in their household.

February 25, 1950
Comedy program Your Show of Shows, hosted by Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca, first airs. Although the show lasted only four seasons, it became a classic of television's golden era, featuring comedy by future stars Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Woody Allen, and others. The series was one of television's Top 20 hits for three of its four years.

February 27, 2003
Children’s Television Host Fred Rogers succumbs to stomach cancer at 74. The talented writer and puppeteer, known to generations of children simply as “Mr. Rogers,” hosted Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood on public television for more than 30 years.
A native of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Rogers filmed the famed show in Pittsburgh, 30 miles east of his hometown. He studied early childhood development at the University of Pittsburgh and, in 1962, was ordained as Presbyterian minister with a mission to work with children and families through television. Beginning in 1954, he worked as a puppeteer on a show called The Children’s Corner, before beginning work on his own show, which first aired in 1968.
Singing his well-known theme song, “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” Rogers would enter his living-room-like set at the beginning of each episode, changing his shoes and sweater. He would then take his viewers on a magical trolley ride to the “Neighborhood of Make-Believe,” where he introduced them to characters such as King Friday XIII, his wife Queen Sara Saturday, Curious X the Owl, and Henrietta Pussycat. Even in an era of slick packaging and new technology in children’s programming, Rogers found continued success by sticking to his original message—that children should love each other and themselves. He aimed to help children deal with troubling emotions, like fear and anger, as well as everyday problems, like visiting the dentist.
Rogers composed most of his show’s songs and did much of the puppeteering and voices himself. Despite countless awards and honors, including four Emmys® and a George Foster Peabody Award, Rogers once remarked, “I have never really considered myself a TV star. I always thought I was neighbor who just came in for a visit.” He taped his last show in December 2000, but came out of retirement briefly to film public service announcements helping parents and children deal with the September 11th tragedy. One of Rogers’ trademark red sweaters now hangs in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

February 28, 1983
Last episode of M*A*S*H airs. M*A*S*H, the cynical situation comedy about doctors behind the front lines of the Korean War, airs its final episode after 11 seasons.

The last episode drew 77 percent of the television viewing audience, the largest audience ever to watch a single TV show up to that time.

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Chuckles Bites the Dust

Tony Figueroa — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Here is another "Mental Sorbet" that we could use to momentarily forget about those things that leave a bad taste in our mouths.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode Chuckles Bites the Dust aired October 25, 1975. The episode centers on the death of Chuckles the Clown, an often-mentioned but seldom seen character.

This episode had at one time been ranked #1 on TV Guide's "100 Greatest Episodes Of All Time". It is now ranked #3 on TV Guide's "100 Greatest Episodes Of All Time". It was directed by Joan Darling and written by David Lloyd, who received an Emmy for "Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series."

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

The Life and Death of George Reeves: Next on TV CONFIDENTIAL

TV Confidential — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:45:00 GMT

One of Hollywood’s great unsolved mysteries will be explored on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, premiering Monday, Feb. 22 at its new time (9pm ET, 6pm PT) on Shokus Internet Radio, with a rebroadcast Friday, Feb. 26 at 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org.

Join us as we probe the circumstances surrounding the demise of George Reeves, the actor best known among Baby Boomers for his starring role in The Adventures of Superman. Though widely reported as a suicide, many questions regarding Reeves’ death in the early morning hours of June 16, 1959 have remained unanswered in the minds of many for more than 50 years. Our guests thisweek will include Jan Alan Henderson, author of Speeding Bullet: The Life and Bizarre Death of George Reeves, and television historian and Reeves authority Bruce Dettman (Glass House Presents, The Adventures Continue).

If you want to be part of our conversation, we invite you to join us for our live broadcast Monday, Feb. 22 beginning at 9pm ET, 6pm PT on Shokus Internet Radio. Phone number is (888) SHOKUS-5 / (888) 746-5875. Email address is talk@tvconfidential.net.

TV CONFIDENTIAL with Ed Robertson and Frankie Montiforte
Every night at 9pm ET, 6pm PT
Shokus Internet Radio
Friday 7pm ET and PT
Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
www.tvconfidential.net
blog.tvconfidential.net
Also available as a podcast via iTunes and FeedBurner

This week in Television History: February 2010 Part III

Tony Figueroa — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 07:00:00 GMT

February 16, 1950

What's My Line debuts on TV. The show, produced by game show magnates Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, became the longest-running prime-time game show in the history of television. It ran for 18 years. A radio version launched in 1952 but was cancelled in 1953.

February 18, 1995

Get Smart's last episode airs.

A one-season revival of Get Smart, the 1960s comedy about bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart, is cancelled after only seven episodes. The original series, developed by Mel Brooks and starring Don Adams, aired from 1965 to 1970.

I Am Curiously Yellow. The episode's title is a takeoff on the movie I Am Curious (Yellow).

Writers: Lloyd Turner and Whitey Mitchell

Director: Nick Webster

February 20, 1972

Radio personality and newspaper columnist Walter Winchell dies at the age of 74.

Winchell's influential gossip and news show, Walter Winchell's Jergens Journal, ran for 18 years.

Winchell started as a vaudeville performer, working with an array of future stars, including Eddie Cantor and George Jessel. He began writing about Broadway in 1922 for the Vaudeville News and in 1929 began writing a syndicated column for the New York Daily Mirror, which ran for three decades. But dishing on socialites became his claim to fame when he began his radio news show in 1930. His fast-paced show was packed with short news and gossip items-his rapid-fire radio prattle was clocked at 215 words a minute. Millions of people tuned into his witty and extremely popular Sunday evening show, which he introduced with, "Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. North and South America and all the ships at sea. Let's go to press!"

A gossip columnist when few others existed, Winchell ruined more than a few careers with reports that some maintained were sensationalistic, reckless, and actually untrue. His show popularized catchphrases like "blessed event" and "scram," and peers admired his penchant for finding fresh ways to report on Hollywood's elite. Winchell starred as himself in several films, including Love and Hisses in 1937 and Daisy Kenyon in 1947.

What some called captivating reporting was labeled yellow journalism by others. His career declined in the 1950s. Like so many other radio stars, Winchell's career lost its sparkle when Americans' allegiance turned to television. Meanwhile, he made an unpopular decision to back Senator Joseph McCarthy's "Red Scare," publicly accusing a number of Hollywood stars of being communists. In the 1960s, the New York Daily Mirror closed and his column ended. One of his last major jobs was narrating "The Untouchables," a popular television drama series, from 1959 to 1963. When he died penniless in 1972, it was reported that just one person-his daughter-showed up at his funeral.

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Mick LaSalle: It's Time For Oscar to Create New Categories for Most Promising Actor and Actress

TV Confidential — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:57:00 GMT

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/12/MVUL1BUDAB.DTL

Your Mental Sorbet: Dave, Jay & Oprah, Super Bowl Ad

Tony Figueroa — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 07:00:00 GMT

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

Acording to Deadline.com Letterman's producer Rob Burnett said "When we were talking about what it should be in very early conversations, we talked about the notion of Conan being involved in it in some way. I made an initial call to [Conan's producer] Jeff Ross, who said they had too much going on to consider it..."

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Mary McNamara: If Only the Oscars Were More Like the Super Bowl Telecast

TV Confidential — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:05:00 GMT

A modest proposal, made tongue in cheek, from the Los Angeles Times:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-oscarbowl11-2010feb11,0,511758.story

TV CONFIDENTIAL Show No. 40: Hour 1 with guest David Elkouby

TV Confidential — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:05:00 GMT

TV CONFIDENTIAL Show No. 40: Hour 2 with guest Stephen Bowie

TV Confidential — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Actor, director and legendary stuntman Bob Hoy dies at 82

TV Confidential — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:01:00 GMT

Best known for playing ranch hand Joe Butler on The High Chapparal, Hoy acted in such popular films and television series as The Outlaw Josey Wales, Nevada Smith, The Enforcer, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Zorro, Dallas, The Wild, Wild West and Walker: Texas Ranger. As a stuntman, he doubled for such stars as Tony Curtis, Charles Bronson, Audie Murphy, Tyrone Power, Telly Savalas and David Janssen. He was also one of the first guests on Talking Television, the radio show on KSAV.org that later became TV Confidential.

Read Bob Hoy's obituary, published in The Santa Clarita Valley News:

http://www.the-signal.com/news/article/24388/

Super Bowl XLIV win nips "MAS*H" finale for most-watched show ever

TV Confidential — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:42:00 GMT

From The Los Angeles Times:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/02/saints-super-bowl-win-is-.html

How David Letterman, Jay Leno and Oprah Winfrey pulled off their secret Super Bowl promo

TV Confidential — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:49:00 GMT

From the Los Angeles Times:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/02/jay-leno-joins-david-letterman-in-super-bowl-promo-for-cbs-late-show.html